SotA Con East - Nov 4-6, 2016 in Baltimore, MD

May be able to attend but need to know:

Will there be liquor?
Will there be shenanigans?
Can I go commando?
When is the orgy?

 

Either we keep the kid friendly area far away from @Budner or we organize a parallel BudnerCon 2016 R18+ only

 

Lol, there is a lounge where Budner & Co. can hang out. Meeting room is, as nicely said as possible, not commando & orgy friendly. That said... yes... shenanigans and maybe on liquor... all depends on what the masses want and the funds we get raised. My current thought right now is to not have an open bar because of the cost. There is a lounge that can seat from 50 (spaciously) to 80 (crowded) at the hotel already... taking up meeting room space with a bar seems like it would reduce attendee capacity needlessly. NOTHING IS SET IN STONE yet.

 

oops... I meant to quote you too...

 

Very excited for this! Contributed and will be in attendance. Just FYI, my wedding will be two weeks later on the 19th so @Budner if you wanted to arrange for some "non-kid friendly" entertainment I wouldn't be opposed!

 

I cant go cuz of the winter storm thats gonna hit the northern states in november

 

we are now at the 1000 mark! time to reveal a guest!

 

I'd like to try to go to this. I'm a bit cash-strapped right now but will hopefully be in better shape to contribute at some point in July.

Then I just need to convince wifey to let me take the car for a weekend.

 

What we do at our yearly baseball meeting in Harrisburg (we've been doing it since 1974) is keep some coolers of various beverages, beer, water & soft drinks in the conference room. We could add various kid drinks in it. I'm sure @Budner & I could volunteer to ,uuumm , "guard" the beer cooler for those not allowed. No need for a full blown bar when one is near by.

Just a thought. Also Just checked I can get a full round trip ticket out of Poughkeepsie, NY, change over at NY Penn station to Baltimore Penn station for $139 (includes my15% Senior discount . Looks like straight from Penn Station NY to Penn Station , Balt runs anywhere from $49 to $149 each way depending on time leaving and seating desired.

 

Sounds very interesting, but not sure yet if I will be able to make it, as I normally only budget for two conventions per year (DragonCon can be quite costly - especially when you start spending your free time at the dealer tables... )

 

Working with @Berek now to release the name of the first featured guest... thanks for breaking $1000 already everyone! YAY!

 

Flights are one of the reasons we went to this city as well. A lot of locations have inexpensive airfare to Baltimore.

I confirmed with the hotel that they allow alcohol in guest rooms. That said, the meeting rooms they require ALL alcohol remain exclusively tendered from their bars and they will only be available if we purchase the bar upgrade for the meeting room. You cannot take a drink from the lounge to the meeting rooms. This is a requirement of their liquor license. I checked with two other people who have coordinated conventions and they've both agreed that it's standard at all meeting/conventions that liquor licenses require specific rules and that no hotels grant BYOB policies. I do have a standing request to bring in snacks and one of the event coordination reps OK'd it but it was not in my contract. I am waiting to hear back for them to amend the contract.

 

Yeah, this is very true. Not only are there three airports one could fly into (BWI, DCA and IAD), but Amtrak does stop in downtown Baltimore. From Penn Station there is actually a free shuttle circulator from the station to the Inner Harbor: www.charmcitycirculator.com

For those who choose to fly into BWI, it's really easy to get to body city...I mean Baltimore...via the MTA. The BWI MTA Station is located immediately outside the lower level of the terminal building, adjacent to Concourse E. It only costs a $1.60 and brings you directly into Penn Station.

Finally check out Southwest for tickets, they have a large presence at BWI and usually cheap tickets.

 

I don't personally know much about trains and shuttles... but, I was told by @Greyfox that Baltimore is on a track that basically covers the entire east coast. He said that NY Attendees could even ride the train straight there!

 

He is absolutely 100% correct. It goes from Maine all the way down to Florida. I have taken it from DC Union Station to NYC Grand Central Station many a time. It only gets expensive if you buy a ticket on the Acela during peak hours (rush hour).

 

If NONE of those options work for folks, if you make it to DC, the Budner Express should be running up to Bmore!

 

I work at one of these type places, you can bring your own booze but you will have to keep it in your room.

 

Im also working on setting up 2017 SOTACon

 

My room may become "The SaltyDog " (UO)

 

Anyone who is interested in doing this should contact me. @blaquerogue asked about doing one in 2017 in another state and we already started working on it. I think conventions in other parts of the country would be great and I hope to help other people with doing a sota con west after getting this one done... one bite at a time though... this elephant is huge LOL.