Well, I promised Tony that the major Tonomcon II stuff would premiere into the begining of the New Year, so here goes: MOTE Marine Labs in Sarasota Florida, June 23-24 of 2007, we've got Nancy on Octopus Care, me on cephs in the arts/Cthulhu, Skot Olson showing-off his art, some bad-ass ceph racing - Greg, you in on this? - hopefully some attendance by giant plushy sea monsters - anybody got an in with John Forsythe from NRCC? Apply your influence now, please (contact me and I'll do the naggging); still looking to nail-down James B. Wood, the goodly Dr. SOS (who knows, but maybe if he can - administration work sucks like an architeuthis sucker - but we all know he'd like to and will understand if he can't), want to grab Kevin or Phil or preferably both for a Fossils and History lecture but nothing definite yet. Expecting some other of our European friends, possibly some of our Asian members, hoping for a few from Oceania - it's the New Year now, kids. Start saving your pennies! This will be bigger than last time, and last time was pretty impressive. Besides, Florida rocks in June. That's generally before hurricane season, and MOTE has a gigantic pickled squid.

Continued from last posting: hoping to see Thales again, and then I'm also interested in Monty's suggestion of a moderated panel discussion as opposed to a whole day of nothing but single-speaker lectures. Who else is interested in this option for some of the day?

Erich -

I am so in - already started work on the presentation. :smile:

I am interested in anything you wish me to be interested in!

Split & stuck this thread to give it front page props!

Split & stuck this thread to give it front page props!

Well you did request that I get on this.

Indeed I did... and you delivered! :smile:

I want to make sure folks know that we're really doing this, and everyone is invited. I don't believe we've yet settled on any "door fee", but it certainly should not exceed last year's fee of $15 for children, and $30 for adults (if I remember correctly). I believe we (staff) were discussing the idea of an honor system "tip jar" type thing, or perhaps something like $10 per person at the door. Last time around, we asked folks to pay in advance to make sure we had support. Because of the support we're getting from our friends at MOTE, the costs are much less and therefore I don't think we're taking as much a risk as we did last time.

So... please mark your calendars -- I really would like to meet as many of you as possible! Erich and staff and I discussed separately, we believe it will go something like this:

Saturday, June 23rd: People arrive from the airport, check in, go to the aquarium, meet for dinner, drinks, dancing with Cthulhu and The Elders, that kind of thing. We'll exchange PMs with cell phone numbers and whatnot ahead of the event.

Sunday, June 24th: Starting promptly in the morning (perhaps 9am or something like that) we arrive at MOTE and sit down for a day of presentations. The video snippets I posted of Thales speaking about cuttlefish eggs should give a good idea of what it's like -- slide-show presentation, Q&A, etc. Last time we had some raw video footage as well from the MRABI deep-sea voyager -- how cool was that!!!

Sunday night we'll all go on our merry way.

The above is subject to change, but that's the format being considered at current. The Sunday agenda is forthcoming, but includes what Erich alluded to above. Hope you'll join us!

John has retired from the NRCC, and is living in Florida, I do not remember where off hand.

What's ceph racing???

You buy a number, and that is how many blue rings are put into a tank with you, until you can get out.

Quite fun, actually...the winner gets to eat one of Herr Doktor O'Sheas fabulous breakfasts.

I play to lose.

Any thoughts, ideas on where people might be staying? My plan is to fly down on the 19th and stay through the 25th.

"Ceph-racing" is a closely-guarded secret at this point. People who show will be in the know.:wink:

"Ceph-racing" is a closely-guarded secret at this point. People who show will be in the know.:wink:

Great... now I have to convince hubby that I really need to be in Florida in June...

Great... now I have to convince hubby that I really need to be in Florida in June...

You of all people need to be there.....

Right CG -- you are IN!

It would be nice to have as much of us as can be in one hotel, right? I'm trying to make this trip part of some official business prior to the con, so I can be accustomed to the time zone by the time I get to Florida. Would not want to incurr Great Cthulhu's wrath for falling asleep during lectures

:no_diamond:

Anyone driving down and needing an overnight stop north of Atlanta (just off I85 in Gainesville, GA). I have room for several. I am still trying to get Neal to commit but I expect we will drive down, leaving here on the 22nd.

