69 replies to this topic

[OmegaGamer89]

So, Ive been told by several people that we apparently WONT be back at the wyndham next year.

Is there any truth to this, and if so, where will we be? Is there a post somewhere explain all this?

[NarutoTeribery]

What you have heard IS true. We will not be returning to the Whyndam Grand hotel after this year due to the way we were treated by hotel staff. As for where we will be going, that is still unknown at this time where it will be.

[buterfligurl]

I suggested this on Facebook and I'll put it here; the organisers should look into the Monroeville place that shall not be named. I've been to the train show there, and I think they have the space we would need. Some of the perks would be plenty of hotels and restaurants, the mall within walking distance, public transportation is available, no insane pedestrians(they caused serious amounts of road rage while I was attempting to find parking), and FREE PARKING (I spent $50 on parking that I could have spent on convention goodies). I can't imagine the venue being overpriced as a local promotion group is using it in April for a party.  Additionally, we would be the only group there, so no drunk "normal people" to harass us.

[Venomane]

I expected as much. I heard alot of complaints this year, but the majority of them were aimed at the wyndham rather than the con itself.

So it's good that it's moving but I hope it doesn't move too far. I like having it downtown.

[newtypezaku]

buterfligurl, on 26 March 2012 - 05:22 PM, said:

I suggested this on Facebook and I'll put it here; the organisers should look into the Monroeville place that shall not be named.

This horse has been beaten, buried, and mummified.  While the Monroeville CC may have the square footage, it's not partitioned in a way that is suitable for this particular convention.  There isn't nearly enough parking, the neighboring lots are off limits, the hotel next door was too small when Tekko was half its current size, and there's really only one usable Port Authority bus (the 67) which serves the area.

Yes, there are lots of restaurants and a mall nearby, but if you had a hard time finding food downtown, you were doing it wrong.

[EdMRyan]

after getting thrown out, I rather not go back haha

[DoubleJ]

Well that's a shame -- my annoyances with the use of space from last year largely went away this year. I took a look at the MCC web site and Nigo is right; it's just a giant open space. It'd be one hell of a merch room, but that's all it would be. Good place for something like a car show but a horrible place for a convention that requires at least a dozen and a half separate rooms/spaces.

Then I said, waitaminute, what about the Expo Mart? After some digging I realized they closed it in favor of the MCC. Whoops. If we're not going back to the Wyndham next year I think we might be kind of boned for a good space; I heard in a different thread that there's nothing size-wise between them and the DLLCC which we're too small for.

[JohnZ]

I can say that we're looking at all available options at this time except the Wyndham, for obvious reasons, and the MCC, for the partitioning reasons. There are a few ideas on the table that I'm not at liberty to discuss which are, if you'll excuse the pun, unconventional (by Tekko's standards at any rate).  As soon as we know more about where we'll be for next year, we'll be sure to announce it.

It wouldn't be saying much to remark that it'll definitely be a better venue than the Wyndham, but that's the case with all of our top-ranking options. Patience, folks, and all will be revealed in time.

[OmegaGamer89]

I see...

Well, at the risk of giving the proverbial dead horse one more whack... what about the DLLCC?

I know one of the main reasons is the room block. Well, just how many rooms did we sell this year? I know we sold out our initial block, and then were given 50 more, but I dont know how large the initial block WAS. Did we break the 250 room mark? if not, how close were we?

I know one of the other reasons was the cost, what with the union and stuff. Well, I for one would be willing to pay increased admission, if it meant getting back to such a good location.
If its a choice between
A) Having the convention at a crappy, unsuitable location
Not having the con at all
or C) paying extra $$$ for admission so we can get the DLLCC

i think anyone would agree that the third choice is the best,
Tekko is already very affordable. After looking around at some other nearby cons, our admission prices are pretty low.
Our pre-reg price for a weekend badge this year was, what? $40?
Colossalcon's weekend pre-reg is $40, too
Youmacon's weekend pre-reg is $50
NY Comic Con's weekend pre-reg is $85
ACEN's weekend pre-reg is $53

I think it wouldnt be unreasonable to raise our admission prices just a bit. Honestly, I think tekko could increase the price by $15 or more. I think that the situation justifies it.
Oh, not to mention that Tekko was a 5-day con this year, and all those cons I listed are 4 day or less.

Im sure everyone is tired of hearing the "why cant we go back to the David L Lawrence?" song, but given the situation, I think its worth at least looking into a way to make it affordable. (assuming we can cover the 250 room block issue.)

[tedturtle]

I would rather have a con than not have one next year. Just saying just in case we have to go to a crappy location next year to get a better location the next year after that. That being said, if you can do it somewhere accessible like Downtown or Oakland I'm fine. If not try for area where there are bus stops near by. Sorry I ride a bus to go to the con and it kind of would be hard for me to get some place if I can't get there by bus lol. I'm not going to do the whole let's go to the DLLCC thing mostly because while I like DLLCC I don't think Tekko as a con is quite ready for it. In future sure when we get even more fans to come for the con but not right now.

