A little bit of distinction in price and distance. For instance, you can still grab the Hyatt at $180 and 1.3 miles away (I just directed a friend to book there), while much of the other hotels are $200+ and 3 miles away.
There's also the PAX Shuttle routes, which I have zero experience with, but may have better service for some hotels?
I have the actual "pick up" numbers (percentage of people who do not cancel a block reservation before the con) for the PAX block at East. It was 92% for PAX East 2011, and 95% for PAX East 2012.
I expect it is even higher now. PAX people rarely give up reserved rooms.
I won't keep my hopes up, but last year I managed to "upgrade" to the Langham a month out from the convention without any difficulties. Didn't realize how much the pick up numbers were growing over time, though.
I have the actual "pick up" numbers (percentage of people who do not cancel a block reservation before the con) for the PAX block at East. It was 92% for PAX East 2011, and 95% for PAX East 2012.
I expect it is even higher now. PAX people rarely give up reserved rooms.
I AM THE 1%!
I make sure to get a room at Prime every year before that plan inevitably falls through. I've only been able to pull it off in 2010 and 2011 so far. Somebody gets my lucky cancellation.
But yeah, don't think you're going to F5 all day waiting for a cancellation. With those "pick up" rates, your finger might fall off.
So...are plans for an FRC Forum Hotel Room on the table?
I too would like to know this. TvH's didn't pick up a hotel room this year (we grabbed our badges, which is the important part), so FRCF room is pretty much my only chance.
It appears that a combination of new clients, fires being put out, and general work has made me miss the optimum hotel booking time. We shall see if I can get to go or plan on operation outskirts.
Thanks for the advice, everyone! Looks like I'm at the Park Plaza hotel. Seems okay. If anyone else is staying there, we'll hang out.
Oh, and I booked a double because it was the same price as a single anyway. If anyone wants to split the room and doesn't mind sharing the bed or alternating sleeping on the floor then... I guess...?
So PAX is giving away free expo hall booths to people who will feature content that helps inform people about diversity issues. Naturally, the shitstorm is starting to brew about how this is a bad thing.
Before I go Full Ignorant, can someone explain to me how this is a bad thing? The existence of a "safe space" is being used as contrast to paint rest of the con as an "unsafe space" but this is dipping into fallacy already. The new space is also being compared to a zoo, but nobody is rounding up all the marginalized groups and forcing them into this space. Education is the biggest hurdle in these diversity issues, so how is ensuring that the proper messages are present a bad thing? Outside of this space, others vendors are free to exhibit their own diverse content, and must continue to abide by the rules of no harassment, no booth babes, etc.
Maybe it is not a perfect idea but I see positives far outweighing negatives here.
I just can't imagine the individual who was planning to attend PAX even after all of their previous missteps, and upon reading this, throws up their arms and shouts "fuck this, I'm out!" At this point we are down to: 1) A small sampling of people who interpreted this move negatively and for whom this actually does represent the last straw 2) Trolls and perpetual haters 3) People who always seem to have something going wrong in their life that is never their fault, perpetually walking around with a cloud following them. I suspect these people may have untreated mental illness such as depression, and genuinely hope that they get proper help.
1. People angry at the inclusion and what they perceive as "pandering" to demographics that aren't them. (e.g., fat white gamer guys angry about girls ruining their gamerland).
2. People who hate Penny Arcade to the point that there is literally no action they could ever take to avoid this ire.
1. People angry at the inclusion and what they perceive as "pandering" to demographics that aren't them. (e.g., fat white gamer guys angry about girls ruining their gamerland).
Every time I hear about these people, I remember they exist, and am appalled. I am able to be a happy person b/c I literally do not know any of these people, nor do I have any of them on my social radars. Fuck those guys.
Pretty much what Rym said. I'm at the point to where it's no longer worth engaging with the critics because they are already set in the mind that there is absolutely nothing that Penny Arcade can do that will satiate their ire, other than PA disapearing or ending.
The only thing I plan on changing for when I got to the next PAX is calling out the some of the BS I did see at PAX East like the guys with cameras interviewing cosplay girls asking to kiss them.
Comments
There's also the PAX Shuttle routes, which I have zero experience with, but may have better service for some hotels?
I have the actual "pick up" numbers (percentage of people who do not cancel a block reservation before the con) for the PAX block at East. It was 92% for PAX East 2011, and 95% for PAX East 2012.
I expect it is even higher now. PAX people rarely give up reserved rooms.
I make sure to get a room at Prime every year before that plan inevitably falls through. I've only been able to pull it off in 2010 and 2011 so far.
But yeah, don't think you're going to F5 all day waiting for a cancellation. With those "pick up" rates, your finger might fall off.
Oh, and I booked a double because it was the same price as a single anyway. If anyone wants to split the room and doesn't mind sharing the bed or alternating sleeping on the floor then... I guess...?
Before I go Full Ignorant, can someone explain to me how this is a bad thing? The existence of a "safe space" is being used as contrast to paint rest of the con as an "unsafe space" but this is dipping into fallacy already. The new space is also being compared to a zoo, but nobody is rounding up all the marginalized groups and forcing them into this space. Education is the biggest hurdle in these diversity issues, so how is ensuring that the proper messages are present a bad thing? Outside of this space, others vendors are free to exhibit their own diverse content, and must continue to abide by the rules of no harassment, no booth babes, etc.
Maybe it is not a perfect idea but I see positives far outweighing negatives here.
I just can't imagine the individual who was planning to attend PAX even after all of their previous missteps, and upon reading this, throws up their arms and shouts "fuck this, I'm out!" At this point we are down to:
1) A small sampling of people who interpreted this move negatively and for whom this actually does represent the last straw
2) Trolls and perpetual haters
3) People who always seem to have something going wrong in their life that is never their fault, perpetually walking around with a cloud following them. I suspect these people may have untreated mental illness such as depression, and genuinely hope that they get proper help.
1. People angry at the inclusion and what they perceive as "pandering" to demographics that aren't them. (e.g., fat white gamer guys angry about girls ruining their gamerland).
2. People who hate Penny Arcade to the point that there is literally no action they could ever take to avoid this ire.
The only thing I plan on changing for when I got to the next PAX is calling out the some of the BS I did see at PAX East like the guys with cameras interviewing cosplay girls asking to kiss them.