88 replies to this topic

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

My 2psi -- cheap is fine, so I'm OK with either Best Western or Econolodge. Walking is good for me!

I guess I need to check the web site for the show. Do we need to fly in Thurs and out Mon?

[WreckWench]

I think most people arrived on Friday and left either Sunday late or Monday. We will need volunteers for Friday so if you CAN arrive thursday that is awesome.

Thanks Keith that is great work. Now to get some feedback so we can work on a pkg or 2 pkgs. I think Sassi has booked a room at the Marriott so we may have two groups...one slightly higher upscale and one in the more economical options.

Thanks for your feedback! kamala

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

OK, if Friday is "setup" day, then I'll take that day off and fly in Thurs after I get off work, so for planning I'll need a room Thur/Fri/Sat night, and fly home Sunday.

[KeithT4U]

Friday is indeed set up day with a social event for the exhbitors that evening. Saturday is a very full day with a treasure hunt dive in the morning and the show all dat and a general public party that evening. Sunday the show winds down and disassembles at 500pm. Looking at the website it looks like they are working better with the UPS store to handle shipping in and out of displays. Going by how things worked last year we did our HH on Saturday right after the show and made it back to the party in time to enjoy the band but missed the photo contest show. Not sure what we would want to plan this year as Brineybay has not chimed in but if we look at the old posts we might chose a place based on his recomendations. I did the hotels for the 4 nights so we might get a dive or 2 in some where thinking thursday evening would be great if we can all get in town soon enough. As for my plans I was thinking if I can get in early enough I might rent a minivan for the weekend and then I can play driver for every one else but it is still a while away to make that firm of a plan.


Keith

[kevininpo]

l can put up a couple people...l'm about a half hour plus 4 dollar toll away

[KeithT4U]

I erred in the schedule. This year the treasure hunt is Friday morning with setup friday afternoon. This is good news for the volunteers that want to participate and also gives time to get the prize list done before the public show opens. So those that can bring your dive gear and arrive Thursday night. As for the water temps, I am extremely cold tolerant and dive a 7mil wet suit. With hood and gloves I can manage about 45 mins before my fingers start to go numb. I would strongly recomend those that are coming and plan on diving get dry suit qualified and if you don't own one rent one. The diving is awesome and there are lots of great things to see, ling cod are the coolest fish underwater, and tasty above it. Lets have some fun diving these great waters.

Keith

[diverdeb]

l can put up a couple people...l'm about a half hour plus 4 dollar toll away

Kevin, Does that mean I can put you down to either help in the booth or come to the happy hour? Or BOTH??

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

My experience with other types of trade shows is that nearby hotels fill up fast, and this is now only 4 months away. Have we reserved a block of rooms yet for SD volunteers, or are we on our own to make reservations at one of the options listed earlier in the thread? I'm starting to look at making these travel plans & budget for it, now that the holidays are over & paid for!

[Scubatooth]

Tammie

I dont know yet that would be a wench question. personally for me my plane tickets wont be bought until about 45-60 days out as thats when the lower ticket buckets open up. As for hotels the big one for me atleast is to know where Rick Straton is having some of the after show events(reception, photo/video contest results show) as that will determine alot. personally I would like to be close to the show as it would make things easier in getting to events and such.


Speaking of the Treasure Hunt is SD going to put together a team for this as im coming up early to attend this event as i would love to have a shot a grand in cold hard cash, plus i have a nack for finding golf balls in poor/no viz conditions. Then is there any HP Steel (Like a 130) tanks available to borrow or rent for the Treasure Hunt

Then ? for seattle locals: at SEA-TAC are/is there luggage storage at the airport? reason is that I may need to add a side trip to go see a client after the show and dont want to haul all the gear with me if i dont need to

[WreckWench]

l can put up a couple people...l'm about a half hour plus 4 dollar toll away

Thanks Kevin! That would be awesome!

[WreckWench]

My experience with other types of trade shows is that nearby hotels fill up fast, and this is now only 4 months away. Have we reserved a block of rooms yet for SD volunteers, or are we on our own to make reservations at one of the options listed earlier in the thread? I'm starting to look at making these travel plans & budget for it, now that the holidays are over & paid for!

