US Nationals 2012 (Las Vegas)

[Tyson]

I'd say west of Ohio is a good pick. Colorado and Southern California seem nice.

Competition website: http://www.cubingusa.com/usnationals2012/

[Bryan]

As with the 2011 planning thread, try to keep the noise down. "I think the rule is you're allowed to suggest something only if you have the capability of holding a competition there by yourself. That means, you have the ability to secure the venue. Or at least, you would be able to begin the process. None of this, "oh, let's just rent out a broadway theater" stuff."

We're not hosting the World Cup. We don't need room for 10,000. Almost any decent size city is going to have a venue. The organizers aren't interested in doing the legwork for you taking a few seconds to type a venue ("Hey, what about the convention center in Fooville? They're big and there's a Chuck E Cheese nearby"). Instead, try, "Hey, would you be interested in my contacting the convention center in Fooville?" And if we suggest that you do, then actually follow up and see if you can get some quote on price and availability.

[Tyson]

Well, Lucas is filled with noise. "Your hotel is near the venue" type noise. Anyway, San Diego is in my thoughts. Here are my thoughts so far:

San Diego, but I would be depending on Adam Zamora to come up with a suitable venue
Colorado, but I would be depending on Patrick Kelly/Daniel Hayes to come up with a suitable venue
Las Vegas, how much will it cost?
San Francisco, exploratorium may be moving to a new building
Los Angeles, could probably find something here... perhaps UCLA, but I have no connections there

[Weston]

I have connections at USC.
My uncle works there. I can try to get a hall.

[Tyson]

I have connections at USC.
My uncle works there. I can try to get a hall.

I thought about this. A hall at USC would probably be very nice. My main worry about USC though, is the surrounding area is not very good. And I'm not about to have cubers walking around the streets on their own in that area. Unless it's cleaned up, but as far as I remember, it's not the best area.

UCLA, on the other hand, is a nicer area. Westwood has restaurants, and it would be a lot more comfortable in my opinion. Last thing I want is another 2008 incident.

[~Phoenix Death~]

I thought about this. A hall at USC would probably be very nice. My main worry about USC though, is the surrounding area is not very good. And I'm not about to have cubers walking around the streets on their own in that area. Unless it's cleaned up, but as far as I remember, it's not the best area.

UCLA, on the other hand, is a nicer area. Westwood has restaurants, and it would be a lot more comfortable in my opinion. Last thing I want is another 2008 incident.

What happened in 2008?!

[blade740]

I've thought about looking into disneyland as a venue. There's a very good transportation network from the two major airports in the area, lots to do for families who don't want to cube all day, and a variety of hotels ranging from cheap to luxurious. Plus it's in my backyard

A few things I'd like to know while I'm asking around:

How many rooms did we end up booking for nationals 2010? (after our block was extended)
How many people would a prospective venue need to hold?
As far as dates, are we thinking similar to previous years? Early-mid august?

One other thing: is anyone actively going out and seeking corporate sponsorship for events like this? How much has this been explored in the past? I'm not sure exactly what it would entail but it's worth considering. This year at the hotel every vending machine ran out of Mountain Dew by the end of the weekend: we should try to get PepsiCo on this.

[DavidWoner]

As with the 2011 planning thread, try to keep the noise down. "I think the rule is you're allowed to suggest something only if you have the capability of holding a competition there by yourself. That means, you have the ability to secure the venue. Or at least, you would be able to begin the process. None of this, "oh, let's just rent out a broadway theater" stuff."

Yes. I'd be more than happy to hand out bans to people who do not comply with this.

[Vincents]

I like the Disneyland idea; however outlandish it sounds at first, they do do high school band days, graduation nights, etc., so we know they're not against holding medium-large scale events. I would look into it if I weren't on the other side of the state... my first hunch though, is that it would be more feasible to do it at one of the Disneyland hotels?

Being at Berkeley, should I inquire into rooms here? Offhand I can tell you there's:
Wheeler Hall (capacity 705); dimensions: Proscenium 15' X 30'
Offstage Right limited
Offstage Left limited
Curtain to rear wall none
Curtain to last line set no linesets
Curtain to edge of apron 15'

Zellerbach Hall (Seats 2000+)
Proscenium 63'x30' (19.20m x 9.14m)
Typical Trim 40-44' x 22-24' (12.2m-13.5m x 6.71m-7.32m)
Offstage Right 30' (9.5m)
Offstage Left 12' (3.66m)
Curtain to rear wall 44' (13.4m)
Curtain to last line set 42'5" (12.95m)
Curtain to edge of apron 6' (1.85m)
Curtain to edge of pit 18'6" (5.65m)
Orchestra Pit 12'6" (deepest point) (3.84m)
Height of stage from auditorium 3'6" (1.07m)
Distance to grid 80' (max. out trim 73') (24.4m)


Note: Pit can accomodate up to 50 musicians. Wagnerian pit is also available, expanding pit area to 19' (5.8m); and diminishing house capacity in orchestra by 53 seats. Rows EE & FF must be removed.


Pauley Ballroom (giant room; can be filled with chairs and other things)
The dimensions are 84' x 108', West Pauley 84' x 72' and East Pauley 84' x 36'.

Hertz Hall (Seats 400-600? I honestly have no idea. It's a concert hall).
Tech specs not listed. But again, it's a concert hall. A full symphonic orchestra sits on the stage comfortably.

[blade740]

I thought so too but lately I'm not so sure. I work in the call center that books their hotels (albeit for the consumer side, so I don't know too much about the convention department) but from what I've heard, with a decent group rate you can stay at a hotel on the disney property for less than we paid in Cambridge (not to mention the other local hotels in the area). I'm not sure how much the meeting space itself will cost, but there are many smaller conventions that don't have as much to spend as the MLB.

Plus, like I noted in my first post, we don't yet know what our sponsorship situation will be by then. I would hope we would be able to secure funding at least on the level of other competitions at the same scale (euros, worlds, etc).