Bouchercon 2010- In Tempe
Proposed Dates: Thursday October 7 thru Sunday October 10, 2010.
Proposed Location: Tempe Mission Palms
60 E Fifth St,Tempe,AZ 85281 USA.
The hotel is located downtown with approximately 75 restaurants within 1/2 mile including shopping, night clubs, etc.; site includes a free shuttle to/from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Room Rate: US$185.00/nt plus US$10.95/nt hospitality fee plus taxes; this is valid for single/double/triple/quadruple occupancy depending on room type and includes all Standard rooms,Executive rooms,Handicap Access rooms and Suites.
Proposed Overflow:
Scottsdale Conference Resort,
7700 E McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale, AZ 85258 USA,
shuttles will be arranged for transfer to/from the primary site.
Nearby Overflow Sites:
Courtyard By Marriott (0.2mi west), 601 S Ash Ave, Tempe, AZ 85281, 480-966-2800,Fax: 480-829-8446,Reservations: 866-898-7540
155 rooms (5 suites), free airport shuttle, free high speed internet(public areas wireless, rooms wired), free parking, rates (October 2008) starting at $169/nt plus tax.
University Motel (0.4mi south), 902 S Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ 85281, 480-966-7221, rates (October 2008)starting at $55/nt plus tax.
Twin Palms Hotel (0.8 mi south), 225 E Apache Blvd, Tempe, AZ 85281, 480-967-9431, Fax:480-303-6602, Reservations: 800-367-0835,
139 rooms (1 suite), freeairport shuttle, free high speed internet, rates (October 2008) unavailable.
Best Western Tempe (1.0mi northeast), 670 N Scottsdale Rd, Tempe, AZ 85281, 480-784-2233,Fax: 480-784-2299,
103 rooms (2 suites), free airport shuttle, free parking, high speed internet, rates (October 2008) starting at $89.99/nt plus tax.
Hotels between 1 and 2 miles of primary site: 10+
Hotels between 2 and 3 miles of primary site: 15+
Who We Are
Bid Committee Information: Mike Willmoth is the Bid Chair. He has
chaired the 2004 World Horror Convention and the 2004 World Fantasy
Convention, and is chairing the 2009 Westercon Convention. Mike has
been involved with convention running since 1987 for everything from
Program Director to Hotel Liaison. Lee Whiteside is the Bid Vice
Chair. He has chaired the 2006 Nebula Awards and is chairing the 2009
North American DiscWorld Convention. Lee has handled many positions
with local, regional and world level conventions including Publicity
Director and Guest Liaison. Nadine Armstrong is the Bid Program
Director. She has worked local and regional events for many years.
Nadine is well-read in the mystery genre and an avid collector.
Area Information: Tempe is located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area
which includes a number of museums, shopping districts and other items
of interest; examples include the Heard Museum of southwestern art and
downtown Scottsdale. Arizona offers a plethora of places to see and
things to do; examples include the Grand Canyon and Tombstone, the
town too tough to die. Poisoned Pen Bookstore, the country's largest
independent mystery bookstore, is located between the primary and
secondary sites.
Bouchercon 2010 Bid Plans for Arizona
For Bouchercon 2010 we are planning a wide variety of programming items with multiple tracks so that members can choose from a variety of panels. A half-track of readings will be paired with a half-track of programming on book collecting including hands-on workshops on repair,restoration and cataloging systems. A full track of panels will be centered on mysteries in media,with discussions ranging from the importance of soundtracks in film to the emerging uses of mystery in multimedia. Also, the influence of book covers will be explored.
Two tracks of programming about the written mystery will be scheduled. These tracks will include discussions of the Golden Age of British mystery and its current reinventions, the resurgence of the Gothic mystery and the pulp mystery, war-time mysteries (the way wars have been used and portrayed), the close relationships between noir and urban fantasy, futuristic mysteries, and mysteries set in alternate versions of our own world.
Discussions of the place of short fiction in the current market and a survey of the state of the field in general will also be offered. Rounding off there will be presentations by working scientists on various topics of interest to mystery writers and fans.
Other program offerings will include a Charity Auction, the Anthony Awards, and special presentations by our Guests-of-Honor.
Extra activities away from the convention hotel, but still nearby, could include a guided tour of the internationally recognized Heard Museum (one of the finest collections of Native American Art and artifacts in the USA) or a trip to the Pueblo Grande Museum (a combination museum and working archaeological dig trying to sort out the mysteries of the past.) We would also like to offer a trip to one of Arizona's historic Old West towns if there is interest.
your blog amateur has included the information below because Mike and his crew have run cons before, and are allowing us to vet them not only as individuals but also as a business.
