It's never too early to think about 2013!

[IndigoBlueWagon]

At this year's Fest I spoke to Fred about changing the date of the Fest, thinking more at the time about having one in the winter in a southern state. He said he was open to it, but if we, for example, decided to have one on MLK weekend, we either wouldn't have one the preceding Labor Day or would not have one the next labor day. So, for example, if we wanted one in January it would be in 2014 and there would be no 2013 Fest. Or we'd have a 2013 Fest, a 2014 Fest in January, and no Fest again until 2015.

 

[romad]

Perhaps there could be smaller regional ones at various times of the year and then one Canada/US large one each year. Or have a Canadian location in the summer/fall and a U.S location in the winter/spring.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Winterfest 2014 in N'AWLINS?? Better start planning.

 

[bhtooefr]

Personally, I think the rotation idea would work better, either with a mix of fixed locations and a selected location around the US+Canada, or with selected locations within rotating fixed regions.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Even years: repeat locations in each region (rotating, North East, South East, Mid-West, South West, North West).
Odd years: new location

This way Fest moves all over the country, great locations can be repeated every 10 years and unique odd year groups have two years to plan their Fests.

That's the idea I've been kicking around for a little while. *shrug*

 

[bhtooefr]

Not only that, but that gives enough time for odd year groups to submit strong proposals before the Fest prior to theirs, which could allow for announcing the next Fest at Fest every year.

I'd be all for that schedule. Novelty with stability. (And, it gives the repeat location groups years to plan ahead, so the repeat locations can be at even harder to get places.)

 

[HKB3]

November 2013 San Antonio for the US Grand Prix....yea I know wishful thinking
Most likely I'll be there either way

 

[Lug_Nut]

I fixed it for ya

and unique odd___ groups have two years to plan their Fests.

 

[Leo819]

and unique odd___ groups

but isnt that most us?

 

[Leo819]

I have time to plan and or help with a Fest this year. There is a good location for one. Harrisburg, PA. IT's extremely accessible to North America.

PA Dutch Country
Harley Davidson York pa
Gettysburg

It's also near by some of our favorite vendors on this site.

IF anyone is interested in helping me, please pm me.

 

[JSWTDI09]

IT's extremely accessible to North America.

...if you happen to live in the Eastern part of North America. It's almost a 2,500 mile drive for me. I'm not sure that I would consider that "extremely accessible".

Have Fun!

Don

 

[jdhunt0]

Fingers still crossed for St Louis. Who was working on that? Please PM me.



Nevermind...

 

[tomo366]

Fingers still crossed for St Louis. Who was working on that? Please PM me.

Nobody.....

 

[Leo819]

...if you happen to live in the Eastern part of North America. It's almost a 2,500 mile drive for me. I'm not sure that I would consider that "extremely accessible".

Have Fun!

Don

I hosted the 2006 tdifest in valley forge. It was one of the highest attended fests at the time. We had people from all over.

It's all up to who make the commitment to put it together.

We had alot of members who went to the Northwest Fest from the east coast. People will come if the effort is there.

 

[romad]

It'd be nice for one up in Canada, say in Vancouver, Victoria, or Banff.

 

[JSWTDI09]

We had alot of members who went to the Northwest Fest from the east coast. People will come if the effort is there.

I did not say (or mean to imply) that people will not come to a fest held there. I merely was commenting on you use of the term "extremely accessible".

The Portland, OR fest was attended by a member from Portland, ME, but I would not call that "extremely accessible". Someplace in the middle of the country (St. Louis, Kansas, City, etc.) would be more accessible to the entire country. Would you consider San Diego, CA to be "extremely accessible"? I would. The accessibility of any given site depends entirely on where you live.

Have Fun!

Don

 

[romad]

I define "extremely accessible" as no more that 1 day's drive.

 

[mrvermin]

The Portland, OR fest was attended by a member from Portland, ME, but I would not call that "extremely accessible". Someplace in the middle of the country (St. Louis, Kansas, City, etc.) would be more accessible to the entire country. Would you consider San Diego, CA to be "extremely accessible"? I would. The accessibility of any given site depends entirely on where you live.

Have Fun!

Don

Actually, that person drove to Portland ME and then on to Portland OR just to say they drove from Portland to Portland . I drove to Portland from Toronto and enjoy driving, so I have no problem driving to a Fest in San Diego CA if held there or even Houston TX.

To me, Accessibility depends on if I can get there by car

MrVermin
See you all at TDIFest 2013

 

[VeeDubTDI]

So we are up here at Sunday River - this is an awesome location. Absolutely captivating - my first time up to Maine.

