So now what?

1. So now what?

   #1

   So is there a 2008 plan?  Given how long it takes us to make a decision, are we going to try this in a 2008 time frame?

2. Re: So now what?

   #2

   StrolenConPaloozaGROUNDHOGDAYFest!
   
   Lets do it Moon.

3. Re: So now what?

   #3

   We definately need to do something. Still thinking S/SE U.S.?

4. Re: So now what?

   #4

   Europe...? :up:

5. Re: So now what?

   #5

   Here is what I propose. We game during the ominous IDES OF MARCH!
   
   Where you ask? Memphis, Tennessee! Why? I dunno. Its close to Scras, Ria, Strolen, and our other mid-western friends. It is also closer for Moon. It is named after a city in ancient egypt. What more do you want?
   
   Pros
   
   Mid-March is close enough to get excited about, yet far away enough to leave ample time for planning (as we have learned at SummerCon 07', we need lots of time for planning :P)
   
   Cons
   
   cant think of any
   
   
   Alrighty! It is decided! Who's in? Whatcha bringing? Who's GM'ing?
   
   (The reason for this somewhat silly post is to simply BUMP this thread in order to engender more serious discussion and contemplation on this beloved topic.)
   
   

6. Re: So now what?

   #6

   MJS is right. Us Europeans need to do this as well.
   
   Lemme think...
   
   We got Echo, MJS, me, manfred, dark_dragon, Ouroboros, probably some more that I can't remember at the moment...
   
   Yeah, I'd say we can do it!
   
   Strolencon Prague! That would rock! Or Strolencon Tallinn

7. Re: So now what?

   #7

   I -would- go to a Strolencon in Prague, for sure.

8. Re: So now what?

   #8

   Prague is great. It´s cheap and filled with ancient castles and churches. Great for a roleplaying con. And I have been there before so it´s not all unfamiliar and scary.

9. Re: So now what?

   #9

   Mmmmm, role-playing in Tallin. One of the best preserved medieval cities in the world. Prague of course kicks ass as well. That goes without saying.
   
   Dang, am i allowed to attend both cons? US and European? :P

10. Re: So now what?

    #10

    Tallin or Prague, both work for me...  /David

11. Re: So now what?

    #11

    March, you say? Wherever it is, let's just be sure the winter is over when it happens.

12. Re: So now what?

    #12

    April! April! April! or May! May! May!
    
    March is vacation with the missus, June is my wedding. :)
    
    I wanna attend! :)

13. Re: So now what?

    #13

    April, May or June would work best for me - March is a bit tight (but workable in a pinch)...

14. Re: So now what?

    #14

    March will come too quick for me. Starting a new, rather intense job and not sure I would be able to get away that quickly. Ides of May or June sounds better from my view.

15. Re: So now what?

    #15

    Muro, what ever the US site will be it needs the following.
    
    Enough lead time that other member might be able to plan about going.
    
    Easy to get to from the airport (where a bunch of us will be comming from)
    
    Has rooms for everyone and space for one to three games going on at one time.
    (Embassy Suites with a bunch of adjoining rooms? Hotel with a spare room or two for gaming? Big place?)
    
    Not in the middle of nowhere, in case we need supplies and such.
    
    
    
    Idea: We could hold Our Con at a Big or medium sized Game Con.
    
    Idea! Now if there was anyone local to the Bay Area, we could have a mini con. Strolen Beer and Pizza some night.
    
    

16. Re: So now what?

    #16

    Muro Quiet... too quiet.

17. Re: So now what?

    #17

    me quiet? never!  :P
    
    umm, what do you need me to say? I believe we are awaiting Fearless Leader's 2008 schedule.
    
    For the record, I can con anywhere, anytime (with some notice). I'd even come out to SF, and sample some fresh dungeoness crab.
    
    Heck, if this Euro-Con takes form and becomes official, I'd even somehow manage to attend that one too. Up Tallin! :up:

18. Re: So now what?

    #18

    Ides of August?

19. Re: So now what?

    #19

    Ideas of August dancing through your head.
    
