lady narcissa Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 No idea what the real reasons are but I suppose one benefit for them is it will get people like me to register for the con months earlier than we normally would. I normally hold off until January-ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edda van Heefmstra Ruston Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I imagine so as well, as well as a "mini-reward" for those who registered early, I guess -- they get first crack at the rooms. However, I'm not strictly sure that there's anything preventing you from using the link to reserve a hotel room before actually buying a membership. I guess that will depend on how they have it set up. This is the page where the reservation link is supposed to go: http://sasquan.org/hotels/The link is meant to go live at 8am PDT on September 16, 2014. I'm not sure whether the site wasn't tested with Chrome, with Chrome for OS X, or just with this particular version that I'm using, but a number of elements are overlapping in ways that they probably aren't meant to. I'm pretty sure that the reservation link is not going to appear until the 16th, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight of City of Bayonne Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Does anyone know why Hotel reservations are opening so early? September 16 I hear.I once asked the coordinator for a large business convention that question. She replied that she could gauge the need to expand the room block earlier, before non-convention guests had reserved a significant percentage of rooms, thus making less likely that space for attendees would run out, and with less risk of not achieving the guaranteed minimum. Don't know if that is the case with Sasquan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlingzen Bill Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I once asked the coordinator for a large business convention that question. She replied that she could gauge the need to expand the room block earlier, before non-convention guests had reserved a significant percentage of rooms, thus making less likely that space for attendees would run out, and with less risk of not achieving the guaranteed minimum. Don't know if that is the case with Sasquan. I tried to book a room at the Doubletree to see rate comparison. There were no rooms available for Worldcon. So we may be eating up all of the rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuellar Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I'd assume they locked down all the room at Doubletree/Davenport. If they have a shuttle, I guess I'm staying at the Davenport! They have a bar that has 26 beers on tap (not sure if that is good or pathetic, but at least it has a bar!) Anyone know the difference between the Davenport Hotel and Davenport Tower? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avt Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Just from my own experience: I worked in the Ops tent, and walked in and out of the entrance to the Capital Hall many times a day, and it still took me until Saturday -- or possibly even Sunday -- to realise where you were.I never heard you guys go around while I was attending parties (as, for example, KC did), to remind people that you were present and reaching out to new members. (Or even current members who didn't know the night of your party.)As a not-yet-member, your website is still my first go-to point for information. I found nothing about volunteering, nothing specific about the hotel block release dates, and it took me a while to find the online registration, as it's buried after all of the various rates and payment methods. That one is down to me being very tired, but it could still be easier to find.The fan table and the Saturday party were the only events that were available to most of the attendees (Hugo Losers is not open for obvious reasons, the closing ceremonies and Monday panel aren't great because many people had to leave on Sunday to return to work). This goes back to the drawback of having a fan tent facing a lesser-walked area, I think -- great potential visibility from the info desk, but not much from the interior of the fan village itself. Cons are huge work, and having SpoCon and Loncon at the same time made it even worse, I'm sure. However, even as a relatively regular Worldcon attendee, I feel like I am having to dig harder for the same (basic) information for Sasquan. All my opinion, of course. Those with more (or less) experience are likely to have different reactions. Edited for Cue: https://sasquan.swoc.us/sasquan/reg.php#formMarah, who is sitting with me and who ran our fan table and parties at Loncon, says she apologizes for you inconvenience, we're sorry you missed us. We had the first spot in the fan table area; anybody walking straight or right could not have missed us; only people turning to go straight to the Ops tent might have missed us. We threw one party, which is normal for a seated Worldcon, on Saturday We had a giant TV showing a presentation about the convention and about Spokane. We were not bidding, so we didn't have to throw as many parties as Kansas City, Beijing, or the 2017 bidders. Our Saturday night party was held in the Kansas City tent because Loncon gave the bidders bigger tents than us; they gave us the highest-traffic location. (We didn't do the walking around asking people to vote for us thing, we did that last year when we were being voted on.) We sold a bunch of memberships and got a great response to our presentation and our presence at the table.On the website home page, at the top of the home page, there is a high-contrast button saying "Help Wanted." In the website menu at