Birdie and Jennifer,
And VAM, what great ideas you have! From your lips to the organizers' ears, I hope!
Happybat (a fellow librarian) :D
I have some additional ideas, which includes the actors/actresses dressing up in period costumes ...I always had a dream of organizing such an event! :)
Please come to Boston!
jennifer
PS> For you football fans out there it could always,
be scheduled for a Cornhusker Home game weekend.
(I'll give you 3 guesses where I'm at.) ::) ?!? ;D
are you saying Dave Loggins should be a guest? [he was originally from Bristol VA, and the orig version was 'please come to Bristol']
music trivia returns after [hopefully] one last technicolor yawn. [puke]
. Not being a natural "mingler" by nature,
we can further improve fandom by gently, lovingly urging people to be kinder to each other, to be polite to everyone whose paths they cross and to end the grudgeholding. its time we learned that not being friends does not make us enemies.
Well, the Boston folks beat me to it--sort of--but why not come to Disney World. . .I mean, Orlando! :D
So what if there are no authentic DS locations here. . .we still have a mouse ;), and maybe our DS Stars (and some fans) would take in a day or two at the "parks," as we call them here. I'd be thrilled to escort some of our DS stars and their families around Disney World. . . 8)
except ur forgetting that this years fest is being held in anaheim. theres a mouse there too and parks.
I'm with you Vam rather go to Orlando!!!
Great suggestion!Brian
jennifer
and Nancy just curious but you were talking about the
expense Do the actors pay their way and if a lot of them
live in NY what's the big deal to come to Boston? i mean it is a big deal for a lot of us to go to LA(mouse and all)!
No, the actors do not pay their way. The majority of the DS actors live in LA (not New York) who attend the festivals. Just a handful live in New York.
The festival has more than enough fans to attend the festivals on either coast and that is why the festivals will probably continue to be held on either coast. For those living in Boston, coming to NY isn't out of the question.
There isn't any reason why DS fans can't have mini-conventions of their own where they want them. That has been done by a few people over the years.
Nancy
...I think Chicago would be more centrally located should "da Fest" ever decide to do a midwest venue. :)
..So...it is worth attending, unless you don't want to see your favorite soap stars as almost - senior citizens and full blown senior citizens! :o (Savor those memories, I say; don't tarnish them. )
in reading Nancy's post i' m beginning to not want to go toda fest i really doubt these actors are on welfare
and can't afford to travel ! They shoud be flattered
that fans still want to see them! and as i've been working as a nurse for over 20 years with little pay I'm sure that most of them make more than I do! don't mean to give you a hard time but we do have a right to wish they could have them somewhere else so maybe
fans that can't afford to travel could see them too!
jennifer
in reading Nancy's post i' m beginning to not want to go toda fest i really doubt these actors are on welfare
and can't afford to travel ! They shoud be flattered
that fans still want to see them! and as i've been working as a nurse for over 20 years with little pay I'm sure that most of them make more than I do! don't mean to give you a hard time but we do have a right to wish they could have them somewhere else so maybe
fans that can't afford to travel could see them too!
jennifer
in reading Nancy's post i' m beginning to not want to go toda fest i really doubt these actors are on welfare
and can't afford to travel ! They shoud be flattered
that fans still want to see them! and as i've been working as a nurse for over 20 years with little pay I'm sure that most of them make more than I do! don't mean to give you a hard time but we do have a right to wish they could have them somewhere else so maybe
fans that can't afford to travel could see them too!
jennifer
This years trip to California is a splurge for me but I started saving a year ago and realize I won't be doing as much outside of the fest due to money but hey, the ocean is still free out there isn't it?? Please tell me it is all you Calif people.
It's not about money that the actors do or don't have. Standard practice for guests at these things is to at least pay for their travel expenses. Period. Luciaphil
maybe i didn't say it right Nancy I really don't care if the actors get paid or not (if it's considered work then they should get paid) hey i've spend 10 hours promoting our hospital at tables sitting long periods of time it is tiring but that is volunteer work and these actors are working!
I just meant if you could fly them from LA to NY then Boston would cost the same that's all!Wasn't trying to attack you sorry if you got that inpression! also when you work long hours with very little recognition would be very flattering if someoHe wanted my autograph but hey that's my fault should have been a ballerina all those years ago! anyway thanks for all your input!
jennifer
<<I just meant if you could fly them from LA to NY then Boston would cost the same that's all."
Okay, let's look into the cost of bringing in the actors to Boston from New York.
Most people who live in NYC do not own cars, and I know the NYC actors who attend the fests dont own one. So, they would have to have a car rented for them to travel to Boston. Now, unfortunately, in NYC most car rental places insist on a minmum of two days if you rent the car on weekend. Car rentals in NY run as much as $70 a day or more. Since the actors have different schedules, they would want to come up when they wanted. You figure they would have the car for at least four days and if you add taxes (which is 8% in NY) to the total, you are looking at about $400 an actor. This is about the price of airfare flying the LA based DS actors to the east whether it be Boston or NY.
