KeyCon 2018!! --> Details Posted

[woodkeys]

I'll throw a name in the hat for Houston or Austin. We have a great local community that spans both so I know we could come up with an appropriate venue. We have had several successful meetups over the past 6 months that have been extremely well organized.

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[OfTheWild]

I'll throw a name in the hat for Houston or Austin. We have a great local community that spans both so I know we could come up with an appropriate venue. We have had several successful meetups over the past 6 months that have been extremely well organized.

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Yes, you guys have been really doing a lot of local organizing.
I'll add you to my short temporary list.

[ArchDill]

My vote is Dallas!

[Puddsy]

My vote is Dallas!

i could manage texas

[wokechill]

+1 for Houston 

[awwwwwwyeaahhhhhh]

I'm sure we could get something fun going in Austin, TX.
When were y'all thinking about doing this? Mid year?
Was planning on organizing a large traditional meetup next year anyways, before the next Keycrawl.
Hmmmmm.

[Taylorisg]

+1 for Columbus and for Jacobsmirror knowing how to run an event 

[rm-rf]

how about Portland Oregon?

[_rubik]

We've talked a lot about place, but what about time? Do we know what dates we hope have it?

[HardcoreDesk]

Throwing my hat in for a Texas Keycon!

[kdm1020]

+1 for Houston or Austin! 

[FioraCorp]

Portland Keycon would be amazing just saying.

Excellent airport that's usually pretty cheap to fly to and easy to get to/from,
awesome food + drink scene that doesn't break the bank
Legal....herbs
Pretty affordable housing in town!
Badass public transit: no need to rent a car.

[OfTheWild]

We've talked a lot about place, but what about time? Do we know what dates we hope have it?

whoa whoa there buddy.. dont get ahead of yourself!  )

I would imagine 'summer' is a good estimate of timeframe.

[_rubik]

We've talked a lot about place, but what about time? Do we know what dates we hope have it?

whoa whoa there buddy.. dont get ahead of yourself!  )

I would imagine 'summer' is a good estimate of timeframe.

I can live with 'summer'. Just gotta have enough heads up so I can take time off

[OfTheWild]

We've talked a lot about place, but what about time? Do we know what dates we hope have it?

whoa whoa there buddy.. dont get ahead of yourself!  )

I would imagine 'summer' is a good estimate of timeframe.

I can live with 'summer'. Just gotta have enough heads up so I can take time off

Yeah i think no matter where it is late spring would be the earliest anyone could pull it off. Its going to take some planning. Depending on where people choose would be a factor too - I would vote to push an Austin or Atlanta keycon away from the dead of summer. All my krytox will liquify! lol

[Puddsy]

yeah nevermind i forgot keycon is always in june

minneapolis or columbus pls

[fendent]

For people throwing their hat in the ring for their city, please come up with proposals. Venue, costs if any, hotel costs/availability, parking, local entertainment, etc etc should all be thrown in. It's easy to say "we can do it here where I live" but the earnest money, so to speak, is figuring out the bare minimum of specifics. Especially since, if you make a proposal and its accepted, it's gonna be on you/your crew to put it together and help to make it a success.

With that, I love all the ideas coming out! Let's make 2018 a blast!

[OfTheWild]

^ and to that point, I would hope that there is some previous experience in hosting a large scale event on your team. So far i know each of the host offers do (despite post count appearance), but i'm just mentioning that for others.

[HoffmanMyster]

yeah nevermind i forgot keycon is always in june

minneapolis or columbus pls

I didn't think you ever ventured to the midwest.   

Minneapolis would be cool, could go say hi to a few people. 

For people throwing their hat in the ring for their city, please come up with proposals. Venue, costs if any, hotel costs/availability, parking, local entertainment, etc etc should all be thrown in. It's easy to say "we can do it here where I live" but the earnest money, so to speak, is figuring out the bare minimum of specifics. Especially since, if you make a proposal and its accepted, it's gonna be on you/your crew to put it together and help to make it a success.

With that, I love all the ideas coming out! Let's make 2018 a blast!

