With the new venue, will the attendance be capped around 1400-1500 like it used to be? At the time it was the right size for the venue, and for the number of volunteers they had to do the staffing, and the con had a good energy at that size - it was a pleasant state of equilibrium.
I managed to go back in 2011 (when it was FurFright), and yeah, the internal architecture was bizarre. I got the impression it was a gradual process - adding or merging with other buildings, ownershop changes, some part burning down in the past and then being re-built. With the end result that you could be sitting in a lounge/balcony in the big open area in the middle, near the pool, and you could see people gathering in another nearby part, but there was no direct way there, the sections weren't connected. You had to take a long circuitous route through the rest of the hotel to get there, and I've got a terrible sense of direction, so it was easy to get lost. Still, I had a good time, despite not really knowing anyone!
To travel to the convention, I think I took a plane to Newark, then took a short hop on a commuter train to an Amtrak station, then took Amtrak to Berlin, CT. Getting a taxi to take the final leg of the trip was the most challenging. I didn't have a mobile, and the station's pay phone was barely working. (Also I think Insane Kangaroo (?) had taken the same train as me, and I didn't want to hang around any longer than necessary.)
Stamford looks like it's on multiple train routes, so for those of us without cars, that's great!
With the new venue, will the attendance be capped around 1400-1500 like it used to be? At the time it was the right size for the venue, and for the number of volunteers they had to do the staffing, and the con had a good energy at that size - it was a pleasant state of equilibrium.
I managed to go back in 2011 (when it was FurFright), and yeah, the internal architecture was bizarre. I got the impression it was a gradual process - adding or merging with other buildings, ownershop changes, some part burning down in the past and then being re-built. With the end result that you could be sitting in a lounge/balcony in the big open area in the middle, near the pool, and you could see people gathering in another nearby part, but there was no direct way there, the sections weren't connected. You had to take a long circuitous route through the rest of the hotel to get there, and I've got a terrible sense of direction, so it was easy to get lost. Still, I had a good time, despite not really knowing anyone!
To travel to the convention, I think I took a plane to Newark, then took a short hop on a commuter train to an Amtrak station, then took Amtrak to Berlin, CT. Getting a taxi to take the final leg of the trip was the most challenging. I didn't have a mobile, and the station's pay phone was barely working. (Also I think Insane Kangaroo (?) had taken the same train as me, and I didn't want to hang around any longer than necessary.)
Stamford looks like it's on multiple train routes, so for those of us without cars, that's great!