Pittsburgh, PA CIII info! and now COUNTDOWN THREAD!

Yeah, I saw both the Warwick and Jay breakfasts. Decided to wait a night to think about it and then talk it over with my fiancee. Didn't matter by then as they sold out in roughly 4 hours.

Meh, $50 and you don't really get to sit next to the person. (Really how people could anyway?)

I'll just consider it that much more money I can spend at C3 instead.

It does stink that Anthony Daniels can't be there to host this one.

 

I'm getting very anxious. I can not wait for this trip to get here. After all, it is what led me to join this group, wow, 3 years ago. I am getting ever more concerned about the money aspect though. I had planned on having much more money saved than what I do. If memory serves correct, I'm only near half of what I had planned. But, the closer we get, the more they'll release as far as prices of items in the store, autograph tickets, etc. And that sould help me narrow down how much further I need to get.

Also, I just got the e-mail confirming me as a C3 autograph volunteer. I said I'd work 4 shifts, though I don't know which ones they'll give me.

 

I'm a bit annoyed at the additional money they are asking for these special events. I'm a cheapskate, I know - I have to be, but isn't the $95 we forked over in the first place enough? I guess not.

I don't see where being a Hyperspace member has many privileges, just many chances to suck more money from you.

The thing I enjoyed most about Dragon*Con, and anticipate enjoying about CIII, is meeting and hanging out with fellow ordinary fans from all over. Just one big, happy geek fest.

 

I agree with you Bonnie. I'm most excited about meeting the many friends I've made over the years through the net from TF.N and a host of other SW related sites. Everything else is just gravy. And I further agree that $95 should be enough. Hardly sems beign a Hyperspace member did anything for me with regards to CIII.

Zero, wow man that's alot of hours at the Auto booth. I'm only planning 2 4-hour shifts with them.

Then again I have these others I'm volunteering for:
Fanforce 1-2 hours
PSWCS (PA state collecting group) 1 hour
FFURG (Star Wars customizers table) 3+ hours (not sure exactly)

I'm just not commiting myself yet to any of them until I see the actual schedule for C3. Some things I absolutely do not want to miss, many other things, meh, that's when I'll work.

 

I agree as well. Last time they misled everyone going to C2 about the fan club benifits. Now, it seems as if there will be some cool fan club only events, BUT, you have to pay for them seperately??? $50 here. $15 there.

 

I agree with the rest of you. Last time 'round, being a fan club member automatically got you "perks." Granted, those "perks" ended up being an empty room with some chairs(Fan Club Lounge), what ended up being the longer of the lines(Fan Club Line). The other "perks" escape me at the moment. But now, they want us to pay for Fan Club exclusive events? Seems a bit crazy to me.
But then again, who needs extra events, breakfasts, etc. We're gonna be hanging out with a couple thousand fellow Star Wars fanatics. And as we've all seen and know too well, put a large enough group of Star Wars fans together, and they create their own "fun."
Hey Fluke, ever find out what the phantom $15 "Celebration Party" is? Depending on what is is, it could be worth the 15 bucks, or it could be a waste of $14.50.
Yeah, it does seem like a lot of hours. But I think most of the things I'll want to see will be exhibits that will be open all day, or hopefully seminars that will run more than once. And if not, I think I'll be ok. I wanted to see the opening ceremonies and a certain seminar last time round, but hadn't even made it in the building by the time they were over. And the way I look at it, the experience that I get from working this will more than likely more than make up for any shows I might miss. Unless it's something really freaking cool. Then I might get a little bummed. But, it all remains to be seen.

 

Still waiting for more info on the party...

There is a very early schedule, which should keep getting updated in this thread:

CIII Early Schedule

 

Hmm, nice of Sebulba-X to put that together.

Thanks for posting it, Dan.

 

Apparently, some people from the boards were able to hack into the Gencon site and buy tickets for the party, but they got in trouble.

It looks as if tickets are going to go on sale soon...

 

Here's a good page for those going after autographs:

http://www.officialpix.com/c3-guests.asp

~Doc_Bev

 

Im getting VERY excited about this! Just picked up my Celebration at Celebration 3 tickets, so now thats two parties I'm going to attend (going to the 501st/FF party too). Wow, I'm actually going to have to make up a schedule this time

I caculated the price of the autographs with the current list/coupon cost and I was at one point going to get everyone's autograph. Now I'm thinking I'll bring a list of who's I want to keep on budget.

