SGDQ 2015 dates and venue: July 26 - Aug 1 in Minneapolis MN

2015-01-28 07:06:27 am

Quote from WarnUs:

I live in the suburbs of Minneapolis, and this makes me extremely excited that SGDQ is coming to me. For those of you saying "Minneapolis is in the eastern part of the USA" you are simply wrong there, per the 2010 census, Texas county, Missouri, is the center of population of the USA, and that is ever so slightly more east than Minneapolis. http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo0qwlD0d81qdcyd2.png

I don't really have an opinion on the location, but the center of population will have 0 effect on people's travel costs. Real geographical distance does.

WarnUs

2015-01-28 07:32:19 am

Quote from TheMG2:

Quote from WarnUs:

I live in the suburbs of Minneapolis, and this makes me extremely excited that SGDQ is coming to me. For those of you saying "Minneapolis is in the eastern part of the USA" you are simply wrong there, per the 2010 census, Texas county, Missouri, is the center of population of the USA, and that is ever so slightly more east than Minneapolis. http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo0qwlD0d81qdcyd2.png

I don't really have an opinion on the location, but the center of population will have 0 effect on people's travel costs. Real geographical distance does.

I agree with your statement that the real geographical distance does matter more than center of population. So I changed how I was determining the center. The eastern most point of the united states is at 66 degrees west longitude, while the western most point of the continental united states is 124 degrees west longitude (per wikipedia). The halfway point, longitudinally, would be 95 degrees west, and minneapolis is 93 degrees west and some change. I'd say that's pretty much smack dab in the center, when it comes to east-west.

[quote="TheMG2"][quote="WarnUs"]I live in the suburbs of Minneapolis, and this makes me extremely excited that SGDQ is coming to me. For those of you saying "Minneapolis is in the eastern part of the USA" you are simply wrong there, per the 2010 census, Texas county, Missouri, is the center of population of the USA, and that is ever so slightly more east than Minneapolis. http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo0qwlD0d81qdcyd2.png[/quote]
I don't really have an opinion on the location, but the center of population will have 0 effect on people's travel costs. Real geographical distance does.[/quote]

I agree with your statement that the real geographical distance does matter more than center of population. So I changed how I was determining the center. The eastern most point of the united states is at 66 degrees west longitude, while the western most point of the continental united states is 124 degrees west longitude (per wikipedia). The halfway point, longitudinally, would be 95 degrees west, and minneapolis is 93 degrees west and some change. I'd say that's pretty much smack dab in the center, when it comes to east-west.

Golden

2015-01-28 07:36:28 am

Voice

Based on experience, I find anything on the light rail line to be extremely convenient. The light rail goes to all the major attractions in the area: Mall of America, the airport, Target Field, etc. And it's cheap too. That would make it extremely useful for getting people from the airport to the hotel if we chose a location near the Mall of America, for instance.

One hotel I would add to this list that maybe isn't being considered is the Doubletree by Hilton in Bloomington, MN. This is a hotel that is used to hosting gaming and anime conventions (albeit those conventions tend to be in the thousands of attendees, so I don't know how that translates). They've got plenty of convention space, a theatre style main ballroom, etc. The only thing I can't attest to about that hotel is the internet speed; I don't know what it's like. But as far as I know people have had generally good experiences with the Doubletree. And as far as food options go, there are restaurants literally next to the parking lot of the hotel (Dairy Queen, Subway, TGIF to name a few).

Anyway I wanted to also let you know that I'm available to help with anything local if it would make life easier for you guys. If you need me to visit a hotel or write a tour guide or something, I'm willing to do that.

Based on experience, I find anything on the light rail line to be extremely convenient. The light rail goes to all the major attractions in the area: Mall of America, the airport, Target Field, etc. And it's cheap too. That would make it extremely useful for getting people from the airport to the hotel if we chose a location near the Mall of America, for instance.

One hotel I would add to this list that maybe isn't being considered is the Doubletree by Hilton in Bloomington, MN. This is a hotel that is used to hosting gaming and anime conventions (albeit those conventions tend to be in the thousands of attendees, so I don't know how that translates). They've got plenty of convention space, a theatre style main ballroom, etc. The only thing I can't attest to about that hotel is the internet speed; I don't know what it's like. But as far as I know people have had generally good experiences with the Doubletree. And as far as food options go, there are restaurants literally next to the parking lot of the hotel (Dairy Queen, Subway, TGIF to name a few).

