Not to sound disparaging...

[heidi]

I'm really not, and I certainly understand all the potential issues people may have with the scheduling of _witchinghour_ but...

Do many of you in uni or grad school really definitely have classes on Fridays? I only did in my freshman year, and my first year of law school (and knowing the lead organizers, law students will certainly have at least a day's educational sessions to enjoy!)

But of course, that was moreyearsagothanIwanttocalculatenowmeep and it's possible that things have changed.

Comments

[meggitymeg.livejournal.com]

Let me preface this by saying that I *really* don't want to come off as defensive or insulting *at all*.

As someone who read the original bid and spoke about it with the organizers several months ago, I just want to say that the planning committee that submitted the bid for HP2005 *did* think, long and hard, about the location and timing of the event. As I live in Boston, I realize that attending HP2005 will be easier for me than for most. However, I managed to make it to Nimbus in Orlando, 1200 miles away, even with a full-time job (and NO vacation days) and a full grad-school class schedule. It can be done.

As for the "tourist season" bit - anyone who lives in Boston will be the first to tell you that October is NOT the height of the tourist season. Salem is a small town, close enough to Boston to be convenient in terms of lodging and travel, but not a tourist attraction on the level of, say, Orlando. It is an expensive city to live in, yes, but there are plenty of cheaper alternatives for a visit, not the least of which are the youth hostels in the area (around $20-25 a night at a hostel, a 5 min walk from the one I can see from my office here to the T, 20 minutes to North Station on the T for $1, and 30-45 minutes to Salem on the commuter rail for around $5). There is also a large community of Boston fandomers that I'm sure will be putting people up for the weekend - I know I will be.

Again, I'm not trying to attack anyone or "start" anything. It's just dismaying to hear how many people have begun complaining about HP2005's location and timing (especially timing) with the sentiment, "No thought or effort was put into this decision" when that is quite certainly not the case.

If you do decide to come to HP2005, I'll be happy to help you with travel and lodging arrangements in the Boston area. :)

[khirsah.livejournal.com]

I apologize. I reacted out of dismay when I saw the timing then searched the airfare and saw the hefty price tag. I'm sure there are many reasons that the location was chosen, but my first reaction was to the inconvenience of the time and the somewhat vulgarity of the place. Maybe I'm unnaturally sensitive, but it seems somehow wrong to have this particular symposium in this particular place. lol, I've no doubt very few people see it that way, however, so I'll not go on about that.

I'm sure much planning was put into this and I do intend on volunteering. I may grumble about inconvenience to my friends, but I still love HP and want to see this convention go off as well (if not better) as Nimbus.

[meggitymeg.livejournal.com]

Apology accepted. :) I just now realized that the public hasn't yet seen the planning information that more fully explains the rationale behind the timing and locale. I think when this information is released, a lot of the confusion will be alleviated.

In short, the locale was chosen in part because of its dark past - as a tie-in to the darker elements of the books, which is what this conference plans to focus upon. It wasn't all sunshine and daises, in wizarding Britain or in late seventeenth century New England, and that's something the organizers are hpoing to tie together in HP2005.

As for airfare...I know that AirTran flies into both Boston and Houston, out of Atlanta (since that's where I'm from), and I imagine they've got flights from Houston to Boston that route through Atlanta. As the time nears, keep an eye on their site - they run almost continuous sales - and I bet you could get a round-trip for around $225-$250. :)