Zepfest suggestions

[Jeremy Mixer <mixer@xxxxxxxx>]

Greetings-

This is an open letter to Grant, as well as anyone else who may be holding
a convention in the future.

Anyone who attended this convention was dissapointed at best. I drove a
long way rtwice to get here, for one reason, and one reason only, and that
was to make sure the jam went smothly as possible....which would not have
been possible without the tremendous help and support from Jessica
Aspiras....

Grant- I do want to say, I completely appreciate the time you spent doing
this, and previous conventions. I know it is no easy task. But in all
honesty, I have to say, give it a break for a couple years, let someone
else undertake the tasks for the next couple of conventions. If there is
anyone on the west coast willing to put up a convention, then lets' do
that, and not worry about an east coast convention for a year. If no one
is willing to have a west coast convention, I am willing to look into
holding a convention sometime proibably in August 2000. in Boston. Of
course if I were to go through the task of organizing a convention, this
would mean that there would be no time for me to take on the
organizational tasks of the jam, however I would still like to
participate.

This is not a promise just an idea that Jessica and I were discussing on
the way home.

ut for those who may hold their own conventions, here are some thoughts
and ideas on what should and should not e done.

1. Don't hold it on a holiday weekend- rates are up for air travel, yes a
long weekend is nice, but it becomes more of a hassle then a convenience.
If you are flying rates are expensive and sometimes you may be bumped. If
you are driving traffic is a bitch.

2. Canada is not a good place for any convention. While it is nice, not
enough dealers are from Canada, most are from the US. Merit Adventures is
a necessity for a successful convention, many people who didn;t go that I
talked to said Rick's absense was the only reason they didn;t attend. And
who can blame him>? I wouldn;t bring thousands of dollars worth of
merchandice from the US into Canada either. Hugh Jones was missing as
well, can;t say I blame him either.

3. Keep it in a big city, or nearby.... if you put it in a small town then
it may cost more to get to for those flying.

4. Stay out of swanky hotels, yet avoid shit hotels as well. get the group
rates of several places and compare, visit the different places and
evaluate them. Check the water to see if it is hot. Make sure the ceiling
is not the drainage, etc. Also avoid places that charge $25 a day to park,
as well as other hidden charges. This was the first fest I had to pay to
park, and it was a little too much for my tastes (especially since I am
now well over $1000 in debt and that's not counting the fact I need to buy
a new car). On top of that, hotels that charge $1.25 for any phone call,
_including_ 800 numbers is completely rediculous. 

5. Have everything in close proximity to each other. Out of all the
conventions, the Niagara Falls one was the best as far as this aspect
goes. Everything was all in the same building, everything! It was
great..... 

6. Have a lot of promotions, see if you can get radio stations all over
the continent to give away tickets, etc, get as much promotion as
possible. The mroe hype the more tickets you will sell.

7. Make sure the hotel sticks to their group rate and doesn't change at
the last minute saying "sorry that's the cheapest we ever go"

I do want to finish off giving Grant a big Thank You, it's too bad it was
not as successful as planned....Grant, some of us _do_ truly appreciate
your efforts.....but in all honesty, let some others do it. I hope that
there is a west coast convention soon, conventions can;t be in the same
area 4 years in a row, that is almost guarenteeing a disaster.....but
thanks Grant, you did a great job.

Jeremy

Jeremy Mixer * SysAdmin/Webmaster www.zoso.net * mixer@xxxxxxxx
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