If AKfest09 was moved...

More likely to attend in 09?

  • Yes

    Votes: 36 35.0%
  • No

    Votes: 45 43.7%
  • Makes no difference to me

    Votes: 22 21.4%

  • Total voters
    103
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I vote for Chagrin Falls, Ohio!

Failing that, somewhere between MI and NC, which is where just about ever buddy seems to live. Lucky me, a place to stay in both places! Whoo Hoo!
 
I can understand what you are saying completely Gumpy.. Just wondering if maybe each year, a person in a different area takes the reigns and set it up, but then I also realize thise leaves more opprotunity for something falling through and a fest getting trashed.. It would take a hell of a burden off you though... unless you are doing it for sheer pleasure..
 
I guess I am going to be a little biased on this one, but there is alot of work to consider when you do something like ARMY is suggesting.

Short form is that it would be like moving a small store to another state, and back. Can you imagine the shipping charges?

Everything that is used at the fest has to be:
stored somewhere....my house
shipped somewhere......my house
planned somewhere....my house
organized somewhere.....my house

Exhibitors and attendees need to know that AK has done everything that it can to make it an enjoyable show. This includes many phone calls while utilizing the computer (at my house), going to the hotel many many times to verify things are done.

I sincerely do not believe that moving the fest at this time is something that we should consider.

Just my opinion...

Nancy
 
I'm all for a fest.. so where ever it is.. I'm going to try my damnedest to make the next one... I'm just happy The Grumpy's have been so good to have these...
 
I've gotta say "no" - too far for me to drive in a day, and not easy to fly - two connections and very expensive, or a long drive on one end or the other. I do like Cedar Rapids (used to live there), but I've also got to wonder about getting vendors to come there.
 
With as much work as a get-to-gether of that magnitude entails, I can appreciate why the kind folks who do the legwork and make it happen feel adamant about not changing the venue locale. It's their show, people.

That being said, I believe the next best thing is to continue to organize and strengthen the informal AK meets so the people who can't afford it or can't get away for the Fest at least have opportunities to meet some of the AK clan in close proximity to their own diggs.

It's probably in a thread already, but what have been the attendance numbers of AK members attending each year of the AK Fest so far? Are they growing? Are they sliding? Staying the same? Are they the same members? Just curious...
 
We're looking at the possibility of moving the Fest to Cedar Rapids Iowa which is centrally located to our brothers in the Great White North as well as our friends in the South, East and West.

Sorry, I missed how it's better for Canadians.

As everybody in Canada knows, all the interesting Canadians are in Ontario, so Cedar Rapids is further for us.

::ducking and running::
 
Grumpy doesnt tell 1/1000th of what he does to get AK Fest off the ground. He is a dedicated person who thinks of nothing but AK.

If it were moved - someone else would have to do ALL of what he does for setting up the fest as well. It wouldn't be right, in my mind, to ask him to do all this work in another city.

Just my HONEST OPINION!!


Sheesh Dave you don't have to shout... :)

This isn't set in stone nor did I offer any of this without discussing it with Grumpy first. And yes I would do my best to be the eyes and ears and do as much as possible to set this up and manage this end of it. I also have a lot of family that would be able to lend a hand before during and after the fest.
I have a very good idea of what the burden Grumpy and Mrs Grumpy go thru every year to put on a show like this. And that is why I offered to find a hotel big enough and nice enough and do some of the prefest leg work over the last couple of days. And the hotel I contacted has the dates we prefer. This thread is only to gauge interest...
 
Well, I'm a "townie" as are at least 6 other folks that had Member rooms, so a move to Iowa might put a damper on some of those guys doing a room. I know I'd probably not attend if it were away, but that's just me.
Also, how would the vendors feel about Iowa??? Would Marantz and McIntosh be willing to go somewhere besides a large retail market such as Detroit. Also how many smaller vendors would it draw? My rough estimate is that at least half a dozen of the 2008 vendors too are native to SE MI and/or Detroit.
I think it would be a tough sell :yes:
 
Well, I'm a "townie" as are at least 6 other folks that had Member rooms, so a move to Iowa might put a damper on some of those guys doing a room. I know I'd probably not attend if it were away, but that's just me.

That is why I am interested to know how many locals go to the fest (AK members and non AK members) Cedar Rapids isn't only small but doesn't have many people within a 2 hours drive. I seem to remember a lot of people I met were from the Detroit area or a short drive away. A good Audio event could probably take place in any major city but look how long it has taken to make AK fest what it is today in Detroit.
 
Its about a 60/40 split in town and out of town attendance.
 
I drive to the Fest (about 5 hours from Toronto) with my family in a pretty full car as we make it a bit of a vacation.

Driving to Iowa would be out and a multi-connection, fairly expensive flight with rental car at the other end isn't too appealing for me on my own and definitely not do-able if I want to include my wife and daughter.

I wouldn't be going and I suspect many from Canada would be out.
 
I'm sure Iowa would be a wonderful place to visit, but moving the fest from a large city to a small one leaves a lot of people stranded.

I haven't been to a fest yet due to bad timing. But Detroit is a huge hub and easy to get to from anywhere.

I'm thinking Cedar Rapids would have a diminishing effect.

When the question was posed I was thinking maybe it would be closer to Florida. Maybe Atlanta or Nashville. Or even Tampa (wish wish)!

So I need to withdraw my 'yes' vote.

If the original question was: "Would you attend the '09 AKFest if it were moved to Cedar Rapids?" my answer would be 'no'.

And to take all Grumpys Glory would be a shame. Unless he would like a break!
 
It would make it drivable from here (8 hours compared to 11), but further for the Carolina Mafia, and our Coastal Atlantic friends.

Keep it in Detroit, in the same hotel, if possible. I thought it was a great location, despite it's lack of pizza joints.
 
In terms of driving, Kansas City is close to the center of the country - but is it close to the center of the AK membership? In other words, the 'west' is more sparsely populated that the 'east' part of the country, California excepted. So there could be potentially more AK members who might attend AKFest on the eastern side of North America than on the western side.

I think this is where Indiana came up with the slogan "Crossroads of America." I don't know if we are still using it. It seems we bridge the dense east with the sparce west from this point of view. The twin cities were an 8-10 hr drive for me and st louis was a little shorter I think. SO Iowa isn't a bad drive for me......But Michigan is closer.

Regardless.....I will be at the next AK fest unless we move it to North Korea or something....There's always Indianapolis!!!!:D
 
Kc MO is in the middle, and if my "Minifest" is any indicator, attendance would be great. Iowa ain't to bad either, but Detroit was a haul for the midwest guys.:drool: (it was worth every mile though):yes:
 
It all depends on if I can get the time off, I get 10 days of vacation per year and work six day weeks, so anywhere but here is equally hard.

Though Cedar Rapids would be a fine city to have it in.
 
Kc MO is in the middle, and if my "Minifest" is any indicator, attendance would be great. Iowa ain't to bad either, but Detroit was a haul for the midwest guys.:drool: (it was worth every mile though):yes:

It's in the middle, all right. Middle of freaking nowhere.
 
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