the top of the page, go to "Convention Info" >> "Committee List" >> "Volunteers" to get to the volunteers page. Or type "volunteers" in the Search field in the sidebar, first page that comes up points to the Volunteers page. http://sasquan.org/hotels at the top of the page states "Hotel reservations open on September 16 (8 AM Pacific Time)." The information was posted in Progress Report #2 (which is the traditional channel) was released immediately before Loncon and then announced through social media channels. SpoCon was a non-issue in this respect; everyone who could get to London was at Loncon. SpoCon is not (to my knowledge) happening next year, so we will have the locals available to help us then. We are interested in input from everybody and in encouraging people to volunteer. There are a lot of Game of Thrones fans in North America, including me. We'll do as much Game of Thrones programming as we can get people to do. :)Personally I don't think the Doubletree or the Davenport will sell out on the first day, but other people on the committee disagree with me. We are encouraging people who want to be in one of those hotels to make a reservation when the system opens on September 16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frisco Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi Avt. Does the committee share our concerns that WorldCon parties might be a little wild for the opulent suites of the Davenport? :p Are there going to be a lot of restrictions on decor and our ability to move furniture as necessary, do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alguien Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Since I live in Seattle, and have actually worked on a few ASoIaF books through my new job, I think I'm going to go to this one! Looking forward to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 Alguien,Awesome. Check your inbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perrianne Lurie Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 I'll be there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlingzen Bill Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 SpoCon was a non-issue in this respect; everyone who could get to London was at Loncon. SpoCon is not (to my knowledge) happening next year, so we will have the locals available to help us then. I was at Spocon this year and the plan for Spocon is to be either 2 weeks before Sasquan or in October. They were looking at options and the contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edda van Heefmstra Ruston Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Redacted a bunch. Unhelpful and unnecessary. We are interested in input from everybody and in encouraging people to volunteer. There are a lot of Game of Thrones fans in North America, including me. We'll do as much Game of Thrones programming as we can get people to do. :)Personally I don't think the Doubletree or the Davenport will sell out on the first day, but other people on the committee disagree with me. We are encouraging people who want to be in one of those hotels to make a reservation when the system opens on September 16.Great! Thanks for the information. I'm also looking forward to see what you do with non-GoT items, of course, from local outreach and first-time panel ideas through to the long-running, more traditional items.And yes, I put my money where my mouth is and volunteered, too. ;)-------Perianne, good to hear it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuellar Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Great! Thanks for the information. I'm also looking forward to see what you do with non-GoT items, of course, from local outreach and first-time panel ideas through to the long-running, more traditional items. Hopefully they'll have a Twilight track. All twilight, all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight of City of Bayonne Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Hopefully they'll have a Twilight track. All twilight, all the time. You can suggest it here: http://sasquan.org/program/idea-form/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 AVT -- Am I to assume that Gibbitt Rhys-Jones is the correct person to contact regarding hosting parties? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubby Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 We're in. Memberships bought. This time we are coming no matter what stands in the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 I have bought a supporting membership, for the first time ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edda van Heefmstra Ruston Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Just a couple of reminders: * rates go up tomorrow * if you voted in site selection 2013 (the year that Sasquan was chosen), you already have a supporting membership * you'll need at least a supporting membership in order to vote in site seletction for 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlingzen Bill Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Just a couple of reminders: * rates go up tomorrow * if you voted in site selection 2013 (the year that Sasquan was chosen), you already have a supporting membership * you'll need at least a supporting membership in order to vote in site seletction for 2017 Unless you are voting for someone besides DC, then wait a couple years. There is plenty of time. These are not the droids bids you're looking for... :cool4: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 I bought my Sasquan membership a week ago. I still don't have confirmation of the membership. Is that normal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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