Can't wait to see you guys there!!!

Rap

 

I think I'm going to do my shifts early to see what photos/autos I get, then if there is anyone else I still want, I'll get tix and wait in line like everyone else.

Oh and I got tix for the Celebration party on Sat. Still haven't got them for the RL/FF/501st party yet.

 

Tomorrow marks 6 weeks from C3. We should start planning when we are going to leave from Pittsburgh. (This is only for those of us going by car and planning on traveling together as part of the caravan)

This will be brought up at the meeting as well.

Coordination efforts have begun with other cities to have a "Great C3 Caravan."

This was mentioned before, but I'll reiterate it here (all times TBD):
Starting from parts more North and Easterly of Philadelphia, other FF members/chapters will converge on Philly.

From there they will depart for Pittsburgh. Again Time TBD, but it's looking like early morning to noon the Wednesday before C3.

From Pitt (not the University, but rather a location of our choosing that is beneficial not only to us but those traveling here as well-early choice is Monroeville Mall, as it's not far from the Turnpike and other major roadways, but we will discuss the choices later), so again, from Pitt, we will depart to Columbus, where we will meet FF members from there as well as any others from the region including but not limited to Cleveland, WV, D.C.

From there it's a straight run to Indy!

Coming from Philly to Indy here's one possible route with time and miles:
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&1a=&1c=Philadelphia&1s=PA&1z=&1y=US&2ex=1&src=maps&ct=NA&2a=&2c=Indianapolis&2s=IN&2z=&2y=US&2pn=&2l=5SWQL3r%2f9Xc%3d&2g=7QJH1fgXaic%3d&2v=CITY&2pl=

Coming from Philly and accounting for the Two stops (Pitt and Columbus) it's about 11-12 hours. Again though you will have two stops.

Coming from Pittsburgh, it's about 6-6 1/2 hours with the stop in Columbus.

This will help break up the monotony of driving and give everyone a chance for a "potty" break as well as fill up on gas.

Now the big thing is figuring out when we want to show up in Indy.

If we want to make the Great C3 Caravan happen then there are a few scenarios that can happen.

Scenario 1:
If we want to be in Indy by 5pm then back tracking to Philly, they would need to leave at 5am. They would arrive in Pittsburgh at approx 11am. This is when those plannign on leaving from Pittsburgh and are not part of the Philly contingent would need to meet at the future agreed upon meeting location. There would be 30-60 minutes for a break/gas/get "briefly" aquainted and then we'd move on to Columbus. Say we leave at Noon, then we should arrive in Columbus by 2:30/3 pm. Another 30 minute break and then off to Indy.

Scenario 2:
And this is the toughest one of the scenarios. If people from other chapters don't want to leave so early from their respective cities, we could offer up a place to sleep for them if they want to come to Pittsburgh the Tuesday before, then we could all leave from Pitt around 9am and get into Indy much earlier. Now this would take alot more coordination and a commitment from members here to open their residence to guests. I don't expect this to happen but it might be a nice jesture if this was an option that might be explored by other chapters. Again though I think everyone would realize if this were not possible.

Scenario 3:
This is the Late night/Early morning scenario.
Folks traveling from Philly would depart there at 1am, arriving in Pitt at 6am. We'd leave from Pitt at 7am arriving in Columbus at 10-10:30 am. Leave there at 11am arriving in Indy at 1:30-2 pm

These are all just suggested scenarios, but it takes into account everyone driving from afar. No matter what, our friends from the Eastern portion of the state and those farther out are going to have a long trip. Scenario 2 breaks it up quite nicey but does require more from us here in Pitt. Scenario 3 puts us in Indy early enough to explore the city a little and relax and prepare for Celebration. While Scenario 1 does the same except that we get in a bit later and wouldn't have time to putz around. We'd have enough time to register with our respective hotels. Those needing to pick-up passes and/or tickets for C3 and the related breakfasts and parties would do so then. Not leaving much time for anything

 

Six weeks from today! WOOHOOO!!

Gotta get busy on my costume!!

 

So they will have two live bands for the party, huh?

Hmm, now this is just fanboy conjecture, but do you think they'll have costumed performers/musicians dressed as the Modal Nodes (Cantina Band) for one and Sly Snootles and the Max Rebo band for the other?

