Empire Fan Fest (a convention)

hey all

i know some of you might know this already, but our friends down in the NYC fanforce are putting on their own convention and have extended an invitation to all groups. here's what they have to say:

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I would like to invite you and your clubs to The Empire Fan Fest Convention being held on April 17th & 18th in Secaucus NJ. During the con we will be having a gathering of all the local (and not so local) Fan Groups.

The guest of honor will be Mark Hamill.
Please note however that Mr. Hamill WILL NOT BE SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS.

Information on the con can be found here

Anyone plan on going? That's a really good weekend for me because I have that Monday and Tuesday off from school. I'd love to go, but I don't want to go all by my lonesome.

i'm fairly sure i'll be going, and tom has expressed interest. so you'll have at least two people going

This would involve spending the night there, wouldn't it? If so, any idea how much hotels run? And what about transportation?

I'd like to go if you guys are going, though I do have class on Monday so would have to be back Sunday night. I've never been to a convention before and would like to go muchly...

If that's okay with you guys that is.

Do I sense a road trip?

uhm, well i spoke to meriwyn and she said the hotel they have a deal with was about $100 per night, but there was some other hotel nearby that was like $50 a night. i'll try and get more detail.

as for transportation, i'd love to offer my car in a carpool but it's on a lease and mileage restrictions are a pain (the recent trip to hartford to go to red lobster is a little ouchie right now)...so i'd be taking the train. which is not a bad ride. unless someone were willing to drive, in which case i'd be happy to supply gas money and snacks.

How much is a train ticket, assuming we can't work out a carpool? I know nothing of such things as the only train I've ever taken in the US has been the commuter rail...and the only other train I've been on in my life was in France, hehe.

The bus from Boston is $20 each way.

How long by bus will it take to get there?
The train is cool and more comfortable.
its about 200 miles i think. I wouldn't be able to leave until 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning from Boston. Would I make it in time to convention? When would everyone else be leaving?

yeah for some reason the bus and train are cheaper from boston than from providence. unfortunately i think the train is something like $124 round trip from providence ... but it is pretty comfy. i've done the bus ride to and from NYC and it's just ... ik ... not good ... very cramped.

chris the con is the 17th and 18th so i'd most likely be leaving saturday morning

Yes indeed the bus is horrible!!!
My adventure to C2 involved taking bus to Indianapolis (23 hrs. of pain) but had to experience a long bus trip just once in my life.

I took the train back from Indy and it was great.

Scratch what I said. I can't read.

I could probably drive providing I had an able navigator. I have never been down that way before so I would probably need a little help.

I volunteer to navigate, but I don't make any promises about doing it well.

This sounds neat. And Mark Hamill? For real? Wow. I do believe I am a dork. This sounds great. Who's going for sure? I might consider it.

We should really start planning for this more seriously soon, since it's a lot to think about. I'd still like to go.

I would as well. And since it will be somewhat expensive it wouldn't hurt to look into prices and hotels and whatnot.

I suppose we should find out, how many people would be going and for how long. If we need to make hotel room reservations, we need to figure out how many rooms we need and how many people to a room. I wonder if they charge extra for four people per room?

I did a quick search. A room for 4 people at that hotel goes from 80-200 dollars a night.

Just came across Near by hotels.

Is that $80-100 per person, or per room? Big difference.

per night per room.

Hmm I have a few vacation days I could use.
Lets get planning!!

You should get a double bed room and have like 10 sleep in it. Lol. You know some on the bed, some on chairs and on the floor. It would look like my old barracks after a loooong weekend. If I can get the time off from work I would go.

Well, I've got directions and two free spots in my car. Anyone wanting a lift, let me know.

Hey guys!

Glad to see you're coming down to enjoy our first convention! We have lots of stuff planned so bring your costumes and whatever else you bring on road trips...LOL.

If anyone has any questions, please by all means feel free to post them here or contact me via PM if you wish. Also, check out our website...link is in my sig.

See you next month!

Ed, when would you be departing and coming back? I'm interested in a spot in your car.