Admin (griffin) away at BotCon until 30th April.

[griffin]

Just letting people here (members and guests) know that I will be away from Monday 21st April to the 30th, for BotCon in America. So behave while I'm gone :p

There will be periods where I will be unable to drop by (which is pretty standard for me I guess...), but I will try to post here with news and info postings if and when I can.

Until I return, I may not be able to do any administrative things (like activate new registrations), or any Moderator duties. But the rest of the Board Moderator Staff (dirge, Paulbot, 1orion2man, Tiby) will still be here, conducting business as usual.

Below is an *estimated* itinerary of what and where I will be, with Brisbane (East AUS) times, to give an idea of when I will most likely be posting info or news (unless I can't connect at all).

21/4 Mon
8am Leave home
11am Depart Bris to LA

22/4 Tue
Midnight BT - Arrive LA (7am Mon in LA)
4.35am BT - Depart LA to Nth Kentuky Airport (11.35am Mon in LA)
8.52am BT - Arrive at NtK Airport (6.52pm Mon in Cincinnati)
10am BT - Should be at Hotel (8pm Mon in Cin)
(sleep)

23/4 Wed
Midnight BT - Toy shopping in Cincinnati (10am Tues in Cin)
10.30pm BT - Pre-BotCon Tour 1 (8.30am Wed in Cin)
-Laser Tag at Lazer Kraze (www.lazerkraze.com (http://www.lazerkraze.com))
-Food & Beer tasting at Jungle Jim's International Food Market (www.junglejims.com (http://www.junglejims.com))
-Earth Collectable Toy Mall (www.theearthtoymall.com (http://www.theearthtoymall.com))
-Queen City Comics

24/4 Thu
7am BT - Return to Hotel (5pm Wed in Cin)
10am BT - ***Pre-reg pickup of toys**** (8pm Wed in Cin)
(sleep)
9.45pm BT - Pre-BotCon Tour 2 (7.45am Thurs in Cin)
-National Museum of the United States Air Force.

25/4 Fri
7.15am BT - Return to Hotel (5.15pm Thurs in Cin)
8am BT - ***Pre-reg purchase of toys*** (6pm Thurs in Cin)
(Saintly arrives)
(sleep)
11pm BT - Pre-reg Day (panels and Dealer Room) (9am Fri in Cin)

26/4 Sat
7am BT - Close of Dealer Room, end of daytime events (5pm Fri in Cin)
9am BT - Pre-reg evening events (7pm Fri in Cin)
1pm BT - End of evening events (11pm Fri in Cin)
(sleep)
10.30pm BT - Regular Day One begins (8.30am Sat in Cin)

27/4 Sun
7am BT - Close of Regular daytime events (5pm Sat in Cin)
9am BT - Casino Night and Awards Dinner (7pm Sat in Cin)
Noon BT - Charity Auction (10pm Sat in Cin)
(sleep)
11.30pm BT - Regular Day Two begins (9.30am Sun in Cin)

28/4 Mon
5.30am BT - Close of BotCon (3.30pm Sun in Cin)
(Saintly leaves)
(sleep)
11pm BT - Post office (9am Mon in Cin)

29/4 Tue
Midnight BT - Check out of Hotel and leave for Airport (10am Mon in Cin)
3.25am BT - Depart NtK airport (1.25pm Mon in Cin)
8.10am BT - Arrive at LA (3.10pm in LA)
4.20pm BT - Depart LA (11.20pm in LA) (yes, 8 hours at LAX airport)

30/4 Wed
6.05am BT - Arrive at Brisbane
8.30am BT - Should be home.

