Boston/New England 2012 Fest-ivity Discussion

[Rigel]

I've always wanted to see New England, and I had a blast at EFest this year. Count me in!

[sgt.null]

if we do autumn - red sox may not be playing. but the colors man, the colors.

would we be meeting in boston proper, or are we searching for somewhere?

[wayfriend]

Well, another thing we need to sort out is where we hang out and have home base. I had presumed it would be in Boston or close to, but it doesn't need to be. But that's where the airport is. Unfortunately, we don't have a danlo and Tam in that vicinity ... ideas?

[aliantha]

Well, another thing we need to sort out is where we hang out and have home base. I had presumed it would be in Boston or close to, but it doesn't need to be. But that's where the airport is. Unfortunately, we don't have a danlo and Tam in that vicinity ... ideas?

You?

Seriously, it's not that hard to organize, even if you don't have the room at home. All you really need to do is pick a hotel with a coffee shop nearby for breakfast meetups. It's helpful to have the hotel near where most of the action will be happening, but some folks will drive and others will rent cars, so there's always enough transport to get everybody from one location to another.

In DC, people stayed all over the place; we ended up meeting at Union Station for coffee before we did the National Mall tour. In Denver, there was an Einstein Bros. next door to the Motel 6 where almost everybody stayed, and that became the Official Breakfast Spot of Seafest Denver.

Sadly, Watchers are not very focused when it comes to picking locations/events (as poor Cag can attest ). However, we're all really good at going with the flow once we get there....

[Sorus]

Would love to attend, but it's difficult to commit to anything right now, especially something so far in advance.

[lorin]

Why not rent a house in the Berkshires for a week? People can come and go as they please.

[wayfriend]

You?

You know, I just knew ...

If my house were within 20 miles of where anyone would ever want to be, I would consider trying to discuss this with my wife, who isn't as open about "people from the internet" crashing at her house as some. But I really do think location wise it would be more pain than fun, if Boston is where people want to do things. [link]

Why not rent a house in the Berkshires for a week? People can come and go as they please.

T'ain't a bad way to go...

[Cameraman Jenn]

I would want to stay someplace that is at least T accessible or convenient, in or around Boston. That's train T and not bus T. If we coordinated it enough in advance we could probably qualify for a group discount for a hotel. Also I would not mind using the buddy system for the hotels and pre-coordinate room sharing before we try to book a place. Yes, event coordinating is just one of my many skills. If we all figure who is coming, our dates and I can negotiate with a lump sum for group rates at a hotel and you all pitch in in advance once negotiations are done it will save us a bunch of money and we will probably all be roomed next door rather than all over the hotel. Make sense to you guys? If we do this it would probably be most efficient for a weekend, perhaps three day and I would be in Ma. longer but most likely renting a car and staying with friends on the cape for the remainder of my visit. Most of us can't stay longer than a few days anyway so this seems like a viable solution. Let me know if you want me to start looking into this on a serious level.

[sgt.null]

buddy system jenn? i will be trying to convince mrsnull that we need to share a room with you.

[aliantha]

Yes, event coordinating is just one of my many skills.

Where the hell were you when we were planning the DC fest??

It would be very cool to have an official Fest hotel, and the buddy plan is a great idea. And a big yes to transit accessibility.

So what do we want to do? I've been to Boston for work a couple of times, but one was a day trip, and during the other one, all I saw was the inside of the convention center.

[wayfriend]

Jenn, you are right on the money. Maybe we could even find a nice hotel where we could hang out together in between excursions, just put up our feet, play scrabble, open up the laptop, have a debate about whether Linden is great, and possibly throw the odd FBH episode on a screen. At least, that's what I am hoping.

The T is good, but even if half the people arriving have no vehicle, there will be plenty of people who have, to go anywhere anyone wants. That is, if we can scrape up enough locals like me.

[aliantha]

True enough -- and some folks who fly will rent a car. I'm not worried about transit options. Seems like we always have enough.

[High Lord Tolkien]

There is Kings Richards Fair hat takes place in Sept and Oct.
It's in Carver Mass south of Boston.
That's kinda Land-like.....kinda.
We could dress up like medieval loons...

kingrichardsfaire.net/

(add an extra 100 bucks for ticket and food though!)

[Cameraman Jenn]

HAHAHAHAHA! Mrs. Null and I can discuss room sharing in private chat, Null. I will need help from the locals since I've been out of New England for pretty much twenty years. The smaller less popular hotels are more likely to be open to us taking over the place where as the larger hotels are more likely to have group rate plans already in place so if any locals have suggestions for either that would be a great starting place. Most group rate plans are geared toward ten rooms or more so we would need some commitment from watchers to fill the rooms and get the rates. Lets start talking about concrete dates and then the planning can begin in earnest.

[wayfriend]

HLT, all I can say is, if you don't show up, we're coming over to your place to get you! And we might just stay a while, sit on the furniture, trample the daisies and leave crumbs on the couch.

Lets start talking about concrete dates and then the planning can begin in earnest.

Which brings us back to ... winter? spring? summer? or fall?

[High Lord Tolkien]

Lets start talking about concrete dates and then the planning can begin in earnest.

Which brings us back to ... winter? spring? summer? or fall?

All you have to do is call.

[aliantha]

We should do a poll. I would vote for fall.

And then a second poll, to see who's in (at least tentatively).

[Cameraman Jenn]

I would vote for fall and I'm in for sure. I have been wanting an excuse to visit MA since my pops moved away. I'm going to post both polls in general dis. You ok with that Ali? Guess you can just move it if you want after the fact...

[aliantha]

Go for it, Jenn!

[Cameraman Jenn]

hahahahah! I edited while you were responding....