Forge Midwest gathering, March 2006

[Matt Snyder]

HOLY MACKEREL!

I guess it pays to wait. I just got off the phone with the woman at the Radisson. She just quoted me a meeting room rate of $125 / day, so $250 for ALL DAY (and night) Sat and thru checkout time Sunday (basically, a morning session). I had expected to pay $350 for the same time/space.

She also just quoted me a group rate of $72/room. This is much less expensive than my orginal query, and seems to me an extraordinary deal. (So much so I'm going to recall them to make clear the room is correct. Hell, at this rate, maybe two rooms is in order!)

So, last round of questions before I finalize (they are emailing me an agreement and a beverage menu): Does anyone want coffee and softdrinks provided by the hotel? Remember: We aren't allowed any outside food or drink.

[Keith Senkowski]

COFFEE!!!

Keith

[Nev the Deranged]

Bottled water would be nice.

[greyorm]

If I can make it, and I'm going to try, it would be nice to be able to have drinks, possibly some snacky food as well if that's feasible/reasonable financially. By drinks I mean a full cash bar, of course...*ahem*...actually I mean cola and juice. That would be a good thing.

[Matt Snyder]

Gang, I know I said I'd be posting a new "official" thread on Feb. 1. I haven't forgotten -- I'm just still working through the details with the hotel at this point, and they  haven't responded to my last questions. Details soon!

I can say that they have quoted me rates of $79/night for the hotel. I'll let you know when you should call the hotel to make reservations for that rate.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Matt,

With those amazingly low prices, I think we can get ambitious with the snacks and drinks. Meals will probably do best with people leaving the hotel and hitting a nearby restaraunt, or eating their own stuff on their own, but a constant supply of coffee, soda, and water, as well as the conference-style bagel & fruit spread, seems absolutely called for.

Adept Press would not mind donating a substantial sum toward that end.

Best,
Ron

[GregStolze]

Is it too late for me to get in on this?  I don't know how much attendence I'd be able to swing (babysitting, etc.) but Rosemont and Schaumburg are close enough I could commute.

-G.

[Matt Snyder]

Not at all, Greg. Hope to see you there! I thought you were in the neighborhood, loosely speaking.

[Matt Snyder]

Ron & everyone:

If we're looking at refreshments, the best option seems to be "The Schuamburg Break," which includes: Cookies, & brownies, assorted soft drinks, bottled water, coffee & assorted teas. It's $7.95 per person. I have a VERY loose estimate/guess of around 30 people.

Keep in mind, however, that I read this as something delivered at a certain time (say, after lunch time) and then left for us. It's not necessarily there for us all day at all times, for example. And, it would only be on Saturday. (Whereas, I plan on renting the room on Sunday as well for some morning/pre-lunch play or discussion).

View the room floorplan online (it's the Illinois Room).

[Blankshield]

I will kill for coffee in the room.

Having attended many many hotel conferencey dealies, odds are it will be delvered when we request it (mid morning, afternoon, in the room when it opens in the morning, whatever), the coffee and tea will refill all day, but may require hunting down staff to do so, the bottled water and soft drinks will last most of the day, depending on the crowd, and the food part will be gone shortly after it arrives, except for one or two oddball things that nobody wants to eat.

Given that $7.95 is what, a coffee and a half at the local high-priced coffee bar? - I'd say go for it, especially given the rates of rooms.

James

[Ron Edwards]

"The Schaumburg Break" gets my vote. We can talk about details over the phone.

Best,
Ron

[Matt Snyder]

Sounds good, Ron.

Folks, I almost have all details finalized. I will post those details very soon.

Word of warning: I will now require more accurate head counts. This means I'll likely be setting up some kind of "official" registration, even if it's just via email to me.

That MAY also include paying to register; my personal bank account is on the line for this one. Again, I'll let you know as soon as possible.

[Matt Snyder]

Ok, everything is set up with the hotel for April 7-9. We have the Illinois room reserved for all day Saturday (thru at least midnight!) and part of the day on Sunday.

However, the only trick is that we'll need a much more reliable head count for this event. Does anyone have any ideas for how to do this?

Here's the trick. We need a headcount, so that we can THEN figure out how much everyone will owe for the meeting room rental, and so we can tell the hotel a number for refreshments. WE WILL GET PENALIZED if that number changes by 15%, for example.

So, step 1: Get everyone registered with a fairly reliable head count.

Step 2: Figure out the total costs with that head count and get people a very specific dollar amount for the event. I'm estimating roughly 30 people, which might put each person's cost at about $16.00 each.

Anyone have ideas (and when I say anyone, I mean Clinton.), like maybe an online form we can use? Failing that, emails to me by a certain date will be the plan.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Here ya go:
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/jared@memento-mori.com/forgemidwest

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Derrr...helps if I explain.

The above link is to an Evite invitation. Login to add yourself to the merry band of miscreants I hastily assembled. We can chart yes/no/maybe responses, add polls and even do online payments for the room and refraysh-ments. Whee!

- J