that Metroidvania guy
First off, let me go ahead and announce when and where SGDQ 2015 will be for anyone who was not already aware.
Dates: July 26 - August 1, 2015
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
I am sure there are a lot of questions about this, so I will list answers to the ones that immediately came to mind for me. Of course, you are also welcome to ask other related questions to the decisions involved if this short FAQ does not satisfy your concerns.
Why July 26? Why Minneapolis?
What about the equipment in Denver?
Do you plan to move anywhere else?
The Hotel Choices
For anyone who remembers the AGDQ 2015 hotel thread, this will be quite a bit different. We already have narrowed our options down to two (although we will be visiting other places to keep in mind for next year) because we know what most of the main priorities are: internet, conference space/layout, room cost for attendees, accessibility from the airport, access to food, free breakfast (yes, this is a thing at both already), fridges in the rooms, and tables without splinters (which everywhere in Denver might have, for all we know). This post will focus on the differences between the two venues. Things we will be looking at once we are actually at the hotels include, but are not limited to, the structure of the hotel rooms and the quality of cellular service (as our personal devices allow). If anything you are curious about is not covered here, you are welcome to ask about it. Matt and I will be touring the hotels on February 4-5 and will be making a decision within the week after that.
NOTE: For room prices, we will be aiming to keep it under $120/night, which can be split between up to 4 people. This is a very reasonable rate for a good hotel in the summer.
CROWNE PLAZA ST. PAUL - RIVERFRONT
Conference space details and maps:
http://i.imgur.com/dzYgABF.png
http://i.imgur.com/XJGWMte.png
Currently, we have everything on the map to choose from. Things that will be particularly important to keep in mind as we look, aside from obvious issues like noise potential, are cell signals on the lower level, how we divide space up in case the rooms we don’t use are rented out to other groups (although I’m sure everyone loves fiestas in their streams), and how long the walk is from rooms to the conference areas.
The hotel is located in the center of St. Paul and is walking distance from several restaurants, stores, and museums. It is also within a mile of other local attractions such as the Minnesota State Capitol and the Cathedral of St. Paul. For those interested in going to other places that are a little further out, such as the Mall of America, there is a light rail available nearby that goes all over Minneapolis.
The downside of this hotel is that there is no shuttle that goes directly from the airport to the hotel. A shuttle service would be ordered and provided for attendees to go between the airport and the hotel as needed to compensate for this flaw. Because there is so much that can be accessed from the hotel by walking, we do not see the need for a shuttle to be provided for the local area in addition to the airport. The hotel is also in the middle of renovations and will rebrand as InterContinental, but I was told that this is scheduled to be finished long before we are there.
RAMADA BLOOMINGTON
Conference space details and map:
http://i.imgur.com/7sh2dnd.png
This hotel is right across the street from the Mall of America, which means that there are many food and shopping options available all the time. During graveyard hours, options will be a little more limited, but we will ask about the potential for vouchers with places that deliver late at night to make up for this. There is a shuttle that goes directly from the airport to the hotel, as well as one that goes around the surrounding area. We will see if providing an additional shuttle service is ideal, but with the mall right there, it is unlikely.
The conference space should be very easy to divide up for our needs, and no rooms will be very far from each other regardless of how we choose to do this. Noise will potentially be a concern that we’ll need to investigate further. As a whole, the space looks very simple and easy to work with, and I expect this to stay the same when we see it in person.
Matt and I will also be doing full scans of each area around the hotels so that you can see what kinds of food and shopping options you have in immediate walking distance. Again, if you have any concerns you want me to address with the hotel staff when I visit, let me know in this thread before February 4.
Dates: July 26 - August 1, 2015
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
I am sure there are a lot of questions about this, so I will list answers to the ones that immediately came to mind for me. Of course, you are also welcome to ask other related questions to the decisions involved if this short FAQ does not satisfy your concerns.
Why July 26? Why Minneapolis?
While I have been open about this with anyone who has asked me for updates, I did not feel comfortable having a big public announcement about the SGDQ dates and venue until we were close to being able to secure a place. As many may have heard by now, Denver will not work out as the location for SGDQ 2015. The main reason is because most of the hotels that could possibly meet our qualifications have already been booked. In fact, the only place that could possibly talk to us after AGDQ ended was the same hotel that we had last time (which I feel was not a good option to even consider). We did not have a good opportunity to start talking to hotels during the time frame that we originally wanted because all of the staff had to turn their attention to making sure AGDQ happened and would go as smoothly as possible. With Mike being absent, I no longer had time to focus on an SGDQ venue search during November and December, which is when I normally would have started.
