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Bad Timing Times Three


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First, it turns out we're holding Otakon the same weekend as the Orioles-Rangers home stand at Oriole Park.

Now look what's competing for the hotel rooms:

Virgin Mobile Festival at Pimlico Racetrack Aug. 9-10

Last year, I think it was 42,000 in attendance Saturday, 32K Sunday. And people came from quite a ways away, too.

Now, fortunately, THAT critical mass isn't going to interfere with downtown, as Pimlico is in far-off northwestern Baltimore.

But it IS going to ROYALLY screw with folks looking for accommodations in the Baltimore region (the hotels out beside the Beltway, etc.). :wacko:

I seriously think we're looking at shuttle buses from the hotels in Columbia again................. <_<

I'll be glad to just be downtown away from that nuttiness................

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This isn't the first time the Orioles played a home game the weekend of the convention. In 2005 I think it was they played the newyork yankees. I remember leaving the con to head to my hotel when the game just let out. Traffic was litterally stopped because there were thousands of people walking through the street.

It's only a worry for those last minute planners, Orioles fans, and concert goers.

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And they called me crazy when I reserved our rooms a year in advance. :]

Um.. what exactly is VMF anyway?

A gigantic stadium-style concert, except held at Pimlico (a horse race track)'s infield, for two days.

Last year they had acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers, (I think) Linkin Park, Stone Temple Pilots, and the big headliners, The Police. It was huge - tickets for one day for the general admission (not even the VIP stuff) were going for about $400 each.

I wanted to go last year but couldn't afford it; I guess this year I won't be able to go, either. :\

However, as Matt said - everything downtown is basically sold out already (to otaku). Pimlico is in the northwest area of Baltimore. You should still be able to find hotel space, outside of downtown, along the light rail line and near the airport, along with other locations. Additionally, bands haven't been announced yet for the Festival (check the website); I suspect you won't see a spike in hotel numbers until there's a big name guest announced.

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Aw hell. I made it my new routine to go to VFest every year, but of course, I have my priorities,and chilling with 40,000 drunk people, while fun, doesn't compare to partying at Otakon with 22,000 of my closest friends. And while it's not Woodstock, it is pretty big, and a lot of fun. Second hand pot smoke notwithstanding. Tickets for 07 were $100ish for one day and $180 for both. The first year was just one day and wholly worth it (Chili Peppers, The Who, Gnarls Barkley, SOLD). The second year, meh.

Amy Winehouse, while not falling-off-the-stage blasted, was there but not really, ya know. Until the Grammys, I had no idea her songs were so active. In Baltimore, only her backup dancers seemed to realize where they were.

I feel sorry for all the morons trying to book hotel rooms, certainly. Sucks to be them. But hey, it could be worse. The Yankees could be in town.

(Hey, maybe have the Otakon headliner perform THERE! <_<)

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I live within walking distance of Pimlico, and I can say first hand there are plenty of other Hotels closer to Pimlico (theres a Ramada and Hilton in Pikesville) that would be better suited for people going to Virgin Fest. I would be very suprised if people got a hotel downtown for Virgin Fest, seeing as it's out of the way.

Besides, I'm pretty sure most of the hotels sold out within a month after Otakon ended last year to otaku anyhow. <_<

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  • 3 weeks later...
Um.. what exactly is VMF anyway?

As others stated, it's a not-unsubstantial rock concert. Not Woodstock-scale, but tens of thousands. As I recall, last year they had Amy Winehouse as just one of the many currently-very-hot acts (I presume she was still sober enough at the time to perform, although accounts I heard questioned that).

I might also point out that the competition for local "casual" visitors to Otakon, even with "trial" memberships, is going to be pretty tight. Sure, we'll get the hardcore anime fans from all over, but if you're, say, college or high-school age, living in Baltimore (and thus don't need a hotel room), and you had to choose between some "geeky" anime con versus that "cool" concert with the hot names in music.............. I suspect that this will do some serious damage to our "casual" numbers, possibly on the order of several thousand if we're not careful. (Take it from someone who knows about festival competition the hard way.)

