The Official Bismarck Convention Planning ThreadFollow

Well, for my 2 cents worth...

The best place to have this get together would be Chicago. It's got a huge airport close to the city, lots of hotels and transportation options, and there's a hell of a lot of stuff to do in the city. Oh yeah, and it's in the middle of the country!

I would be up for this provided the costs stay reasonable, but just so you know, I work for a hotel in RL, and this would not be cheap. Unless you can get half our server to commit with funds up front, you'd better not set your sights on a convention hall. You might be able to get a meeting room for about $300/day with some snacks provided but that's about it.

You should get this thread sticky'd since you're planning as far ahead as August. Keep in mind though that there are a lot of conventions and such that happen in that month. Good luck!

That all depends on what you plan on getting. Frankly, the more people you're trying to accomodate, the more expensive. Figure roughly $300/day for every 50 people you get to commit. That's about the size to price ratio that I've run into, having known people who have done similar things in the past, and the going rate at the hotel I work at (in Milwaukee). Chicago has a lot of hotels that have Meeting Rooms and/or Convention Space. Your best bet would be to call on a hotel by hotel basis once you decide what city you want to hold this thing in.