TONMOCON III

[DWhatley]

If you are asking about the venue, Tony works very, very hard at keeping the official meeting as close to zero as possible. All other expenses are your own (including all meals). Correct me if I am wrong but I think he needed a $10 donation for TONMOCON I for the facility use and TONMOCON II had no direct fees. Sorceress found some great rates on a couple of small kitchenette type apartments and put out a call for all takers to sign up and bunk up as was appropriate for the evening. Neal and I had a freebe and did not stay with the group. This time we will join the crowd and not have to drive

 

[tonmo]

TONMOCON I (also in Monterey) was something like $15 for under 18'ers and $30 for adults. Something like that. TONMOCON II (Mote) was without cost, thanks to the generosity of Mote, all facilitated by Jason (Mr. Cephalopodcast). Monterey (where III will be) has fees associated with it (insurance, renting the room, etc.) which can run up to $2k (again, if I remember correctly). So I may again ask for $30 or so per person, just to offset things a bit.

 

[sedna]

I haven't voted yet because I need all the info I can to con my husband into using any precious days off. Of course, if their were DIVING opportunities it would be a much easier sell. Where do beginners dive around there? We'd have to use frequent flyer miles to come from MI, so dates would be good!

 

[monty]

Even in summer, expect Monterey to be COLD for diving. It's OK in a full wetsuit, but you'll be shivering for a minute first. That said, the Monterey area is famous for interesting critters and kelp diving. I've only been up there once, at Monk's Beach, which was pretty good invertebrate-watching. The day I was there, there was a lot of surge, but I don't know how typical that is. A lot of people dive off the pier right by the aquarium, too. They actually let people dive *in* the aquarium, but you have to sign up for a long (like a year) commitment of volunteering many days per month, and I guess there's a long waiting list, too.

Here's a pitch from a dive tour company: http://www.aquasafaris.com/SCUBAcenter/localinfo.html

This sounds like fun, too: http://www.saintbrendan.com/cdnsept00/mont9.html

I just found those as some top hits googling for "Monterey Kelp Dive," there's a lot more....

 

[sorseress]

Re the cost: Keep in mind that in Florida we managed to get off season rates for the hotels, and there is no off season in either Monterey or San Francisco. There are, if memory serves, a few relatively low cost family type motels in Monterey, but SF would be significantly higher, and parking is an issue as well. If we choose to go to the Steinhart, which used to be terrific, and I assume is even better now, then it should be as part of a day trip from Monterey. It might mean extending Tonmocon for an extra day, but it would probably be worth it. I agree that San Jose airport is the destination of choice, but if for some reason your regional airport gives you terrible routing, then SF isn't terribly bad, and Oakland is even doable. I'll do a little googling to see what I can come up with as far as cheap but tolerable motels are concerned. We should try to get as many prices posted as quickly as possible in order to let potential attendees have as much info as possible for trip and budget planning purposes. Nancy had suggested that if we went to Galveston that we should look into renting a beach house for a large group. I don't know if any thing such as that would be available in the Monterey area, but it might be well worth looking into.

 

[cthulhu77]

Hey now, that is a good idea !
Re: diving in Monterey: you would want to own or rent a full blown hot dry suit, after diving there a few years ago, I can tell you it is COLD !

 

[tonmo]

Sorseress pinged me with some very good ideas for Monterey which I'm pursuing. Perhaps we won't be as "high end" as TONMOCON I was but we may be a lot more accessible. I hope to make some calls over the next couple of days / by the weekend and perhaps can zero in on dates by then. Thanks for your patience!

 

[DWhatley]

Sharon,
If you do your Sarasota search for the most room with the least money accomodation thing for III, count us in on what you find.

Oops, just saw that I missed some of the posts. The house rental sound like a winner if there are rates like in FL but rumor says everything is more expensive in CA.

Have blow up beds, will travel.

 

[erich orser]

Okay, we're definitely doing Monterey again. Awesome. I've got to get that Cthulhu suit. Man, that thing is filthy. Any word about MBARI or Dr. Gilly?

 

[tonmo]

Haven't gotten with Dr. Gilly or MBARI just yet... actually just checking out the potential venue. Travelodge - June 19th-20th group rates at $99 per night and the meeting room (no charge) holds up to 100 people. Not available until about 10:30am though (after free continental breakfast for all patrons and cleanup). Sushi restuarant/bar next door (or connected) serves beer, wine and sake. About 8 - 10 minutes to the aquarium. Thoughts?

 

[monty]

When I was a kid, our family used to get together with other families and rent a condo at Pajaro Dunes which is pretty close to Monterey. I expect that renting one of the "large family" condos might turn out to be cheaper than individual hotel rooms (but my web browser crashed when I tried to get a price quote... ). They're a little way away from Monterey proper, though. Maybe a similar "vacation rental" place could be found a bit closer, as an option.

edit: it looks like Pajaro is further from Monterey proper than I remember: google maps says 44 minute drive. But maybe somewhere similar exists closer. I googled a bit, and only found rather expensive town house rentals, sadly...

 

[tonmo]

The travelodge rooms offer one or two beds, so folks could coordinate bunking up if they wanted. Travelodge does not offer a projector (or a microphone if needed), but we can always rent that, I figure. There are definitely other options as well.... I guess I am attracted to the idea of having no-cost meeting space, and no-driving drinking opportunities.

 

[Jana]

This is very exciting. I saw dates in June being thrown around. Has anything been finalized? We now have something to look forward to. It will be good to meet everyone. Thank you for the information on possible cost. Thank you for your efforts to make this affordable.

 

[corw314]

June 20th is Jess's bd!!! We flew out on her BD last year and had the bus, the airport, and the airplane sing to her!! And I would be looking to bunk up also and Travelodge idea sounds great and affordable.

 

[cthulhu77]

We bunked up last time (yeah, like I slept !) and it worked out well...sounds like a good idea to me. I would like to work on the whole web-lining thing this time too.