Author Topic: DLCon 8: Prelimanary Mumbo Jumbo (Read 5673 times)

Meeplelard · « **on:** November 13, 2012, 11:56:14 PM »

So...it's November and that means like 8 months or something until DLCon! True, that's still plenty of time to discuss the con, but why not get a head start and at least figure out the two most important things about it?

-Where is it going to be?
-When is it going to be?

For "When", I think I'll just come out and say that last years happened a little too early (evident by how many people couldn't make it for schooling related reasons), so probably aim for something a little later. Just something to consider for a general time frame.

For "where", multiple people in the west seem to want to do it. We've done NorCal twice and I know Gate said they would be willing to hold it again, but let's discuss it first for...uhh...science? ...yeah, let's go with that!

BARE IN MIND, this topic isn't about whether you can make it or not; it's just preliminary discussions on where and when, as well as potential back up plans if tentative ideas fail. Furthermore, it doesn't hurt to label what are good time frames to work with, or alternatively, times to avoid, so we as a group can plan around what is most convenient overall.

So let's get this DLCon 8 discussion started!

VySaika · « **Reply #1 on:** November 14, 2012, 12:02:46 AM »

As meep noted, we can take it again if nobody else is up for it. But the sentiment of "hey, somewhere besides Pacifica would be great" has come up a few times, so if anyone else is willing to do it(east, west or central, part of country does not matter to me) then that would likely be better. Consider us the backup plan, I suppose.

As for time, July or August would work better for me as a general rule.

Lady Door · « **Reply #2 on:** November 14, 2012, 12:07:07 AM »

Stuff's up in the air (isn't it always?) because I'm applying for new jobs all over the country (and a few outside the country, too), but I already know Andrew and I cannot make the following:

June 30 (friend's wedding)
July 18-21 (SDCC)

Generally prefer late July/early August, just because it's usually a slower time of the year.

Hunter Sopko · « **Reply #3 on:** November 14, 2012, 12:28:41 AM »

Honestly, someone who can commit and be reliable is preferable at this point to variety. Variety should not be a primary concern. Also, after hosting a con by myself, I also can't really support the idea of someone trying to host a con their first time solo. They really need to have support in the area- as locally as possible. It's one of the main reasons why cons to this point have run so smoothly (I had Meeple in the area for 1, vice-versa for 4. Gate has a whole crew of support, Hal had Alex). Even an hour+ away hurts their ability to help.

I will say that while it was pretty early and could stand to change, the date of this year's con didn't really have much of an effect on attendence. Personal and financial reasons were the most dominant ones. "Bad timing" issues tended to be more personal in nature and incidental. The initial attendence list was on course for a normal con. Just had a bunch of drops leading up to it. Either that or I'm forgetting/didn't hear of most of them.

Grefter · « **Reply #4 on:** November 14, 2012, 01:17:42 AM »

Any time in the year causes bad timing. We at this point are trying to organise anywhere from 15 to 30 people at once. The best bet is to dictate time early and then people can try to work around it.

Also speaking as the visitor somewhere like Pacifica would be perfect because San Francisco is pretty rad.

DjinnAndTonic · « **Reply #5 on:** November 14, 2012, 03:47:45 AM »

I also really enjoyed the DLCon in California, so I'd be fine with that again. I've never been to Texas, so I wouldn't mind it there either.

Additionally, I could technically host a DLCon too, but we just had one in Florida, so...

Late July through Late August sounds like fine timing to me.

Jo'ou Ranbu · « **Reply #6 on:** November 14, 2012, 12:25:48 PM »

Hm. My vacations are scheduled from July 8th to July 19th (spot the weekends there, guyze). Were I to make it, mid-July would be the time. But the odds of attending a third DLCon in a row are very slim, so don't worry about making room for me.

Lady Door · « **Reply #7 on:** November 14, 2012, 04:02:56 PM »

To throw a couple dates out there for people to mull on:

July 11-14
July 25-28
August 8-11

Those are all Thursday-Sunday dates. Any of them NOT work for anyone?