    I will have to be somewhere within driving distance. Kansas City would be a good one or we were talking Gatlinburg, TN type place at one time.
    
    It needs to be cheap, that is the tallest order I think. If you can find a cheap place for us to hang for a 3-day weekend starting EARLY ON FRIDAY SCRAS then I think I can probably swing it.
    
    Strolenconpaloozafest

20. Re: So now what?

    #20

    If it's Gatlinburg (or anywhere in East TN), I can probably make it, otherwise, iffy to the extreme.
    
    But I have no idea if it's even *possible* to find a cheap place in Gatlinburg, much less in the summer.  I can do some checking around on rental cabins.

21. Re: So now what?

    #21

    If we can do it in Gatlinburg I can swing it

22. Re: So now what?

    #22

    Also note that if you want to have it in Gatlinburg, you want to start early on Friday, and you'd be flying in, you'd need to come on Thursday.  The airport is an hour and a half away, unless you charter a private plane.

23. Re: So now what?

    #23

    Hokay, based on my preliminary searching, a cabin in the Gatlinburg area will run something like $800-$1500, depending on how many people, when we do it, what time of the month, and if we get it for a few days or a week.  This is my very preliminary searching; I can look some more, but until I have a good idea as to how many would come and when we'd wanna do it, I can only get a rough estimate.
    
    Assuming you still want to do it here.  X3

24. Re: So now what?

    #24

    It sounds like loads of fun; however unless it's held somewhere in Vermont or New Hampshire me and Rosie will be unable to attend. (no vehicle)
    
    Have few good games for us tho  :wink:

25. Re: So now what?

    #25

    Um... are we still planning to do this thing come August?  Cause judging by how long it took us to get things set up last year, we should probably make with the preparations. It was suggested that we hold it in Gatlinburg, which is cool, but there were also other places brought up.  I don't mind putting things in motion if we're doing it here, but I kinda need to know if that's the plan first.

26. Re: So now what?

    #26

    I dunno, why do we need to rent a cabin? Why cant we crash a hotel, get several connected rooms, that sorta thing?

27. Re: So now what?

    #27

    Because a cabin is probably cheaper in the long run, and we won't annoy people when we're looking for the zombie spawning points and gaming at four in the morning?
    

28. Re: So now what?

    #28

    Camping!
    
    I have been hesitant because it is our families self proclaimed "Year of No Travel."  I chose TN because it is close to me and I can perhaps manipulate our family rule. Also, there are a couple other hard core Strolenites in that area that can benefit from it.
    
    My lack of chiming in is my uncertainty to the cost mostly. Today is also the year of "I am poor" so I can't afford the chunk of change laid down for the last Con so this one will have to be very economical. Usually that means a lot of people attending and we can evenly share the cost, last time that didn't work so well on either front and I am not willing to repeat that.
    
    So, Ria, if you can give us some options to look at from hotels to cabins to even some camp sites that would put us a long way. We don't have to be in Gatlinburg but somewhere relatively close to the airport (within a 2hrs or so) would probably be the best.
    
    Price is one, timing is another. I am thinking Septemberish to give time to plan and drum up some attendance.
    
    Let me pick Randomly September 19-21 as the starting bid.
    
    A start?
    
    

29. Re: So now what?

    #29

    Okay, pretty much everything near here is within 2 hrs or so of the Knoxville Airport, so that's not a problem.  I shall do some checking, and see what places cost here, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Morristown, and Newport (which is the closest to me that I'm familiar with).
    
    I need to check and see how close that weekend is to the rod runs; we don't want to be anywhere NEAR Pigeon Forge during the rod runs.  (Traffic and high prices and just badness.)  However, I'm told that grocery and gas prices aren't quite as high as the national average, which is good (and I have a membership card to the local grocery chain).
    
    I'll try to get some general estimates in the next week or so.  How do you define camping?  Tents or RVs?  It makes a difference.

30. Re: So now what?

    #30

    Tents and some decent privacy so we can be loud if we wanted to.