In case anyone is interested in what the different season is like, these are the conditions while I am there:
Weather forecast.
Cincinnati
21M - 12-24 sunny
22T - 14 27 mostly sunny
23W - 13-25 scattered storms
24T - 13-23 partly cloudy
25F - 9-21 scattered storms
26S - 6-16 storms
27S - 8-21 showers
28M - 8-19 showers
LA
21M - 11-19 sunny
28M - 13-23 sunny

I'm looking forward to the adventure as always, and the chance to catch up with people over there. Not too optimistic on buying much retail though this year, as I was having trouble finding anything near the Hotel and Convention Centre. The nearest Toy, comic or department store is about 3kms away, and most are 10-13kms away, and only one day free to use on retail shopping. It's probably a good thing, as I only have about half of what I was aiming to have saved up, to spend.
Ah well, they have a few fast food and grocery stores within walking distance, so I'll be able to fulfill my other objective - 'sampling' the native dishes. :)

Total costs so far (for anyone thinking of ever doing this)
Airfares - $3095
Travel Insurance - $142
Accomodation (7 nights, sharing 3 with Saintly) - $997
Pre-registration - $464
-----
Total without any spending here (stuff to take) or there - AU$4698.
:eek:
:)

[iceburn]

$$$$

enjoy your trip bossco

[Borgeman]

[quote=griffin;18455]Airfares - $3095
[quote]

seems a bit much?

i was aiming to go to the states last year for an international mario kart meetup (hey, dont make fun, for you collect toys :p) before i spent my cash on tfs, and the ticket was around $2000 return, and thats with like 2-3 plane changes one way....

George

[Pulse]

Have Fun Mate :)

Someday I wish I could go to Botcon - but I know that if I did I'd completely blow my budget. :D

[Soundwarp]

Right time for me to take over the world!~

[iceburn]

hahaha i just remembered to say

"PARTY TIME"

[lcz128]

Have lots of fun there kind sir! :D

Wow- Botcon- Never even considered attending one cause its so pricey... :o Go you! :D

[TheDirtyDigger]

Have a ball Griff!:cool:
Stay safe and bring back heaps!:)







Now if we can just get the mods to take a vacation then it's.......



"PARTY TIME"

[Bartrim]

Total costs so far (for anyone thinking of ever doing this)
Airfares - $3095
Travel Insurance - $142
Accomodation (7 nights, sharing 3 with Saintly) - $997
Pre-registration - $464
-----
Total without any spending here (stuff to take) or there - AU$4698.
:eek:
:)

You left off the end.

Going to Botcon while all the other Ozformers are stuck at their mind numbing, boring jobs...Priceless:D

[Kyle]

I have a feeling that the big bot won't recognise this place when he comes back... :p

[autobreadticon]

have fun bossbot, no rest when you return cause i want awesome coverage :p

[Robzy]

Have fun Griff!

[i_amtrunks]

Good Luck Animated Hunting in Cinci!

[dirge]

Now if we can just get the mods to take a vacation then it's.......

Time to edit your post! :D

[Soundwarp]

Time to edit your post! :D

Tee hee

[Pulse]

Being a TF person at this time of the year, You feel so :) for those going to Botcon but at the same time you also feel a little :( about not being able to experience it yourself. I know there are Sci-Fi Conventions & the like but, isn't Botcon the one true TF convention in the world? I would luv to go there one year but some $4698 later, that is a hell of a lot of money to see it.

I know quite a few TF people through Plasticcrack & Flickr and all bar one or two of them live in the states - which in turn means they'll be going to Cincinnatti. & because we (& I) live here in Australia, It is going to be a hell of a lot harder (financially) for us to ever experience it ourselves.

I know a couple of years ago we had Sabretron - but it's still not the same of going to Botcon yourself. :(

I would luv to go there one year but realistically, that dream seems pretty far off at this point in time. :rolleyes:

[griffin]

Airfares - $3095


seems a bit much?

i was aiming to go to the states last year for an international mario kart meetup (hey, dont make fun, for you collect toys :p) before i spent my cash on tfs, and the ticket was around $2000 return, and thats with like 2-3 plane changes one way....

