AK Fest 2007. Will the fest move ?

Well yeah, the hotel is pretty bad but the critical thing for me is that we got to set up the show and enjoy it pretty much on our own terms - no way in hell a more uppity hotel (that would cost a LOT more) would have given us the freedom we enjoy there. I've been to a bunch of audio shows and all where in nicer hotels that cost more and had better facilities but every one of them was very restrictive and heavy handed with a bunch of rules that would have killed a lot of the fun I've had at every AKfest so far.

That being said though I'm one of the guys that brings along the family and sorry, I have no intention of taking a 'screw them, it's all about me' attitude. I like traveling with them and make this a bit of a break for us - hell, my wife even likes the audio stuff to a point.

The pool would have been nice, the rooms are hurting and not having even a half-assed restaurant and bar on-site sucks. Add to this the fact that my wife doesn't drive and I was warned not to let her go walking around that hood on her own made it a little boring for her and made me feel bad about constantly bailing on her to enjoy the show.

If the hotel gets it's shit together a little bit I'm all for leaving it right where it is. I can and will do a better job of making it a fun time for my family.
 
I had no real problems with the place, sure it was a little run down but who here isnt? If they had a resaurant in house we would have never seen my future ex wife at that breakfast place up the road, forget the name of the place but her ass was outa this world. Not that it is possible but if we did it during the summer would a school be willing to rent us an auditorium and some classrooms. This would give us bigger listening rooms, tables, chairs and a place to put some featured systems in areas for everybody to listen to and gawk at. And 10 hours drive time closer would be a great benifit to me, not that I didnt love listening to 20 hours of " I gotta get that Sota TT" .
 
I say leave it as well. I am in the Hospitality industry and what they are doing for us is great. IMHO, it would cost cosiderably more, and we would lose the freedom's that we have now. Instead of a new location, why not put together a "Visitors Packet" that highlights area attractoins, eatery's, shopping, Thrift stores, hock shops, nightclubs those kind of things. Directions, phone numbers ect....
 
Again we appreciate all your input. Please keep it coming. Thanks

Grumpy
 
Aside from that goofy-ass elevator that wouldn't stop at the twelfth floor and the lack of a lounge and/or restaraunt (which they were in the process of remedying, I believe), I thought it was fine. So unless you guys wanna move the Fest to Columbia, Atlanta, Charlotte..... :D , might as well leave it be. - Mark
 
grumpy said:
Well its looking like it just may.

A few ( but not to many) complained about the hotel we have used in the past. Yeah its dumpy. Yeah it does not fit in with "high end" audio, Yeah the neighborhood could be better.

Grumpy

You make the neighbourhood sound scarey. Is personal safety an issue? Can't think of too many SOs that would enjoy attending it if it is, and while they might not want to "rock the boat" by complaining, they may just never make the trip a second time...
 
Outside the Box

How about a completely different idea:

The Fest stays where it is, and we work out an arrangement with a van that shuttles to a nearby upscale hotel with a spa, etc (like the Townsend?). I get dropped off at the Fest, and the wife gets dropped off at the mall, then the van picks both up and we head out to dinner. If an S.O. stays at the Fest, she can still use the van to go to the mall and back.

Everyone's happy, and all it costs is whatever the upscale hotel will charge for the special use of one of their vans, which can be built into that hotel's group room rate. We could even use three hotels, priced low, medium and high.
 
Well, this may be a little far-fetched, but here goes...

How about we hold it at the same place next year, and invite, in advance, several other hotels, a notch or two nicer, to send their event manager to drop by while the fest is going on. We'd all be on our best behavior, of course!

As you escort them around the music rooms and the vendor rooms, you could ask them what, if anything, they could do for us. You could explain that we would really like to move to a nicer place, but we certainly do understand that we don't want to surprise them with something unexpected. You know, the same stuff you're saying now, except they'd actually be able to see it.