Idun · « **Reply #8 on:** November 14, 2012, 04:15:46 PM »

It's more convenient (and cheaper) for me to go no further than Texas or Chicago (Tal is there, I think).

I'll chime in when dates are confirmed, but I'm out if it's anything along the Pacific seaboard. MC ]:

Ranmilia · « **Reply #9 on:** November 15, 2012, 05:00:34 AM »

Agreed with Soppy. I think new locations/hosts require a lot of planning/setup to nail down locations, transportation, and backup plans/support, and seeing as nobody's stepped up with the gung-honess for this year, I'd prefer SF/Pacifica again. It's known, it's smooth, it's relatively cheap in group aggregate (I think, anyway) and as Grefter said, SF has no shortage of new and awesome things to go do for any combination of interests. (And good public transit so you can get out to things without relying on everyone carpooling everywhere!) ((I mean that's just my preference and I certainly don't want to foist it on the Norkal Krew if they don't want it, but yeah two cents given))

Grefter · « **Reply #10 on:** November 15, 2012, 05:13:57 AM »

SF has a Pinball arcade full of old retro stuff refurbished. We have been to SF twice and not been to this place.

So much awesome you guys.

Lady Door · « **Reply #11 on:** November 15, 2012, 05:28:10 AM »

I'm always happy to minimize travel. And I love the Bay Area. Y'all haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg.

Happy to help the Gates & Jennas do whatever planning and scouting and all that jazz they need help with, too.

AndrewRogue · « **Reply #12 on:** November 15, 2012, 06:28:20 PM »

I can more or less work with anything, but yeah, willingness to run (and ease of use in said running) is ideal. It is part of why I'm always happy with Bay Area (easy to get around, people have cars, etc).

Jo'ou Ranbu · « **Reply #13 on:** November 15, 2012, 06:49:17 PM »

I'll chime in with the fact that CA would likely enhance my odds of showing up considerably because SF tickets are -much- cheaper than most places.

EDIT: Knowing the viable airport options to take besides SF would be kinda dandy, though.

Laggy · « **Reply #14 on:** November 15, 2012, 07:08:31 PM »

San Jose is the only other international spot in the area (but it is also 10 minutes away from my condo).

Will join in the echo of logistical convenience >>>> variety.

Jo'ou Ranbu · « **Reply #15 on:** November 15, 2012, 07:14:01 PM »

Okay, my decision: if I can get tickets below 1.6k USD (lowest price I can find right now is roughly 1.4k) by March -and- the con is ran while I'm on vacation, I'll probably make it. Otherwise, oh well.

Dhyerwolf · « **Reply #16 on:** November 16, 2012, 11:01:49 AM »

Talked with Niu, and we might be able to host in LA. Pluses are that Niu thinks he can basically clear his house out, so there should be decent places to stay. Minuses are that I can easily imagine that I could be hit with work crunches that may make planning difficult (depending on how much early stuff there is). Also a few cars available, which would be good.

OblivionKnight · « **Reply #17 on:** November 16, 2012, 02:26:45 PM »

I concur with Laggy because he is sexy (plus, I love that area, so...).

Still hoping to host one at some point, but looking less likely as time goes on

Oh well

Lady Door · « **Reply #18 on:** November 16, 2012, 06:22:53 PM »

For a NorCal con: Flying into SFO or SJC are your best bets. OAK services limited flights from Amsterdam, Portgual, or Mexico, but is otherwise a domestic airport.

Laggy's close to SJC, Andy and I are close to OAK, and SFO is easily connected to the BART system and thus can get lots of places. Also we have a vehicles! Andy and I are currently living in a 2-bedroom place, so we could host 1-2+ folks who need a place to crash. We're limited by the amount of furniture we have available for sleeping, so adventurous souls who want a piece of hardwood floor are also welcome to that option.