George

You must have found a rare (these days with high oil prices) discount ticket for the 'off-season'. I often see Flight Center advertising return to LA for about $1600, and depending on the domestic connection/airline, you could manage $2000. For me this year, this was the 'Shoulder Season', not too much in advance (the current BC mob leave it really late to confirm dates and details, so often the cheapest seats are long gone by the time I know for sure the dates to book), and the Domestic connection was really expensive due to the airline I had to use and the airport I was flying to (the highest fees of all American Airports, which pushes up the cost of tickets). It's probably been about five years since the last time I managed to score airfares around the 2 grand mark, so am now more willing to accept/expect paying about 3 grand now.

[kup]

Who wants to build a boat large enough for all of us to sail for free to next year's Botcon? If we survive without being eaten by a giant Squid, we would have an extra $3300 spending money that would have otherwise gone to the air fare.

[TheDirtyDigger]

Who wants to build a boat large enough for all of us to sail for free to next year's Botcon? If we survive without being eaten by a giant Squid, we would have an extra $3300 spending money that would have otherwise gone to the air fare.

I'm in.
I'll be entertainment officer.


If the boat idea doesn't float though I am seriously considering saving to go next year. Either that or stash myself in Griffin's suitcase.

It would be cheaper if we booked flights/accomodation as a group yeah?

[Bartrim]

Who wants to build a boat large enough for all of us to sail for free to next year's Botcon? If we survive without being eaten by a giant Squid, we would have an extra $3300 spending money that would have otherwise gone to the air fare.


If by chance you happened to get a boat I am a licenced Master Class 5 so I could skipper it for you:)



If the boat idea doesn't float though I am seriously considering saving to go next year. Either that or stash myself in Griffin's suitcase.



Brillant TDD. You can stash yourself in Griffin's suitcase then I'd stash myself in your suitcase and someone could hide in my suitcase and so on. We'd be like those dolls that have the little ones inside the bigger ones:D

[autobreadticon]

I'm in.
I'll be entertainment officer.


If the boat idea doesn't float though I am seriously considering saving to go next year. Either that or stash myself in Griffin's suitcase.

It would be cheaper if we booked flights/accomodation as a group yeah?

why not train on master planet so you can transform into a suitcase...

[kup]

Looks like the 'Reign of Dirge' is about to begin :D

[dirge]

I'm already raining. Terror.

Mwahahahah.

(:

[roller]

I'm already raining. Terror.

Mwahahahah.

(:

hes gone mad with power!!! We want Roller to rule us!

[MV75]

hes gone mad with power!!! We want Roller to rule us!

Gee, I dunno. I don't think yoiu could keep up with the latest news, I mean afterall, you've only just gotten a kmart built in Perth, and a few gobots shipments in right?

I'll expect your reply tomorrow as I know this thread data could take a while to be translated to your tin can and string that is at your main telephone exchange, and then for the operator there to yell this post to you.
________
VOLCANO VAPORIZER REVIEW (http://vaporizer.org/reviews/volcano)

[Borgeman]

Gee, I dunno. I don't think yoiu could keep up with the latest news, I mean afterall, you've only just gotten a kmart built in Perth, and a few gobots shipments in right?

I'll expect your reply tomorrow as I know this thread data could take a while to be translated to your tin can and string that is at your main telephone exchange, and then for the operator there to yell this post to you.

not to mention the fact that this will all have happen in reverse so his reply can be posted :D

George

[roller]

ouch

who needs kmart when i have Kyle ordering exclusive stuff in from hong kong to my door

[MV75]

I just bought a long range bull horn:

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LAUGH! ;)

:D :D
________
Starcraft 2 replay (http://screplays.com/)

[Kyle]

ouch

who needs kmart when i have Kyle ordering exclusive stuff in from hong kong to my door

I also do pizzas and Chinese takeaways... :D

[Soundwarp]

I also do pizzas and Chinese takeaways... :D

Nice dude, i've just drank 3/4 of my JD bottle after a horrible day at work.

DUDE I NEED PIZZA!!!!