Nekocon, Nov 2-4

[a7i20ci7y]

Nekocon is rolling around again, first weekend of November in Hampton Virginia. We'll be setting the track up again, but this year we've managed to get the MiniZ group rate set up a little earlier

It's available here at $23 for the full weekend (at door price is $45).

Spoon has a great write up about last year's convention on his blog. We had good time racing and the rest of the convention is a lot of fun, too. Hope to see you there!

[arch2b]

thanks for starting the thread.

still looking for initial d gas station uniforms....

[a7i20ci7y]

We had the "crash" meeting last Saturday. Everything is looking good. We'll be in the same place in hall B. Tons of space, plenty of tables and power.

Maybe I'll have my lasers ready by then since the Core was having issues. Here's to hoping!

[arch2b]

i hope all is going well at teh con since it started today! i'll see you guys there tommorrow morning

[a7i20ci7y]

I've been going non stop since 6am yesterday morning, cept for about 4 or 5 hours of sleep. Couple issues, but it's going alright. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Busy busy busy.... This stage ain't gonna build itself!

[arch2b]

i'm here, setup and already having fun! wifi reaches the this room this year so i can catch the signal trackside

[arch2b]

CRAP, forgot to pack the digital camera and cfc reader i was all set to do some on site posting too. it's always very entertaining here

figures... you always end up forgetting something. atleast i brought the pc and core.

going to miss you here spoon tons to look at.

[arch2b]

update:
up since 4am....

broken:
2 awd knuckles
2 mr-02 knuckles


i have to have went thru all my cells atleast 3 times today.

[arch2b]

update:
little b has spent atleast 5 hours in the video game room

ate dinner already, the chilly was excellent!! thanks to my host and the staff.

shutting down at 9pm tonight... dead tired right now. cars are dead tired right now

[Spoon]

just wanted to let you know I am checking in on the real-time updates.

I remember how much of a beating the cars took last year. Changing AWD knuckles is not fun.

Get some rest.

[arch2b]

lost internet sunday

ad band ran like a charm ALL day saturday and conked out repeatedly sunday

HAD A GREAT TIME! can't thank nate and teh guys enough for the hospitality. i'll get to a proper review shortly, still need to unpack

[a7i20ci7y]

I'm finally home! We had some serious challenges this year. Our main tech crew guy was busy setting up equipment for some major concerts, so there were some screw ups with the equipment. We didn't notice untill Saturdy night because Friday night we didn't have enough equipment to matter because they didn't deliver everything we needed. *groan*

There were some other interesting goings-on that I shouldn't talk about. The big news is that we broke 3000 attendees this year which means we can move up to the next stage. But we need more staff to do it. Everyone was exhausted by the end of this one. My con started at about 6am Thursday and didn't end untill about 3pm Monday. Everyone of those days I was up at about 8, and in bed about 2-3am. DST saved me on Sunday with an extra hour of sleep. My voice still isn't right.

Staff dinner was fantastic. Wish you could have stayed, Arch. The food was great and they had these mirrors on the tables that would reflect a spot up onto the ceiling. We all started putting stuff on them. Somebody made a pac man and started walking around the room with it, so someone else made a ghost and we made some cherries. It was awesome.

We seriously could not run the track without Arch. Soundwave and I are the only two that might manage, and we're both in other departments. Although I did hint to Tim that I might have to steal Mike to staff the track with Arch. We're also talking about the possibility of the convention buying track, a core, etc, so that it isn't so inconvenient for us (Arch). The track didn't bring any attendees (at least, not from the racer pre-reg) but it is a great way entertain them and maybe find some new hobbyists. Once again, I'll probably see about obtaining some more xmods and using them as loaners. Too many broken miniz parts Thanks again Arch I gotta say, as impractical as our tricked out pit boxes are, they actually turned out to be quite useful. I don't think the cars were really designed for the kind of punishment and sustained use we put them under.

[arch2b]

this is only the 2nd year i've been there but it seems the interest is growing!

there were many locals who said they were trying to find them so hopefully they will and thru word of mouth they will recommend them to friends. those friends may or may not be into nekocon but they may recommend thier friends go if not to hang out and enjoy the event then to spend hours at the track

i do have faith in that it will lead to drawing registrations, it just may take some time. for instance, i had many people ask me if we will be back next year to which i ofcourse said yes.

i'm hoping next year there will be more staff for the racing as i would really like to experience some of the actual activities during nekocon. i'm curious to watch cosplay in action and listen in on some of the panels.

thanks for taking me behind the scenes at the dance. it was very interesting to see what goes into that type of production.

i'd like you to pass on my thanks to the staff for thier courtesy and generosity. i actually saw alot of familiar faces this year which felt nice and less like i was a stranger.

i am leary about using xmods for loaners if for nothing else than they have enough of thier own issues that it may make it even more frustrating. next year lets stick with mr-02/mr-015 loaners and i'll try to stock up on the common breakage parts. keep an eye out on ebay for cheap mr-01's for example. come feb i'm certain we will see an influx of mini-z's on ebay with the spektrum cars coming then.

i recommend atleast 5 loaners as that seemed to work out well. when we got down to 3 there were always people waiting around it seemed. i'll still have my nascar but i'm looking into picking up some cheap used cars for next year. we may wnat to look into the eco motor which is supossed to be for new drivers and hopefully a bit slower. this should prevent alot of breakage hoepfully. fet burnouts are the more pressing issues as people nail the throttle while pointed at the wall. thank god my awd had full ball diffs to slip as some kids were just gunning it full time and letting it slide around the rails.

it would be good to pick up some bulk aaa nimh cells as well. we must have went thru all ours a dozen times which is bad for cells you want to use for racing. i'll keep an yeye out for the spots i got bulk buys before. i'll have to replace most of my cells by then anyway.

thank god for the video game room... without that i don't know that little b would have been as well behaved as he was. he usually get bored very quickly with anything but that room kept him occupied most of the day. i'm hoping he'll remember ot take his wooden katana i bought him next year too so i don't have to buy another or something else as the dealer room is generally not cheap.

[Spoon]

I did have a great time last year and regret that I wasn't able to come out this year. October was a really busy month and I needed a weekend at home. I'll be recharged next year and will plan on coming out.

[arch2b]

i'm certain you made the right choice spoon. a happy spouse is much more important

i regret i did not get the id uniform costum done. i would have felt more like one of the crowd had i done the costum.