Virginia Meet 2017: Mon Aug 7th - Sat Aug 12th [House FULL, hotel rooms needed]

[Jimbo]

Will be streamed live @
https://www.twitch.tv/theelitegaming

Virginia 2017 @ the Lakehouse

* Plan to arrive Monday evening, August 7th
* Plan to leave Saturday morning/afternoon, August 12th


Click here for sheet for RSVPs, schedule, events



Cap at 25, entry fee $150, paid through paypal.
---

VA History

* Pics from years past - http://vameet.speedrunwiki.com/
* Full tourney results - http://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=18937
* Detailed Kart results - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ux95KPQ72Z7bAN9DZrKccSnyVXHsKJ4pmIgkTnh5MIE/edit?usp=sharing
* Werewolf results - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x3pThvzLq0GDT2XSc7ar0InPLr6qUK62GsjopXogzOw/edit?usp=sharing

[TheFlash]

18%

[Ngamer]

Bringing back this post from the last topics as it was pretty great.  I BELIEVE the below should be accurate with the August 7th start date.

Rough idea of what top Karters would like to join us this year:
http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1473006606

#1 Matthias - very interested, if other top players come
#2 Dan Burbank - IN
#3 Beck Abney - 80% depending on something
#6 (and reigning Champ) Zoran - 99% IN
#?? Jorge/Dotman - very interested
#25 Eddie Taylor - very interested
#26 Frankie Morgan - IN
#50 Jake Walter - IN
#64 (and former Champ) Nate Something - IN
#73 Kyle Begley - 95% depending on Finals week
#76 (and 2 time Champ) Mark Jones - 90% IN

Can't make it:
#18 (and combined Kart Champ) Christian Wild - prob out with wrist injury
#62 Darius Austin - interested but date doesn't work
#121 Lewis Richards - interested but probably too young

Impossible to say:
#37 Kevin Booth
#40 Myles Bukrim
#42 (and 2 time Champ) Josh Layne
#93 wheat

[deletedprofile.u]

99% if my job situation doesn't change and then prohibit me from booking the week off (should be fine, though).

I DO require a ride from the airport; Richmond or Dulles. I won't book my flight until I know this is possible and when would be the best time. I'll co-ordinate as necessary.

[Thiradell]

I'm like 90% right now, I was debating between this and SGDQ (can't really do both) but I don't wanna miss VA this year

[PerfectTaste]

As of now, I'm returning home to Sweden from Mauritius in June and, both July and August have been made free of obligations. Also found flight tickets to NYC and back for around $400 in August. I'm likely to attend.

[Rigger in Chief]

Locked and loaded. Still figuring out travel plans. May fly (gag)

[DanBurbank]

I'll definitely be there!

[Jonesy]

#3 Beck Abney - 80% depending on school
#18 (and combined Kart Champ) Christian Wild - interested
#121 Lewis Richards - interested

Beck graduates in June.

Christian Wild just had wrist surgery, "retired" from Mario Kart and dropped out of CDM (SMK Championships). I'd put his likelihood to attend as "very low".

Lewis Richards is under 18 (will turn 18 in the fall I believe), but very interested. Seems like he'd need a special exemption from the 18+ only rule in order to attend.

[NathanStinson]

18%

Come on Scott, I need you for my volleyball buddy

I am there

[Joshua Nash]

I was able to take of off work for the week.  But I will most likely go home Wednesday afternoon and be back on Thursday. My wife can't get off of work so I will go back for a day so she wont miss me as much. I can offer rides to and from the airports. On my way to the meet BWI is only 5 minutes out of my way and Dulles is only 1 hour out of my way. Richmond would add another 2 hours and 30 minutes so I would prefer not to go there unless someone really needs the ride. I can also bring the PAL if you guys want. Also I can bring the VR if you guys want to set it up in the same area. I have plenty of CRTs too but it seemed ok last year.