^ and to that point, I would hope that there is some previous experience in hosting a large scale event on your team. So far i know each of the host offers do (despite post count appearance), but i'm just mentioning that for others.

Great points, and part of the reason I'm hesitant to throw a poll together based solely on city names thrown around.  I'd much rather have a kickass keycon that 100 people attend than a mediocre one that 105 people attend. 

[wokechill]

For people throwing their hat in the ring for their city, please come up with proposals. Venue, costs if any, hotel costs/availability, parking, local entertainment, etc etc should all be thrown in. It's easy to say "we can do it here where I live" but the earnest money, so to speak, is figuring out the bare minimum of specifics. Especially since, if you make a proposal and its accepted, it's gonna be on you/your crew to put it together and help to make it a success.

With that, I love all the ideas coming out! Let's make 2018 a blast!

To this point, what's a reasonable estimate of attendance? What was the total attendance of the last KeyCon? This will make it easier to come up with serious proposals.

[Puddsy]

Last Keycon had like 50 people, if I remember right

[wokechill]

Last Keycon had like 50 people, if I remember right

If that's the case there is NO problem hosting it in Houston at TXRX Labs, where I hosted the Houston Meetup!
However, if we're having it in Texas (y'all can take the heat  ), there's no doubt that Austin is more fun and cool and interesting and good and that awwwwwwyeaahhhhhh should host it.

[jacobsmirror]

Per details on Columbus, I would be happy to host and have a good relationship building with the Idea Foundry (https://ideafoundry.com/). I'm running a general meetup there in March and they gave me their largest event space, which can handle 165 at standing room, at a very very very reasonable price. If signups or general needs exceed that event space, there are other rooms available that we could use. I've already put in a provisional request for a date in June just to get the KeyCon name in the books.

In terms of attractions, immediately next door is Land Grant Brewery (https://www.landgrantbrewing.com/), which is a great place to walk after the meetup and have a beer. Last time they had a food truck parked outside as well. Outside of that, there's the typical COSI, Columbus Zoo, and the Museum of Art type attractions. In terms of lodging, it's Ohio, so it's relatively very inexpensive. I had quite a few very interesting options on Airbnb when I stayed previously.

After running a few Cleveland meetups and one previous Columbus meetup, I have a good set of individuals who would be willing to help with any sort of planning and logistics. Furthermore, there's also a good community being built up in Ohio that seems to be very partial to meetups, which could increase attendance.

[kmba]

Every year people throw out mid-western cities.. Indianapolis, Columbus, etc because they're centrally located and within driving distance to a ton of other large cities (Indy for example could pull drivers from Chicago, Detroit, Cincy, Columbus, St. Louis, Louisville and a even Nashville), there's inexpensive lodging, great food and beer, they're super accessible unlike crowded east coast cities that didn't grow out on farm land, and plenty to do if you look for it.  But people inevitably shoot it down because airfare is a little more expensive due to no hubs, and honestly people don't want to take a trip to our neck of the woods.  Such is life. 

I definitely vote Columbus though.  With Denver and Atlanta second and third if people want somewhere with a little more panache and a larger airport. 

[sony]

Atlanta

Venue - Computer Museum of America This is a very unique venue. There are many old computers on display. In the past there was an Apple One among other very rare old Apple computers.

Cost - At the moment unknown. Last time I had to only pay for the tables. That might change as this is not in conjunction with VCFSE, but they liked the traffic I brought to the venue, so I think that a cost that is not bank-breaking can be worked out.

Hotels and Accommodations - There are many hotels in the area. Some are within walking distance of the venue or a short car ride away.

Flights - Delta has nonstop direct flights from all around the country, as does Southwest and Frontier. There is no shortage of flights. The airport is quite far away from the venue but there are Train and Bus routes that will take you right to the venue. I think most people flying in will (have to) rent a car, but if someone in your party is arriving early, the strangler can take the train to get to the area. https://imgur.com/COhlHN1

Other attractions- World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, a lot of KBBQ restaurants 20 minutes away, CNN center, Stone Mountain, MLK Historic Site, Six Flags, High Museum of Art, Delta Flight Museum.