[JoeMello]

OmegaGamer89, on 26 March 2012 - 10:15 PM, said:

Im sure everyone is tired of hearing the "why cant we go back to the David L Lawrence?" song, but given the situation, I think its worth at least looking into a way to make it affordable. (assuming we can cover the 250 room block issue.)

IANAS, but it's been public record that Tekkoshocon is looking at any and all options for holding XI anywhere but that pile of bricks near the Point.

[JohnZ]

JoeMello, on 26 March 2012 - 11:11 PM, said:

IANAS, but it's been public record that Tekkoshocon is looking at any and all options for holding XI anywhere but that pile of bricks near the Point.

That is inaccurate.  We are, in point of fact, looking into the cost of buying our own bricks to set up a pile between the Point and the Wyndham, thus creating a pile of bricks near the Point to serve as our site.  There are numerous problems to having an actual pile of bricks as our site, the lack of electricity, privacy, or even suitable cover from the elements being but the least of them, but it is still a more attractive option than the Wyndham at this time.

[Rappican]

All I can say, as long as it's not another Raddison I'm fine.  DLLCC would be ideal of course, but that's for when we're larger.  Wyndam was a good alternative, but it's obvious that's not happening.  MCC is too wide open and any "walls" there are too thin and don't even work at keeping sound out.  I'd love to suggest more places but I don't know anywhere else we can go other than the DLLCC.  There just isn't much alternatives.

[OmegaGamer89]

tedturtle, on 26 March 2012 - 11:00 PM, said:

I would rather have a con than not have one next year. Just saying just in case we have to go to a crappy location next year to get a better location the next year after that. That being said, if you can do it somewhere accessible like Downtown or Oakland I'm fine. If not try for area where there are bus stops near by. Sorry I ride a bus to go to the con and it kind of would be hard for me to get some place if I can't get there by bus lol. I'm not going to do the whole let's go to the DLLCC thing mostly because while I like DLLCC I don't think Tekko as a con is quite ready for it. In future sure when we get even more fans to come for the con but not right now.

This actually gave me an idea...
What about looking into using parts of the CMU or Pitt campus? Think about it. classrooms = panel rooms. cafeteria = dealers room. auditorium = stage for concerts and such.
Plus, plenty of cool outdoor places for photos. I know that a college campus is not a hotel, but I know for a fact there there are a few hotels within a few minutes walking of Pitt, and Im sure there are some similarly close to CMU.

I know the idea isnt perfect, but Im just throwing it out there so that we have one more option just in case. Who knows, it could work out very well.

[lindoreda]

OmegaGamer89, on 26 March 2012 - 11:59 PM, said:

This actually gave me an idea...
What about looking into using parts of the CMU or Pitt campus?

I'm just going to go ahead and answer this for CMU: the largest room on campus would be too small for dealers, and way too small for main events. I've certainly been to cons on college campuses, but those are usually smaller cons.

[JoeMello]

lindoreda, on 27 March 2012 - 12:04 AM, said:

I'm just going to go ahead and answer this for CMU: the largest room on campus would be too small for dealers, and way too small for main events. I've certainly been to cons on college campuses, but those are usually smaller cons.

And represented by the university in question.

Admittedly, Pitt has plenty of places to house the 1000-1500 people needed for main events.  Problem is they're all on top of a hill and school is still in session.

[Prager]

JoeMello, on 27 March 2012 - 02:54 AM, said:

And represented by the university in question.

Admittedly, Pitt has plenty of places to house the 1000-1500 people needed for main events.  Problem is they're all on top of a hill and school is still in session.

This.  And CMU and Pitt do not have hotels large enough to house the attendees.  Additionally, making people walk outside to get from hotel rooms to convention spaces tends to really honk off cosplayers.

[Kit]

Prager, on 27 March 2012 - 03:36 AM, said:

This.  And CMU and Pitt do not have hotels large enough to house the attendees.  Additionally, making people walk outside to get from hotel rooms to convention spaces tends to really honk off cosplayers.

I'm gonna laugh at this post for no reason as I think about another convention in Pittsburgh about a certain fandom...

[Alucard]

I miss the David L. Lawrence Center.  I was there there in 2009 and 2010.  At the time I thought to myself "Wow the size of this is overkill".  After spending the last two years in the Wyndham though with jammed elevators and lines for everything I miss the space that was available at the Lawrence Center.  I know there was an issue with the hotel attached to the Lawrence Center.  Is that why the con was moved?

[Kit]

Its not entirely because of the Westin. Actually we met the westin's demand for Hotel Rooms. The problem at the moment is cost.
I can say this because Jim said it at the Feedback panel. We have one room that destroys us at the DDLLC. "The Grand Ballroom" not because it's expensive but because it's a union shop.

ie. We have to move chairs in mainevents for the dance/concerts each one of those chairs cost 2 dollars to move and there is about 1500 chiars in there. For the room for the dance we need to remove at least the first half. Now we have to move those chairs sometimes 4 times over the 4 day period. So 750 x 2 is 1500 and mulitply that by 4 and you get 6k. That's 6k not going to bringing in a guest, printing badges, making shirts and everything else.