East Coast ALFA Con 2009

[valn99]

Howdie oh!

Well, further south means further away, still... anything's possible.
Specially if Lou comes!

I can't make any committment at this point though...


dan

[maxcell]

If it is flight cost, I will share that with you Valn, would hate for you to miss a gathering.

[AcadiusLost]

Still tentatively looking at Memorial Day weekend, (May 23rd-25th), North Carolina somewhere. Unless there are other recommendations?

[Riotnrrd]

Asheville?

[Mick]

Asheville is certainly nice, but it would probably be better to have something closer to the I-95 corridor, IMO.

[Curmudgeon]

If it is flight cost, I will share that with you Valn, would hate for you to miss a gathering.

Can't cost that much for ducks to fly, can it?

[valn99]

Don't worry, money should be all right, but it'll depend if I'm on assignment or not during that time.

[AcadiusLost]

How about Charlotte, North Carolina as a gathering place? I believe it may be a larger hub/airport to make flights easier for those flying, and may be a bit closer for Riotnrrd since he's coming from further west; I'm not sure if it makes things significantly less convenient for some of the other respondants or not though.

Opinions? Is Raleigh equivalently accessible, or preferable? So far we've got interest on some level from:

• AcadiusLost (probably driving, from Charlottesville)
• Loulabelle (as above)
• Maxcell (coming from greater Philadelphia area)
• Mick (Greater Raleigh)
• Curmudgeon (depending on availability/flights/etc? coming from greater Boston area)
• Danielmn (pending transportation, ~ 45 min from Charlotte)
• Riotnrrd (west of NC somewhere)
• Valn99 (pending assignment/availability, flying from Canada)
• GlassRain (?, Greater Raleigh area)

Other takers? Opinions on Raleigh vs. Charlotte?

[edit: fixed danielmn's approximate location]

[Mick]

Raleigh is certainly going to be preferable for me, but only b/c I live in NE Fayetteville and it is a much shorter drive than to Charlotte. I could probably do either, though.

[danielmn]

45 out of charlotte, not Raleigh, so you'd be more likely to see me based in charlotte. I can query friends as to the happenings in charlotte...we'll see what's what.

[AcadiusLost]

Any developments on this front? If someone knows reasonably priced hotels with shuttle service to/from Charlotte's airport, that might be the next thing to look into, for a "recommended venue". It's nice to get a common site for accomodations to facilitate carpooling, etc.

If we're still short of suggestions, I'll start looking these up later this week. Only a month and a half away now! For those considering flights, it'd be best to lock in some times/dates so the tickets don't start climbing in price.

[AcadiusLost]

Have done some looking into Charlotte for the 23rd/24th with regard to accomodations.

Seems like there is frequent light rail service (LYNX) along the I-77 corridor between downtown and points south (to I-485), so anywhere along there would provide folks flying in with easy ways to/from downtown points of interest without needing to rent a car, or stay in one of the (considerably more expensive) downtown places.

One that I've found is the Quality Inn Executive Park, which has rooms for both those nights at about $78/night, and is right on the LYNX.

I expect there are nicer places for a bit more, and perhaps a bit closer, also.

I'll look for some more options as I have time, but it'd be good to get location/dates nailed down so people can buy tickets/make reservations. Best to get a recommended place lined up so most of us will be in the same hotel, just makes things easier.

[Riotnrrd]

Am still interested in attending, and GF may even want to come along... though I doubt she will want to hang out with us tooooo much

Whats the dates, location, etc?

[maxcell]

wait ....Grand Fromage is a chick?

[Riotnrrd]

sorry, GF in this context = my girl friend (which is not Grand Fromage!)