My previous experience- Organized the April 2017 Atlanta Meetup and had over 75 attend. I did the organization of that event myself and made many friends in the area. I think that with the friends I've gained, we should be easily able to accommodate any number of attendees.

[OfTheWild]

Every year people throw out mid-western cities.. Indianapolis, Columbus, etc because they're centrally located and within driving distance to a ton of other large cities (Indy for example could pull drivers from Chicago, Detroit, Cincy, Columbus, St. Louis, Louisville and a even Nashville), there's inexpensive lodging, great food and beer, they're super accessible unlike crowded east coast cities that didn't grow out on farm land, and plenty to do if you look for it.  But people inevitably shoot it down because airfare is a little more expensive due to no hubs, and honestly people don't want to take a trip to our neck of the woods.  Such is life. 

I definitely vote Columbus though.  With Denver and Atlanta second and third if people want somewhere with a little more panache and a larger airport.

I think they just get looked over because there are simply more people in the larger metropolitans. When you take it to a vote, the midwest will likely lose unless its a cool destination.

50 people is probably a bit low for Keycon'17.. i would have guessed more like 75 but i'm sure atticus could confirm. I would think you should plan for up to 100 people just in case. The NorCal meet was supposedly 100 people.  We had 40 come out just locally in Raleigh/Durham-Charlotte last year.

[AuthenticDanger]

The NorCal meet was supposedly 100 people

The last NorCal meetup (a month ago) was like 300+ people. It was packed!

[microsoft windows]

Will people be using Windows 98 at the "Key Con"?

[KeycapKid]

+1 for Columbus. I would definitely be there.

[katushkin]

If it's in the Boston area and at the start/middle of June I could be there... I mean, I could drive to Columbus... but I'm going to be in the Boston/CT area on holiday next June

[wikkiwikki420]

I call on Houston Texas. I mean World Series Champs need World Renown Caps!

[Bi0]

+1 for texas keycon 2018 

[ander]

BTW, it's important to avoid confusing this with CONKY.

[Vloshko]

Let's try to get it in the middle of the country so that it's easier and cheaper for people to attend

Denver?

[hayt]

Atlanta

Venue - Computer Museum of America This is a very unique venue. There are many old computers on display. In the past there was an Apple One among other very rare old Apple computers.

Cost - At the moment unknown. Last time I had to only pay for the tables. That might change as this is not in conjunction with VCFSE, but they liked the traffic I brought to the venue, so I think that a cost that is not bank-breaking can be worked out.

Hotels and Accommodations - There are many hotels in the area. Some are within walking distance of the venue or a short car ride away.

Flights - Delta has nonstop direct flights from all around the country, as does Southwest and Frontier. There is no shortage of flights. The airport is quite far away from the venue but there are Train and Bus routes that will take you right to the venue. I think most people flying in will (have to) rent a car, but if someone in your party is arriving early, the strangler can take the train to get to the area. https://imgur.com/COhlHN1

Other attractions- World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, a lot of KBBQ restaurants 20 minutes away, CNN center, Stone Mountain, MLK Historic Site, Six Flags, High Museum of Art, Delta Flight Museum.


My previous experience- Organized the April 2017 Atlanta Meetup and had over 75 attend. I did the organization of that event myself and made many friends in the area. I think that with the friends I've gained, we should be easily able to accommodate any number of attendees.

+1

Atlanta v accessible too

[Puddsy]

Atlanta

Venue - Computer Museum of America This is a very unique venue. There are many old computers on display. In the past there was an Apple One among other very rare old Apple computers.

Cost - At the moment unknown. Last time I had to only pay for the tables. That might change as this is not in conjunction with VCFSE, but they liked the traffic I brought to the venue, so I think that a cost that is not bank-breaking can be worked out.

Hotels and Accommodations - There are many hotels in the area. Some are within walking distance of the venue or a short car ride away.

