Beth's pushing me to post this, which I suppose is fair given she did all the work. I have broken this down into three sections - Location, Food, and Fee. There's a lot of data here, so read before asking questions!
LOCATION
A local Howard Johnson's hotel near the airport is redeveloping into a very fine Best Western hotel. Man, are the rooms sweet: Two queen size beds in every room, kitchenette in every room (microwave, coffee pot, refrigerator), broadband (wired and wireless) in every room, full cable in every room. In addition, they have a nice confrence room they're letting us have for BOTH Friday and Saturday, an outdoor pool, two restaurants, and get this - 24 hour Shuttle service TO and FROM the airport.
Prices: $65 per room. Room can have up to four guests. I suggest that you start figuring out now who you might want to room with, if you can't swing the cost alone. Please don't panic - you have nine months to pick up this cash.
Oh God I Can't Afford It: Ok, so you absolutely, truely want to come, but you can't swing ANY money no matter how hard you try, for any part of a hotel room. Beth and I are renting two rooms specifically for you. These "free rooms" will be awarded (4 to a room) on a case by case basis judged by Ryan and Beth.
Reserved: We have reserved 20 rooms for the time being, which we have been told will be in one block. We can reserve more at this price. Reservation details to follow next week. Rooms are reserved from THURSDAY 06/07/2007 through SUNDAY 06/10/2007. Any unreserved rooms will be released to the public one month before the cookout. If all twenty rooms get rented, Beth and I get a free Jacuzzi suite, which you will all be invited to enjoy (particularly the wome-OW! Dammit Beth...)
FOOD
The 2007 ComicGenesis Cookout will be a catered event. This is because we will not be allowed to provide our own perishable food at the conference room. We have already asked them to work up a cost for cookout-type foods, including a meatless option.
Yes, catered. Before you complain, remember that I spent the majority of the cookout... cooking. And while that was fun, I really do end up missing out on a lot of the cookout events. And that makes me sad. Buying, Storing, Moving, and Prepping said food was also a nightmare, and the cookout is only growing every year. Finally, some folks didn't get food until late because I only had so much grill space - catering handles that problem as well.
No, we're not changing the name. It's cookout food, even if it's not cooked out.
This means that you will not be required to bring food. You are welcome to do so, but you don't HAVE TO. If you do, the rule of thumb is this: "The food should be non-perishable. This means if it needs a refrigerator or freezer, it is out." And that's a hard line - if you bring perishable food, you'll have to keep it in your room refrigerator and not bring it to the conference room. It's for insurance reasons, I'm told.
FEES
All this prepwork brings me to the final part of this document - Fees. Shortly after the 2006 cookout, the idea of fees was batted around, based on the fact that even after several hundred dollars of very welcome donations, Beth and I still outlaid over a thousand dollars for the cookout.
This year, we just don't have that kind of money coming in from our taxes or any other source. So there will be a fee of somewhere between $20 and $35 for this year's cookout. The exact value will be determined after we find out how much catering will be (a major portion of the expenses this year), and the fee will not be geared towards making a profit - we will try to match it roughly to the costs we expect to incur.
What does this mean for you? Well first off, it means that you have nine months to pick up an extra (what at most should be) $35. It also means that while we will glady accept donations to offset the cookout costs we aren't including (time, gasoline, etcetera), we will not be actually ASKING for donations for the cookout. And, nobody who comes to the cookout should feel guilty about not donating.
Speaking of donations, we will have the "donation pool" up again this year for people who cannot afford to come to the cookout but who would otherwise go. There will be more details on this later. Don't ask right now, give us a few weeks.
Finally, we're asking that once we have everything in place to do so, pay the fee when you know for sure you're coming, and not at the last minute, if possible. At the worst, a month in advance of the cookout. Some costs hit much earlier than others, and the money we get in will go towards early bills.
CONCLUDE
Cookout 2007 is on!
We have a location, it's fairly priced, and it ROCKS!
If you truely can't afford to pay to stay, we have free rooms.
Everyone will be at one location with easy airport access!
Bring food if you like, but make it non-perishable (non-refrigerated).
There will be a fee, probably between $20 and $35, geared towards offsetting costs, not making a profit.
More details later! Converse!
Just hopefully he'll have finished his studies by then, though... makes me a leeeetle worried about date-wise. If the timing IS good (and we won't really know until next year when he gets his schedules), expect us there (and in a room)!