[BRay993]

Can you book Brian Ray for the Mario kart tournament and would like in the ping pong tournament if there is an opening. Thanks!

[Dennison]

99% if my job situation doesn't change and then prohibit me from booking the week off (should be fine, though).

I DO require a ride from the airport; Richmond or Dulles. I won't book my flight until I know this is possible and when would be the best time. I'll co-ordinate as necessary.

100% I want to come. This ^ accurately describes my type of situation. I will make every effort to attend, and might fly in from Chicago.

[Jonesy]

Dotman responded today on discord:

cant be 100% sure until March but chances are very high. Glad the August date was chosen! Really want to make it

I'm also visiting with Clark at the moment. He said he was very likely to come (~90%).

[kyleb30]

Put me down at 95% in, i'll know 100% in or out in late March.

I sent a message to Matthias today, haven't heard back from him yet. I'll send a PM to Darius to see what his status is.

[NathanStinson]

Liz and Hutch look likely to come visit for a few days from Wednesday to the end. They will likely get a hotel room and have one person stay at the house some nights.

Also, Brian Ray mentioned he wouldn't mind getting a hotel room if he needed to free up sleeping space at the house

[kyleb30]

Spoke with Darius, said the dates don't work for him, so he's out.

Haven't heard from Matthias, and he hasn't been around for almost a week, so I'm not sure what he's up to. But I think it's safe (and reasonable) to wait until after other players like Abney and Dotman commit.

I believe that covers everyone on the list ngamer posted.

[NathanStinson]

The #25 ranked karter in the World (and #6 ranked in the USA) Eddie Taylor has expressed interest and said to put him down as coming. He said he can stay off-site and just come for part of the time if there is not room for him in the house (same as Brian Ray). He will make a post when he registers with more information.

[kirbykarter]

Hey y'all,

I've always heard about this meet and been bummed didn't make it before. But as Nathan just said, I'm down for going out and meeting the community upfront for the first time! Getting time off during then won't be an issue, so I'm in. Just wanna iron out the logistics early and get pumped!

Eddie

[Smit]

I would like to attend if there is still room!

[NathanStinson]

whoaaaa Smitty! :-D

[Silentarrow]

50/50 for me, depends on job situation!

[toughstache]

I am very excited about the meet this year!  I am 99% sure I will be attending.  Have some interviews coming in the next few weeks.  We will see how that goes.  I will find a way.

I would also like to extend an invite to those who cant't make VA, or would like a late spring/early summer meet.  Details are located through this link.

http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1488417427

Heads up for those who dont know me.  I am Frankie Morgan, ranked 26th on the MK64 site.  I attended VA for the first time last year, I have been playing since 2009.

I DO NOT WANT TO TAKE KARTERS FROM THE VA MEET.  I only want to play MK64 with as many people as often as possible.

[deletedprofile.u]

Frankie, we hitting Gold's with the week pass this year or WHAT 

[toughstache]

Frankie, we hitting Gold's with the week pass this year or WHAT 

Absolutely going to hit Gold's

Try to scare the locals

[wheatrich]

This might be the last year EU can come to US visa free travel, EU's banning US visa free thanks to US doing it for 5 EU countries (croatia, notably for the meets interests) and when these things start they tend to escalate quickly. So if you're a EU person, come on over while you still can.

At least nobody else wants to so flights are cheap.

[wishiwasfamous]

Most likely going to be there. Gotta see where I land with a job this spring. Would be bringing wiff, wife, and the wiffster.

[Thiradell]

SGDQ is full already lol

Put me at 99%, going barring any catastrophic events. Guess I better start practicing Kart...

[NathanStinson]

Eddie Taylor is confirmed for time off for the event

[kyleb30]

Cleared some things up and am now 100% in. If people fly into IAD or DCA, I can work something out with you in terms of a ride since I'll be coming from around there (if Dotman comes, I'll be picking him up from there already).

I'm very excited for this meet, can't wait!