Arizona Corporation Commission
06/29/2008 State of Arizona Public Access System 4:27 PM
Corporate Inquiry
File Number: -0154405-9 Corp.
Statutory Agent Information
Agent Name: MIKE WILLMOTH
Additional Corporate Information
Corporation Type: NON-PROFIT Business Type: CONDUCT SCIENCE FICTION
CONVENTIONS DONATE BOOKS TO LIB
Incorporation Date: 03/16/1983 Corporate Life Period: PERPETUAL
Domicile: ARIZONA County: MARICOPA
Approval Date: 03/24/1983 Original Publish Date: 05/20/1983
posted by ruth the crimespree gal at 5:16 PM
9 Comments:
The room rates look great and there's never been a Bcon in Arizona, so the bid is very attractive except for one thing: the hotel website says they have 30,000 sq ft of meeting space & can accommodate up to 900 people, which is not large enough for a Bouchercon, which can be twice that size but normally would be between 1200 to 1500 people, unless it's in a location like Anchorage or out of the country. The Hyatt Regency in San Francisco has over twice the meeting space but the room rates are terrible and no bargain--they're pretty much what the rack rates are for October, not discounted. From one who was involved with the Denver Bouchercon, both of these bids present problems.
Enid Schantz
Hi Enid,
To clarify, retail, or rack rates for the San Francisco Hyatt Regency in October are around $439 - $469 (I know this because part of my day job is managing travel for a financial services firm in San Francisco.)
As a comparison, the local St. Regis and Four Seasons hotels' rack rates start at $550.
Cheers,
Rae
Hi Rae--
I went onto the Hyatt website and clicked to reserve rooms for a comparable weekend this upcoming October and the weekend rates quoted were as I said, around $265,
with a weekday rate of $350. These are the rack rates they are offering online to the public right now. So I don't see how the room rates are being discounted for the convention, except for weekday nights. This is not unusual, mind you, but if they claim to be discounting rooms for the convention that's not true. I'm sure this is not at all a bad rate for a hotel of this quality in this location in the city, but I don't know where the $439-469 rates you mention are coming from. Check the website.
Enid
Hi there,
Here's how hotel pricing works: the hotel's rack rate might be, say, $450 for October 15, if you book it a year in advance. As the date draws closer, the accounting types look at the projected occupancy rate, and if it's not where they want it to be, they'll start dropping the rate to get people in the door. So, looking at October of 2008, we can infer that the hotel has dropped its rates based on reservations. Conversely, when rooms are hard to come by, the hotels will increase their rates to the max.
So, looking two years out, the rate that's quoted is their maximum. It's very similar to the way that airlines book air fares; I'm sure you've heard the stories of two people sitting next to each other on a flight where one has paid $300 for their ticket and the other has paid $900. It's all driven by calculations based on projected usage.
That said, your point about the room rates being much higher than is typical for Bouchercon is absolutely right.
The good news here is that although neither of the bids the membership will be looking at in Baltimore is perfect, both groups are ready to work very hard to give the crime fiction community a great experience in 2010. So I think we're all going to be winners.
I think the advantages of being in San Francisco, not needing a car or a shuttle to go to the convention, and having all of San Francisco at our feet makes it worthwhile. What an amazing city!
I know for a fact I don't want to wait for a shuttle to drive me ten miles every time I want to go to my room.
San Francisco has the size facilities we need, I don't think Tempe does.
I also think Rae is much more in tune with the mystery community and has been to many Bouchercons and loves the genre. Her love of the genre is going to shine through even the smog in LA.
The difference in room rates is $84 a night. That's hardly an exorbitant difference. So it costs a couple hundred bucks more for the stay. That's worth it for a better, more convenient hotel in a far nicer city.
Don't be so cheap!
For those counting every dollar (and who isn't?), consider transportation. I've visited San Francisco frequently (I'm on the East Coast) and have never even had to take a cab - BART is great. My two previous visits to AZ have made me want to see more, but it seems like you can't go anywhere in the state without a car. So that means either renting or relying on cabs... ugh. I'd be more interested in the Tempe bid if they put up more details about transportation: frequent shuttles to other sites, bookstores, etc.?
Regarding transportation for Arizona's bid...
The hotel as a free airport shuttle. They also take folks to nearby locations for dining, shopping, etc.
The convention would run shuttles to overflow hotels at no expense to members of Bouchercon. Each of those hotels also have shuttles to nearby locations. When setting up these shuttles we'll look at having them make stops along the way to drop off & pick up folks who want to shop or dine along the way, including Old Town Scottsdale.
Mike Willmoth
I really like the content of your blog.It's nice.I am impressed the beauty and location of this hotels. its awesome.
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