She probably doesn't have my new cell number. Thanks.

Greetings from London! Sorry for the delay in posting information, I haven't had use of laptop and internet until now.

I previously had contacted the Philly Visitors Bureau but the only hotels I heard back from were those I contacted directly (Sheraton Society Hill, Hilton Garden Inn), both of which are probably out of our league budget-wise.

I was coming here to post about the Hilton Garden Inn (generally, some good stuff, but would have been nothing lower than $160 per room - not inclusive of hospitality suite & prom site), and they couldn't go lower or really negotiate until they had solid numbers of people and date). BUT earlier today, a little out of desperation to get some competitive bids going, I discovered a cool site that allowed me to enter all of our data to request bids for ALL hotels in Philadelphia for every date we're considering (hotelplanner.com).

I've already heard back with two bids, and one of them was for NJ, so I declined. But the other shows that the site has promise. Now it's for a Philly airport location, which we do not want, BUT, it shows me that Philly prices can definitely be awesome:

Rate: Weekends: $75.00 / Weekdays: $89.00 USD per night + 8% taxes Policies: Group must book rooms no later than 14 days before check-in. Group is responsible to use at least 80% of group room block. Group members may cancel no later than 4PM on day of arrival. No misc. hotel resort fees or flat taxes No deposit required. These policies are specific to your group request as determined by the hotel. Comments: Each room bed type can be arranged individually later. We have meeting space and banquet space available. We are located only 8 miles from downtown Philadelphia with easy access to I95 & I476. We also have complimentary bus parking, complimentary hotel parking and shuttle service to/from airport and Harrah's Casino in Chester**. NEWLY RENOVATED Full service hotel with restaurant & lounge. Pool is seasonal and outdoor. One queen or two twin beds. One complimentary room per 40 rooms booked per night. Free meeting space for 75 rooms booked per night. Free banquet space for 100 rooms booked per night. One suite upgrade per 30 rooms booked per night. This offer is good for 1 Week after 03/14/10. Please click here to contact me if you have any questions.

And Amy, sorry, I have a cell for you that ends in 0550 which now apparently belongs to someone named "Fay" who was kind enough to text me back to let me know she wasn't Amy.

So, I have email access the rest of my trip (only tomorrow, which is graduation day, I won't really be available), and can post here in the coming days about more bids that we get. But for voting purposes now, I'd say we can get a hospitality suite, a small banquet room for prom, and group rates that would be in the $160 per room for everything range. That assumption is based on the very low rate requested through hotelplanner.com and the immediate response of "74 hotels can accommodate your request" notice that the site gave me upon entry of all requirements.

Amy, Sox, I will forward you the email I got upon registering with hotelplanner.com.

Thanks so much for doing all that, java. And happy graduation tomorrow! Walk proud, lady.

Also, I'll send my new cell # in email.

Results:
The numbers represent the total number of votes.

Question #1: Top Choices for F2F Weekend

May 29-30 (Memorial Day Weekend): 7
June 5-6: 14
June 12-13: 18
June 19-20 (Father's Day): 16
June 26-27: 26
July 3-4: 4
July 10-11: 20
July 17-18: 16

Question #2: Dates you likely CANNOT attend

May 29-30 (Memorial Day Weekend): 15
June 5-6: 11
June 12-13: 13
June 19-20 (Father's Day): 13
June 26-27: 10
July 3-4: 22
July 10-11: 3
July 17-18: 5

Question #3: Other suggestions/comments

1. My date choices are based solely on wanting it to be as not-hot as possible. Really, I can attend anytime; after April my schedule is clear all summer.
2. If Rhode Island or Maine or Vermont are still on the table, even later would be good. If it's someplace that gets hot and humid during the summer, then earlier is better.

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My non-mathy analysis suggests a runoff between June 26-27 and July 10-11 based on these results. Hil, what does the real math say?

My non-mathy analysis suggests a runoff between June 26-27 and July 10-11 based on these results. Hil, what does the real math say?

That's what I'd say, too. If we just go with a simple number of votes minus number of people who can't be there, those two are nearly tied, with all the others well behind.

Okay then, people, so the question becomes if the cities want to now get feedback on those two dates, or if we want to pick a date regardless of city restrictions.

Oof. I'm one of the ones that can't come June 26-27 (I'm in a wedding), but I'm not even sure if I'll be able to come at all given how I'll have JUUUUST been to the wedding (in Chicago) and my dad's birthday (two weeks before, in Indiana). I'm a crazy traveler, but that's a lot of coast-to-coast-to-coast! Sad.

Bummer! I'm in the reverse position. I might be able to come if it's June 26-27 (I can arrange our CT trip around that), but no way can I do another coast-to-coast flight a few weeks later. I don't think ND could come either week.

I'm in a similar position to meara; I can't do June 26-27 (work conference), so I'd prefer July 10-11, but I'll also be flying to Massachusetts twice over the summer already (wedding prep and then the wedding!), so I don't know if I'll have the energy or money to also attend the F2F, even if it's on a free weekend.

I almost didn't vote in the dates poll, but I do *want* to come! Guess I'm trying to keep hope alive.