If you want to avoid the car rental thing and send the actors up by Amtrak train service, unreserved seating starts at around $150 round trip and if you travel on a Friday it can go as high at $181.00 per person. So if each actor brings a spouse or friend along, you double the fare. Again, you are looking at costs similar to the airfare of bringing in the LA actors.
If you had the event in Newport, you are talking about skyrocket hotel prices. Newport is a wealthy area. I've stayed there on business and with friends, and we paid big bucks for a decent hotel. All the actors would have to be flown in to Providence, I believe, and then rent cars to be taken to Newport. Car rentals there might not be all that much cheaper because of the resort areas near Providence. The Amtrak schedule I looked at indicates there is no direct rail service to Newport.
The likelihood of getting reasonable accomodations during the summer months in Newport is slim to none. That is a big,wealthy resort area and a very popular one during the summer and early fall. The price for everything goes up.
The trouble with promoting a festival being held in Boston is that it is not centrally located on the east coast. New York is. It is easier to access for the people coming up from the south, and it has the added attraction of having Broadway and other key tourist attractions. Many fans take advantage of the discounted hotel price for the Festivals in New York by coming in with their families, attend some of the fest, and then going out to see shows and other tourist attractions. There are more tourist attractions in NYC. (I Happen to like Boston a lot but if I give my friends across the country a choice of where to spend their time, they tend to pick NYC). :-/ The actors too from LA would naturally prefer coming to NY and having access to the theater and those who were born and raised here visit family while in town for the festival.
The festivals in NY means no rental cars whatsoever for any of the actors, and no air fare for the four who do attend. Rental cars are expensive. The car insurance in New York is the highest in the nation (New Jersey is a close rival) which is one reason rentals are so high.
I understand why many people would like to see the festivals in a city nearer to them. It makes sense why they feel that way. Unfortunately, practicality and finances dictate the the most reasonable locations for the DS festivals are New York and Los Angeles.
However, as I have said, anyone can put on a convention if they want to have a go at it in their own area of preference. There is nothing to stop anyone from doing that.
Nancy :o
These have all been interesting posts, re: relocating the DS Fest to (fill in the city of your choice).
Once upon a time, I used to be active in another national fan club. For a number of years, they had "The Meeting of the Minds" in New Orleans. Central to the Continental US, and most everyone could make it. A few years ago, they moved it to Key West 8) . The first year, it was a hit. But in subsequent years, gradual attendance was decreasing (but you couldn't tell because there is usually two other festivals going on around the same time), unless you were from "that part of the country".
Some of the factors include added cost and accessibility getting to KW vs NO. Others were finding reliable lodging in a much smaller area. The sponsoring organization did have to import the band members and pay them, an added cost :o .
Participating in many of the "posts" similar to this one, I heard the same comments. West Coast fans wanted more in their direction. Problem was, the "head beak" :-X and some of his compadres lived in the middle and eastern part of the country (with exception to a couple of them who lived on the Left Coast). He, as a rule, didn't aways show up, but one year he did. Mainly, band members of his showed up and played.
I guess my point is, in order to get hit by lightening, you need to go stand in the rain. It comes down to practicality and the cost of putting on such an event. These type of events are *very* costly to put on, and they entail a huge, and sometimes excruciating amount of planning and detail to pull off so *all*, or at the very least, most all will have a positive experience when putting down their own coin to attend these events.
It could be worse...they might not exist at all simply because of the cost and practicality of putting it on. Enjoy them while you can. Better to travel and see it once than to not have the experience of going at all.
just my .02, :-*
Karen #2
Autograph lines: using the wrist band number, guests have set times and time limits per 'sitting' for signings. Only certain wrist band numbers are allowed in lines for the particular signing - time frames and wrist band numbers are posted on wipe-off boards/bulleten boards so people know when to be in the area for wrist band times. Doesn't have to be absolute numerical order, just 150- 200, 300 -350, something like that. This reduces just standing in line time, and prevents the quest from being 'trapped' at the table due to the length of the line. Most major guests are assigned a 'handler' to act as escort [see DS hooker thread ] and play 'bad-guy' when someone tries to corner the quest for autographs when not at a signing. Also pretty strct quantities of items are posted in place for major guests, 3 to 5 the max, also reducing the time frame for the lines. Photos with the guest are usually handled by signing the items, then moving beside the guest as they sign for the next person in line>>
Likewise, these disagreements should not be continued beyond the normal limits of interesting discourse. Argument for argument's sake is not welcome.
There could be quite an ugly incident indeed if someone was waiting 2 hours in line for Lara Parker only to have her say, "Oh, I am sorry, you have the wrong wrist band, goodbye." ?!?
:D
--JAKE
...to wonder if it is possible. Will there be monitors actively checking them? .
:D
--JAKE
Okay Midnite, you just give me the SLIGHTEST hint that there's a chance in Hades John Karlen might be on this board some night and I will gladly ship hubby, kid and dog off to my mother-in-law's, stay up all night, and "make Novenas" , just for the chance to say Thank You to the man for the kiss he gave a 14-year-old fan 35 years ago, outside a theater door....I was too dumbstruck to thank him at the time.....
How many such fan gatherings are there? The Waltonfest? One Day At A Time-athon? Dragnet-work?
We are lucky.
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