Anyway I wanted to also let you know that I'm available to help with anything local if it would make life easier for you guys. If you need me to visit a hotel or write a tour guide or something, I'm willing to do that.

thadarkman78

Edit history:

thadarkman78: 2015-01-28 08:22:50 am

thadarkman78: 2015-01-28 08:22:36 am

2015-01-28 08:20:10 am

Going by a quick google search of both hotel areas for food options, I think they both have their food issues, but the 2nd hotel looks like a better pick. Unless google is telling me wrong ( which is fairly possible but I'm willing to bet no), the hotel in the heart of St. Paul seems to be located in the center of the business area of St. Paul, which means a lot of our food options will be closing when the business day is done, and then just outright closed on the weekends. That means your options for dinner at normal hours are going to be very limited, let alone late night hours. I'm sure native minnesotans can talk about that better than I can, but considering it looks like that hotel is in the middle of the city, I would not be surprised at all if we struggle mightily to find dinner options there, but lunch will definitely be very easy to come by. Fortunately since it's summer we can actually walk places unlike in winter, but I'm not really confident with the first option.

2nd hotel looks to be the better option for food. Obviously we don't have to worry about variety being next to the Mall, but more importantly we have to be concerned with late night options. While the options here are definitely not plentiful, they exist, which is fortunate. Let's do a quick run down of places that are open after 11PM (for reference the Mall itself closes at 9:30 PM on every day but sunday, they close at 7 on sunday. There are a ton of casual dining options that stay open until 10-11 on weekdays that are located in the mall area):

Fire lake restaurant: http://www.firelakerestaurant.com/moa.php - I would not really consider this a great option (looks like a restaurant in a hotel or something?) , while they are open until 2AM daily, their prices are too expensive to be really practical for most.

Buffalo Wild Wings (do you really need a website) - Obviously everyone knows about BWW. They are open until 12AM on Fri/Sat but only 11PM on weekdays.

Sky Deck Sports Grill: http://www.skydecklanes.com/our-menu/ - probably the most practical of the options. Think Dave and Busters and that's what essentially this place is. (I'm personally more of a fan of Gameworks branded places than D&B, so take that for what you will). Prices are not too bad and they are open until 12AM on weeknights and 1AM Fri/Sat.

As far as I can tell those are our options. After that there are a few places located right past the mall that while they are a little walk (about 0.8 miles, or 15 minutes approximately according to google), is more than doable in the summer weather, and they probably won't be visited during the day since we have the mall to go to instead during the day so don't even need to worry about the humidity:

IHOP
TGI Fridays (open until 2)
Chevy's (casual tex mex) http://chevys.com/ Open until 12

So there are options certainly for the 2nd hotel, and food wise it's probably the better pick. Then of course combine that with delivery (I know how much everyone who attended AGDQ absolutely can't wait until SGDQ starts so they can order papa johns again) .

As for the location itself, I'm not really the biggest fan of the move if it is a more permanent move (even if the flights are cheaper for me), but it's understandable if it really is more accommodating to the needs of expansion. I still think a more western venue needs to be considered for future SGDQs, and we shouldn't just permanently rest on Minneapolis because it works.

Going by a quick google search of both hotel areas for food options, I think they both have their food issues, but the 2nd hotel looks like a better pick. Unless google is telling me wrong ( which is fairly possible but I'm willing to bet no), the hotel in the heart of St. Paul seems to be located in the center of the business area of St. Paul, which means a lot of our food options will be closing when the business day is done, and then just outright closed on the weekends. That means your options for dinner at normal hours are going to be very limited, let alone late night hours. I'm sure native minnesotans can talk about that better than I can, but considering it looks like that hotel is in the middle of the city, I would not be surprised at all if we struggle mightily to find dinner options there, but lunch will definitely be very easy to come by. Fortunately since it's summer we can actually walk places unlike in winter, but I'm not really confident with the first option.

