NHAA South Eastern Regional Meet FEEDBACK THREAD

[EternalCombustion]

I'm basically with you. I wouldn't want to become unwelcome in the hotel either. On the other side I wouldn't want to alienate a hearse owner who felt thier freedom of expression was stepped on. But to be clear there will be no problems with this issue, with our group, no matter what the outcome. We're good with whatever.

My dream would be to have that hotel completely booked with our people. How cool would that be?

[Psychoholic]

That would be a serious feat. I wonder how many rooms we'd need to have to book the entire hotel?

[LMS]

I wonder how many rooms we'd need to have to book the entire hotel?

According to their website the hotel has 111 rooms.
If we pulled that off I don't think any other hearse event could touch us.

[LMS]

I wouldn't want to become unwelcome in the hotel either. On the other side I wouldn't want to alienate a hearse owner who felt thier freedom of expression was stepped on.

I mainly brought up this issue because many suggested we hold the show/swapmeet part at the hotel and I didn't want to ruin the good standing we have there.
Hopefully we can find a good place for the show part that will not care what we do or show.

[twg1987]

The thing is if u talk with the hotel and rent a room u can let them know before hand that about items being there, it all in how u approach the hotel, I think that Harley was shock cause they didn't know what we were talking about when we say swsswap meet that includes funeral items

[Cary_L]

All in all....I had a good time when I was there.....living 45 miles away I was able to run back and forth. Would I like to see it back in Asheville next year.....HELL YES! As being a PCS member for almost 30 years now ( don't throw cyber shit at me please) we all know that some people can bring a lot to plate to make this an even bigger event next year. As I explained to Dave and Denise ( as well as a few others) you have to bend somewhat and establish some guidelines as to what is cool and what isn't at this type of meet. I don't wanna open the whole casket/morbidity thing up.......but to a degree some guidelines need to be set. What those guidelines need to be who ever helps organize this gathering next year needs to come up with a plan.....and adhere to it. You have the next 6-9 months to banter shit back and forth to put this next one together.....you will please the masses....and piss a few off.......that is the nature of "groupings of people". I see this as becoming a bigger and bigger event....with more promotion and lead time. One GREAT step y'all are taking is the feedback here.....
Now...even though I didn't spend the night.....something to think about is the hotel...I can handle $100 a night ( I prefer cheaper rooms tho) not all people can....I'd suggest a less expensive hotel....with food in walking distance...I was curious so I Google'd some other Asheville motels... The Ramada River Ridge is only $63 a night, a block off the interstate and within walking distance to a few place to eat. http://www.google.com/search?q=800+f...ient=firefox-a

[rockwilllive]

As far as the hotel, I think it was perfect, I often have money issues and didn't even know for sure I could afford to go until the day before, but I would hate to give up a few bucks a night and end up with a shitty experience.
Maybe since they like us and know who we are now, they will give us an even better rate next year..I would like to know how many of each type room is on each floor..it would be awesome to all be on one floor, the party would never stop

[Psychoholic]

As far as the hotel, I think it was perfect, I often have money issues and didn't even know for sure I could afford to go until the day before, but I would hate to give up a few bucks a night and end up with a shitty experience.
Maybe since they like us and know who we are now, they will give us an even better rate next year..I would like to know how many of each type room is on each floor..it would be awesome to all be on one floor, the party would never stop

If we can try and get about 40 people or better to reserve rooms, we can probably get them to give us a HELL of a rate (especially if we say that we can get 30-40 folks for at least 2 nights and if that the Ramada would be interested in having us for $63 a night, maybe they'll meet us half way on a group rate).

