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So let's talk some more...


Flitterkill

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Might be able to do a small thing again at Black Wolf. Maybe? Not sure of dates. That's not what this is about.

 

This is about the realities of hotels.

 

If we can get 60+ none of this is a problem, but when we have the numbers the last few years (a little north of 30) it's tough to get anywhere with hotels.

 

I worked one wild option. If only the venue allowed outside food it would have been spectacular. Aloft Cleveland. Downtown. Brand new. All of it. KIller space. Bars. Outside lounge space a number of floors up the building. With the unfortunate nut that the attached restaurant controls the meeting space on weekends and will not allow ANY outside food or drink - it must be catered through them. Oh sure, you can have the space for free if you drop $$$$ on food. Which, almost would be doable. Except of course for the hours they aren't open. And they were very explicit in the consequences of breaking that rule. It could and would get ugly. Shame that. They probably make their bank on weddings though. I wonder if they will have one booked the first weekend of October...

 

So it goes.

 

I checked a few other venues but Marvin has been the one on the ball pushing and prodding and poking places and things.

 

Summer for hotels is pretty much out at this point. That said, Marvin has presented this.

 

Days Inn Richfield

http://www.daysinn.com/hotels/ohio/richfield/days-inn-and-suites-richfield/photos-video?partner_id=&hotel_id=32657&campaign_code=&propId=DI32657&checkout_date&brand_id=DI&children=0&corporate_id=&ratePlan=&teens=0&affiliate_id=&iata=&rate_code=&adults=1&checkin_date&rooms=1

 

Former Holiday Inn Holidome. That means pool(s), mini golf, arcade, etc. It also means it's a bit on the old side. Reviews could be better. Call them scattershot. Marvin has been there, he can chime in.

 

First weekend of October. This may be bad, it may be good and the new normal (summers can be tricky with weddings and the like)

 

The entire ballroom space. All of Thrs, Fri, Sat, Sun. Not Thrs late afternoon to Sunday noon. The whole time.

 

Free reign for food AND drink! All of it. As long as someone doesn't go off their nut. Marvin made assurances. The location isn't great for going out for five minutes and coming back with food. Plans would probably need to be made for food runs or at the least let everyone know when someone is going and people can piggy back on the order, etc. Always delivery too  - I can see places making delivery area exceptions for a large enough order.

 

Now comes the hard part.

 

It's not 2005, 2006, 2007 any more. It's been a long time. Inflation and so on...

 

$4000.

 

Let's do some math!

 

30 people @ $75 a head. $2250. If attendance is the same as the last few years it's a no go.

If some people donate to kick us up to around $3000 GC can eat a grand alright-ish. I'm just reluctant to have those funds go to cover a party with so few people attending.

 

60 people? $4500, the venue is covered. Teeshirts, free snacks, etc.

 

80 and now you've got a grand ole' time.

 

It's a $1000 deposit to hold the space. If the numbers are too low months from now I've got no problem letting that deposit go. Beats the alternative.

 

But this is all on you guys.

 

Thursday October 1st through Sunday October 4th. Negotiated room rate of $80/night plus whatever street/block/neighborhood/city/county/state/made-up taxes and fees.

 

Chime in. Marvin will have some more to add. I'll let this ride a day or two and then send a bulk email if it's worth it and then we can see where we really stand.

 

PS to Marvin: Could it instead be Friday, Saturday, Sunday?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We will not get over 30 (even 30 seems like a big stretch) with just the CS crowd. If we can't get the L4D crowd to become invested in this event, I don't think we are going to be able to swing it. I'm not sure what would entice them, perhaps Jackie or someone inside that group could let us know what would bring them out to a lan.

 

Without the L4D community showing up, we should probably abandon the Hotel idea, and focus on smaller venues, like when it was in a barn or something lol :)

 

 

 

 

 

Shaftiel

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Okay, chiming in. I didn't see any guest rooms, but the Heartland room is sized for about 100 people. So it won't be elbow to elbow with the number we are going to expect. They bought the hotel not too long ago and plan on doing renovating before we get there. They have already done some work on the meeting rooms. They might provide pizza on Saturday. I can try and get just three days but Thursday has always been set-up day.

 

Here are some pictures of the Atrium. Didn't get any of the Heartland room.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

 

Rooms are usually 125. 80 is the lowest they will go due to the expected attendance being lower. Breakfast is free every morning. If anyone has specific questions about the hotel or the surrounding area feel free to ask.