2nd hotel looks to be the better option for food. Obviously we don't have to worry about variety being next to the Mall, but more importantly we have to be concerned with late night options. While the options here are definitely not plentiful, they exist, which is fortunate. Let's do a quick run down of places that are open after 11PM (for reference the Mall itself closes at 9:30 PM on every day but sunday, they close at 7 on sunday. There are a ton of casual dining options that stay open until 10-11 on weekdays that are located in the mall area):

Fire lake restaurant: http://www.firelakerestaurant.com/moa.php - I would not really consider this a great option (looks like a restaurant in a hotel or something?) , while they are open until 2AM daily, their prices are too expensive to be really practical for most.

Buffalo Wild Wings (do you really need a website) - Obviously everyone knows about BWW. They are open until 12AM on Fri/Sat but only 11PM on weekdays.

Sky Deck Sports Grill: http://www.skydecklanes.com/our-menu/ - probably the most practical of the options. Think Dave and Busters and that's what essentially this place is. (I'm personally more of a fan of Gameworks branded places than D&B, so take that for what you will). Prices are not too bad and they are open until 12AM on weeknights and 1AM Fri/Sat.

As far as I can tell those are our options. After that there are a few places located right past the mall that while they are a little walk (about 0.8 miles, or 15 minutes approximately according to google), is more than doable in the summer weather, and they probably won't be visited during the day since we have the mall to go to instead during the day so don't even need to worry about the humidity:

IHOP
TGI Fridays (open until 2)
Chevy's (casual tex mex) http://chevys.com/ Open until 12

So there are options certainly for the 2nd hotel, and food wise it's probably the better pick. Then of course combine that with delivery (I know how much everyone who attended AGDQ absolutely can't wait until SGDQ starts so they can order papa johns again) .

As for the location itself, I'm not really the biggest fan of the move if it is a more permanent move (even if the flights are cheaper for me), but it's understandable if it really is more accommodating to the needs of expansion. I still think a more western venue needs to be considered for future SGDQs, and we shouldn't just permanently rest on Minneapolis because it works.

Antilles58

2015-01-28 08:32:08 am

#FailFish

Welp, I suppose this makes it pretty unlikely that I'll actually be able to go. Thanks for the memories, SGDQ 2014!

doicm

2015-01-28 08:36:07 am

It's a bit discouraging being in the Salt Lake area to have it move from Utah (the year I planned on attending) to Denver (the year I actually attended) and then even further away (this year), but having read what Romscout wrote about the reasoning behind it all, I can definitely understand why the move. There is a larger group of attendees to accommodate in that area, and it sounds like a logical decision, so I approve. This put my decision from a maybe to a no, since the likelihood of attending just dropped, but I wish you all the best.

I might be able to attend in future years, even if it gets stays further away, but with the growth of the event and how much busier my life is becoming, it may not be likely. Good luck, all!

Twinge

2015-01-28 08:36:53 am

Quote from tripmind:

the hotel we used at last SGDQ, while it had its own quirks, was not that bad.

It was pretty terrible. They promised microwaves and then actively removed them from rooms as people arrived. They overcharged a lot of people and it was difficult getting basics like enough towels. They also hosted an extremely loud convention in the room directly next to the streaming room.

I mean, I live an hour away from Denver so I'd still prefer a bad hotel there than a good one elsewhere personally, but the hotel was not good.

kirbymastah

Edit history:

kirbymastah: 2015-01-28 08:52:40 am

kirbymastah: 2015-01-28 08:49:44 am

2015-01-28 08:49:09 am

<(^_^)>

Quote from tripmind:

the hotel we used at last SGDQ, while it had its own quirks, was not that bad.

AHEM

my issues with the hotel - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g33388-d83031-r216398735-Crowne_Plaza_Denver_International_Airport-Denver_Colorado.html

and the posts from sylae, an employee from the crap hotel, showing that they had seriously effed up management issues - https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/i_know_we_normally_wait_for_feedback_but_feel_free_to_leave_the_hotel_some._51.html

i'd rather not attend a marathon with a crap hotel, lies about overpriced meals, broken tables, dumb air conditioning, terrible rage-driving shuttle services, and lies about fridges, than go to a significantly farther marathon with a good hotel

FiveSevenThree

Edit history:

FiveSevenThree: 2015-01-28 08:55:26 am

FiveSevenThree: 2015-01-28 08:54:56 am

2015-01-28 08:54:04 am

Came here to vouch for the Ramada by MoA. It has a good track record with holding similar events (numerous small-medium sized anime/gaming conventions) and an overflow hotel right next door, whereas the Crown Plaza in St. Paul had pretty big issues with the last con that was held there in 2009. That and food options are much nicer in Bloomington. St. Paul pretty much closes up shop after the work day is over.