No we have not. We need a count of who needs a room and/or wants one. We have at least one local area volunteer for a place to crash and I think we have a few folks staying with Sassi.

Now that the holidays are REALLY over we can start to work on this! LOL!

I am going to ask Tammy if she will help with who needs a room etc. So if you get a pm/email from her then you'll know why! She will ask if you are renting a room and if so where and for what nights and would you be willing to share. She will ask if you need to rent a room and if so willing to share etc. She will also ask if others have couches nearby or at least willing to come to the show to bring you to it. And well anything else she thinks of that is pertinent!

[Dive_Girl]

Speaking of the Treasure Hunt is SD going to put together a team for this as im coming up early to attend this event as i would love to have a shot a grand in cold hard cash, plus i have a nack for finding golf balls in poor/no viz conditions. Then is there any HP Steel (Like a 130) tanks available to borrow or rent for the Treasure Hunt

I believe A-2-Z Scuba has larger capacity tanks for rent. My recommendation is to send Amy an email. The depths will be unlikely to exceed 40' and the hunt tends to go fairly fast, so based on a diver's air consumption it may be unlikley for that diver to have a need for a tank larger than what they normally dive in.

[Dive_Girl]

My experience with other types of trade shows is that nearby hotels fill up fast, and this is now only 4 months away. Have we reserved a block of rooms yet for SD volunteers, or are we on our own to make reservations at one of the options listed earlier in the thread? I'm starting to look at making these travel plans & budget for it, now that the holidays are over & paid for!

No we have not. We need a count of who needs a room and/or wants one. We have at least one local area volunteer for a place to crash and I think we have a few folks staying with Sassi.

Now that the holidays are REALLY over we can start to work on this! LOL!

I am going to ask Tammy if she will help with who needs a room etc. So if you get a pm/email from her then you'll know why! She will ask if you are renting a room and if so where and for what nights and would you be willing to share. She will ask if you need to rent a room and if so willing to share etc. She will also ask if others have couches nearby or at least willing to come to the show to bring you to it. And well anything else she thinks of that is pertinent!

AS most of the people attending this are local or within driving distance, I don't know if there will be a huge rush on hotel space, but it would be less stressful to be proactive. I am hoping to stay with friends up there but will let you all know if instead I will be joining the hotel bunk party.

[WreckWench]

SHOW PLANNING UPDATE:

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give you all a show planning update or five.

1. Carol aka Sassi will be our "Head-Chick-In-Charge" for the show and organizing our volunteer efforts with Rick Stratton the organizer of the show. (He loved her last year and I'm sure it had nothing to do with her military precision coordination and problem resolution skills she demonstrated last year at the show!) In any event we are HONORED to have her taking the lead on the show this year.

2. Dan aka ScubaTooth will be our "Boy-Scout-On-Steriods" running the wildly famous sessions with Rogest and other projects Rick entrusts exclusively to "Boy-Scout-On-Steriods" types. We are THRILLED to have him join the team again and am eager to see how he sustains the cold if he does the Treasure Hunt!

3. Keith aka KeithT4U will be our "Do-Anything-You-Need-Guy-Extradinaire" and will be doing just that....ANYTHING THE EVENT NEEDS! He too was invaluable last year and again I am EXCITED he is going to join us again!

4. Tammy aka Landlocked Dive Nut will be our "Get-Your-Ducks-In-A-Row" gal and will be dotting i's and crossing t's for us in terms of organizational stuff! This will be her first trip to the PNW and I know she will love it!

5. I just spoke with Rick Stratton and he will start formal planning for the show's volunteers etc. around Feb 1. I will keep our event organizers apprised of this schedule so they can be involved.

6. We will need more help such as official guides/drivers etc. Looks like Kevin has already offered to help and we'll certainly need some more members to help out in anyway they can...work the booth, work the show, facilitating the workers of the show/booth etc.

Again all for your amazing support and help!

[cmt489]

George and I will be getting a room at the Hotel Murano, which is where we always stay. They only glitch will be if George is writing any exams after that weekend (they go until the 28th), in which case we might not be able to make it. BTW, assuming we will make it I will need a bigger SD t-shirt - my belly will be huge by then