South East Southeast FanForce Con

Has it ever been suggested that the many FanForce groups in the Southeastern region meet for a big POW WOW?

I know that Dragon*Con is a great time for EVERY FanForce to meet(as SE playing "host") but what about a "just us" meeting? Since the recent re-oganization of the FanForce regions, there are only six states in the SE region so, depending on where we wanted to have it, no one would have to go THAT far (although I think some of the best places are likely in Florida).

The most obvious place to meet would be Disney. The best time might be in May of 2003 when they are having the Star Wars Weekends. Perhaps TF.N and LucasFilm could tie it in with the groups like they did with the IMAX release.

Other places:

Kennedy Space Center, FL

Atlanta, GA

Huntsville, AL (The Space Center)

Chattanooga, TN

Hilton Head, SC

Myrtle Beach, NC

Is anyone interested in this idea? I like the Star Wars Weekends idea the best, but I'd be open to suggestions if there are any out there. If you DO have a suggestion post it here. Cheers!

AF

 

Cool idea. Have the hosting location pay up some appearance fees to handle some celebs and you have a deal.

 

That's one good thing about having it in Orlando during Star Wars Weekends; the celebs will already be there. We would just have to coordinate a "special" FanForce appearance.

I know the SWNYC crowd is always helping with local cons and taking Star Wars celebs to dinner. Perhaps we could do the same thing.

 

I think it's a great idea, Allie Fox!! I vote for Huntsville, AL...I guess because it's the closest to our Memphis FanForce.

 

Huntsville may be closer to you but who doesn't love Disney World?

There has been NO official word on whether or not Disney Studios will be holding any Star Wars Weekends next year(2003). They only celebrated one weekend this year(May 17-19) and it was nothing more than any other typical weekend (from what I've heard. I HAVE attended Star Wars Weekends in 2000 and 2001 and had a great time both years. I did learn(the hard way) that it is NOT advisable to attend on the last weekend as the crowds are huge and hotelspace is scarce. However, the first or second weekend both proved to be "comfortable."

Keep your suggestions coming. Every little bit will help.

 

Either Disney, or some city that's central to the region, like Huntsville or Atlanta. If Disney did have a SW Weekend, that would be nice. My main concern is the cost of going to Disney (if my budget can swing it, that would be awesome).

It definitely would be nice to get all the Southeastern FanForces together.

 

Maybe Atlanta.

What about a FanForce Day at Six Flags?

 

I had thought of that, as well, Allie. We could all meet up at Six Flags, once the weather warms back up, but before it becomes too hot outside. April or May, perhaps?

 

I'd like to seperate this event from any events that might take place during Dragon*Con. Not that I have anything against Dragon*Con but I see it as a "just us" meeting. Fans will attend Dragon*Con regardless of any FanForce events. I understand the dinner hosted by the Atlanta group went over very well and I don't want to disrupt anything that they might be planning for 2003. Dragon*Con can be a seperate "worldwide" event while we maintain our own little confederacy (uh! Pun intended).

I'll check into the Six Flags idea and see what it would take to reserve the picnic area.

 

Atlanta is a perfect place to host this. Six Flags rocks, tho it can get hot in the summer, and April is wonderful there. Go for it.

 

I am all for a southeast get together and Atlanta would be a great place for it.

 

Do you think we could get 100 fans to attend?

 

We might be able to pull that off, but I'm not sure. I could probably get at least 20 people from Atlanta to attend, if not more. Actually, it would probably be more like 30 folks in attendence from my group, but I would rather underestimate the numbers until our plans take shape.

 

April would be better than May.....I tie the knot in May, so that month's taken.

Six Flags would be nice. It's been years since I've been there, and I've been wanting to visit. This would be the perfect chance.

 

April sounds good to me. I didn't get to take any vacation days this year, but hopefully I can manage to get a couple of days off to meet up with ya'll. (yes...I said "ya'll"...this is the Southeast, right?)

 

I just recieved Allie Fox's invitation to participate in this proposed event.

The SWS has yet to plan an events during April or May, so I can probably block off this event if you can solidify a time. Also, if this event is hosted in Atlanta - and at Six Flags - I can probably rally 30-40 SWS members to come.

This is such a great idea for a pre-DragonCon get-together... good way to meet those of you we'll be seeing at DragonCon!

 

Does SixFlags have meeting facilities? While there would certainly be a lot to do at SixFlags, where would we get the "bonding" in such a large park?

I would suggest that a SixFlags trip be just a highlight of a get-together and that we also do something like panels? On what subjects, I don't know. But if the point is to get to know each other, we need to find a way to interact. At SixFlags, the bulk of people would just end up sticking together in clumps. (Does this make any sense?)

And yes. PLEASE. I hate the heat and would much prefer to do any outdoor activities in April.

 

Six Flags has great meeting facilities. My wife's practice has it's annual Employee Appreciation Day there every October. The picnic pavilion will accomodate well over 200 people. That's the reason I asked if we could swing 100 people; with that many people we could get the park to provide parking, admission, food and a few game passes for a minimal fee. We could do everything right there in the park. The picnic area is covered in the event of rain, there is a bandstand area and plenty of tables.