Before going over how we arrived at Minneapolis as the city, I would like to explain why we chose the dates we did, since it might be confusing that we are starting a month later than last time. The vast majority of attendees at SGDQ in the past have been North American, and even then very few have been outside of the United States. With this in mind, many schools either have spring semesters/quarters ending in late June, or have summer school sessions starting up. Late July is a much more neutral position for college students in comparison, as most places are not ending any school period around then and are usually not starting up their next main semester until August or September. Also, just like last year, we do not want to overlap with any major gaming events; this is extremely hard to do in the summer, since there is something almost every week from June through August. The week we chose was the most open time period we could find, having a full week of separation from both Evo and Gamescom on either end.
We decided the dates before the location because it is the most important aspect of scheduling the event. When the dates were finalized and we started looking at potential venues, it became clear after a while that Denver had a lack of hotels that could fit our needs. At this time, we opened up the search to other cities that had nearby representation in the speedrunning community and could cater to the original idea of SGDQ, which was making it easier for people in the western U.S. to attend than AGDQ. The primary cities that were being looked at to fit this, due to the affordability of venues, were Seattle, Washington and Salt Lake City, Utah. We perhaps started searching there too late, as anywhere that we would consider was booked already.
After considering that anywhere else in the western U.S. that could possibly house us well was far too expensive to choose, we began to think about who actually attended the last few SGDQs. While there was a decent amount of attendees from the west, people from the midwest, east coast, and southern states still had a much greater representation overall. Therefore, we felt it made sense to have a more centralized location for the entire country. The best cities that popped up in our continued search were Austin, Texas and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The venues were affordable, we have trustworthy speedrunners in the community who we could trust to act as our local liaisons, and traveling options for the majority of potential attendees (based on previous SGDQ patterns) were plentiful. In the end, the potential places remaining in Austin had too many issues with accessible food choices, which was a huge problem at each of the last two events. We prioritized fixing this, and this was the strength of the hotels we were looking at in Minneapolis.
Before going over how we arrived at Minneapolis as the city, I would like to explain why we chose the dates we did, since it might be confusing that we are starting a month later than last time. The vast majority of attendees at SGDQ in the past have been North American, and even then very few have been outside of the United States. With this in mind, many schools either have spring semesters/quarters ending in late June, or have summer school sessions starting up. Late July is a much more neutral position for college students in comparison, as most places are not ending any school period around then and are usually not starting up their next main semester until August or September. Also, just like last year, we do not want to overlap with any major gaming events; this is extremely hard to do in the summer, since there is something almost every week from June through August. The week we chose was the most open time period we could find, having a full week of separation from both Evo and Gamescom on either end.
We decided the dates before the location because it is the most important aspect of scheduling the event. When the dates were finalized and we started looking at potential venues, it became clear after a while that Denver had a lack of hotels that could fit our needs. At this time, we opened up the search to other cities that had nearby representation in the speedrunning community and could cater to the original idea of SGDQ, which was making it easier for people in the western U.S. to attend than AGDQ. The primary cities that were being looked at to fit this, due to the affordability of venues, were Seattle, Washington and Salt Lake City, Utah. We perhaps started searching there too late, as anywhere that we would consider was booked already.
After considering that anywhere else in the western U.S. that could possibly house us well was far too expensive to choose, we began to think about who actually attended the last few SGDQs. While there was a decent amount of attendees from the west, people from the midwest, east coast, and southern states still had a much greater representation overall. Therefore, we felt it made sense to have a more centralized location for the entire country. The best cities that popped up in our continued search were Austin, Texas and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The venues were affordable, we have trustworthy speedrunners in the community who we could trust to act as our local liaisons, and traveling options for the majority of potential attendees (based on previous SGDQ patterns) were plentiful. In the end, the potential places remaining in Austin had too many issues with accessible food choices, which was a huge problem at each of the last two events. We prioritized fixing this, and this was the strength of the hotels we were looking at in Minneapolis.
What about the equipment in Denver?
