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location of weekend conventions


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how about basing it somewhere thats not at the bottom of the country?

 

everyting always seames to be down near london or up in glasgow both are really expensive to get to !

 

i think seeing as the first eclipse was down south next should be up north. ( newcastle area ahem!) everythings cheeper in the north of england anyway full stop.

In part it's about population density, and being close for as many customers as possible. There are apparently 6 million people who live within 50 miles of Birmingham, and 11 million people who live within 50 miles of Manchester. And depending which bit of London you centre your 50 mile radius on, somewhere between about 18 million and 22 million people within 50 miles of London.

Obviously there's nothing like that number of people within 50 miles of Newcastle. After all, about 50% of the area within 50 miles of Newcastle is sea, for starters, plus there's quite a bit of beautiful but bleak and relatively unpopulated countryside nearby. Between Tyneside, Wearside and Teeside there's probably a million and a quarter people. Add in a few other towns and you'll probably find that there's maybe a million and a half, perhaps a million and three-quarter, people within 50 miles of Newcastle, which makes it an awful lot less attractive in terms of being convenient for large numbers of people (and especially semi-casual fans; those who will travel a short way for something but not considerable distances).

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Coming from Germany, I would also prefer it if the location was closer to an airport and not in the middle of nowhere. No offense to the Midlands!! :D

But travelling to Northampton is quite a hassle if the nearest airports are Birmingham or Manchester. :YAHOO: The low-cost airline TuiFly has just cancelled their flight connections to Birmingham (!) but flying to Manchester is too far for me frankly.

 

You can still go to Heathrow and catch a bus to Northampton. :P Then there's Luton as mentioned, and again going on by bus.

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i'm prob one of the only people it's pretty perfect for 40-50 mins away. But i wouldn't mind if it was around london either.

 

im only 15-20 minutes away :)

 

as someone has said before, Milton Keynes is quite easy to get to, and from the center, there is a bus almost every 30 minutes to northampton

Edited by Emmeh
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Where in Birmingham? Do you know of any reasonably priced hotel that has a room that can seat 800+ attendees (and has several hundred rooms) that is willing to host a Sci Fi convention?

 

 

Hilton Birmingham Metropole

National Exhibition Centre

Birmingham

 

....could be a idea.

 

I think somewhere central like birmingham may be more ideal for some people.

Edited by Queen_Sindel
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Where in Birmingham? Do you know of any reasonably priced hotel that has a room that can seat 800+ attendees (and has several hundred rooms) that is willing to host a Sci Fi convention?

 

 

Hilton Birmingham Metropole

National Exhibition Centre

Birmingham

 

....could be a idea.

 

I think somewhere central like birmingham may be more ideal for some people.

 

Presumably, there's not actually the space at the Hilton for the convention? It's a much better idea to have the event at the same hotel that the attendees stay in. Looking at their site, they have no room that can seat 800. Also, the rooms are WAY more expensive (I just got quoted £104-£124 per night for a twin room).

 

As for more central, I think if you do a search, the Geographical 'centre' of England, is a village in Northamptonshire.

Edited by chris_mk
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What about Birmingham?

It's easy to train too, i think theres a airport (lol i cant remember) and it's pretty central : )

 

just my little suggestion

 

Indeed.

 

The Metropole at the National Exhibition Centre is by all accounts very big.

Edited by Queen_Sindel
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What about Birmingham?

It's easy to train too, i think theres a airport (lol i cant remember) and it's pretty central : )

 

just my little suggestion

 

Indeed.

 

The Metropole at the National Exhibition Centre is by all accounts very big.

 

Dude, did you read my post about the Metropole?

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He has read it chris, and he replied - but due to the board rules I had to delete the posts.

 

I will have to delete further posts too, so further discussion is kind of futile because he can't really give the facts he wants to give to support his opinion. :YAHOO: I'd appreciate it if you two would give the subject "size of the Metropole" a rest. :D

Edited by Queen_Sindel
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He has read it chris, and he replied - but due to the board rules I had to delete the posts.

 

I will have to delete further posts too, so further discussion is kind of futile because he can't really give the facts he wants to give to support his opinion. :dance: I'd appreciate it if you two would give the subject "size of the Metropole" a rest. :smile:

 

S'ok... I'll ask him when I see him next ;)

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how about basing it somewhere thats not at the bottom of the country?

 

everyting always seames to be down near london or up in glasgow both are really expensive to get to !

 

i think seeing as the first eclipse was down south next should be up north. ( newcastle area ahem!) everythings cheeper in the north of england anyway full stop.

 

x pez

Northampton isnt at the bottom of the country, its more or less middle. I live in the south, the journey by coach to Northampton is about 6-7 hours, with 1 change at London, would possibly be quicker by train, but i found coach to be a lot cheaper, especially with fun fares. As someone else said, every-one has some distance to travel, some more than others, obviously distance is a factor, however if i want to go to an event badly enough, & if i have the ways & means, i will go. Even the London events are a minimum travelling time of 2 hours for me :D

 

On another note, i am uberly excited about this event :D , & should really start booking my transport :D

Edited by jewlz
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One quick word of warning :D

 

A lot of people seem to be assuming that because Eclipse 1 and the other conventions announced so far are being held at Northampton that Eclipse 2 will be as well.

 

But before anyone starts booking hotels or transport to Eclipse 2, please note that NO venue has been announced for Eclipse 2 yet!

 

I'm not saying it won't be Northampton but it's also not been confirmed it will be!