The Modal Nodes would be easy to do (though hot for the performers). Reebo's band would be MUCH harder.

Curious to see, but it would be a fanboy/girl's dream come true...

Imagine them playing the tunes from the cantina and Jabba's palace...

I know I'd be pretty impressed. (Okay, so call me a geek fanboy.) I'm not ashamed of that fact...


-Sal

 

Very nice job there Sal.
I-70 does seem to be the best way to go, from most of Pa anyways.
As far as the senarios go, the first one seems to be the most likely to happen. The third one would be nice, but I doubt very many of the people east of us would be able to leave that early. Plus, that is asking alot from them. Senario 2 seems a bit of a long shot, seeing as we don't know how many people would need lodging, plus we are all fairly spread out from each other. So, I'd say let's roll with the first option.
Also, I think it would be a good idea for there to be at least one, working cell phone in each car when possible. Not only for saftey, but for easier communication between cars. I understand if some may not have a cell phone. And that's ok. Though it seems like most people do nowadays anyways. We can all exchange numbers when we meet up in the designated cities.

 

That's part of the plan. Sorry, neglected to post that part.

 

How many people are staying in the two group rooms? I know we are waiting for Rox and Sal's friend to decide, but who else? So far I gather:

Fluke
Twins
Josh
ZeroCool
?jedigirl?

That's at least 5 who have already ordered their CIII badges, CORRECT??? I would like to know the very most I might have to spend on the hotel room, since we ARE only one month away . Just PM me if you don't want to give details out on the board.


EDIT: Ok, I guess I am really complaining here, but...
I got my CIII badge in the mail today. Frankly, the picture of Darth Vader is kind of poor on quality, even worse then last time's picture of Anakin. It looks like they printed them on a printer that was out of blue and green ink with only red left. The badge that Terry made last time were much better.

 

Jedigirl, Greencat, Malo Ha (from Cleveland) and I are sharing a room.

 

This is a repost-so that the info is in the proper thread:

I've been asked to give a lecture at C3!
I've been talking with one of the Customizing groups for a few months now and they have elected me to give a class at C3. The lecture will be on proper lighting for photoshooting you custom figures. Okay, so it has a pretty specific target audience, but it's still cool to me that I get to actually teach something.

This class will be for beginners. It's only the basics as I will only have 1 hour to teach it.

For now the lectrure is scheduled for 1pm on the Saturday of the convention. If you find you are not busy at that time, please come on by. I could use the support.

Beyond this, I'll also be a part of the Diorama building table. the plan there is to have participants build a diorama of the Death Star. Each person will be assigned a "room" to build. These will be stacked long and high to fill an entire wall. The goal is to have 500 completed rooms by the end of C3. I'll not only be building one of these "rooms" but assisting others in the construction process (as I'll will be an "official" worker for that booth as well). More info to follow on that later.

Extremely excited about C3,
-Sal

 

I was talking to fluke lastnight and realized that if things stay as they are we got 4 people in the ladies room and only 2 in the guys room wich means if we just say we all pay for the room we stay in fluke and I have to pay out over $377ea. whereas in the ladies room the cost per person is only a little over $188 ea. We were wondering if the ladies room and the guys room prices could be combined and split amnogst us. that would bring the price to alittle over $251 ea. that is only $63 more for the women but it will save fluke and I $126 ea. What do you guys think?

 

Consider that Terry may be coming by himself and probably would stay in the guys room. And hopefully my buddy Joby can attend. If those both happen then you'll be right on par with the ladies.

 

I thought you guys were in a co-ed room that included the twins and Zero.

Zero, maybe you can refresh our memories on how many rooms there are and who's "in charge" of each room?

Sal, congratulations on your lecture! You get to play with your toys a lot that weekend! Though I'm no longer interested in collecting the toys, I've always loved dioramas, so I'll be checking out what you and the others are doing.

 

I founout this from Dave in the collecting group If you have ordered you celebration at celebration ticket alredy check your baddge order by logging in and going to the viw your registrations and clicking on the enevlope and they will send you and email and it will tell you if you have yours being mailed or will call .mine got switched to will call.

 

There seem to be MANY problems with people's badge orders. Make sure that you receive the correct stuff when your badge arrives. If not then email GenCon and let them know.