Quote from Golden:

One hotel I would add to this list that maybe isn't being considered is the Doubletree by Hilton in Bloomington, MN.

Seconded if they aren't booked.

Lenophis

2015-01-28 08:56:25 am

0-10

Quote:

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Finally, some love for the midwest.

doicm

2015-01-28 09:00:55 am

Regarding the hotel experience in Denver, I was there for about half a week, and while I escaped the hotel woes that everyone else had, I heard plenty enough to tell that it was pretty awful. I would not feel comfortable going back there.

DapperPenguin

2015-01-28 09:18:29 am

Rip i live in denver

Reed

2015-01-28 09:26:16 am

@tiburonCS

#TeamMinny

Antilles58

2015-01-28 09:29:49 am

#FailFish

Quote from DapperPenguin:

Rip i live in denver

Me too, DapperPenguin. Me too. Now I have to decide if grinding my game to get it into SGDQ is worth it or not.

Mr. Nevoli

2015-01-28 10:12:52 am

You play to win the game!

This is cool I guess. It is closer to where I am.

rggibson

2015-01-28 10:38:19 am

I have actually stayed at the Crowne Plaza in St. Paul for a conference. The amount of space seems plentiful and I don't remember any internet issues at all while I was there for 5 days or so. The only issue that I do remember was a noise problem. Some of the rooms (I believe they are on the first floor near the swimming pool) have a wall adjacent to a large common area. I was one of the poor saps who was put in one of these rooms and I remember being woken up early in the morning from conference activity happening in that common area. However, think there are only a few rooms that have this problem and the majority of the rooms are likely much quieter.

Oh and as for attending, as much as I'd love to actually attend a GDQ, I have a baby due in late July so I won't be coming. Good luck and I hope all goes smoothly with the planning and running of another SGDQ.

Antilles58

2015-01-28 10:52:09 am

#FailFish

AHHH I take back my despair!!! My wife wants to go as a family vacation to Minneapolis so I can go to SGDQ!!!! YES!

Billnye_Fan

2015-01-28 10:59:19 am

Wasn't the point of having SGDQ in Denver/west coast to give easier access to the west coast runners? If you are abandoning that idea, why not just hold SGDQ in DC?

+Already have a good idea of the area
+Already have a storage unit
+Don't need to purchase/upkeep a second set of equipment and tvs so expenses dramatically drop

Seems like a great deal to me.

kirbymastah

Edit history:

kirbymastah: 2015-01-28 11:05:04 am

2015-01-28 11:04:11 am

<(^_^)>

Quote from Billnye_Fan:

Wasn't the point of having SGDQ in Denver/west coast to give easier access to the west coast runners? If you are abandoning that idea, why not just hold SGDQ in DC?

+Already have a good idea of the area
+Already have a storage unit
+Don't need to purchase/upkeep a second set of equipment and tvs so expenses dramatically drop

Seems like a great deal to me.

Quote:

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.

Quote:

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

TuxedoMob

2015-01-28 11:22:20 am

Yum

Shame, my parents live in Denver and I wanted to make it out to the event this year. Maybe next year when I have more funds

romscout

Edit history:

romscout: 2015-01-28 11:27:16 am

romscout: 2015-01-28 11:26:55 am

2015-01-28 11:24:32 am

that Metroidvania guy

Quote from Cronikeys:

I find it a little hard to believe there was no other city with an affordable venue (Seattle, Portland, LA, Sacramento, San Diego, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Reno, etc.). How exhaustive was your search before falling back on, "well most runners are Midwest/East coast anyway"?

I perhaps did not explain the search process as well as I should have because I wanted to keep it simple and highlight the main cities we were looking at. I'll give a little more detail on how it works so you have a better idea.