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One quick word of warning ;)

 

A lot of people seem to be assuming that because Eclipse 1 and the other conventions announced so far are being held at Northampton that Eclipse 2 will be as well.

 

But before anyone starts booking hotels or transport to Eclipse 2, please note that NO venue has been announced for Eclipse 2 yet!

 

I'm not saying it won't be Northampton but it's also not been confirmed it will be!

 

I think we all get that TT.... I think this thread is about trying to convince SM to hold E2 in their own backyard. I'm just arguing on behalf of Northampton (though my garden IS free that weekend)

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I think we all get that TT.... I think this thread is about trying to convince SM to hold E2 in their own backyard. I'm just arguing on behalf of Northampton (though my garden IS free that weekend)

That's cool.

 

I just know that some people look at booking rooms and transport 6,9,12 months in advance to get the best deals. I just don't want anyone making the assumption that E2 is definitely in Northampton and losing money if it's then not.

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I just know that some people look at booking rooms and transport 6,9,12 months in advance to get the best deals. I just don't want anyone making the assumption that E2 is definitely in Northampton and losing money if it's then not.

 

Maybe jewlz just got a little carried away and was talking about Eclipse 1. ;)

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I just know that some people look at booking rooms and transport 6,9,12 months in advance to get the best deals. I just don't want anyone making the assumption that E2 is definitely in Northampton and losing money if it's then not.

 

Maybe jewlz just got a little carried away and was talking about Eclipse 1. ;)

I realised that was likely the case, that jewlz was talking about E1, but it just made me think that someone else MAY make the assumption so I wanted to clarify it.

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Northampton might be in the middle but it's costing me twice as much as MK costs for me to get there.

It also means that I have to get 2 trains and they don't run very often either.

The same thing goes for Coventry as well.

 

I do have to say after being to a con at a Heathrow hotel I found it very diffcult to get to via public transport. It's not the best area to hold a con at all.

 

I think holding something in London is always going to have problems cost wise as well even though it's easier for people to get too.

 

Personnally I think Birginham is a good place to hold a con although I'm not sure what hotels are suitable there.

 

You are of course never going to be able to please everyone.

Edited by hobbitlover
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Northampton might be in the middle but it's costing me twice as much as MK costs for me to get there.

It also means that I have to get 2 trains and they don't run very often either.

The same thing goes for Coventry as well.

 

I'm confused, how can it cost twice as much to get to Northampton, it's only 2 stops away on the train! If it's going to cost twice as much, buy a ticket to Milton Keynes, then spend 7 quid for a train from MK to Northampton.

 

Also, at off peak times, there are 3 trains from MK to Northampton an hour, I don't see how you can say they don't run very often.

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I do have to say after being to a con at a Heathrow hotel I found it very diffcult to get to via public transport. It's not the best area to hold a con at all.

This one always puzzles me. For example, the Heathrow Radisson Edwardian where a number of Autographicas have been held often faces this accusation. Get Piccadilly line tube to Heathrow Terminals 1/2/3, follow signs to Heathrow Bus Station, get any one of a number of buses to the junction of Bath Road and New Road (which depending on the bus you take will be 10-20 minutes), and it's a 2 minute walk from there. Strikes me as a lot easier to get to than a lot of venues I can think of.

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I just know that some people look at booking rooms and transport 6,9,12 months in advance to get the best deals. I just don't want anyone making the assumption that E2 is definitely in Northampton and losing money if it's then not.

 

Maybe jewlz just got a little carried away and was talking about Eclipse 1. :YAHOO:

LMAO! i was talking about Eclipse 1, im such a dork :D

 

Seriously though, im not sure what im doing in November yet, but if i can make it, i will, irrelevant on where its held, thats just geography :YAHOO:

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Northampton might be in the middle but it's costing me twice as much as MK costs for me to get there.

It also means that I have to get 2 trains and they don't run very often either.

The same thing goes for Coventry as well.

 

I'm confused, how can it cost twice as much to get to Northampton, it's only 2 stops away on the train! If it's going to cost twice as much, buy a ticket to Milton Keynes, then spend 7 quid for a train from MK to Northampton.

 

Also, at off peak times, there are 3 trains from MK to Northampton an hour, I don't see how you can say they don't run very often.

 

I'm coming from Leeds so I get the coach when I go down to Milton Keynes.

I'm getting train to Northampton because it's hard to get to and the coaches don't run at good times.

 

It would be a total pain to get a coach to Milton Keynes and then a train to Northampton as they are in different parts on MK and with luggage as well it would end up me having to get a taxi.

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Northampton might be in the middle but it's costing me twice as much as MK costs for me to get there.

It also means that I have to get 2 trains and they don't run very often either.

The same thing goes for Coventry as well.

 

I'm confused, how can it cost twice as much to get to Northampton, it's only 2 stops away on the train! If it's going to cost twice as much, buy a ticket to Milton Keynes, then spend 7 quid for a train from MK to Northampton.

 

Also, at off peak times, there are 3 trains from MK to Northampton an hour, I don't see how you can say they don't run very often.

 

I'm coming from Leeds so I get the coach when I go down to Milton Keynes.

I'm getting train to Northampton because it's hard to get to and the coaches don't run at good times.

 

It would be a total pain to get a coach to Milton Keynes and then a train to Northampton as they are in different parts on MK and with luggage as well it would end up me having to get a taxi.

 

Wouldn't the taxi from the Mk Coachway to the MK rail station be a decent saving? (Given as normally, you'd have to get a cab to attend a Collectormania?)

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