Flights - Delta has nonstop direct flights from all around the country, as does Southwest and Frontier. There is no shortage of flights. The airport is quite far away from the venue but there are Train and Bus routes that will take you right to the venue. I think most people flying in will (have to) rent a car, but if someone in your party is arriving early, the strangler can take the train to get to the area. https://imgur.com/COhlHN1

Other attractions- World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, a lot of KBBQ restaurants 20 minutes away, CNN center, Stone Mountain, MLK Historic Site, Six Flags, High Museum of Art, Delta Flight Museum.


My previous experience- Organized the April 2017 Atlanta Meetup and had over 75 attend. I did the organization of that event myself and made many friends in the area. I think that with the friends I've gained, we should be easily able to accommodate any number of attendees.

+1

Atlanta v accessible too

atlanta in june tho

[henz]

+1 Sweden Gothenburg!

[fendent]

Atlanta

Venue - Computer Museum of America This is a very unique venue. There are many old computers on display. In the past there was an Apple One among other very rare old Apple computers.

Cost - At the moment unknown. Last time I had to only pay for the tables. That might change as this is not in conjunction with VCFSE, but they liked the traffic I brought to the venue, so I think that a cost that is not bank-breaking can be worked out.

Hotels and Accommodations - There are many hotels in the area. Some are within walking distance of the venue or a short car ride away.

Flights - Delta has nonstop direct flights from all around the country, as does Southwest and Frontier. There is no shortage of flights. The airport is quite far away from the venue but there are Train and Bus routes that will take you right to the venue. I think most people flying in will (have to) rent a car, but if someone in your party is arriving early, the strangler can take the train to get to the area. https://imgur.com/COhlHN1

Other attractions- World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, a lot of KBBQ restaurants 20 minutes away, CNN center, Stone Mountain, MLK Historic Site, Six Flags, High Museum of Art, Delta Flight Museum.


My previous experience- Organized the April 2017 Atlanta Meetup and had over 75 attend. I did the organization of that event myself and made many friends in the area. I think that with the friends I've gained, we should be easily able to accommodate any number of attendees.

+1

Atlanta v accessible too

atlanta in june tho

This cannot be understated.

[sony]

Atlanta

Venue - Computer Museum of America This is a very unique venue. There are many old computers on display. In the past there was an Apple One among other very rare old Apple computers.

Cost - At the moment unknown. Last time I had to only pay for the tables. That might change as this is not in conjunction with VCFSE, but they liked the traffic I brought to the venue, so I think that a cost that is not bank-breaking can be worked out.

Hotels and Accommodations - There are many hotels in the area. Some are within walking distance of the venue or a short car ride away.

Flights - Delta has nonstop direct flights from all around the country, as does Southwest and Frontier. There is no shortage of flights. The airport is quite far away from the venue but there are Train and Bus routes that will take you right to the venue. I think most people flying in will (have to) rent a car, but if someone in your party is arriving early, the strangler can take the train to get to the area. https://imgur.com/COhlHN1

Other attractions- World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, a lot of KBBQ restaurants 20 minutes away, CNN center, Stone Mountain, MLK Historic Site, Six Flags, High Museum of Art, Delta Flight Museum.


My previous experience- Organized the April 2017 Atlanta Meetup and had over 75 attend. I did the organization of that event myself and made many friends in the area. I think that with the friends I've gained, we should be easily able to accommodate any number of attendees.

+1

Atlanta v accessible too

atlanta in june tho

This cannot be understated.

I don't go outside so I wouldn't really know.

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[hayt]

Atlanta

Venue - Computer Museum of America This is a very unique venue. There are many old computers on display. In the past there was an Apple One among other very rare old Apple computers.

Cost - At the moment unknown. Last time I had to only pay for the tables. That might change as this is not in conjunction with VCFSE, but they liked the traffic I brought to the venue, so I think that a cost that is not bank-breaking can be worked out.

Hotels and Accommodations - There are many hotels in the area. Some are within walking distance of the venue or a short car ride away.

Flights - Delta has nonstop direct flights from all around the country, as does Southwest and Frontier. There is no shortage of flights. The airport is quite far away from the venue but there are Train and Bus routes that will take you right to the venue. I think most people flying in will (have to) rent a car, but if someone in your party is arriving early, the strangler can take the train to get to the area. https://imgur.com/COhlHN1

Other attractions- World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, a lot of KBBQ restaurants 20 minutes away, CNN center, Stone Mountain, MLK Historic Site, Six Flags, High Museum of Art, Delta Flight Museum.


