Phil,

I would rather stay within walking distance to things, I would not mind the family-oriented place, as long as there were 'quiet' areas where that stuff could be avoided, and I have no intention of bringing my family.

As far as meeting space, I would like it right in the hotel, but I could see where you might lose people to sleeping in/hangovers or ditching.

Keep up the good work!

-Jim L
2009 SAHD Fishing Trip:
www.sahdsfish.4t.com

Al Watts has put together a great proposal that he will be using to find sponsors. I'm sure you'll be hearing from Al shortly for help. We are hoping that we can offset some of the cost of the meet/greet, lunch, dinner, etc. Its a tough time to ask companies for money with the economy right now. We're trying to keep things as easy and ecomomical as possible.....hotels with free shuttle/breakfast, no transportation costs, etc. Airfares on Hotwire have been pretty good. Go to hotwire.com and put in your dates of travel into the "trip watcher" function and it will keep you updated with fares.

I agree that within walking distance to things is the best, however, I believe all the hotels we are considering offer a free shuttle service to anywhere downtown so even the lowest priced hotel that is the furthest away still offers free transportation to just about anywhere you would want to go.

Al
14th Annual At Home Dad Convention
www.athomedadconvention.com

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all of your input so far. I know it means a lot to Phil and the rest of us diligently working on getting everything done so that the 14th Annual will be hugely successful. I have personally sent out three letters already to three companies asking for sponsorship for the convention however, do not know if we have heard anything back at this point. Al Watts has put together a great proposal to send to various companies hoping to obtain sponsorship for us. I know I have a few more that I am personally going to send out letters to and hopefully the more that we are able to get out there, the better response for sponsorship will be.

I know that for me, I am flexible where everything will be and I am actually working on being in the hotel of choice with my wife so that if you guys need a local I will be there to help out. Really looking forward to seeing you all here in October and having a lot of fun together and learning even that much more.

So don't forget that the 14th Annual At Home Dad Convention/Conference is here in Omaha the weekend of October 10, 2009. Look forward to seeing you all again.

Phil - sounds like you guys are making great headway with the plans - rock on!

I'll add my 2 cents...

I'll definitely vote for proximity to entertainment...even if it costs an extra $10-20/night, I'd much prefer to be centrally located and be able to walk to restaurants/pubs/bars.

No preference about meeting facility location - on or off hotel property, doesn't really matter. On property has some definite logistical advantages, but may be costly. Off property my be a better or cheaper facility, but then you have to get everyone there (although that wasn't a problem in KC - a couple of cars running as shuttles took care of it very quickly.)

I'm not likely to come with family, and have never used the pool at any of the conventions I've participated in, so pool and family facilities won't impact my decision to come.

- Andy

____________________________________

14th Annual At-Home Dads' Convention: www.athomedadconvention.com

Phil,
Great job by you and all the guys!
IMHO, being within walking distance to everything I think is crucial, that way, libation may be enjoyed by all who want it and guys can get lose without worrying about driving or catching a ride with a buzzed driver. That in itself is worth 20 bucks more. The last thing any Dad wants is to ferry around a bunch of Dads after his responsibility of hauling little butts all week.
The airport to hotel for free is value added.

_____
Free Beer Money Here, Really!
Fa/ther*hood/ found in the dictionary between fathead and fatigue

Walking/staggering distance is preferable.
Prefer NOT to be at the family hotel. If I'm not bringing mine, why would I want to put up with some other family's whining kids?
Convention in the hotel is simpler, but hardly a deal breaker.

I've never been to a convention, so take these opinions with a large grain of salt, a lime wedge, and a shot of Patron.

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

Either way sounds good, but from what I've read about other conventions this is more of a chance for the guys to get away for a weekend and be guys. The mere act of getting out of the house without having any responsibility is a great refresher in itself.

Last week I had a great day out with a few buddies. We met up at a museum that was central for all of us, then went out to dinner afterwards. One of the guys 'had to' bring his wife for the dinner meet up and that completely changed the tone of the day. The rest of us made excuses to get out of dinner early (damn good brewpub too!) and secretly met back up at another guy's house to continue our guy's day out. I think the same may apply to a dad's convention.

Rich C. : Novice baby wrangler and cat herder.
http://one-sahd-dude.blogspot.com/
http://good-eats-fan.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/onesahddude/

I second going sans family. As SAHDs (especially when the kids aren't school age yet) the job for most is pretty much 24/7/365. Someone once commented about a SAHD's family "vacation" - its the same as any other day just you're paying a bunch of money to do it somewhere else....

Take some time for yourself, get away from it all, recharge, blow off some steam. I usually get away twice a year solo - the convention and the AHD fishing trip. Its such a relief to only have to worry about *me* for a few days. Those two long weekends do wonders for my attitude and enthusiasm thru the rest of the year.

Cdn Tim

Ditto, ditto, ditto

It is very, very…. hard for me to leave my family. However, I need time alone and deserve a break. I've also come to the conclusion that my family needs time away from me.

Me being away has also been good for Tina. She gets a taste of the luxurious at-home dad lifestyle I lead and gets to bond with the boys. Best of all she gets to manage the household and care for the boys the way she wants to. Being apart also helps us appreciate each other more.

Although I attend solo, I welcome anyone who wants to bring the family.

And to be with you!

Miss you!

This has been real helpful for our planning.  We have a basic plan set up and I will post details middle of the week once we have contracts worked out.  We are meeting with a number of places on Tuesday in Omaha.  If things work out, hotel will be well within walking distance of bars/restaurants and meeting space.  If we have bad weather, we can do the carpool shuttle like we did in KC.  We are still working on getting the convention website updated and hope to have everything there in the next couple of weeks.  Again, let us know if you have any solid contacts with companies that we could contact for sponsorship help.  We want to keep the costs as low as possible and every little bit helps.