They might say that they would like to have us, but they just don't see how they could work it out without inconveniencing other guests. They might be willing to do it, but the cost might be too high.

Otoh, somebody might come up with an offer that you feel is doable.
 
Aage said:
You make the neighbourhood sound scarey. Is personal safety an issue? Can't think of too many SOs that would enjoy attending it if it is, and while they might not want to "rock the boat" by complaining, they may just never make the trip a second time...
I allways heard that it was a rough place to be but after my wife and I got there,we saw that is was really better than some places that are just a few miles from home.Right here in middle TN there is a place called upton hights that the law dont allow anyone to enter unless you live there,and for good reason cause shootings,fights,stabbings,you name it,and it happens there in a place known to many as gods country right here in the wonderfull hills of TN.A while back 9 guys went to jail for the torture and murder of 2 boys over something stupid,and after being tied up in the back of the truck nearly dead already,they even drive though a drive up window to get dinner letting the resteraunt folks ask what they were doing to do with those guys in the truck.They dumped them off a bridge [ after killing them slowly ] up the road into the water,and nobody even cared enough to go to the police to tell what they witnessed.This took a long time to get a conviction for those 9 guys that done it.And to meet these guys,you wouldnt see them any different than any other folks.Anything can happen,it dont matter where you live,it can happen. I done mechanic work for two of the guys that were involved in that before they done it and thought they were pretty good ole boys.That just goes to show that nobody is safe as you can never be to sure of folks. :scratch2:
 
Negotiableterms said:
How about a completely different idea:

The Fest stays where it is, and we work out an arrangement with a van that shuttles to a nearby upscale hotel with a spa, etc (like the Townsend?).

The Townsend??????????
I believe that's where the Stones and the NBA stays when they're in town.

If you're staying there, you can afford a cab down to the Fest. :yes:

Honestly, I've been looking around a bit and there's nicer hotels close by if someone's willing to drive or pay for a cab. But you do lose that next floor closeness and ability to just walk to your room for a snooze or what.
 
Andyman said:
The Townsend??????????
I believe that's where the Stones and the NBA stays when they're in town. If you're staying there, you can afford a cab down to the Fest.

I'm prepared to believe both are true, but when I was looking around I found I could get great weekend rates at the Townsend if I booked far enough out. It wound up being only a few $ more than some of the nicer places nearer the Fest, and I thought I'd have a better chance of getting my wife to come. Turned out, we had to go a wedding instead. :no:

Anyway, the importance of the van is that the other-halves get to do stuff together, in a pre-organized thing. They don't have to start off alone and try to connect and coordinate with other folks they haven't met yet. Only the folk staying at the hotel pay for it, so it doesn't cost the Fest anything, and if the van starts off going to the Fest, other folk (with a Fest ID) can hop on. If we can get 10 rooms together at any of the bigger hotels, I bet it will only add $20/rm for 4 round trips to Fest, mall and hotel.

Of course, I'm makin' this up as I go along...
 
brainsmasher said:
I had no real problems with the place, sure it was a little run down but who here isnt? If they had a resaurant in house we would have never seen my future ex wife at that breakfast place up the road, forget the name of the place but her ass was outa this world. Not that it is possible but if we did it during the summer would a school be willing to rent us an auditorium and some classrooms. This would give us bigger listening rooms, tables, chairs and a place to put some featured systems in areas for everybody to listen to and gawk at. And 10 hours drive time closer would be a great benifit to me, not that I didnt love listening to 20 hours of " I gotta get that Sota TT" .

