Octocon 2010: Dublin, 16-17 October

[tenalpia]

Aw :(

Hope to get to meet you sometime soon!

Pretty sure there will be a few people looking for memberships, I'll keep an ear out :)

[Derfel Cadarn]

I'm hoping to be able to make this, checking out the hotel prices and plane options.

[Adz of CCAA]

Hi everyone. :)

Is it absolutely necessary to have a membership to join you/the BwB in Dublin?

I've never been to a con before and know nothing about things like it. :leaving:

But I'm really interested in meeting BwB people. :)

ETA

Where will you all live? Hotels, or are people sharing a flat or something?

I'm constantly out of money, so I would like to share a room or something.

[theMountainGoat]

Adz - it is not absolutely necessary to have a membership for the con, but if you want to do any of the really cool things, like going to panels where the authors will be speaking, you really should buy one. Since George is the guest of honour he will probably be on a lot of panels talking about a whole range of things which I guarantee will be interesting. He will be doing a reading, probably something from ADWD (again) and hearing George read is always well worth it.

If you are only coming to meet the BWB and you're not bothered about missing out on meeting authors or the fun times we have while you're stuck outside, in the rain, then feel free to do that. But I strongly urge you to buy a membership, you won't regret it.

As for where to stay, hotels, Bed & Breakfasts, flat/room sharing, loitering, breaking into Pod's flat - all are perfectly acceptable. I am sure there are lots of people who have not arranged accommodation yet (I haven't for starters) and everyone wants to keep their costs down so room sharing is the normal thing to do. As we get closer to October people without rooms will post here and somehow through the chaos some kind of plan will emerge, someone will have a space for you or you'll find someone to join you. Fear not it will all sort itself out eventually :)

Speaking of sorting itself out - it is probably time we started making arrangements for the party. Has anyone started looking at venues? Made any tentative plans? I heard a rumour that Mormont had taken this on, but it may have been just a rumour....

[Pebble thats Stubby]

No you do not need Con membership to hang out in the evenings with BWB members, but you will probably want to attend the Con during the day and if so then membership will be required. I recommend you check out how much it would con. It will probably be cheaper to buy / transferee membership from someone who can no longer go. (the earlier you buy membership the cheaper the ticket price)

Most people will be staying in local hotels, you can check the Octocon website for details of the "official hotels" - it is not necessary to stay in one of these. Also most bwbers will be sharing rooms so it should be easy to find someone you can share with and something in your price range.

I have not yet started looking at hotels or flights (although I am considering the ferry option depending on volcanic activity) I am waiting to see just how much time I can get off first and where other people will be staying. (its nice to stay in the same hotel even if I'm not allowed to share with anyone I have never met in person)

[Adz of CCAA]

MG and Pebbles, thanks for the (fast) information. :bowdown:

Ah... Meeting GRRM (even from afar) would be great of course. :) I'll contact Angalin and see if her membership is still availalble.

Sharing rooms with someone would be great, of course. So, if anyone needs/searches someone to share feel free to contact me. :)

I'm checking out flights now. I don't like flying, but it IS the fastes way to get to some places. ;)

[mormont]

Party-wise, I have been in touch with the con people about the BwB hosting a party, and have some volunteers on the ground to help with that, as well as support and advice from Stego and Xray. :) I'm waiting for the OctoCon guys to confirm exactly what we can do - whether it will be possible to host a 'regular' con party in the hotel with us giving out drinks, etc. or whether we'll need to hold it in a bar or function room off-site. We can do either, really, but obviously we'd prefer the former.

If the former, though, you will need a membership to go to that. But I definitely recommend buying one anyway, especially if it's your first con. You need to go to the panels and so on to get a flavour of what the event is all about, and it's a worthwhile investment at only €50 for the full weekend (€40 for students and under-18s). The con presently has a 'five for four' deal which would cut that by 20%, and it would seem sensible if people haven't bought memberships yet to use this thread to find others to take advantage of that...