31. Re: So now what?

    #31

    Given mid September, that probably won't be a problem.

32. Re: So now what?

    #32

    Gatlinburg... and most of TN... is within 20 gallons of gas for me. Assuming it doesn't coincide with anything again this year, I can make it this time - With bells and ribbons on.

33. Re: So now what?

    #33

    Hokay, some campground rates!
    
    Seeing as how I don't know how many people would be coming, I'm just putting the base rate.  Unless I say otherwise, the base rate is for 2 people/night.  Also, these are just in the Gatlinburg area, I haven't branched out yet.  I am thwarted by the fact that most campgrounds in the area are rv parks.
    
    Adventure Bound Campground- The cheapest tent site is $33/night, plus $6 for each additonal adult, with a max of 8 adults per site.  The site has water and electric. 
    
    Arrow Creek Campground - A tent site with water and electric is $23.50/night, plus $2 for each additional person.  Looks like there's also a camping cabin available, which would have a full bath.  That runs $75/night, but it's 16x20, which isn't terribly big.
    
    Great Smoky Mtns Jellystone Camp - Tent site with water and electric runs $30/night.  Each site has six adults max, and it's $4 for each additional adult.  Each additional tent on the same site is $12, and each additional vehicle is $2.  There's also a cabin that sleeps 6 for $55/night.  There's another one that sleeps 5 for $70/night, but it has a tv, microwave, and fridge.  And yet another cabin for $95/night sleeps 5, and has a kitchenette and a shower.
    
    Smoky Bear Campground - Tent sites with picnic tables and firerings, I don't think there are any with water on the site.  Starts at $17/night for one person, and each additional person is $5.
    
    This is just my first run through, I can look for some more, but I'm either going to do rental cabins or motels next.
    
    EDIT:  Just off hand, I'd say a campground would be the cheapest.  Also, I've checked, and the 19th-21st would be good, because we'd miss the rod runs in Pigeon Forge.  We don't want to be anywhere near Pigeon Forge during the rod runs.

34. Re: So now what?

    #34

    Kudos on the research!
    
    My research last year entailed picking one expensive house, and arguing with a crazy lady over the price for 2 months  :D
    
    Your way is better.

35. Re: So now what?

    #35

    Google is your friend.

36. Re: So now what?

    #36

    I would be really happy to split a cabin with someone, I've gotten soft over the years. :p

37. Re: So now what?

    #37

    Um.  I kinda hate to say this.  But due to the fact that I am almost certainly moving in a month and a half, I no longer have time to work on this.  I'll be happy to give advice, but I've got too much other stuff to work on right now.

38. Re: So now what?

    #38

    StrolenCon 2009?
    
    It is never to early to plan.
    
    Suggestion: If organized for summer 09, we can simply Con at my house. Kids will be away. Yes, I know there would still be plane tickets, but otherwise, $0.00 expenses. Thats Zero.
    
    And plenty of room for 8-10 people to crash.
    

39. Re: So now what?

    #39

    *Muro begins planning for StrolenCon 09' all by himself* (yet waiting to be shot down)
    
    1. Summer-seems best
    2. My house idea- No expenses. Bedrooms for all. Plenty of time to squirrel away $ for plane tickets. 0 on food expenses. 0 on travel expenses (other than flight).
    3. Campaign- I would like to GM  a game which takes place in a new setting i'm devising, called simply, "Old Place".
    4. Moon must bring relationship cards and that pillow!
    5. Ria must come up with a video that will beat the pants off Uzumaki's pleasantly disturbing weirdness (tough job!!)
    6. Lanfear must bring Guitar Hero.
    7. Nobody must not make holes in universe.
    8. Strolen must bring his navi-phone! (even if he's a gotten a newer one since)
    9. There will be no getting lost (WooT! I know where i live! :p) nor any dead-time with weird arrivals.
    10. Must get more strolenites to come!
    11. Scras must bring socks.
    
    

40. Re: So now what?

    #40

    Scrasamax plans on attending. Will have to start hiding money to pay for ticket.

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