I've booked all my travel! Planning on spending the afternoon of June 23rd at the aquarium, and I plan to have dinner / drinks with many of you at some to-be-determined venue. Sunday is dedicated to presentations and events at MOTE; exact agenda TBD but things are coming along.

I'd like to drive from Az, but am not sure yet. Granted, the trip across Texas is loooonnnng, but....

anyone planning on possibly visiting the east coast before or after the con should let me know, i'd love to show ppl around the beaches and possibly look for creatures during tides and things like that, maybe looking for some coins a bit south of me. i live just south of cape canaveral. man am i happy i live so close to this con, new college student lifestyles usually dont include travel benefits, lol.

Jess and I plan on being down there for the week. She wants to make a quick trip to Disney/Seaworld. Anybody have a confirmed, place to stay yet? I hope to be making final plans in about 3 weeks, when my income tax comes back!!! :smile:

I sent Erich a list of some places on Lido Beach , just south of Mote, with their web pages and prices, etc. I looked for the best prices close to Mote, and also tried to find places with kitchenettes so they would be family friendly (cereal and juice at the motel beats breakfast in a restaurant) that weren't rented by the week or the month.

And here they are!


Here are some of the ones I found. I'm looking for places on the ocean side, not on the city side of Sarasota Bay. These spots are all within a couple of miles of Mote, and all are reasonably priced There are plenty of Higher priced options availabel too. Should I post some of those?

All of these are close together, so it should be easy for people to get together.




http://www.beaulido.com/
1 3/8 miles from Mote, daily rates from $55


http://www.lidovacationrentals.com/
1 3/4 miles NIghtly frim $55 to $156 for an apartment that sleeps 6



http://www.coquinaonthebeach.com/guestrooms.php
1.71 miles from Mote rates from $ 99 needs to be confirmed

Surf View Motel no website 1.76 miles from Mote...from $55...some rooms with kitchenette
on the beach Tel: (800)833-1818 or (941)388-1818
__________________
What part of "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" don't you understand?
erich orser is online now Report Post IP

Hi Erich,

Via the Herald-Tribune, (http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/FEATURES/703200695) the story of a very special Mote benefactor.

Kindergartner Eme Wuthrich -- who has informed Mote President and CEO Dr. Kumar Mahadevan in writing that "I will someday steal your job" -- was among the first to step up with financial contributions after last year's catastrophic fire at Mote's Aquaculture Park.

Less than two months after the July 20 blaze caused roughly $3 million in damages, Eme presented Mote with $150 she had raised from the sales of her paintings and drawings.

[edit]

An Animal Planet junkie and aspiring marine biologist since she was 3, Eme is still coping with the aftershock of the giant squid documentary that rattled her several years ago.

"I thought a squid was going to come out of my bathtub," she recalls. "I thought a squid was going to come out of my toilet. I thought a squid was going to come out of my sink. Everywhere there was water, I thought there was a squid.
What a cool kid.

Cheers,
Clem

i did think of you when i read that today...

.... still looking to nail-down James B. Wood, the goodly Dr. SOS (who knows, but maybe if he can - administration work sucks like an architeuthis sucker - but we all know he'd like to and will understand if he can't....

I'll be there. Wifey will be on the other coast.

Anyone want to share a room? I hate travel!

w00t!!!!!!

Steve,
I'll share a room with you if you buy the rum and cokes!

I would too, but we'd have to agree on an earphones only policy for i-pods :smile:

Ok - we have to have a Neil Diamond party on Saturday night. Come dressed as your favorite Neil Diamond character!

Ok - we have to have a Neil Diamond party on Saturday night. Come dressed as your favorite Neil Diamond character!

:confused: :yuck:

Take many pics for those of us stuck in the office.............pics from the above suggested shindig, would be good blackmail material I'd imagine :twisted: :sagrin:

J