The Almost Official 2004 Austin GTG Announcement & Invitation (1 Viewer)

[Victor.Y]

Looks like the speakers are coming in nicely... but we might be a little lacking on the amplification/pre-pro side.

I am happy to offer my Panasonic XR25 all-digital amp, but those of you would like to hear alternative amplification -- and also for listening area #2 (or #3), we'll need additional amps/pre-pro's or nice receivers...

If anyone can assist on this, please let me know. Thanks!

 

[Nhan_H]

I'm not going to respond to any of the exchanges between Curtis and Craig

Victor, I thought Mark volunteered some Emo gear...or at least I hope he did

Oh yea, don't forget about wires....lots of wires.

 

[Victor.Y]

I think the Emo gear would be fantastic, but keep in mind it's not that easy to transport! I remember a thread about it -- shipping in 3 containers weighing 200 pounds.

We will need some additional amps anyways in case we want to set up additional listening areas... the more the merrier. Especially coming from local folks, it won't be as inconveniencing.

But I won't turn down Emo.

 

[Nhan_H]

Maybe a local BB or CC or Ultimate can contribute some receivers

 

[Chris Quinn]

Never get involved with a woman whose work involves better toys than you have.

 

[CurtisSC]

Don't worry, her audio system leaves much to be desired. She's got a nice house in Hermosa Beach and a decent TV though.

 

[Victor.Y]

I've done some more calling today and it looks like a many of the popular hotels downtown are booked up. Sept/Oct is their busiest season because of the returning students and other conferences that are going on.

With that said, I will recommend several hotels in the downtown area, but you can find cheaper rates in the northwest ("Arboretum") area. Your choice of where to stay.

It's going to be simpler and more fun -- instead of everyone meeting at a hotel, I'm going to suggest we meet Friday for drinks, scenery, and food at Hula Hut.

It's a popular place, so as we wait, we can enjoy their famous "Hulala" drinks and a nice view of Lake Austin.
Let's meet starting at 6:00p (for dinner around 7:30). That will give us plenty of time to mingle and meet up!

Hula Hut is well known for their Tex-Mex food with Hawaiian flair. I love their Hawaaian fajitas and tubular tacos.... Hotels... coming up.

 

[Nhan_H]

Sounds good, Victor. I'll have my car there, so I wouldn't mind giving people rides.

 

[SteveFurrer]

Victor,

Sounds like a plan.

Have you heard from those who are going to be flying in? As far as times they are arriving and such as well as who is wanting to rent a car?

Just wanting to help get everyone to the Hut as quickly and without hassle as possible.

This is going to be a great time!

SteveFurrer

 

[Victor.Y]

Nhan, thanks for the offer. As folks make their travel arrangements, we'll try to coordinate rides in the event they will not have a rental car. Depending on how many folks fly in, though, this plan might be some work -- perhaps you could be in charge of organizing this.

So far, no one has stated any flight times to me... to Hula Hut from the airport is typically a 15 minute drive, but during rush hour it might increase to 30 minutes.

I'll post some hotel information in the next post.

Oh, PS, a big "thanks" goes to Steve Furrer and Paul Creel for helping out with the guides/maps/directions/welcome packet.

 

[Victor.Y]

The main Saturday listening session will be held in Northwest Austin (ZIP 78759), near the intersection of Spicewood Springs and 183N. This is about 15 miles away from downtown. So my suggestion is a central or north/nw hotel be the best choice.

Friday (check-in) 10/22/04 to Sunday 10/24 (check-out)

Downtown hotel - Wellesley Inn Austin Town Lake (**)
- close to capital, 4th and 6th St (bars, clubs, music venues), few minutes S of University of Texas, few minutes N of Zilker Park
- 15 minutes from listening venue, 15 minutes from airport
- base $53/night; 2 nights + taxes/fees $122.34 on
expedia.com

Alternatively, if you don't care for the busyness of downtown, and prefer with a little less traffic and less driving in the weekend, you can try a northwest hotel (hotels.com allows you to search by location - Arboretum). Or hotwire a hotel for best price, if you have a rental car.

North/NW hotel (Arboretum 78759):
- about 10-15 minutes away from downtown
- nice area, near Best Buy/CC/shopping areas, many places to eat
- 5-10 minutes away from Sat listening venue


I will call the hotel directly tomorrow to see what kind of rates we can get for a group (directly) instead of expedia.com. Once we confirm this, I will update post #2: I'd recommend booking soon, since the group rates folks I've spoke with have mentioned that it's a pretty busy weekend.

Nice hotels such as the Marriott, Raddisson, Hyatt, Holiday Inn, are all sold out downtown. Only things available are Hilton ($169/n), Omni ($135/n), Crown Plaza ($125), Embassy Suites ($149).

 

[Jimmy Harmon]

Victor, thanks for all your legwork on this. Looks like a pretty good deal at the Wellesley so long as it's not a dump. Do you know anything about this place other than what's on Expedia?

