Alright, folks.
In order to assure that this happens and that people have a chance to organize their lives around a Slog to London, Ontario, Canada, I'm going to go ahead with scheduling without Bakker's explicit confirmation. He has previously committed verbally but not to any specific weekend - though, I picked a date as to avoid the long weekend in August, when he'll likely be at a cottage. I will follow up with him when I'm back in London and I'm almost sure that he'll respond positively but regardless I know at least the Ishoiya crowd from last year's meet-up at Wilshire's are planning on coming.
I just had a fantastic conversation with the event coordinator at the Holiday Inn and I'm not sure that memponti (the moment in conversation) could have yielded more in our favour.
What I need now are commitment responses so I know it's worth our efforts to push forward.
So...
What: Zaudunyanicon 2017
When: August Fri, 11 – Sun, 13
Where: Holiday Inn, 855 Wellington Road South, London, ON N6E 3N5, Canada
It is near the expressway from Toronto (YYZ) but, probably at a prohibitive price, people can also fly into London (YXU). I know a couple people mentioned renting cars in groups from Toronto.
I've been able to tentatively book an event room for 40 people. If positive responses somehow overwhelm that number I will check back in with our event coordinator and she said there are other options to accommodate us, though I believe we had 25ish tentative responses the first time Wilshire and I checked around about this. I will add that she is absolutely thrilled to host an event for book readers, which she thought was a very unique request.
If Bakker commits, I've asked that he plan a talk (with a captive audience of fans in mind, which will be a first for him) followed by a Q&A Friday evening after the majority of people check-in. Either way, there will be a number of us who hit the hotel bar or a nearby restaurant Friday night.
Either way, Saturday shortly after noon, I've planned a sit-down mingle in our event space and we're looking at catering options. If Bakker is in attendance, this will be your opportunity to get your precious preciouses (books) signed. Camlost and I are also looking into cool themed swag ideas, though be lenient with us as we've never tackled anything like this on our own (Wilshire, GJ, Camlost, MG, myself) (though, I've been involved in executing hundreds of these types of events, weddings, banquets, etc, in my tenure as a cook under some of my old chefs).
Late Saturday afternoon/evening again, I think it likely that we'll hit the hotel bar or a nearby restaurant.
Sunday, of course, will be checkout day and everyone will have made plans to flee the city and/or country and slog back to their respective locales.
At 25 people, the approximate cost of tickets will be $35 (which will include food on Saturday afternoon). The more people that confirm, the lower we can make that. The event coordinator did some amazing finagling and was able to get me a group rate on rooms at $109 a night, per person. Depending on the response to this post, I can block off as many as 70 rooms for that weekend with no-obligation withdrawals up to July 11 (one month before the event). I need to confirm with her by June 26th in order to lock everything in so please let me know as soon as possible. After that you'll be able to call the hotel and book with the code "Zaudunyanicon" to be offered the group rate. Both Wilshire and GJ - who may not even attend - have both graciously offered to cover the deposit on the event room/catering and I'll follow up with confirmed attendees in a couple weeks after we lock this down in order to sort out ticket payment.
Whew!
So... sound off! Let's make the first official Zaudunyanicon a real thing!
P.S.
Obviously, I will update as soon as I have word from Bakker, one way or another. Bakker confirmed! -
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