I'll call this afternoon to get an idea of cost per person and other details for an April get together.

 

I'm gonna step in here and ask a few questions and share a few thoughts. First off, wherever the site of the meeting is, it will ultimately fall upon that location to organize the event. So if it is Atlanta, we need to step up to the plate. That means researching lodging, dinning and setting the venue to host this. Second, this meeting/event needs some type of purpose or mission statement to go with it. Is this just a social get-together? Is there more involved in this like round tables discussing everything from starting a chapter to dealing with group dynamics? How serious do we want this to be? While Six Flags or Disney SW Weekends are both great ideas, coordinating it for a large group with everyone scattered around the SE is a BIG undertaking. Allie Fox, as you have made this suggestion to the boards, would you be willing to step in and act as coordinator?

 

I agree it's going to be difficult. Not to mention there are a lot of people who will find it difficult to get time off or afford to come.

I would be interested in coming, the thing is that it's a huge undertaking and I am supposed to be saving for college next year.

 

I agree with Jace and Universal. First of all, cost is a factor to everyone, and unless you can get the hosting location to donate in-kind services like meeting halls, they will want dollars or advertising. Secondly, it's not fair to put all of the host location site's FF in charge of everything. They already do a wonderful job running Dragon-Con events and they are human and they tend to get burned out. The originator of the idea should do all the leg work of phoning / contacting locations, obtaining costs, working with vendors, getting maps for out of towners, getting tickets for events (hopefully at group discounts), reserving hotel rooms. It's a massive undertaking.

Try to get the Customer Relations Managers of every location , especially Six Flags or even better the Atlanta Braves, to offer something like a Star Wars day, where we'd have discount hotel rooms, a meeting hall, and entry into the park for either free or reduced cost.

 

April is actually a bad time for us as most of our group are College Students and this will be exam time! But Atlanta would be acceptable more than Orlando.

May I make one further suggestion? How about ConCarolinas in Charlotte, NC May 30-June 1 ? http://secfi.org/concarolinas/

This is a small con just starting up-this is the second year. It is inexpensive, and the ConCom are all Star Wars fans. I can certainly see if they would dedicate one of the 3 panel rooms to us for panel discussions, etc. The Carolinas Garrision of the 501st have a big turn out there as well.

This is just an alternative. Even Six Flags can get expensive if you have family to bring with you.

Regardless, I believe we will have a Carolinas Fanforce get together at this Con and look forward to seeing everyone else at Dragon*con.

It's really tough to organize these things even though we are a bit better organized now. Kudos for giving it a try!

Janet

 

Doing an event like this is definitely easier to try at a convention. The hotel space and events are already setup. The next part is getting the con chair to agree to give you a room or two to use. The bad part about the con in the Carolinas is that it isn't really a central point for the south. Holding something at MGM poses the same issue. Whether I like to say it or not, Atlanta really is a good focal point to meet. Perhaps the good folks at the MOTF would let us meet there or host a panel (the 501st did this past year) at DragonCon? The other idea is to even meet in the lounge area at a specified time. The people who want a "POW WOW" can compare notes about the region. And of course, the Hothlanta Rebels will be hosting and arranging another dinner this upcoming year I'm sure (let me know if I am wrong Minacia). Last year our FanForce dinner was great. We even ended up all going out "unofficially" the next evening.

One final thing to note: timing will always be an issue for someone. Someone is not going to be able to come no matter when or where you hold it. Whether it is college kids, marriages, births, work issues, etc., there will pretty much always be someone missing.

 

Guys and Gals, loyal imperials and rebel scum,

If your wanting to do this next summer then have you thought about AdventureCon in Knoxville, TN.? So far wicket the ewok and possibly Jeremy Bulloch,(boba fett), will be the SW celebs this year. Peter Mayhew was there last year and said he would like to come back but that isn't comfirmed.
It is more central to you, but it is the same weekend as the Concarolina thing , may31-june2nd ? Gattlinburg is also just down the road and a great 'meeting' place with stuff for the family as well. I'm coordinating what hopes to be a bunch of 501st participation at the Con so it would be a great SW environment for your SE-FF get together. I imagine more planning and news about the con will start to show up after the holidays so keep checking out the con's site at toyshow.org ...
This will be the con's second year and it was slow last year due to being so close to Celebration II and the SW movie premire that a lot of SW fans just didn't make it out there. This year looks to have a huge turn out.
Just an idea for thought.

-Joey (BamaTrooper)
TK-152
Southern Outpost CO
(AL, TN, KY, MS)
501st Legion
www.501stso.com
BamaTrooper[--at--]mail.com

 

Tennessee and Georgia seem to be central states to the rest of the Southeast region.

Knoxville's a good idea too.

I would offer Chattanooga's services but I have my hands full right now planning a wedding. Anything in the months of May and June just wouldn't work for me personally.

Organization and the site will be the biggest issues, then cost, IMO.

Therefore, the previous ideas of doing this at a con sounds better and better. The city is set, organization should be easier, and many people will have that date marked off on their calendars. Speaking of which, when is the next DragonCon?