EC2007 — Country and city suggestions

[Link]

It's perhaps a little early, but I felt that the planning for WC2006 was quite rushed and it might help to know sooner where the meeting is going to be. That's what this thread is for.

Recommended city criteria:

Located in eastern Canada or (north)eastern USA.
Major city with lots of stuff to do for a group of JJ2 community members.
Accessible public transit system.
Near a major airport and/or bus terminal.
Not too expensive for accommodation.
Not Toronto, because EC2005 was there :-P.


I've been relatively absent from community communication channels such as #jj2, so I don't know what kind of discussion (if any) has occurred so far.

The only serious suggestion I've heard so far, from discussion at the end of WC2006, is Montréal, Québec, Canada. Advantages of Montreal:


Arguably Canada's most interesting and diverse city.
Opportunity to practice French, though fairly easy to get around in English.
Lots of things to do, and a nice city to walk around in.
Drinking age is 18 ;-).


So if you don't want the meeting to be in Montreal, post your city suggestions here! I'll set an arbitrary deadline of November 1, 2006, for suggestions, and December 1, 2006, for a final decision of the city. Of course I have no real ability to enforce these deadlines, but I would really like to get this moving, so please try and follow them :-).

[Violet CLM]

The tradition of meeting in a gigantic city of skyscrapers and red light districts is getting somewhat predictable. We should return to the natural world; a world of enormous balloons, golf courses, community theater, eleven different tennis courts, and hicks. A world with a well chosen URL; a world known only as <a href="http://www.ashland-ohio.com/">Ashland, Ohio.</a>

[EvilMike]

I'm going to vote for montreal.

-Fun city with a lot of stuff to do
-Even though it's in quebec, almost everyone speaks at least some english
-The old part of the city is really old!!!
-Best resteraunts in the country
-It's in canada so you americans can use your strong american dollar to potentially get things cheaper. That's assuming the american dollar will still be worth more than the canadian dollar next summer. Which it probably will!
-People who hate sunlight can spend most of their time underground and still get by ok because montreal was founded by moles who build an underground city before running out of space and expanding above ground
-Terrorist free for 36 years
-Is not in Ohio

[Tik]

Ohio is a fine place for an international meeting.. and it's where I live so that means I could probably attend.

We could go to Cedar Point, best amusement park in THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we could visit some of Lake Erie's beaches (which are beautiful, dead fish and pollution aside).

Or Montreal sounds nice.

[Radium]

Montreal, because it's not Ohio.

[Black Ninja]

I second Violet's suggestion, actually.

Why, you ask? Good question.

(This area will be replaced with an explanation at a future date)

[Monolith]

I'd actually expand the range beyond North East US, Eastern/Central Canada. What's wrong with the Southern East Coast of the US, or the Gulf Coast? I'm sure there's still pleanty of good vacationing spots around there. And they're still just as far away from me. ;|

Maybe we shouldn't be forcing ourselves into an EC/WC paradigm. It could be just as easily Northern/Souther, or US/Canada. Or it could be anywhere just so long as it's somewhere different each time.

[Link]

I proposed northeastern US or eastern Canada because it seems like there are a lot of people from the community who live in those areas. This makes planning easier because there are people who are familiar with the area, and it also has the potential for a greater turnout, because people in those areas who can't afford to fly may still be able to attend.

But if you have some ideas that might work, feel free to suggest them. That's why I said "recommended city criteria" in my original post. I also agree that we don't have to stick to the east-west paradigm, but it seems that not many people here live in between.

[Tik]

In #jj2 a number of people mentioned Chicago as a doable choice. It's more centrally located, but still on the eastern half of NA. The third largest city in the US, there's plenty to do there and it's a nice city. Even has a beach ;D

[Link]

It's past November 1, and so far we have:

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (3 votes)
Ashland, Ohio, USA (3 votes)
Chicago, Illinois, USA (? votes)

Any other ideas? This is kind of pitiful compared to last year's nomination thread. We should still try and have a final decision by the end of November.

If there's any chance you could attend, please post here with your preference out of the above three cities, or if you have a really good alternate suggestion, post that as well.

[Stijn]

hahahahaha http://www.ashland-ohio.com/ has a web 2.0 generator logo

[nakke]

Hahahah that is awesome. GO TO THAT PLACE.

[Violet CLM]

I might add that besides Spaztic, at least three community members live in or extremely near to Ashland who would probably not attend otherwise, thus bolstering the convention.

