The Great Goblin Invasion (Polls finished!)

[GathersIngredients]

So, is this going to happen, after all, or not?
If so, when will you be in London, lin? So far you just have posted that you'll be in Iceland from August 12th to August 19th.

I'm highly interested in meeting you (as already communicated to you both in this thread and via PM WAAAAAY back when you brought this up the first time), Wears and probably anyone else who is coming in person, and I'm assuming it's about time to start making some plans and/or reservations, get stuff organized, you know?

[lingrem]

Yep, I know. I haven't booked my London flight yet - but it will be better for me to see people before the 12th as I have a long trip back home. I'll be booking the flight around my next paycheque, but I'll be in England definitely from August 1-12.

[askstoomuch]

is there a date set cause I am confused

[LAYF]

Well, I'm still up for it, but I simply cannot say anything without knowing the date, and without getting closer, work/potential school simply is not planned enough, I'll at the earliest be able to give a guarantee june-july, so I'll follow others decision as to the date... and will as said probably take the car from Vordingborg Sjælland denmark -> Fyn Denmark -> Jylland danmark (Esbjerg) -> Harwich England (by boat) -> London.
Unless when I know for sure If I'll go and someone wants me to take the trip over french... I may do that instead... but I'll see...
(That would be Denmark -> Germany -> Netherlands -> Belgium -> French -> England..... That would be for the trip also, as I've never seen Belgium...

[WearsHats]

Looks like the first half of August is the most popular choice. Should we just go with that, then? I can't buy plane tickets and make hotel reservations until the dates are locked in.

[lingrem]

I would like to just call dates, but I can't. I will be in Europe as of sometime in July, and leave for Iceland on August 12. The con is Aug 14-17 (isn't it?). Depending on how long people want to be in London. So... sometime before the 12 until the 17ish.

[nikohl]

I am at a wedding on the 22nd and other than that I can make arrangements to be there whenever we do the thing, so to be honest, I think the people with the furthest to travel should basically call dates. We are all wandering around not wanting to insist on a specific date for fear of being rude or whatever, but no decision will get made until someone stands up and says "The 8th, be there or be square"' or whatever.

I propose that Wears, you look at flights for the beginning/middle of August, pick a handful of days that are the most suitable for you based on availability, cost, and where your sleep cycle is at, and tell us those days. Forcibly narrow it down. Those of us who can basically make it whenever will then have something a bit more concrete to agree to, and those of us who actually have to make travel plans can chime in and say "actually I can only do x and y, not z"

Tl;dr date range is too wide and we're all too polite, someone take charge

[WearsHats]

WorldCon is Thursday the 14th - Monday the 18th. Danielle told me recently (i.e. In the last couple of weeks) that they can't guarantee it, but they are planning to attend and would like to meet us.

Lin is available through Tuesday the 12th.

I can look into tickets and figure out family plans, but I'd say it's clear enough. We start sometime the week of the 4th, hang out together with Lin for a week or so, and those who want to can stay on for WorldCon the following weekend. We can encourage Thunt to fly in early. Does that make sense?

Or just say that it goes from the 4th - 18th, and you can join us for whatever dates in that range work for you. We'll have some people come and go, but the group will exist for those two weeks.

P.S. Does it look to anyone else like that poll is giving us the finger?

[nikohl]

It does look like that!

I am essentially available for that whole time period 4th-18th, but I am unlikely to be around every single day of course. I am highly unlikely to be attending WorldCon, as while meeting Thunt (if he can't do anything outside of WC) would be pretty cool, I'm not braving crowds full of people and tickets and queues and strange-strangers just for that. I hope, if he's over for the con, that we can get some kind of restaurant meal or something arranged that the majority of interested parties can come to.

If everyone else is coming over basically for WorldCon and a big group meetup is essentially impossible outside that event, I will attend for a day or something - but since Lin isn't around for those dates either, I am hoping/assuming there'll be a good Group Thing before that. Maybe the 11th? Since I don't think Thunt will want to be away from home for toooo long, although maybe New Improved Not Stressing So Much Thunt is okay with a week off?

[lingrem]

Well... he'd be flying from British Columbia. The cost is about $1400 round trip. Even though it'd cost more to stay for a week for accommodations... it's more worthwhile to spend an extra few days there to sightsee and at least relax! So hopefully they will come for more than just the 4 days of the con!

[LAYF]

then why not say monday to sunday - 11th to 18th, that's one week, which is what most can get off from work if that is needed, it included Lin and the World-con. And spands over a whole week so all us "undecided" should have the ability to be there at least some of the time...
I'm mostly up to it for meeting you guys, not so much the con (not even sure I will attend that If I go...) but If I go and Thunt and Danielle happens to be there also, It should be awesome to also meet them.

[WearsHats]

Because Lin is leaving on the 12th and we should be with her for more than a day.