[Adz of CCAA]

mormont, I already contacted Angalin about her membership. If her's is not available anymore I'm going to buy one. :)

I'm quite set on attending now. :D

I can get a flight from Düsseldorf to Dublin and back for less than 100 Euro. That's not too bad! :)

[devotee]

Plane tickets bought! Arriving around 4pm Friday, leaving again Tuesday. Browsing for hotels is to boring at the moment, but its still some months away.

[mashiara]

I got the newsletter from Octocon in my email and it reminded me that I should have posted in this thread sooner.

At this point it seems highly unlikely that dalThor and I will be able to make it after all. It seems things keep going wrong, lots of unexpected complications have made this very difficult.

I was so looking forward to meeting all of you. :(

[Pebble thats Stubby]

Mash, dT and Ang you are gonna be missed. (I know I have allready said that elsewhere)

Ok time to start booking flights.

Also I am thinking on fly on arriving on Friday and comming back on Wednesday

This is me assuming there are things to see in Dublin/surrounding area (I am open to suggestions) - If there are other people interested in an extended trip and think its worth the effort then I would be willing to hire a car.

[theMountainGoat]

If Belfast is the place you want to go to then you definitely want the George Best Belfast City airport. The International airport is well over an hour away from Belfast, it is practically on the opposite side of Northern Ireland to the city.

However, since Octocon is taking place in Dublin methinks you are looking at entirely the wrong destination anyway ;)

ETA: I should have quoted you Pebs since you've edited while I was writing this. Nevermind :P

But to be honest I think it is too soon to make firm plans yet just in case there is an announcement about a meet up in Belfast with the potential for cast of the show being there again. Yeah I know a lot of people want to get their flights, hotels and plans sorted out well in advance but I think it will pay to book late and be prepared to be flexible. I'm not going to book anything until after I get back from Worldcon in September just in case, yeah I might pay more for it but it may be worth it.

I think it is a guarantee that George will be spending some time on the GOT set in Belfast during his trip to Ireland, though that does not in any way guarantee another BWB meet up like there was last year. But if there is going to be another BWB meet up with some members of the cast and crew there then you would feel pretty gutted if you missed out when you could have been there, right?

[LugaJetboyGirl]

Well, it's settled. My plane ticket is all worked out.

I arrive in Dublin on Thursday (Oct 14) morning at 8am and fly out on the following Thursday. That gives me 7 days in Ireland! Woo! I am also interested in renting a car and seeing the sites. I'd definitely like to check out the countryside a bit, too.

Mormy, put me on the party-helper list, as per usual.

[mormont]

:) Looking forward to seeing you again, Luga.

[Renasko]

This is a fair way off yet. I may need to engineer some way to turn up. :)

[Sophelia]

Just spent £30 booking very cheap flights through ryanair just in case I can make it to Octocon (won't be the end of the world if I have to bin the tickets, but I can't really go wrong at that price). When I get my work timetable I will have a better idea whether I can make it and whether to book con membership and acco.

(If I do make it I will arrive middle of the day on Friday October 15th and depart early in the morning on Monday 18th).

[Alytha]

Hey MG, just a suggestion: maybe we could start gathering the dates when people will be in Dublin in order to organise accomodation and stuff to do on days before or after the con, and put it in the first post?

For me, if I fly from Luxembourg, it's going to be Thursday 14th to Tuesday 19th.

[Adz of CCAA]

I'll probably fly from Cologne (Closest to home ;)). If I do I'll be there from Thursday 14th to Tuesday 19th, too. Haven't booked anything yet, though.

I would be very very very interested in sharing accomodations. :)

[Alytha]

I'll probably fly from Cologne (Closest to home ;)). If I do I'll be there from Thursday 14th to Tuesday 19th, too. Haven't booked anything yet, though.

I would be very very very interested in sharing accomodations. :)

What kind of prices do you get from Cologne? If the flight and the train end up cheaper than a flight from here, I'll come with you :)

Sharing accomodations is good. :thumbsup:

[Filippa Eilhart]

I haven't booked my flights, but we'll probably be flying back to Hahn on Monday if you want to join us ;)

(flying in from Poland though)