[The Beckster]

yeah and i live in ashland!!!

:D

[Radium]

I would like to point out, though, that God lives in Montreal.

[KRSplat]

We can run and frolic in the fields!

[The Beckster]

Ugh, I hate Cleveland. It bothers me.

If not Ashland, don't choose Cleveland.

[Link]

I'm inclined to agree with Trafton. I think the Ashland proponents need to provide some information about what we could actually do there in order to be taken seriously.

Besides, I'm assuming that Ashland doesn't have an international airport, so attendees would have to fly into Cleveland and somehow get to Ashland, which is a drive of over an hour. For those of us not planning to have cars on the trip, it would mean additional cost and inconvenience to take a bus or taxi.

[Monolith]

Here's a suggestion I brought up in #jj2. Instead of doing the hotel thing like we've done for the past few meetings, find something more like a condo timeshare -- I'm not sure what to call it. But some unit where there are at least two bedrooms, with at least three beds, and a couch, or some arrangement so we can fit at least five people in a unit. And then we could get two or three of those units depending on how many people there are. Preferably these units would give us a lot more space than hotel rooms (without having to use the lobby), and they could have other advantages such as a table or kitchen. This would make it easier to get together and play games, which we seem to like to do, and we could buy food from the store and keep it around to make things cheaper than going out to eat all the time. A place with a pool and hot tub would also be fun.

I bet we could find this sort of setup in pretty much any general location, so I should also list some things that would be good to have around the region. It should have easy access to an airport. This doesn't necessarily mean it needs to be close to the airport, but a shuttle or other easy transportation to and from the airport would be best. Easy transportation to places we'd want to go, such as a bus system, or simply that the places we want to go be nearby. A variety of cheap palces to get food. If we want to stay away from touristy places (which I wouldn't mind staying away from) a park or open field would be good to play in. Malls generally have a nice mix of things to do. Perhaps bars and clubs would also give us something fun and new to do. Bonus points for being in Canada for that.

What does anybody else think about this? If you can find any place like this (which I'm sure there are many to choose from), bring it up. It may even be possible in the locations already suggested.

[Tik]

That sounds like it would be very neat, but have you looked into whether or not it's cost effective vs. a hotel?

[Ducky]

I definitely vote for Montreal, because it's like two hours driving from me.

I know I sound like a broken record, but there's always Boston. I'd suggest that.

And I missed the part where Ohio counted as East Coast, too... not that I'm debating.

[MaGoo]

Once again I'm going to vote biased and go with Montreal. It's practical for a lot of us (especially me) and it's a great place to visit. Oh, and I can drink my face off there.

[Monolith]

Since it's been talked about a lot more in #jj2 than it has been here, I should mention that Trafton has been keeping an eye out for houses that can be rented. I should also mention that there's seriously more focus on having the meeting in Vancouver, BC. Yes, Vancouver isn't the East Coast, but we haven't been hearing much from those who might prefer a meeting closer to the East Coast. If you are one of those people, please speak up and start looking into possible places to stay so we can work things out. The more people we can have finding actual places to stay (not just general cities), the better selection we'll have to choose from.

P.S. Trafton is awesome for looking all this stuff up, but I'm sure he'd appreciate it if more people helped out.

[Link]

I should mention this here, since we've talked about it a few times in #jj2. One possible place to stay in Vancouver is the University of British Columbia residences. I stayed at the Gage Towers (http://www.ubcconferences.com/accommodation/gage_towers/) with my family last summer, and it worked out quite well.

Basically it's a 6-bedroom suite, with a kitchen, common area, and extra-large bathroom. The University of British Columbia (UBC) is fairly close to downtown Vancouver (not quite walking distance, but a very short bus ride) and is quite a nice location. There's stuff to do at the university itself, as well.

Bedrooms:

http://www.ubcconferences.com/gallery/gage_towers_shared_apartments/gage_towers_single.jpg

Lounge area:

http://www.ubcconferences.com/gallery/gage_towers_shared_apartments/gage_towers_lounge.jpg

The cost isn't significantly less than a hotel (it would be about USD 40 per person per night with six people per suite), but everyone gets their own bedroom, and it has a kitchen so less money could potentially be spent on food if we made some meals ourselves.

This would be my preference if we decide to go with Vancouver. Trafton is looking at the option of renting an entire house for the duration of the meeting, so hopefully he'll post some of his findings here as well.