[LAYF]

Then 9th to 16th? Then anyone who wants world con can make that their own trip...
(Personally I do not care, I just try to include as many as possible and give an example... a week seems like a common period)

[WearsHats]

I'd be more inclined to go with the 6-13. That gives people time to get settled in before the weekend, time to pack up after the weekend, hopefully time to meet Thunt if we can convince them to fly in early, and those who want to can stay on for WorldCon immediately after. If you only have a week and want to stay for WorldCon (or if it's easier to get M-F off) you can join us when you can (maybe the 9th or the 10th), hang out with the group for a few days, and then go to WorldCon with whoever is still around.

[nikohl]

Seems reasonable to me - but then again, I don't have to worry about flights

[LAYF]

Mid week to mid week? That seems odd to me?
I don't know how it is in other countries, but here it is most common to choose free week's, not individual days, also to make it)free from Friday till Monday (9days) rather than Wendy Tully Wendy. (7 days surrounded by two periodes of 2 days of work)

[lingrem]

Who knows. I always fly out and leave mid-week if I can because it's less busy and flights are cheaper. Then again - I also don't get to book weeks off work as they're determined by the goverment. I leave early on the Tuesday (the 12), so I'm not available then and I certainly won't be out late on the 11th. The convention is at the end of that week.

If I'm going somewhere closer to home, say I wanted to visit my friends in Toronto, I would go Mon-Friday. But again - only because that would be during March break. I absolutely refuse to travel on Fridays and Saturdays if I can help it because it's always way more busy and more expensive. But I don't book off work.

[LAYF]

Ah okay.... with exception of school we tend to only have the majority of the holidays preset, with the individual having to figure out how to assign the rest (within limitations of course)

[lingrem]

Yep. But the only people planning on going who are trying to actually work out dates... and me and Wears. Who do not have work constrictions. The dates Wears proposed are only guidelines that he picked to try and accommodate both when I will be in London and when the convention is.

[lingrem]

I've booked my summer flights:

Winnipeg-London: July 22/23
London/Iceland: August 12
Iceland/London: August 19
London/Winnipeg: August 23

[lingrem]

Sorry... triple post. Just booked my hostel (was waiting to hear back from my friend in Bristol).

Winnipeg-London: July 22/23
London/Bristol: July 23-28
London: July 28-August 12
Iceland - August 12-19
London: Augst 19-23

I will be available to see people from July 28 until early on August 11. I'm staying at the Clink261 hostel which is very close to King's Cross station. I'm staying in a 10-bed female dorm. When I come back from Iceland, I'll be staying with a friend.

[WearsHats]

1. I'm going to look into booking my tickets this week. (Will probably have to fly into and out of MA instead of NJ because this falls right in the time when I'm supposed to be on the annual family trip. Might complicate things, but I'll manage as best I can.) Last chance to chime in on dates before I start looking for tickets and hotels. (Suggestions on the latter are welcome.)

2. Guess what? There's another convention. There's a Discworld convention happening in Manchester August 8 - 11, and Terry Pratchett himself is expected to attend. Tickets are sold out, but there's a waiting list. I don't know if that affects anyone's plans at all.

3. Wait, I'm confused. I thought the plan was for most people to stay at the same hostel, so the group would be together.

4. Wish I knew what was going to happen with Thunt. I'm not really sure how interested I am in attending WorldCon.

[lingrem]

I don't know if people were really interested in that, but it's why I posted mine. I have such a long stay that I can't wait for others to book - especially as most people aren't choosing their dates this early. It was hard to find somewhere that I would find acceptable that also had full availability for my time there.

[WearsHats]

I'm getting ready to book. Thought I'd have done it by now, but I've had a few other things come up and there were some server errors with the travel sites and... Never mind.

My intention right now is:

Monday, August 4: Get on a plane.
Tuesday, August 5: Arrive London.
Tuesday, August 12: Lin leaves.
Thursday, August 14: WorldCon begins
Monday, August 18: Get on a plane
Tuesday, August 19: Arrive back in the US.

Lin will be around for a week before I arrive. I'll be sticking around for a week after she leaves. That week in the middle there, August 5 - 12, is where we should be focused. If you want to come early and hang out with Lin, cool. If you want to stick around and go to WorldCon with me, cool.

How's that sound?

I'm going to sift through hotels, see what I can find that's reasonably affordable, relatively quiet, has WiFi, and won't try to make me deal with too many stairs. Then I'll see if I can get a package deal with the airfare, since transatlantic plane tickets and a hotel for two weeks just aren't cheap. Suggestions appreciated if anyone has local knowledge.

[thinkslogically]

We stayed here before and it was clean and quiet. Rooms are pretty small, but for London prices it was excellent and very central. If travelling by tube / bus is ok it should be pretty easy to meet up with other folk in a central spot.

http://www.stgiles.com/

I have no idea still what's going on with my summer, but my sister lives in London and I've promised to visit for a bit when I'm done with the thesis. If that overlaps with your plans I'll let you guys know and swing by It'll be a last-minute thing for me though one way or another which is why I've not been pitching in so far.