My previous experience- Organized the April 2017 Atlanta Meetup and had over 75 attend. I did the organization of that event myself and made many friends in the area. I think that with the friends I've gained, we should be easily able to accommodate any number of attendees.

+1

Atlanta v accessible too

atlanta in june tho

This cannot be understated.

I don't go outside so I wouldn't really know.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Samee.

What's this about june? If so then nvm ty

[sony]

Atlanta

Venue - Computer Museum of America This is a very unique venue. There are many old computers on display. In the past there was an Apple One among other very rare old Apple computers.

Cost - At the moment unknown. Last time I had to only pay for the tables. That might change as this is not in conjunction with VCFSE, but they liked the traffic I brought to the venue, so I think that a cost that is not bank-breaking can be worked out.

Hotels and Accommodations - There are many hotels in the area. Some are within walking distance of the venue or a short car ride away.

Flights - Delta has nonstop direct flights from all around the country, as does Southwest and Frontier. There is no shortage of flights. The airport is quite far away from the venue but there are Train and Bus routes that will take you right to the venue. I think most people flying in will (have to) rent a car, but if someone in your party is arriving early, the strangler can take the train to get to the area. https://imgur.com/COhlHN1

Other attractions- World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, a lot of KBBQ restaurants 20 minutes away, CNN center, Stone Mountain, MLK Historic Site, Six Flags, High Museum of Art, Delta Flight Museum.


My previous experience- Organized the April 2017 Atlanta Meetup and had over 75 attend. I did the organization of that event myself and made many friends in the area. I think that with the friends I've gained, we should be easily able to accommodate any number of attendees.

+1

Atlanta v accessible too

atlanta in june tho

This cannot be understated.

I don't go outside so I wouldn't really know.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Samee.

What's this about june? If so then nvm ty

Everyone else saying Texas. Is that really any better

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[Puddsy]

no

that's why i'm still for columbus

[nickheller]

There is a Columbus meetup happening early March. I think having another so close to that would hurt attendance. Columbus is one of the easiest places for me to get to, so I wouldn't mind it being there, just a concern I have.

[nickheller]

.

[ArchDill]

Can't remember if I posted here.. I think that I did.. anyway.

+1 for Texas

[Peiweisgreat]

Promised myself I wasn't going to miss Keycon this year, so just pick wherever you guys want. I will be there.

[__red__]

As long as it's not the same time as defcon, I'll try and make it. <3

Atlanta is a nice location.

[CapCollector]

I'd help plan if it were in Monterey. (who wouldn't want to go to Monterey?)
They just finished building a new Conference Center downtown last month!
http://www.montereyconferencecenter.org/

[corygrapher]

+1 for DC area.

[Rob27shred]

I'm throwing my vote in for Columbus, OH, and would be happy to help organize. I already ran a mk meetup at the Idea Foundry last September
 (pics:https://imgur.com/a/h0493), and plan to run another in March, so the venue is pretty well sorted. The cost of food/travel/lodging for Columbus is also more than reasonable compared to a lot of other major cities. Also, there's a brewery right next door to the Idea Foundry... which is a point not to be overlooked.

I can get behind this! I live in Pittsburgh, PA so Columbus is only a 3 hr. drive for me & after not being able to attend last year in Philly after having it all planned it would be awesome to have it happen semi close to me again. I love to suggest Pittsburgh but I have no experience at with meet ups at all yet, let alone a convention of sorts unfortunately.

Wherever it ends up this year I'm gonna try my damnedest to attend! Keycon has been something I wanted to do for a few years now ever since I found this site & found out about it, just never worked out for me yet. Also there is a basically nonexistent local meetup scene here in Pgh, so this is the best way I can think to get meet you great folks, see some of your awesome boards, & show off some of mine! Fingers crossed jacobsmirror & thanks for being awesome enough to lend your services if it happens!