As we have previously stated, we have a lot of equipment stored in Denver that we had intended to use for the next couple of years. Dealing with potentially having to move this equipment was a huge priority when searching for a new city. Fortunately, I have already confirmed that we will be able to have the move covered by a sponsor. Just so we can make this perfectly clear, that means attendance fees will not be affected by us moving our equipment from Colorado to Minnesota. This was of absolute importance to us, so we wanted to make sure we were covered on this before finalizing the new city. It makes me very happy that we have sponsors who are willing to work with us to this degree. While I cannot speak on the full details of this sponsorship yet, I assure you that we are covered for fully moving to Minneapolis with all of our stuff.
Do you plan to move anywhere else?
We feel that for the time being, Minneapolis will fit the needs of SGDQ attendees better than Denver ever did, but we would like to eventually revisit our original mission of making SGDQ more convenient for people in the west and cannot guarantee any permanence at this time. Other benefits of Minneapolis, aside from the much improved food situation, are much better public transportation options and the fact that World 9 Gaming (who provided essentially the entire practice room at AGDQ) is based in the area. The equipment brought to AGDQ was apparently backup equipment that the guys were able to scramble together at the last second to bring to the event for us; for a Minneapolis event, they are able to provide essentially everything they have to us and accommodate our needs even if we keep on growing for several years. We hope to be able to support these guys and all that they do for us satisfactorily, just as they seem to want to support us as much as possible.
The Hotel Choices
For anyone who remembers the AGDQ 2015 hotel thread, this will be quite a bit different. We already have narrowed our options down to two (although we will be visiting other places to keep in mind for next year) because we know what most of the main priorities are: internet, conference space/layout, room cost for attendees, accessibility from the airport, access to food, free breakfast (yes, this is a thing at both already), fridges in the rooms, and tables without splinters (which everywhere in Denver might have, for all we know). This post will focus on the differences between the two venues. Things we will be looking at once we are actually at the hotels include, but are not limited to, the structure of the hotel rooms and the quality of cellular service (as our personal devices allow). If anything you are curious about is not covered here, you are welcome to ask about it. Matt and I will be touring the hotels on February 4-5 and will be making a decision within the week after that.
NOTE: For room prices, we will be aiming to keep it under $120/night, which can be split between up to 4 people. This is a very reasonable rate for a good hotel in the summer.
CROWNE PLAZA ST. PAUL - RIVERFRONT
Conference space details and maps:
http://i.imgur.com/dzYgABF.png
http://i.imgur.com/XJGWMte.png
Currently, we have everything on the map to choose from. Things that will be particularly important to keep in mind as we look, aside from obvious issues like noise potential, are cell signals on the lower level, how we divide space up in case the rooms we don’t use are rented out to other groups (although I’m sure everyone loves fiestas in their streams), and how long the walk is from rooms to the conference areas.
The hotel is located in the center of St. Paul and is walking distance from several restaurants, stores, and museums. It is also within a mile of other local attractions such as the Minnesota State Capitol and the Cathedral of St. Paul. For those interested in going to other places that are a little further out, such as the Mall of America, there is a light rail available nearby that goes all over Minneapolis.
The downside of this hotel is that there is no shuttle that goes directly from the airport to the hotel. A shuttle service would be ordered and provided for attendees to go between the airport and the hotel as needed to compensate for this flaw. Because there is so much that can be accessed from the hotel by walking, we do not see the need for a shuttle to be provided for the local area in addition to the airport. The hotel is also in the middle of renovations and will rebrand as InterContinental, but I was told that this is scheduled to be finished long before we are there.
RAMADA BLOOMINGTON
Conference space details and map:
http://i.imgur.com/7sh2dnd.png
This hotel is right across the street from the Mall of America, which means that there are many food and shopping options available all the time. During graveyard hours, options will be a little more limited, but we will ask about the potential for vouchers with places that deliver late at night to make up for this. There is a shuttle that goes directly from the airport to the hotel, as well as one that goes around the surrounding area. We will see if providing an additional shuttle service is ideal, but with the mall right there, it is unlikely.
The conference space should be very easy to divide up for our needs, and no rooms will be very far from each other regardless of how we choose to do this. Noise will potentially be a concern that we’ll need to investigate further. As a whole, the space looks very simple and easy to work with, and I expect this to stay the same when we see it in person.
Matt and I will also be doing full scans of each area around the hotels so that you can see what kinds of food and shopping options you have in immediate walking distance. Again, if you have any concerns you want me to address with the hotel staff when I visit, let me know in this thread before February 4.
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