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Son of a *****. Now I'm torn, really torn. Guess I'll have to wait for the final lineup to see who is headlining what day and make a decision. I've always wanted to see the Foo Fighters live and STP is one of the first rock bands that I got into and have just recently become a fan of NIN with there album With Teeth and Year Zero.
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I live within walking distance of Pimlico, and I can say first hand there are plenty of other Hotels closer to Pimlico (theres a Ramada and Hilton in Pikesville) that would be better suited for people going to Virgin Fest. I would be very suprised if people got a hotel downtown for Virgin Fest, seeing as it's out of the way.
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They put up the headliners. And somewhere some rich music fans are wondering where all of Baltimore's hotel rooms went. Oops.
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VFest has pretty much the biggest of... everything. If there's a name on the flyer you don't know, it just means that there are styles of music you're not into. $90-100/day is a steal for the amount of talent crammed in; This year's dance tent has an INSANE lineup. Bringing any one of these guys to town individually is a big deal. I heard Pendulum was going to do their live show, but I guess that fell through. Rabbit in the Moon (Hey! That's a japanese reference) does a pretty spectacular live show and is very crowd-involved -- at one point Bunny (the lead singer) gets inside of a giant bubble and gets tossed around in the crowd while he sings, among a ton of other costumes/themes. Moby I doubt I have to explain. A lot of people here would probably LOVE Armin Van Buuren, Underworld, Steve Lawler, DJ Dan, Donald Glaude, Rabbit in the Moon and/or Richie Hawtin. If you guys get time I'd definitely suggest looking them up.

/ramble

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Really though I don't think this will have an effect on Otakon's turnout. They're 2 completely different events with two completely different agendas. People save up all year and prepare for Otakon. You can catch at least half the people on VFest's bill individually year-round. No contest.

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  • 1 month later...
Really though I don't think this will have an effect on Otakon's turnout. They're 2 completely different events with two completely different agendas. People save up all year and prepare for Otakon. You can catch at least half the people on VFest's bill individually year-round. No contest.
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Yeah, talk about bad timing . I just found out that Tony Hadley and John Keeble (since John Keeble is part of Tony Hadley's band) - people who loved the British New Romantic music of the 80's will know who I'm talking about - will be having a concert in Manila on August 9th. Now that's bad timing. Oh well...

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Yeah, talk about bad timing . I just found out that Tony Hadley and John Keeble (since John Keeble is part of Tony Hadley's band) - people who loved the British New Romantic music of the 80's will know who I'm talking about - will be having a concert in Manila on August 9th. Now that's bad timing. Oh well...
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we wouldnt have to fight so much for rooms if the hilton would be open,

its bad timing cause the stupid hilton cant speed up and get done a week or 2 in addvanced ><

yea i agree to that.

i know a lot of people who want to come to otakon but are having a hard time finding a room - and that'll affect them coming or not.

and the only reason i have a great hotel room is because i booked it back in august! i only knew to do that because of previous otakons. someone new wouldnt know about the hotel madness.

If I wasn't staff, I'd still be booking my room for the next con the Monday after the current one. That's why it's great that we announce next year's dates at the closing.

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I remember one year, I think it was 2005 or 2006 where the Orioles were playing, the Ravens were playing the Eagles in pre-season and the COn was happening all on the same block.
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I remember one year, I think it was 2005 or 2006 where the Orioles were playing, the Ravens were playing the Eagles in pre-season and the COn was happening all on the same block.

2005 was the Eagles/Ravens pre-season game (Saturday). No Orioles.

2006 was the Orioles/Yanks game. (Friday,Saturday,Sunday)

2007 was no games at all.

2008 is the Orioles/Rangers game.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bring on any event, it won't stop otaku! ^_^

There's seriously going to be no problem. If you haven't secured your hotel yet, what are you waiting for? tsk tsk! Less than a month away, you're going to have to expect to be looking outside the inner harbor.

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Ever since my first Otakon in 2001 no other events (single or combined) in the city of Baltimore have ever compared to "massive road reconstruction.".
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Ever since my first Otakon in 2001 no other events (single or combined) in the city of Baltimore have ever compared to "massive road reconstruction.".

(Shudder) the horror that obstructs baltimore traffic and my way to school lol

=resume topic=

I also remember that... Don't forget the Pratt Street flooding that occurred during Otakon 2001.

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I think this yr will be fun with all the excitement. You have music fans of all ages with rock and hip hop, then you have hardcore sports fanatics (no offense to anyone), and then you have otakon a convention for the "nerds" that what they call it. It will be an interesting weekend. I think well all learn from each other. The sports learn more bout the music world the music world learns about anime and we learn bout sports. its a good cycle. I find this will be cool.

Also think of all the cool conversations that will be brought up while your cosplaying and at Hard rock cafe or any other store, that not otaku's would be.

Bad thing: TRAFFIC!!!

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