Botcon 2009 location announced

[fatbot]

They usually have a "non-attending" package where you get most of the stuff someone going does, except the ticket to the actual convention (and the attendee figures). Several of us did that last year.

sweet as bro, now i need to figure out how to get the attendee figures without selling a kidney

[doubleclouder]

haha, if i go, my mum will probably kill me over it, she has been nagging at me using an entire spare room to store toys and paying my way to botcon, no way for her! unless...i tell her i am on "business trip". hehehe

[griffin]

Since I never actually ever got around to doing up my BotCon 2004 report, I had to go sort through the photos
I still have sitting on my computer, to find some to post here. After finding out that BC09 was in the same place as BC04
I was wanting to do the report tomorrow, but something more important has come up to tie up my time.

Anyway, some BC04 piccies (and odd rambling...)

Below is the map I acquired from mapquest five years ago, showing LA in the middle, with the airport (red star)
at bottom left, and Pasadena (red X ) top right. There was a shuttle bus, that serviced the Hotel, but I can't remember
if it had to be pre-booked. Most flights from AUS arrive in LA at about 6-7am, so if you are going straight to your hotel,
or the BC hotel, you won't be able to check in for several hours. I had to spend half the first day toy hunting and
watching a movie (there were 2 department stores and a cinema complex within walking distance, but not a whole lot else).


This was the floor plan of the hotel and convention centre complex. If the convention is only in the Conference Building
and Exhibition building again, there is no undercover access between the hotel and Con Centre. You'll see what I mean
in the next few photos. Basically, those two Con rooms are underground, with a long corridor running between them.
The hotel, auditorium and iceskating buildings are above ground.



The front of the hotel (the right hand edge of the map above).


And below is the left hand edge of that map above, showing the stairs going down to the two Convention rooms, and
the building on top is the Auditorium and Iceskating.



The sign out the front in the photo above, advertised the 20th anniversary of TFs, which is ironic that
they have gone for this location for the 25th anniversary.



It will mean they have easy access to Movie Guests, including this repeat offender:



Peter Cullen lives in CA, so it would be a surprise if he isn't at BC09.

This other photo of the location, was taken from my second room (I had to change rooms after the first night),
and shows the open walkway alongside the Auditorium/Skating building that we had to use to get to the other
side of the premises and down the steps into the bowels of the centre. Hopefully they have fixed that by having
some sort of internal access to the hotel.



Another big picture, that may stretch your screen a bit (it won't let me resize it in this post) - the dealer room.
The room looks a bit empty, but only because BC04 was not the 'official convention' that year, and didn't exactly
advertise itself too much. It still had a big turnout, with more guests than any convention before or since.


And one of the highlights of BC04, in addition to the guests and special events, was this display of probably
99% of all TFs toys at that time, set up by fans.





PLEASE - IF YOU REPLY TO THIS POST AS A QUOTE, REMOVE THE PHOTOS FROM YOUR REPLY, TO SAVE SPACE.

[Burn]

So a lot ofpeople seem to be complaining about the timing and location of the event.

But given the location and timing I have to wonder if they'll use BotCon as a chance to have the official premiere of TF 2009.

[liegeprime]

oooh look at all that space! And yummy G1 goodness on Display! Hmmm its positively sinful!

[llamatron]

So a lot ofpeople seem to be complaining about the timing and location of the event.

But given the location and timing I have to wonder if they'll use BotCon as a chance to have the official premiere of TF 2009.

Word on the street says there will be a screening of TF:ROTF. I hope that it's true.

[gamblor916]

Holy crap, I have relatives in El Monte I can stay with. Going by the map that looks like 10km away.
If ever there was one to go to this is it. Hmm decisions...

[kup]

For some reason, I am also feeling some sort of temptation..but I am not sure if its worth it or not for me

[orionpax1]

Was going to go this year (2009) but we only came back form the states 4 months ago (would of went again anyway) but our first baby will be born like two weeks before hand and besides the dollar is expecting to reach 50 cents going by research and what all the money guys are saying, so unless you win the lotto i cant justify the expense.

[griffin]

The Collector Club sent out another email to *officially* announce that BotCon will be at the Sheraton Pasadena Convention Centre, and that the online reservation at the hotel is now open (if any rooms are left).
Sounds like the Convention Centre has undergone some changes since BC04, so maybe there is undercover access to the hotel now, or they just gave it a new coat of paint or something...

We are excited to officially announce that you can now make your reservations for BotCon '09 online.
To make your hotel reservations, go to BotCon.com and follow the link to the Sheraton Pasadena Hotel.
BotCon '09 will be at the new Pasadena Convention Center. The Sheraton is attached to the center. Hotel rooms will go very quickly and they have a limited number of rooms with double beds so next week we will have a second hotel block available at a near by property that has additional double bed rooms.

We will send out another update after we receive the electronic reservation link.
It will be several weeks before we have the registration forms available so keep checking BotCon.com for future updates!

Sounds like the pre-reg forms won't be ready until late February or March even...