I was working with a very experienced travel agent and asked her to look in particular regions, get a feel for what's open, and also send out our dates/needs/requirements to all of the local hotels in a network so that we could see if there were any places willing to work with us. After some possibilities opened up in an area, I then started talking to the management of hotels and began the negotiation process. In the cases of the cities I mentioned, I actually was able to start conversations and then ask a more local travel agent for further assistance with a search, but there were plenty more cities that had our info sent out and at least were given a quick glance before deciding that it couldn't work out. Admittedly, I stayed out of California due to personal experience with living there for half my life and knowing how expensive it is, as well as knowing someone who runs anime conventions there who has shared what kind of costs go into the conference space.

While a quick Google search might show several places that are technically open, there is a factor that can't be accounted for with that: who is already talking with these hotels. We are a pretty unique event in that we have uncertainty of our growth pattern; for the last three marathons, we have given hotels an initial estimate for the number of rooms we would need to book and then raised it by widely varying amounts. Therefore, when I am reaching out to the staff of possible venues, I need to present them with what I believe is a bare minimum for the number of rooms we will book as well as remind them that we could be using up to a certain amount and might need to add as we go (in this case, the high end that I could possibly expect would be the same number of rooms we used for AGDQ 2015). While this is usually a great thing for talking to a lot of smaller or less popular places, many of the established places we would want to use do not like the uncertainty and feel it would be safer to talk to more established conferences/conventions that know exactly what kind of attendance they will have. In addition, we're still pretty small compared to a lot of conferences that are looking to book spaces in the summer.

Because of these factors, it is almost impossible to go in and snipe hotels from other groups that are already in negotiations. However, for the same reasons, it is easier for someone else to snatch a place that we are talking to. Combine this with the fact that July is an extremely popular time to hold events, and we are looking at a pretty tight time limit to secure any kind of space. It is even possible for the places we're looking at to be booked before we even go there next week; this is something I've discussed with their management so that we can try to prevent such a thing from happening.

The bottom line is that we needed to act quickly, but definitely did as thorough of a search as we could given our restrictions. It actually pains me that we had to move SGDQ further east, and it even makes it more inconvenient for me as a resident of California. However, it was a necessary action in order to make sure the marathon could happen at all. I feel it would have been a poor choice to move the dates and overlap with Evo, which was our only option for talking to a lot of places where we wanted to be. I know this is a big blow to many people on the west coast who wanted to attend, and I am truly sorry we had to do this.

Quote from Golden:

One hotel I would add to this list that maybe isn't being considered is the Doubletree by Hilton in Bloomington, MN.

This was actually the first hotel that came up in our search through Minneapolis, but it was booked up for our dates. I keep hearing about what a great venue it is from the local travel agents though, and it is one of the places we are visiting when we're in town. It seems like a strong consideration if we repeat our stay in Minneapolis.

Quote from thadarkman78:

As for the location itself, I'm not really the biggest fan of the move if it is a more permanent move (even if the flights are cheaper for me), but it's understandable if it really is more accommodating to the needs of expansion. I still think a more western venue needs to be considered for future SGDQs, and we shouldn't just permanently rest on Minneapolis because it works.

I have seen this comment a few times in the thread, and I will agree that I should not have stated that this is a permanent move (in fact, I have edited the first post now). That is not a decision that should be made hastily, especially when we seem to have increasing sponsorship opportunities that make moving locations a possibility again. Also, as someone else stated, no such decision should be made in Uyama's absence. So for now, we'll focus just on this year, and possibly go back to prioritizing the original SGDQ goal of catering to the western U.S. after that. Nothing is certain, but I'll visit other places in MN just in case we return.

[quote="Cronikeys"]I find it a little hard to believe there was no other city with an affordable venue (Seattle, Portland, LA, Sacramento, San Diego, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Reno, etc.). How exhaustive was your search before falling back on, "well most runners are Midwest/East coast anyway"?[/quote]

I perhaps did not explain the search process as well as I should have because I wanted to keep it simple and highlight the main cities we were looking at. I'll give a little more detail on how it works so you have a better idea.