Edited by MaRvIn
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Sorry, first week of October is a no go for me.  I'm an accountant and the first week after a quarter close is crazy.  I do usually take a few days off towards the end of October. :(  Bad timing for me.  Sorry, Marvin, sounds like it was hard to get that deal.  Honestly, I think everyone needs to make a commitment for next summer's fragfest early in January like we did in 2013.  Side note: I happen to work in downtown Cleveland.  I'd be scared to bring my PC over there, lol.  If the October fragfest happens, I can ship off Jack and have a weekend to myself at home, lol.

Edited by Girlzilla
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That early October week would work for me but I don't think we are going to get anywhere close to 60 people at an event that late in the year if that is the number we need to reach.  I don't think we can expect tons of first time Frag Fest attendees to all of sudden show up and fill those seats.  Our best shot is to try and get members who attended several years ago to come back, along with adding some new people to the mix hopefully.  Maybe a reach out campaign to people who have been to one but it has been many years etc.  I know there were a couple of years there we didn't do Frag Fest and I think we saw a dramatic drop off in attendance (I may be wrong on that but I am just going from memory).

 

On a related but separate note, is the issue that the player base for GC has expanded over the years and has become geographically more dispersed?  Perhaps there are fewer gaming members from Ohio or bordering states/within reasonable driving distance as there used to be?   I know I drive about 7 hours to get there and that is about as far as I would like to drive, 10 hours or more to drive and I may reconsider.  I know some people fly in but the vast majority of members probably can't afford to do that.  

 

Maybe the issue is more financial as I know several people mentioned that in this thread and the prior one.  Maybe there is a perception among the L4D2 crowd that it is heavily CS:GO orientated for the entire event.  Maybe a combination of all the above.

 

I don't know the financial health of the GC coffers but maybe to attract first time attendees GC can offer 20-25% off registration fee for first time attendees or fully subsidize registration fees for three or four first time attendees every year to bring new blood into the fold.  Just throwing stuff out there to see what other people think.  

Edited by Jibbajabba
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get back to the basics

 

i was planing on going this year because i have a new toy to take on a road trip

 

 

i went to the first 4ff's then it went hotels and thats when it became to much money and planning.  A overall cheap weekend road trip with a barn/big garage and a place to put a tent(slept in truck for 2 of those years) is all this started out as and id love to see it go back to that providing the basic shelters have the electrical supply which was the main prob. in the early days if i remember right.

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I think money is a big issue. I know the more expensive it potentially gets, the less likely I am to go. And by that I mean my wife will be less likely to let me spend our money that way. I know I'm pretty much booked this summer every weekend, but next year I only know of one wedding and is in May. So I have higher hopes for 2016.

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I know I have been absent from this topic for a while and my apologies for that. Fatty is all up for it this year and so are some of the other guys that don't visit the forums. We have four days to lock in the dates. 

 

It seems like we may have enough of a turnout after we get some promotion on the server. It has taken a big hit from everything being more expensive these days. That is understandable. I will update everything soon to see about just doing Friday morning-Sunday evening. Haven't had the time to be able to call Wendy about that and forgot last I spoke with her. They may let us use a smaller room since we won't have the original numbers I told her attending. The price is going to drop on the room but the cost of hotel rooms may have to go up a hair. (They want to make money) 

 

A floor plan will be coming with how seating will be arranged and such fun things. The price for a seat is looking like $75 and rooms could go up to $90 instead of $80.

 

With Flitter's approval FragFest 2015 looks like a go.

 

Dates: Official right now Thursday October 1st - Sunday October 4th

 

It may end up being a small crowd, but small is better than none. Feel free to ask any questions or say any concerns.

 

Edit: We don't have to give the deposit in four days, just gonna get all the details as far as we are a go and if we need to use the smaller room along with the exact days we will use them.

Edited by MaRvIn
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  • 2 weeks later...

October could very well be a go this year for me. This summer is completely shot for me. Between vacations, and dramatic changes to the family dynamic has meant that not only has disposable income been disposed of, but attendence at family events is more important than ever this year. I know where that hotel is, and it's right off of a turnpike exit, and interstate highway. Might even be able to drag my neighbor this year since it won't conflict with Pennsic War. :)

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One more thing, while it's true that this event started as a CS gathering, the focus is decidedly not on CS. True, there are CS servers up all the time, but there are so many people who go who never play CS. Many games are played, and only some of those are computer/console based. People are always bringing board and card games, and there's almost always, if not always a poker game or two during the weekend.

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