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2023 Convention Event Recorder
2 years ago
General
I make these posts every year to keep track of timelines of my convention planning. In 2023 I only attended Anthrocon.
--FWA: Did not attend owing to Amtrak scheduling for the return trip. It used to depart Atlanta at around 8pm, which made it easy to check out Sunday, do "con stuff" the rest of the day (artist alley), leave the hotel when closing ceremonies finished at 6pm, and be at the train station in plenty of time. Currently the schedule has been changed so this train arrives in Atlanta (from New Orleans) around 11pm. That's a looooong time to hang around with no room waiting for your ride back after the con.
[02/02/2023]: Registered for and reserved hotel room for Anthrocon 2023 (Doubletree, 'cause everything else closer sold out in a blink...even the Omni which is a huge hotel). Sunday's room night is wait-listed
[05/09/2023]: Received notification via email from 'AC2023 Housing 'that my hotel reservation has been updated to add the Sunday accommodation that was previously wait-listed when I made the reservation on Feb 2nd (whew!). FYI in this email they tell you (in the fine print) not to bother the hotel for confirmation till at least 6/20
[05/15/2023]: Signed up for Anthrocon Artist's Alley
[05/30/2023]: Purchased train tickets for Anthrocon (mental note: return fare is $102 instead of $66 this close to departure)
[06/01/2023]: Received confirmation of accommodations direct from the hotel
[06/05/2023]: Recieved notification of Artist Alley table for Friday and Sunday only
Some notes for 2023 (copied from the 2022 edition that was.posted just before AC'23)
The hotels sold out quick upon opening 2/2/23. My typical stay is check-in Thursday, check-out Monday.
--I took my time entering my details for the Omni (Drury was "just nope" right out of the gate, and AC hotel behind the Westin was expensive), and before I could confirm my selections, two days sold out right out from under me, and the site kicked me back to the start page when I attempted to send the filled-out form.
--Second time around, Doubletree accepted my day selections, but Sunday was wait-listed. This was a real nail-biter, and after weeks of peeking at AC's Twitter I wanted to contact the hotel, but knowing the number of people involved, I sat tight for as long as I could. Right about when I was feeling I needed to call them up (May 9th), I got an email from AC2023 Housing that my reservation was updated to include the wait-listed Sunday accommodation. Co-incidentally, this email included the following in the fine-print at the bottom:
A kind note about calling the hotel "just to be sure":
Please do not call your hotel "to be sure" until after Jun 20, 2023. Please understand that processing your reservations from the Housing Bureau into the Hotel system will take a few days. Rest assured that if you have received a confirmation number already from the Housing Bureau, the hotel will honor your booking. Thank you for your consideration.
AC coulda said that in their social media right after the initial bum-rush, it would probably have alleviated much of the need for that notice.
--A little less than a month prior to the con (i.e. June 1), the hotel itself emailed me their confirmation of my full reservation.
--Four nights' hotel stay is going to run you about $800, taxes included. My hotel is probably in the middle of the range of room rates ( they're not uniform across the con's room blocks), so take that into consideration for 2024.
--FWA: Did not attend owing to Amtrak scheduling for the return trip. It used to depart Atlanta at around 8pm, which made it easy to check out Sunday, do "con stuff" the rest of the day (artist alley), leave the hotel when closing ceremonies finished at 6pm, and be at the train station in plenty of time. Currently the schedule has been changed so this train arrives in Atlanta (from New Orleans) around 11pm. That's a looooong time to hang around with no room waiting for your ride back after the con.
[02/02/2023]: Registered for and reserved hotel room for Anthrocon 2023 (Doubletree, 'cause everything else closer sold out in a blink...even the Omni which is a huge hotel). Sunday's room night is wait-listed
[05/09/2023]: Received notification via email from 'AC2023 Housing 'that my hotel reservation has been updated to add the Sunday accommodation that was previously wait-listed when I made the reservation on Feb 2nd (whew!). FYI in this email they tell you (in the fine print) not to bother the hotel for confirmation till at least 6/20
[05/15/2023]: Signed up for Anthrocon Artist's Alley
[05/30/2023]: Purchased train tickets for Anthrocon (mental note: return fare is $102 instead of $66 this close to departure)
[06/01/2023]: Received confirmation of accommodations direct from the hotel
[06/05/2023]: Recieved notification of Artist Alley table for Friday and Sunday only
Some notes for 2023 (copied from the 2022 edition that was.posted just before AC'23)
The hotels sold out quick upon opening 2/2/23. My typical stay is check-in Thursday, check-out Monday.
--I took my time entering my details for the Omni (Drury was "just nope" right out of the gate, and AC hotel behind the Westin was expensive), and before I could confirm my selections, two days sold out right out from under me, and the site kicked me back to the start page when I attempted to send the filled-out form.
--Second time around, Doubletree accepted my day selections, but Sunday was wait-listed. This was a real nail-biter, and after weeks of peeking at AC's Twitter I wanted to contact the hotel, but knowing the number of people involved, I sat tight for as long as I could. Right about when I was feeling I needed to call them up (May 9th), I got an email from AC2023 Housing that my reservation was updated to include the wait-listed Sunday accommodation. Co-incidentally, this email included the following in the fine-print at the bottom:
A kind note about calling the hotel "just to be sure":
Please do not call your hotel "to be sure" until after Jun 20, 2023. Please understand that processing your reservations from the Housing Bureau into the Hotel system will take a few days. Rest assured that if you have received a confirmation number already from the Housing Bureau, the hotel will honor your booking. Thank you for your consideration.
AC coulda said that in their social media right after the initial bum-rush, it would probably have alleviated much of the need for that notice.
--A little less than a month prior to the con (i.e. June 1), the hotel itself emailed me their confirmation of my full reservation.
--Four nights' hotel stay is going to run you about $800, taxes included. My hotel is probably in the middle of the range of room rates ( they're not uniform across the con's room blocks), so take that into consideration for 2024.