I was working with a very experienced travel agent and asked her to look in particular regions, get a feel for what's open, and also send out our dates/needs/requirements to all of the local hotels in a network so that we could see if there were any places willing to work with us. After some possibilities opened up in an area, I then started talking to the management of hotels and began the negotiation process. In the cases of the cities I mentioned, I actually was able to start conversations and then ask a more local travel agent for further assistance with a search, but there were plenty more cities that had our info sent out and at least were given a quick glance before deciding that it couldn't work out. Admittedly, I stayed out of California due to personal experience with living there for half my life and knowing how expensive it is, as well as knowing someone who runs anime conventions there who has shared what kind of costs go into the conference space.

While a quick Google search might show several places that are technically open, there is a factor that can't be accounted for with that: who is already talking with these hotels. We are a pretty unique event in that we have uncertainty of our growth pattern; for the last three marathons, we have given hotels an initial estimate for the number of rooms we would need to book and then raised it by widely varying amounts. Therefore, when I am reaching out to the staff of possible venues, I need to present them with what I believe is a bare minimum for the number of rooms we will book as well as remind them that we could be using up to a certain amount and might need to add as we go (in this case, the high end that I could possibly expect would be the same number of rooms we used for AGDQ 2015). While this is usually a great thing for talking to a lot of smaller or less popular places, many of the established places we would want to use do not like the uncertainty and feel it would be safer to talk to more established conferences/conventions that know exactly what kind of attendance they will have. In addition, we're still pretty small compared to a lot of conferences that are looking to book spaces in the summer.

Because of these factors, it is almost impossible to go in and snipe hotels from other groups that are already in negotiations. However, for the same reasons, it is easier for someone else to snatch a place that we are talking to. Combine this with the fact that July is an extremely popular time to hold events, and we are looking at a pretty tight time limit to secure any kind of space. It is even possible for the places we're looking at to be booked before we even go there next week; this is something I've discussed with their management so that we can try to prevent such a thing from happening.

The bottom line is that we needed to act quickly, but definitely did as thorough of a search as we could given our restrictions. It actually pains me that we had to move SGDQ further east, and it even makes it more inconvenient for me as a resident of California. However, it was a necessary action in order to make sure the marathon could happen at all. I feel it would have been a poor choice to move the dates and overlap with Evo, which was our only option for talking to a lot of places where we wanted to be. I know this is a big blow to many people on the west coast who wanted to attend, and I am truly sorry we had to do this.

[quote="Golden"]One hotel I would add to this list that maybe isn't being considered is the Doubletree by Hilton in Bloomington, MN.[/quote]

This was actually the first hotel that came up in our search through Minneapolis, but it was booked up for our dates. I keep hearing about what a great venue it is from the local travel agents though, and it is one of the places we are visiting when we're in town. It seems like a strong consideration if we repeat our stay in Minneapolis.

[quote="thadarkman78"]As for the location itself, I'm not really the biggest fan of the move if it is a more permanent move (even if the flights are cheaper for me), but it's understandable if it really is more accommodating to the needs of expansion. I still think a more western venue needs to be considered for future SGDQs, and we shouldn't just permanently rest on Minneapolis because it works. [/quote]
I have seen this comment a few times in the thread, and I will agree that I should not have stated that this is a permanent move (in fact, I have edited the first post now). That is not a decision that should be made hastily, especially when we seem to have increasing sponsorship opportunities that make moving locations a possibility again. Also, as someone else stated, no such decision should be made in Uyama's absence. So for now, we'll focus just on this year, and possibly go back to prioritizing the original SGDQ goal of catering to the western U.S. after that. Nothing is certain, but I'll visit other places in MN just in case we return.

molluskmoth

2015-01-28 12:27:30 pm

MoMo

As a European, I sure welcome the change of time. Most students here usually get their summer break in July so that works out just fine.
Regarding the city, I feel like MN is still very affordable compared to flights to the west coast or south west (one exception would be Seattle because for some reason, Seattle is extremely cheap).

Ark_

2015-01-28 01:44:00 pm

Rom scout, of you haven't yet, do yourself a favor and get in contact with the wonderful people at http://geekpartnership.org They help out with nearly every geek/nerd/anime/whatever convention in the area.

Secondly, screw the crown Plaza, the Ramada is miles better.