I'll also throw out the Doubletree Club Austin - University Area. More expensive, but looks pretty nice. It's across from the SE corner of the UT campus. Within walking distance of several attractions including the LBJ Presidential Library (which is pretty neat if you like that stuff) and about a mile from the 6th Street entertainment district and the State Capitol (also worth seeing). Expedia has it for $89/night ($209.70 for 2 nights all taxes and fees included). I have no idea how many rooms they have availabe. I can try to call tomorrow if anyone is interested.

I'm not yet ready to give up on the idea of having at least a suggested hotel for those that would like to stay in the same place. Obviously, people can stay anywhere they like though.

Let's get some input from those coming from out of town. If you're flying or driving in, would you prefer that (1) everyone just find their own hotel room with some helpful tips from Victor or (2) would you prefer that we try to come to a consensus on the best place to stay?

My thoughts on this are that there are several benefits to having us out-of-towners in one hotel:

1. It makes it easier to car pool and for people to follow each other in a city they may not be familiar with.

2. We can leave maps at the front desk to the places such as Victor's house, The Hula Hut, etc. for people that arive at different times.

3. Other than the listening session at Victor's house, I think many of us are planning to go out Friday night, Saturday night, and there is the possibility of something Sunday. A common hotel makes a good place for everyone to meet, even if they're not staying at the hotel, before going out.

4. Let's face it, some of us are going to have too much to drink to be driving. It would be nice to have a bed that is either walking distance or a short cab ride from the bar district. Being able to share cabs or ride with those that don't drink (if there are any) would be a good thing, too.

5. Staying at the same place adds a certain cohesiveness to the group. I've been to two AV123 GTG's (Dallas & Boulder) and everyone I have spoken to that has attended left feeling that the conversations with the other attendees was easily as important, if not more so, than the audio equipment. Whether it be winding down in the hotel bar after a hard night on Sixth Street, hanging out in someone's room, or catching breakfast together on Sunday morning before we all head out, having a common hotel that everyone can congregate at really facilitates the group atmosphere.

I'm flexible, but I'd like to get others input before we make any decisions for the group. Because of the reasons Victor already mentioned, if we do "designate" a hotel, we may just have to name it, and then let those that want to stay there try to book it through Expedia as opposed to being able to secure a block of rooms.

Whew, too much writing . . . ok, let's hear opinions from those planning to attend.

 

[Victor.Y]

Jimmy,

I'm sorry, I wouldn't recommend a dump if that's what you're suggesting. The Wellesley is a 2 star hotel, and actually closer to the entertainment district.

Regardless, either the Doubletree or the Wellesley would be fine, but like you said we should just choose one and designate it as the primary hotel. I'm not sure if everyone wants to spend the premium for the Doubletree though -- that's prefectly good food and drink money!

Personally, my take at this time: the Wellesley (since it's pretty affordable -- at $53/night) is the best chance to have everyone at the same place. At a higher rate ($89/night), you are at risk of having people find cheaper alternatives. The planned schedules are going to be pretty full from Friday night to Sat night.

Again, I'll give both hotels mentioned a ring tomorrow to see about group pricing for 10 rooms, and report back.

 

[Jimmy Harmon]

No, it's not. Just asking if you knew anything about the hotel other than what's listed on Expedia.

 

[Victor.Y]

heh actually I don't. Unfortunately, I haven't personally stayed there... I'l be sure to ask them on the phone if they suck or have some weird problems. I'm going to ACLFest this weekend, so I'm totally out of touch Fri-Sun, but perhaps one of the locals can drive around and check it out for us to confirm?

BTW - after dinner on Friday - is going out downtown and the Austin nightlife.

 

[Chris Quinn]

Another hotel suggestion is Extended StayAmerica-Downtown at 6th and San Antonio. That is a 2-3 block walk to the warehouse district and maybe 5 blocks to 6th street. It is $90.

For those using Expedia and Hotels.com as a former Hilton Reservations manager at 5 weeks out I did not discount rates, unless I had an under 50% occupancy. Book something now and then start shopping rate about a week out. That is when I'd start cutting my rate to sell more rooms. This all depends on occupancy. If I had 80-90% of rooms booked the rate is not coming down until the last minute when I needed to fill those last few rooms and yes all hotels call each to see what the occupancy looks like and adjust rates accordingly. Also, check the chains own websites for rates. The web services aren't necessarily the best rate. A call to the in-house reservation department the day of arrival or day before isn't a bad idea either. If the hotel transfers you to the national reservations desk forget it.

 

[Jimmy Harmon]

Thanks for the good tips, Chris.

 

[CurtisSC]

Just an FYI...

I am looking at getting in on that Friday evening...not sure if I will be able to get out of work on time to make dinner with all of you. Although Victor is urging me to take a full day off of work.

I have a friend that is a hotel manager for a Sheraton out here, and I have asked him if there is something he can do for me(us) in Austin.

 

[Chris Quinn]

There is no Sheraton in Austin. I don't remember which hotel group they are part of.

 

[Scott Oliver]

There is a Sheraton in Austin it is on 6th St. next to I-35.