I think that I will echo the voices of the majority, The breakfasts and the female wait staff :smsex: at above mentioned eatery was top notch :yes: The hotel was not dumpy, it was definately not 4 stars but, I would not describe it as dumpy. I know that the object is to make it better every year, and, I too think that some workshops would be awesome but, I too am aware of other peoples time. If I had something to offer a class I would be more than willing to, but, I can't. I guess the bottom line is, I feel that those doing all of the work should have the final decision. By the way I did get the Sota :thmbsp:
 
I'm thinkin if you opt for a more " upscale" hotel along with that upscale hotel will come more rules, less flexabilty, more snobery etc......all of which I could do without!!!! For me its the folks I get together with and the gear I get to listen to!!!
 
shelby1420 said:
I'm thinkin if you opt for a more " upscale" hotel along with that upscale hotel will come more rules, less flexabilty, more snobery etc......all of which I could do without!!!! For me its the folks I get together with and the gear I get to listen to!!!
Well said. In all,we are lucky to have the privelage of being able to do the things we were able to do,and its not likely we could find a place else where that would allow us do those things.Other places would surely post a few rules that would make the fest less enjoyable. Everything was just fine really.If folks are looking for a place to take vacation then wait till mid summer and take a tripp to the beach and stay in a nice room,as the fest was not meant to be a vacation.Please correct me guys if I am wrong :smoke:
 
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Caveat: I haven't been to an AK Fest yet.

I hosted computer technology events for several years, and have been going to audio meets for 20 years now, and I can tell you that the freedom you guys seem to get is very rare in the hospitality industry. If you moved very far upscale, your costs would go up almost exponentially, and you'd have the hotel events manager and security breathing down your neck. And the "Engineering" department would make you pay for extra power, probably make you pay extra to move furniture around (and of course, you'd have to hire their in-house labor to do it), etcetera.

One of the only audio meets where we didn't have any "issues" I was aware of we had at the Dunfey Hotel (now remodeled and a Hilton property, I believe) in San Mateo, CA. They just let everyone do their thing and stayed out of the way, which is incredibly rare. I told my wife, and they even let her dog breed club hold their national meet there the next year! Not a four-star property, by any means, but the hassle-free nature of it all made any other inconveniences worthwhile.
 
As one who suggested that a nicer place would be better I've since changed my mind and vote to keep it were it is...It'll cost enough in gas to get there next year so anyway I can save money will help me return! Thanks for checking things out Grumpy!
 
I think it will be difficult to beat the present location. #1 is of course, the freedom that we all enjoyed. The proximity to major freeways has to be important. I like Andy's idea about some ideas for alternate recreation, and as local hosts, we should have thought about it before. There really is a lot to do in the area. I'll volunteer to assist in compiling these ideas and trying to implement them into next years festival. Since it's in my back yard, I took it for granted. :yes:
 
Fisher-Dave said:
If folks are looking for a place to take vacation then wait till mid summer and take a tripp to the beach and stay in a nice room,as the fest was not meant to be a vacation.
Thats nice Dave but I do a 6 hour drive to get to the Fest, deal with crossing the border and carve 4 days out for the experience - I like involving my family and may just continue to do so. Lets just say not everyone shares your attitude on this.

Keeping it where it is would be great if you local guys could point us in the right directions to make the weekend more entertaining for us sorry family types. I'm sure we can get together to plan some stuff that gets wives and such out of the rooms occasionally to better enjoy the weekend.
 
I think it would be a great idea to have a listing of shopping, places to eat and other entertainment that is availible in the area as well as directions to them. I also have a pretty long drive and hope my wife joins me next year. For us it is a little vacation, we leave the kids at home and get away together for a large change, with great people and great music.

Not knowing the area it is a little intimidating to just head out looking for somewhere to go.

As far as the motel, there where no creatures to fend off, the rooms were reasonably clean. A bar would have been nice as well as pool and resturant, but it looked as if they were renovating them, so thry should be there for next year. There was only one floor between the listening rooms and the staying rooms, the stairs worked very well.

I have worked several food shows around the country, they can be a pain when in a very "nice" place, imagine needing to hire an electrician to set up your system for you, or a carpenter to assemble your rack for you. In a lot of the "nicer" places this is required, granted usually it is a convention center with these requirements, but not always.

Jim
 
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