So we should be seeing some information soon from Heather and -t on NO. They are the point people for this location and will be doing some of the ground work. If I can swing a recon trip out there in January or some such I may do it just to help out as well.

On a farther reaching note, here are two things I'm looking at doing this year for the F2F. The idea of tickets for our party seems to not really fit what happens. We try to raise money to cover some of our costs for the weekend. So, here's what I'm looking at doing. Once we have a good idea of what the ballpark on costs will be I'm going to post that total to b.org and then I'll open up my PayPal account and take donations. No tickets, everyone is welcome, and I've really got no worries that we'll get enough money to hit our costs just by asking for donations.

Kind of also in that strain here's the other thing I'd like to do. Starting in about a month I'd like to open up a donation pool for folks who may need a bit of help financially with coming to join us. Last year we had a lot of folks who paid extra so that it could offset the costs for folks. So, I'll open up a donation pool and if folks want to pitch in a few bucks then we can help each other make it to the big event. Does this sound workable?

ND, I think that sounds extremely workable. I love how you've set it up so we can donate to a general fund to the level we are able, and I also love the opportunity for those who have the extra cash to be able to anonymously help out those who don't.

Much thanks for all the work you've done and will continue to do on this.

Thank you, ND, for the focus you've brought to this process. And everything else. Because also, it's not like you're sitting around at home with nothing better to do!

I have no problems with NO. I didn't vote because a) I can get to all of the cities equally easily and b) I don't know if I can attend. The second is for two reasons: 1) It's the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, where there is a con I always attend, and I try not to be out of town two weekends in a row; 2) Financially, 2005 may be a bit tight, as we are talking about buying a townhouse.(We need more space for our stuff t g )

Thank you, ND, for the focus you've brought to this process.

Second this. Your proactivity has us farther ahead of the game than we've been in the past.

I've just remembered (how could I have forgotten?) that another good heat of the day activity might be a trek to see Serenity.

I'm sure that most of us will have seen it at least once by then -- but it might still be a good activity. (Plus, aren't we all trying to support it by seeing it more than once?)

Your proactivity has us farther ahead of the game than we've been in the past.

While I agree with this sentiment, I read 'proactivity' as 'profanity', and thought 'Well, ND's language may be a bit blue at times, but I thought he'd been keeping a check on himself....'

I may need more sleep.

However, yes. ND, thank you for captaining this carpet ship.

Rooting for billytea's option three since I will also be in SF over Thanksgiving (but not at Deb's since my family improbably must take priority).

We can do the secret Actuary handshake one last time! Then we can do it Australian style (clockwise instead of counter-clockwise)!

Then we can do it Australian style (clockwise instead of counter-clockwise)!

Many thanks for the clarification. Cartoon theatre lives were saved by your swift explanation.

It looks like option 3 is the clear front-runner at this point. I have no further word from Melbourne yet, but I hope to start nailing things down very soon.