Cronikeys

Edit history:

Cronikeys: 2015-01-28 02:09:36 pm

2015-01-28 02:07:09 pm

Quote from romscout:

The bottom line is that we needed to act quickly, but definitely did as thorough of a search as we could given our restrictions.

I understand. At my last job I worked w/ multi-mil medical conferences so I understand the hassle booking such an event can be. Thank you for the clarification on what went into the decision making process (I was only probing for my west coast speed-friends). I hope for future SGDQs the event can re-establish itself at a venue farther west.

As for the hotel:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ramada-bloomington-bloomington - worse reviews, better location near MOA (and price?)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/crowne-plaza-hotel-st-paul-riverfront-saint-paul - hit-or-miss reviews (especially recently, good view but worse location)

Based on my 2 minutes of Google, it looks like Ramada Bloomington has hard wood floors in the event room, too. Sounds like a cacophony waiting to happen on stream, so this should definitely be looked into. (http://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/xM5hlwnYzOnN47Kprd6qKQ/l.jpg)

Regardless, I think that looks like the better choice (pending confirmation of carpet in the event room) given that most people are flying in and MOA is right there.

[quote=romscout]The bottom line is that we needed to act quickly, but definitely did as thorough of a search as we could given our restrictions.[/quote]
I understand. At my last job I worked w/ multi-mil medical conferences so I understand the hassle booking such an event can be. Thank you for the clarification on what went into the decision making process (I was only probing for my west coast speed-friends). I hope for future SGDQs the event can re-establish itself at a venue farther west.

As for the hotel:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ramada-bloomington-bloomington - worse reviews, better location near MOA (and price?)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/crowne-plaza-hotel-st-paul-riverfront-saint-paul - hit-or-miss reviews (especially recently, good view but worse location)

Based on my 2 minutes of Google, it looks like Ramada Bloomington has hard wood floors in the event room, too. Sounds like a cacophony waiting to happen on stream, so this should definitely be looked into. (http://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/xM5hlwnYzOnN47Kprd6qKQ/l.jpg)

Regardless, I think that looks like the better choice (pending confirmation of carpet in the event room) given that most people are flying in and MOA is right there.

sumichu

Edit history:

sumichu: 2015-01-28 02:33:41 pm

sumichu: 2015-01-28 02:32:11 pm

sumichu: 2015-01-28 02:31:08 pm

2015-01-28 02:22:49 pm

ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Quote from Cronikeys:

Based on my 2 minutes of Google, it looks like Ramada Bloomington has hard wood floors in the event room, too. Sounds like a cacophony waiting to happen on stream, so this should definitely be looked into. (http://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/xM5hlwnYzOnN47Kprd6qKQ/l.jpg)

Regardless, I think that looks like the better choice (pending confirmation of carpet in the event room) given that most people are flying in and MOA is right there.

The picture you linked looks like it was an event that featured dancing. There is a possibility that they placed temporary flooring in that area, as dancing is something that is rather difficult to do on carpet. Most venues tend to do this for events featuring music or dancing (primary examples of these are weddings and quinceañeras).

Edit - Here is a photo of one of the Ramada Bloomington event spaces, from their Facebook account:

Nevertheless, that is an excellent thing to point out, and we will keep that in mind. Thank you.

[quote="Cronikeys"]
Based on my 2 minutes of Google, it looks like Ramada Bloomington has hard wood floors in the event room, too. Sounds like a cacophony waiting to happen on stream, so this should definitely be looked into. (http://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/xM5hlwnYzOnN47Kprd6qKQ/l.jpg)

Regardless, I think that looks like the better choice (pending confirmation of carpet in the event room) given that most people are flying in and MOA is right there.[/quote]

The picture you linked looks like it was an event that featured dancing.  There is a possibility that they placed temporary flooring in that area, as dancing is something that is rather difficult to do on carpet.  Most venues tend to do this for events featuring music or dancing (primary examples of these are weddings and quinceañeras).

Edit - Here is a photo of one of the Ramada Bloomington event spaces, from their [url=http://i.imgur.com/JGSOnHU.jpg]Facebook account[/url]:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/JGSOnHU.jpg[/img]

Nevertheless, that is an excellent thing to point out, and we will keep that in mind.  Thank you.