[Guest]

here are a few thoughts:

regarding the date:

how many people *actually* declined to come to our event because of the national haunters convention, versus how many people just brought it up as a theoretical conflict? According to google maps, national haunters is about 9 hours away from asheville. So i guess my point is that unless this is an actual, real drain on attendance, it shouldn't be a barrier to us choosing the first week of may. I would rather choose a date where one or two people can't make it, versus a date where an entire NHAA member club may not be able to make it.

as of now, i'm in favor of keeping the date as the first weekend of may. but we'll do a planning committee kick-off call soon, and that is the first thing we'll nail down.

regarding the schedule:

saturday night probably would have been a bit better organized if i was feeling better. as some of you know, i was recovering from some serious GI issues and almost didn't make asheville AT ALL. my main goal after the show was to disappear into my room for a bit and try to eat something and let my stomach settle.

we did get an invite from our harley sponsor to go see his band play. only two of us went, which was fairly disappointing. his band was really entertaining. That being said, I did round up a group to go, but the weather was particularly nasty at that point, and it is better to stay warm, healthy, and safe rather than to risk nasty weather walking or driving.

the planning committee did have another event in our back pocket for saturday afternoon - which was a trip to the historic asheville cemetery. however, the weather made that completely out of the question.

in terms of expanding to thursday, while i don't have a problem with this, it adds another night in the hotel. So now instead of a $200 minimum attendance bill, that's going up to $300 plus gasoline to even attend the event. unless i'm making significantly more money next year, thursday is probably going to be out for me.

regarding the hotel:

the planning committee put a lot of thought into hotel selection. when you are planning a convention, there are tons of factors to consider besides price only. price is important, but in many ways is the LEAST important aspect of the hotel experience.

Price - our hotel was just over $100 per night. that is actually REALLY cheap in the hotel world. Consider events like Dragon*Con, where the host hotels are in the $250+ per night range. If you get too much below $100 per night, then you are talking the realm of motels. those are fine for a quick overnight stay, but they don't have the amenities necessary for a convention. If anyone needs a cheaper hotel for next year, there is a quality inn motel next door. Also, for those who are price-sensitive can always book double rooms and split the cost between four people.

Parking - this goes without saying. Our scouting team identified this hotel as one of the best regarding parking

Conference room - we felt that having a conference room (or two or three) was an absolute requirement. it paid off this time, and should have been utilized more.

restaurant and bar - this was another absolute must, we thought. we wanted a hotel where people could eat good food and drink alcohol without having to go anywhere. the ABSOLUTE LAST THING we want is for anyone to get a DUI during this event. by all accounts i heard, everyone thought the food was excellent. Also, walking distance is fine (and there were things withing walking distance), but given bad weather, the hotel restaurant was a life-safer.

so the point i'm trying to make is that we picked the nicest, most convenient hotel we could find for the cheapest price.

[Psychoholic]

I will say that a bunch of local folks might go up next year. Billy already showed interest, Ryan definitely wants to go, maybe Shadow will want to go, maybe Needles will leave the house.

I honestly think you knocked it out of the park with the hotel, the date, the location, everything - some minor tweaking next time and maybe a few other events (maybe a band or 2 or we can just throw some instruments in the cars and jam when we get there).

I didn't go see the band because I stayed behind to paint trophies, then I couldn't find the guys with trophies I needed to paint. Next year's will be pre-painted and a few others ready to go weeks in advance, so no worries there. Maybe I can learn to spell NHAA next year too.

[EternalCombustion]

I liked the hotel also. I think it worked out great.

I didn't go see the band because I stayed behind to paint trophies, then I couldn't find the guys with trophies I needed to paint. Next year's will be pre-painted and a few others ready to go weeks in advance, so no worries there. Maybe I can learn to spell NHAA next year too.

Dude, I wish we had known. We were going to walk down to see the band with Ryan, but when we walked out it was pouring the rain so we ended up going back to the room. I didn't really want to bother you with painting them anyway, it was too cool hanging out to have to mess with that.

[Psychoholic]

Man, I was a dumbass anyway - I painted Christine's trophy and put NHHA on it instead of NHAA. I promptly put up my paints and declared it a bad time to paint before I started drinking.

[60Crown]

Ryan, plan on more people splitting your room cost if you need help offsetting an additional night. I bet NHAA member Neonwerkz would take you in if you asked nicely.

[Honey_Badger]

Ryan, plan on more people splitting your room cost if you need help offsetting an additional night. I bet NHAA member Neonwerkz would take you in if you asked nicely.

Oh yesssss, things could be worked out. Just Say'n... LmFaO! I may be j/k, however some may never know?

Need gas money? Have a Banana Party!

[Psychoholic]