watervole | orbital_2008 will be at the Heathrow Radisson

We finally picked our hotel. It's the Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow.

The conference staff were willing to change/adapt a lot of their original conditions and we've ended up with a deal that both parties are happy with. (it's the little things like being allowed as many sausages as you want at breakfast...)

It's a lovely hotel with some very attractive function space and I know a lot of people have wanted an Eastercon in the south of England.

I could tell you a long saga of all the other hotels we looked at, but the Radisson came out on top (with the Hinckley Island a very close second).

Now all we have to do is win the bid and plan the programme. It all sounds so easy when you put it like that...

I can tell you one thing - it'll be a programme-heavy convention. Those of you who have been to

redemption_con will know just what I mean by programme-heavy! Some hotels that were rejected lost out because they simply didn't have enough small programme rooms. We like lots of small interactive discussions and debates and needed a hotel that could support that.

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Looking forward to the bid session now.

Bless you! I was terrified that the first comment would be from someone saying "I hate the Radisson because-"

You know how it is, 1 in 5 fans hate any given hotel! (and usually for the same reason that another fan loves it)

I'd have been happy with either of your top two choices, as I think I've said before.

plan the programme. It all sounds so easy when you put it like that.

It doesn't sound easy to me at all, but then I know what I've let myself in for. If you know me (even if you don't me) prepare to be pestered.

I liked the Radisson last time (Evolution) in terms of its amenities, function space, location and most other things. In fact I only had one gripe but it was a worrying one (and I was quite exposed to it as I was running registration and hence in the foyer for much of the con). This was the attitude of many of the front of house staff who went around giving dirty looks to the fans and indeed apologising to business customers for these *terrible people" who'd been inflicted on the hotel. I remember a certain amount of snotty and rude comments to some fans too.

Of course this was 8 years ago which is a long time and I know a lot of media events have been held there since although I've not been to any myself. So my only question is this: are you comfortable not only that the management want our business but that the other events since 98 have warmed up the staff to be more supportive of our presence?

This is a difficult one because wherever you are at you can get rogue stff who will be a problem; staff turnover at hotels is very large. All we can do as a con committee is work closely with the hotel up to and - just as important - during the convention, and try to make sure that we have had contact with and know the person who will be in charge during the actual weekend and that that person knows exactly what has been agreed and not agreed and so on, and can deal quickly with any problems we may encounter. Whatever hotel you use, there are no absolute guarantees that this will all go smoothly, you just have to plan as many of the potential problems out as possible in advance.

THey definitely want us. They wanted us enough that we managed to get them to change some of their normal terms and conditions.

As you say, they're more used to media events now.

I think it's probably a good choice. My only bad memory of the previous Eastercon there was the attitude of the staff and presumably they will all have moved on. However, if it helps with negotiations, I can say with certainty that we won't be staying the night before - don't know how typical we are as South London-based fans. The night after? That depends on our negotiations!!

Our biggest headache was actually worry that a lot of fans would *not* stay the night before. Roomnights = turnover for the hotel, and turnover = free function space.

We'll probably refrain from committing to one of the bigger function rooms, simply because the financial risk is too great just to give us a bigger dealers room. However, there's loads and loads of smaller rooms, which suit our style of programming very well.

As you say, a lot of fans will whinge and gripe whatever hotel you choose, declaring that they and their friends will boycott the con.

Personally, I've never been to the Heathrow Radisson, and I'm looking forward to it! London, yay!

Went to Serenity Con there. With the benefit of hindsight, I'd say take plenty of warm clothing, especially for sleeping in - even the guests commented on the coldness of the place. (It was mid-November.) We asked for more blankets but no action was taken on that.

Also, drinks are very expensive - £2.00 for a slimline tonic at the cocktail party.

Great con., though, and would go again. 8-)

Oh yes, and they recommend you take the Hotel Hopper bus which is quite expensive. If you don't have a lot to carry, use the free bus service. It stops almost outside so it isn't far to walk. 8-)
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We got a good deal on most of the drinks prices, but we'll save that data for the bid session

... absolutely! I've already found out all the details for that (and it means you can jump on a bus outside the hotel to go to restaurants/shops etc which helps get rid of some of the worries that Hinckley brings up)

The Hoppa bus is 3 pounds, so as you say, unless you're worried about the 30-40 yards from the bus stop to the front door, use the free bus.

orbital_2008 will be at the Heathrow Radisson

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Free bus ...