I'm also happy to work with SoCal if it comes to it -- LAX is your likely airport, though. ONT is international the way OAK is: limited service to Mexico, otherwise domestic. If we did SoCal, Andy and I would be driving down (and happy to carpool with other NorCal DLers) and thus also have a car available there.

Andy's family also lives in SoCal (about 1.5 hours from LA) and we could probably host a few people if necessary. Not convenient, but it would be pretty much free, so if you need it...

--

ALL THIS TO SAY:

If it's in California, Andy and I can help and will have car and possibly beds available.

Veryslightlymad · « **Reply #19 on:** November 19, 2012, 11:36:01 PM »

Ugh. Money is tighter than it was last year. Luckily, it's several months away, so I should have time to conceivably save up.

I really wish I had an input on location or could offer any services to help, but I'm effectively useless for this conversation.

Cotigo · « **Reply #20 on:** November 20, 2012, 02:32:50 AM »

Guys let's go to various locations so we can shut ourselves inside playing video games all day.

can't go to the same place more than twice what would even be the point. i need my video games in exotic locales

Niu · « **Reply #21 on:** November 27, 2012, 03:53:28 AM »

Checked a few thing. If the con is going to be in south Cal, more specifically, in Los Angeles area.

I should be able to do the following things:

1. My home for activities, I have enough 4 TVs for everyone. Depends how many residence of my house I can clear out, I might get some room for people to stay too.
2. Tour to amusement parks, if anyone wants to. There are four locations here.
3. I know where to bowl.
4. I know an arcade near by, and a Japanese book store you can by stuff on discount out of my member ship there.
5. For those who actually have some money to spend, I can conduct a food tour. I know a lot of good place to eat, especially you are interested in Japanese and Thai food. I also know places that makes really really good grills.

Jo'ou Ranbu · « **Reply #22 on:** November 30, 2012, 07:56:27 PM »

I'll be kinda honest. In chat, a few people have been noting a Bay Area repeat would be pretty much a logistic dream, and I think this is a lot more important than novelty of the place (I mean, we're GOING TO STAY COOPED UP IN HOUSES PLAYING GAMES, people). I also got a few things sorted out and realized I'll be able to make it next year, but I'm only going guaranteed if the DL Con happens in BA Cal -and- in the timeframe of my vacation time, mostly due to ticket prices and bang-buck correlation, since there's a LOT of people in that vicinity I want to spend time with (the QuietWalkers, the LadyRogues, the Laggycomposites and so on). Just putting this out, though I'm still not sure it's a great idea to relegate the con time to the vacation time I'll have. In case it doesn't pan out, I'll just use that time to visit specific Bay Area DLers. <_<

Lady Door · « **Reply #23 on:** November 30, 2012, 08:20:57 PM »

My biggest concern with a SoCal con is the logistics, especially around travel. Would we have enough cars? Would people be able to get to and from the airport reasonably? Would we be able to get to and from hotels and the con center okay? Would we be able to get from con center to outside activities okay?

I know the answers to those are all "Yes" in the Bay Area, I do not know that about LA. (I worry that the traffic will ruin everything, and LAX is as big a pain in the ass to get to/from as it has been in the past. Also that, because it's a car city, hotels to con space and back could be irritating - but I don't know where y'all live.)

VySaika · « **Reply #24 on:** December 19, 2012, 05:14:54 PM »

BIG IMPORTANT NOTICE HERE

Basically, it's recently come up that I have no idea whether or not I'll be able to host con. We have to move in April/May, and Jenna's sister will be moving in with us. So as of right now, we're a great big ?????? on whether we'll have a place big enough to host a con in, especially as we'll have not one, but two rooms(child's room, Jessica's room) that are straight up off limits to everyone.

It may be better to have con somewhere else, unless someone else in the bay can take primary hosting responsibility.

News:

Author Topic: DLCon 8: Prelimanary Mumbo Jumbo (Read 5673 times)

Idun