NHC tickets 2013

[passedpawn]

Damn it. I'm on the waiting list.

" The 35th Annual National Homebrewers Conference has reached capacity. "

Seriously, why does this have to happen every year?

Aw geez. I finally got through, and it wouldn't take my member number. I let it expire in November.

 

[ComcastWineRookie]

Thanks = that seems so obvious now - but reading the instructions on the site yesterday, that never dawned on me.

Now I'm on the NHC waitlist, and my wife's sheeetllist.......

if you do go, there are about 25 of us from the club going

 

[Barnesie]

Anyone had any luck getting a decent rate at any hotel nearby? I don't mind walking a few, but all the group rate hotels have filled before I even saw them announced.

 

[Denny]

to be honest, I don't know why they wouldn't have moved this to the philly convention center. I mean, they just re did the entire thing (and it's huge). I figured this to be the spot before they announced the hotel. Not to mention, Philly is a rather large beer drinking/homebrewing area (hell, there's 12 some odd clubs in the area). Again, I would have thought based on last year's turnout, the fact they haven't made it to the east coast in a while, and the area picked, they'd be ready for a much larger turnout.

about the only thing I can think of: the union you'd have to go through in the convention center (though I would assume you'd have to go through the same union in the hotel, since it's still in the city).

It has a lot to do with who will let us bring in outside beer.

 

[Denny]

No. Everybody at the conference goes to Pro Brewers Night and Club night. About 1000 people? or so.

One of my favorite things is whatever they have on Wednesday for preconference activities. They aren't listed yet, but normally there is a pub crawl, a baseball game or something, and the Brewing Network's party, as well as daytime fun things. The local homebrew club hosts those events (besides the BN party) and I enjoy those every bit as much as the conference, so I'm planning on being there on Tuesday evening.

Wed. for me means a 5-6 hour GC meeting...boy, is THAT fun!

 

[Denny]

Well that sucked. The website was crashing for almost an hour. By the time I got through, I only secured Friday/Saturday and got waitlisted for Thursday. What I want to know is who the hell is just booking Thursday?

There is another convention in the hotel through Thur. so the capacity is limited that day.

 

[jturie]

I only bought the Friday/Saturday package because I'm vacationing in Vegas that week and fly back Thursday night. Yes, that will be one seriously lost week in my life! Maybe I'll win back my registration fee (unlikely...).

Could have sprung for the extra 10 bucks to get the whole shebang, but I was concerned that I'd be taking away a spot from someone else.

I live about 30 miles NW of Philly, so I'll be training it in; otherwise, I would have volunteered for transportation to Victory Brewing in Downingtown. Outside of DogFishHead, best in the area IMHO.

Looking forward to meeting a bunch of y'all at Club Night. I think my club is going to have a booth (our meeting is tonight). If so, I'll let you know. Maybe I'll supply a keg of my Bitter.

 

[ComcastWineRookie]

Anyone had any luck getting a decent rate at any hotel nearby? I don't mind walking a few, but all the group rate hotels have filled before I even saw them announced.

im at the lowes, right next door, 159/night plus tax

 

[Barnesie]

im at the lowes, right next door, 159/night plus tax

Right between nails and plumbing fixtures?

Oh wait, you mean this one? http://www.loewshotels.com/Philadelphia-Hotel

It's showing me $284/night

 

[ComcastWineRookie]

Right between nails and plumbing fixtures?

Oh wait, you mean this one? http://www.loewshotels.com/Philadelphia-Hotel

It's showing me $284/night

hotels.com had some good rates. right now if you stay thurs thru sun, 127 per night

 

[ComcastWineRookie]

anyone know what time the grand banquet starts and how long it is usually? im only booked in my hotel thru sat, and not sure i wanna spend the additional 185 for sat night.

 

[Denny]

IIRC, it starts about 7 (maybe 6?) and lasts 3 hours or so.

 

[Yooper]

IIRC, it starts about 7 (maybe 6?) and lasts 3 hours or so.

I think you're right- it starts about 7.


edit- found on the NHC website:
7:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Grand Banquet and National Homebrew Competition Award Ceremony

I'm not going to it. It's nice and all, but I have such a short attention span that I normally eat, and then cut out early and watch it on the monitors.

 

[dfess1]

It has a lot to do with who will let us bring in outside beer.

I figured it had to do with that, which most likely ties in with the union in the city as well. I'm guessing had it been in the convention center, no one would have been able to assemble their own booths.

