Listen! ...do you hear that?

It's the sound of NO STUDENTS and no school bells. It has been glorious in the library -- yes, I do still have two weeks on my contract. The quiet is worth every hour, however.

I do have more news on the lodging. It looks as location is dependent on when you check in. So far, they do have us "penciled in" for Copper One. If anyone does want to go up a day early, it works out to $50/person that you'd have to pitch in for the additional day. I didn't reserve the extra day for Ben or John based on feedback earlier in this process. It may be too late to add it on at this late date. If you are checking in on the 23rd, I'd recommend doing so very early in the day. They will check you in, but you can't get into your room until after 4 p.m.

I'll provide reservation confirmation numbers as we get closer to conference time.

To those who indicated that they may want to go up a day early, you'll need to give me a check for $50 made out to Skyline High School. We've already paid for the rooms, so this will help defray the cost of the extra night. Patty is otherwise paying for all the lodging (at over $400/night, $50 is a steal.)

Enjoy your time up until TIE. You've certainly earned it! But, is it just me, or did this year really fly by?

Bummer...

I just received an email that our rooms WON'T be in Copper One unless we want to pay $300 more to guarantee that building. It looks as though the room sizes will still be the same: the rooms for 3 will have one bedroom, a den, and a foldout sleeper couch. The other unit will have one bedroom and a sleeper couch. (I still recommend bringing that air mattress.)

They could, however, be in any of the Center Village buildings; just not necessarily in the same building. We won't know which building we will be in until check in.

At check in, here's the order of buildings to request for the first person to check into each condo unit:

• Copper One (best wireless reception and closest to the conference center)
  
• Copper Junction
• Mountain Plaza
• The Mill Club

These are closest to most of the events and are very convenient for shuttles. I'm also trying to stay as close as possible to the wireless access points provided by the conference.

FYI: You will need to provide a credit card when you check in to cover any extras you may order. Last year, for example, I purchased daily wireless access for $10/day.

Carpooling anyone? Anyone?

I'm very motivated to save on unnecessary fuel consumption. So instead of doing urgent grading of senior finals, I've made up the following form to collect information from those of us who don't hate the earth. I mean, if you want to drive your Humvee up there solo with the windows down and the A/C on, rock on with your bad self. Or, carpool.

You can open the form directly here and answer the questions. (I tried to embed it right on this page, but Blogger sort of freaked out.)

To view all the responses, not just the lame summary, go here.

Okay, back to Sci-Fi finals.

Lodging.....Check.

After contacting 9 different owner/managers, I've found that we have a pretty good deal with what we have.

Our rooms will be in the Copper One building (unless unforeseen changes are made outside of our control) which is a great location for views, access to sessions, access to the conference main events, and an easy walk to catch the shuttle for the sessions in East Village.

Our reservations are for June 23-27. Checkin isn't until 4 p.m. and checkout is 10 a.m. (with no late checkouts.) If you want to come up the day before (June 22 checkin), I think that it will be approximately $50-75 for each person wanting to come up early. I'll let you know the amount when I know who wants to take advantage of that. If you don't want to come up early, then there's no money involved. Patty has taken care of June 23-26 for us.

I believe that there will be enough beds -- just to be on the safe side, if you have an air mattress, you may want to bring it and any linens with you. Otherwise, the linens are provided for the beds and bathrooms.

Take a few minutes to review the Village map before you drive up. Notice the big red star -- that is where you need to check in whether you come on the 22nd or the 23rd.

Questions so far? Next decision...who will be driving and do we want to carpool? When is everyone planning on arriving in Copper?

What's Happening on the Lodging Front...

I do have accommodations reserved, however they are (ahem) quite cozy (3 units, each with one bath, one bed, a sofa-sleeper, and an air mattress.) I wanted to make sure that we had something -- the units are booking quickly and, already, many buildings do not have availability.

I'm searching for independent rentals from property owners and it seems that there are still some good-sized units available at reasonable prices. I have several inquiries out to property owners and expect to hear back this weekend.

I haven't, yet, found a large home that would accommodate all of us. I hope to find a unit with six beds + 3 baths and a second unit with two beds + 1-2 baths.

All the units have kitchens (equipped) so you can bring food with you. We thought it may be fun to have a dinner night with all of the Skyline folk -- Linda and I are planning on cooking. We'll let you know the details -- what the "theme" (probably Italian) will be and what you can bring.

I'll keep you posted on the housing...

Welcome to our virtual meeting place...

It turned out to be quite impossible to get everyone together for a meeting, so this blog will serve as our connection forum to ask questions, publish announcements, and to view information for the conference. I'll continue to post info on lodging, sessions, transportation, and other items that come up and will be of interest to everyone. Be sure to check out the sidebar on the right.

Please post questions or comments at any time. I'll add everyone as editors so you can post as well as comment. That should come in a couple of days. Until then, I'll continue to add information that I think will be useful to all of us.