 

[Patrick15630]

Actually, that person drove to Portland ME and then on to Portland OR just to say they drove from Portland to Portland . I drove to Portland from Toronto and enjoy driving, so I have no problem driving to a Fest in San Diego CA if held there or even Houston TX.

To me, Accessibility depends on if I can get there by car

MrVermin
See you all at TDIFest 2013

Yes have one here in Houston

 

[bhtooefr]

Really, I still say the best bet is the rotation idea. That way, there will be a fest in your region eventually (if you live in the contiguous United States, or in southern Canada).

Maybe it's time for a "it's never too early to think about 2014!" thread. Or, hell, "it's never too early to think about 2015!" I'm thinking, if the rotation for odd years (or even years) idea is set up, southwest or southeast would be best for the next rotation location (with weather being an important factor - deep south in September sounds awful, for instance), because northeast and midwest have been heavily used, and northwest has been recently used.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

That's exactly why I brought it up with Fred. Something like MLK weekend in FL or Texas, for example.

 

[romad]

How about:

U.S. East: All states east of the Mississippi River (except LA)
Canada East: Ontario (less far west part) and other eastern provinces
U.S. Center: ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, TX, MN, IA, MO, AR, and LA
Canada Center: Manitoba, and part of Ontario above MN
U.S. West: WA, OR, CA, ID, NV, UT, AZ, MT, WY, CO, & NM
Canada West: B.C., Albert, Sask.

 

[bhtooefr]

One problem with a Canadian fest (especially with that many Canadian fests in the rotation) is the international travel issue, as many US citizens don't have passports. On the flip side, many Canadian citizens do, and Canadian attendance of US fests is high when the fest is close to Canada. (80% of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the US border, after all.)

Unfortunately, there's no valid statistics on how a Canadian fest would do, given the current laws regarding travel between the US and Canada. (IIRC, the Montreal fest was scheduled when it was, because it would be the last year before a passport was required to re-enter the US.) It'd be interesting to try as a non-rotation location (and then add to the rotation if it does well), but not sure if the rotation will work well for that.

 

[Lug_Nut]

(rant: ON)
Aww cripes! Does it really matter where it is?
It'll be cheaper and easier for everyone to have a call-in conference call than to -heaven forbid!- actually use a car to drive someplace new.

The big thing in selecting a venue apparently is: Does it have free hi-speed wireless?
We apparently don't need face-to-face meetings what with most on twit-face and the other (anti-)social networks. Invariably the first thing many attendees do after checking in at a fest is to log-on and post that they are there, and then hang out, on-line, in the room to see who else posts that they've also arrived and are also cocooned in their room for the duration.
Just go down to the lobby and shake hands with someone already.
(rant: OFF)

 

[romad]

Simple solution: Department of Homeland Security mandate that ALL U.S. citizens get a passport. That would also help the deficit every 10 years: $100 x 300,000,000+ citizens = $30,000,000,000+

 

[tomo366]

(rant: ON)
Aww cripes! Does it really matter where it is?
It'll be cheaper and easier for everyone to have a call-in conference call than to -heaven forbid!- actually use a car to drive someplace new.

The big thing in selecting a venue apparently is: Does it have free hi-speed wireless?
We apparently don't need face-to-face meetings what with most on twit-face and the other (anti-)social networks. Invariably the first thing many attendees do after checking in at a fest is to log-on and post that they are there, and then hang out, on-line, in the room to see who else posts that they've also arrived and are also cocooned in their room for the duration.
Just go down to the lobby and shake hands with someone already.
(rant: OFF)

DAMN Jon!! how do you really feel???

 

[romad]

(rant: ON)
Aww cripes! Does it really matter where it is?
It'll be cheaper and easier for everyone to have a call-in conference call than to -heaven forbid!- actually use a car to drive someplace new.

The big thing in selecting a venue apparently is: Does it have free hi-speed wireless?
We apparently don't need face-to-face meetings what with most on twit-face and the other (anti-)social networks. Invariably the first thing many attendees do after checking in at a fest is to log-on and post that they are there, and then hang out, on-line, in the room to see who else posts that they've also arrived and are also cocooned in their room for the duration.
Just go down to the lobby and shake hands with someone already.
(rant: OFF)

Or just go down to the lobby and use the WiFi there!

 

[tomo366]

I was all over Ypsilanti last year!! and had a great time!!

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Jon, that was such a cranky post I thought it was Tomo! There will always be losers in the lobby.

The Fests I've liked best have been in the midwest. Ypsi this year and Lake Mills in '06 were both excellent, although quite different from one another. And if it's in MI/WI/MN/IL most folks can get there, including Canadians. Maybe we should work around that area instead of trying to alternate coasts. But I'd also be all over an Aspen or Vail Fest if someone wanted to pull that off.