One of the things I want to be sure to arrange with our hotel is that they're responsive to our fans. I attended a con this past summer at a hotel that was a nightmare to get hold of -- attendees HAD to talk to the Sales office, but there was never anyone there to answer the phone. Finally I had to wheedle somebody at the front desk to find someone alive in Sales for me! It did take several long-distance calls. Namaste, I do understand you wouldn't want to be doing that from Germany!
I don't know that the room discount would get as low as 30-50% off, but we'll do the best we can.
I did do quite a bit of online surfing at various hotel sites (Hotels.com and so on) and discovered that there really aren't a lot of hotels in the area we're looking at that are any cheaper than the ones at the top of our list. The decent ones run in the $125-$175 range. (Which, these days in a large city, is really not bad.) Anything less than that (and I'm being dead honest with you, guys) is pretty scary. There are safety issues (they're in bad neighborhoods), cleanliness issues, and so on.
Brian is putting together a terrific Forum just for the con, that will include a thread for folks looking for roommates. You'll have a good 2 years to meet each other, chat, and find 1 or 2 people who seem compatible to share a room. Right now we have 88 people who say they'd be coming alone, and I'm sure a lot of them would like the cost-savings of having a roomie or two.
Another thing to consider -- as I've mentioned before -- is that L.A. is so spread out. If you were able to find a cheaper hotel that was halfway decent, it might be some distance from the con hotel. You'd likely have to rent a car, take a cab, or investigate public transportation, all of which would cost money.
One fan mentioned in her survey that she had "sticker shock" at seeing our suggested ticket price. She cited Creation for having much cheaper admission rates. But think about this...with those cheap tickets at Creation cons, you don't get a reserved seat; you have to fight for a chair. You don't get autographs included, or photos with the stars, or meal events. We're planning to include ALL that stuff in your ticket price -- along with giving you a registration packet full of goodies in a keepsake bag (not a manila envelope, LOL). Our program book will be HUGE (to my knowledge, Creation doesn't give a program book at all, just a little folded sheet of paper).
And on top of everything, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event! 20 years of QL. We really hope all you guys here at the Forum are thinking about attending, because it's really going to be a special weekend. And we are trying very, very hard to get you the very best value for your money. We'll announce our dates and location quite a long time ahead (next spring?) so you have lots of time to book plane tickets ahead and save money. Like I've said, we 5 on the committee are fans on limited budgets just like you. (And we're all paying for our own plane fares, hotel rooms, meals, and so on -- that does NOT come out of convention funds.)
I hope that helps to put your mind at ease a bit, Namaste! Looking forward to meeting you in March 2009.