IRL NA - PHASE ONE - Location, location, location

[seawe]

how bout we have it at end of february beggining of March? which is spring break for many?

Choices in order:
San Fransico
Seattle
Chicago

[otaku157]

how bout we have it at end of february beggining of March? which is spring break for many?

I think we're trying to avoid crowds, which spring break would definitely cause. However this thread is to determine location, date will come later

[blarghd]

yeah gotta Agree with angel here 1 major reason Winter is Good,.. is its not the tourist season IE lower prices,.. which leads my votes to warmer locales,.. sure If I want to be Selfiish I'd throw my hat for any of the florida locations,.. Warm,. plenty of near by International Airports,.. umm near me.. .but on a fairer to everyone idea,.. Texas does sound good,.. Chicago,.. in anything remotely resembling winter,.. Hell no same with manhattan,.. I went there one spring break froze my ass off,.. but In the end,.. Im pretty much Ok with anything thats driving distance (no I wont be driving) but a certain someone else probably will so if,.. gas isnt too much to split its all good,.. on random tangents yeah balt is cool as well as nyc both though are pretty costly even in the off season,.. well for anyplace decent,..
now to breakdown of my prefs
my Preference

(selfishly)Orlando,Tampa,Jacksonville,(cough Gainesville)(but not Ocala)Even Miami
(more realisticly)
Atlanta
Austin

[greymage]

I'd vote for:

Austin
Boston
San Francisco
NYC
Las Vegas

Austin is much nicer than others though, much smaller.

[carrie]

I know everyone will have their own preference for locations (either some place close to them or somewhere they're interested in going), but one thought might be to look at some prices for flights from various locations. Especially if there is any thought about people flying over from Europe for this event.

Having looked at flights on expedia.com for the months of January through March, the approximate cost/time to fly from London to New York is $430/8 hours; whereas, Austin is around $707/16 hours.

Personally, living in the southeastern section of the US, I can fly to London for $40 more than Austin.

Anyway, just something that might want to be taken into consideration.

[sgtdrax]

Toronto, Ontario, CANADA

Why?

Best overall location for North American and European players. Easy to get to. Inexpensive - everyone's dollar goes futher. Cheapest overall location to fly too. Tier one conference facilities without the tier one cost. Great gaming community (England's Games Workshop - Warhammer makers - have great success with their annual games day every year). Great entertainment community (the Toronto International Film festival is THE top international entertainment event).

Plus.... we love Ryzom!!!

[d29565]

It's cold in Canada. Plus, my mum said everything cost more there (alcohol and cigs, etc) than in America.

[seawe]

I think we're trying to avoid crowds, which spring break would definitely cause. However this thread is to determine location, date will come later

well cheapest airfairs for winter are Jan 1 - march 31. and i'm kinda thinkin this isn't gona happen before next year rolls around.

What times of the year are the cheapest:
Winter Season: Jan. 1 - Mar. 31 (Cheapest)
Spring Season: Apr. 1 - Jun. 15 (Cheap)
Summer Season: Jun. 16 - Aug. 31 (Expensive)
Fall Season: Sep..1 - Oct. 31 (Cheap)
Winter Season: Nov 1 - Dec 15 (Cheapest)
Christmas Season: Dec. 16 - Dec. 31 (Expensive)

[gretchen]

Columbus OH! It won't happen but I gotta try.

Hey it's Ohio, the "Heart of it all!"

I've been to Chicago and Las Vegas for conventions, Chicago was great, Las Vegas is...well, cheap, tawdry and smokey. You know how carnivals are flashy at first and end up just being annoying? LV is like that. Unless you really want to lose money gambling, the best thing about LV is a day trip to Hoover Dam.

I'd vote for Chicago. The Navy Pier and the peninsula with the observatory, aquarium and natural history museum, can occupy any spare visit time happily. Also the Chicago Art Institute.

And if you like pizza you can go to the actual original Pizzeria Uno (or Pizzeria Due) and get the pizza experience you will taste in your mind for the rest of your life, possibly into the next.

[d29565]

On the bit about doing it in Austin, or the West Coast even. It would be entirely selfish to for Americans (yes me too) to have it so far away from the East Coast of America, which is cheaper and more easily acessible to many Europeans. It costs less for Americans to hop in a car (not taking into account varying gas prices) and drive to the East Coast than for Europeans to take a longer flight to the West Coast. Not only would it be a more expensive flight, but one also has to take into consideration the cost of a hotel.