 

[Denny]

I figured it had to do with that, which most likely ties in with the union in the city as well. I'm guessing had it been in the convention center, no one would have been able to assemble their own booths.

IIRC, it was not a union issue.

 

[sweetcell]

completely sold out!

according to papazian's FB page: "American Homebrewers Assn Nat Conference in Philly sold out. ~3400 in 24 hours. http://t.co/o7KVyVn9"

the AHA's registration page was last update at 8:45 AM, so it was more like 20 hours.

 

[dfess1]

IIRC, it was not a union issue.

fair enough

 

[brewguyver]

For the conference vets - how have you liked the "conference hotel" vs. alt hotel? Past wedding experiences lead me to "bite the bullet and pay the fee" because the best stores come from staying at the party hotel. However, I'm tempted to go the points route and snag a free hotel. Whatcha think?

I'm psyched to meet up with folks - this event should be very, very cool.

 

[mors]

I've only ever stayed at the event hotel for it.... But it certainly looks like it would be a pain in the ass to stay elsewhere... You drink during the day... You drink even more after the conferences at the pro brewers/club nights. Then there is the hospitality suite... I wouldn't want to have to walk even a few blocks after all this... and I even take care not to get too drunk.. it's just the convenience of it all. Stay in the hospitality suite socializing until beer stops being served... only have to walk x distance and you're back in your hotel room.

You also get alot of 'swag' and stuff during the day at the conference. It's nice to just be able to hop up to your room to drop it off and not have to lug it around all day.

 

[PhelanKA7]

You also get alot of 'swag' and stuff during the day at the conference. It's nice to just be able to hop up to your room to drop it off and not have to lug it around all day.

It's called a backpack. Problem solved

 

[brewguyver]

It's called a backpack. Problem solved

I'm totally camelbacking it - holds my swag and water is just a slight turn of the head away.

 

[two_hearted]

I'm totally camelbacking it - holds my swag and water is just a slight turn of the head away.

Be careful, it doesn't mean what it used to mean...

 

[Piratwolf]

Be careful, it doesn't mean what it used to mean...

On a similar note, I just scanned brewguyver's post and my eyes hypercorrected camel---ing it. Awkward moment ensued.

 

[Denny]

For the conference vets - how have you liked the "conference hotel" vs. alt hotel? Past wedding experiences lead me to "bite the bullet and pay the fee" because the best stores come from staying at the party hotel. However, I'm tempted to go the points route and snag a free hotel. Whatcha think?

I'm psyched to meet up with folks - this event should be very, very cool.

I've only stayed at the alternate hotel once and even thugh ut was right next door I found it a PITA. I love being able to just run up to my rom to relax and take a break for a while. Plus, at the end of the day, it's a lot easier to stumble onto tht elevator than to dwal with going to another hotel.

 

[KaSaBiS]

I have reservations for the Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown
21 N Juniper Street
Philadelphia, Pa
19107 USA.

.1 mi/3min walk and great news you have to walk infront of the justice center to get between the two!sigh...

 

[jturie]

Marriott was long gone, so it's kind of a moot point. Found out at my club meeting that hotel registration for the conference opened at 9am on the 5th. Dumb on my part...I have about 80,000 Marriott points and might have been able to snag a room weeks ago. I still got the Residence Inn 2 blocks away for free. Agree that it would be nice just to be able to run upstairs and dump my stuff, but at least we won't need to worry about overcoats.

 

[brewguyver]

Marriott was long gone, so it's kind of a moot point. Found out at my club meeting that hotel registration for the conference opened at 9am on the 5th. Dumb on my part...I have about 80,000 Marriott points and might have been able to snag a room weeks ago. I still got the Residence Inn 2 blocks away for free. Agree that it would be nice just to be able to run upstairs and dump my stuff, but at least we won't need to worry about overcoats.

If it makes you feel any better, the Downtown Marriott wasn't taking points reservations when I talked to them. The entire hotel was locked down at the conference rate. There are 3-4 Marriotts and a few Sheraton's within .5 miles

 

[sweetcell]

If it makes you feel any better, the Downtown Marriott wasn't taking points reservations when I talked to them.

they were for a while, i got a room there on points before conference registration opened. i made the reservation online, so maybe that's why i got through.

 

[BeerCrafter2011]

I love the camelback. Stay hydrated my friends. I need one for draining though. Do they make a camel leg pack?

 

[two_hearted]

I love the camelback. Stay hydrated my friends. I need one for draining though. Do they make a camel leg pack?

http://www.bladderbuddy.com/