[deletedprofile.u]

Cleared some things up and am now 100% in. If people fly into IAD or DCA, I can work something out with you in terms of a ride since I'll be coming from around there (if Dotman comes, I'll be picking him up from there already).

I'm very excited for this meet, can't wait!

Still have to work out booking my flight (which I'll be doing by mid-July at the latest), but could you pick me up as well? As the date nears we can figure out time of day I can book to make it most convenient for both of us, etc. 

[GoodTrev4Once]

Ill pay gooses flight to newark nj and drive his gay ass up

[Kevin Booth]

Just letting you all know, it's official, and I'm now going.  I told Jimbo so he can update the sheet and make if official.  for now I'll just post my flight to and from that I have set up.

5:48 AM Eugene, OR (EUG) 6:55 AM Seattle, WA (SEA) 1hr 7min
Alaska Airlines  Flight 2276  Economy class  Fare rules De Havilland DHC-8 Dash 8-400 80% on time 234 miles
OPERATED BY HORIZON AIR AS ALASKAHORIZON
Layover in SEA 1hrs 15min
Alaska Airlines

8:10 AM Seattle, WA (SEA) 4:12 PM Washington, VA (IAD) 5hr 2min
Alaska Airlines  Flight 956  Economy class  Fare rules Boeing 737-900 2312 miles

Return flight
Aug 12, 2017 Alaska Airlines IAD 5:20 PM 9hr 47min Washington, VA  (IAD) 8:20 PM Seattle, WA  (SEA) 6hr 0min
Alaska Airlines  Flight 171  Economy class  Fare rules Boeing 737-900 2312 miles
Layover in SEA 2hrs 50min
Alaska Airlines
11:10 PM Seattle, WA (SEA) 12:07 AM Eugene, OR (EUG) 0hr 57min

Alaska Airlines  Flight 2281  Economy class  Fare rules De Havilland DHC-8 Dash 8-400 50% on time 234 miles
OPERATED BY HORIZON AIR AS ALASKAHORIZON

[Jimbo]

I'm guessing we're going to have to come up with some official decision as to what to do about families - There's really only one available room besides Drew/Katie's room that can be kid-friendly on the main level. You guys may have to book a hotel close by. I'll talk to them and see what the best solution is...

(This is to wiff, Eddie, Liz/Hutch, and the BONUS family that wanted to show up for a day... you know who you are!)

[Ngamer]

Alright so with Booth in and Eise and Patrik locking down tickets recently we're now hard up against the cap so the Lakehouse is officially full and we need to make some tough decisions.  Here's the list as we have it right now:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Xj6LqRoyAqguyhgv2WVopqwG_HeRtWXylE5sK4KAjqY/edit?usp=sharing

As you can see there we're out of room even before you take into account people that won't arrive until the end of the week and only stay for a night or two (like Jones and possibly Liz and Hutch).  After talking it over with Jim I think the only way we can proceed is to make some new ground rules:

1. If you're not locked in to the 30 spots on the sheet above, you're still welcome to join us for the Kart tourney and can spend time with us at the house during the day but will need to rent a hotel in the area to stay at night.  There's just not enough bed space and shower time and water usage to keep anyone more at the house full time.

2. If you want to bring extra family members (your wife or wife + kids) for the full week's stay you certainly can but, like Liz and Hutch have done in years past, you'll need to rent a room at at local hotel to spend the nights there.  Sorry, there would have been room for the whole family last year, but with spots already maxed out for 2017 we're not going to be able to host anything except solo Eliters.

[Smit]

I am scouting for tickets at the moment, still a few months away and I want to get a good deal!

Will be flying directly to Dulus Airport from Gothenborg, arriving Monday and returning saturday (might vary a bit depending on ticket prices etc)

Not sure how I will get from Washington to the actual place but I am sure that will work itself out. Gonna score some plane tickets first!

Still 100% IN!

[TheFlash]

arriving Monday

It seems like there are often ride opportunities in the DC area at least as late in the day as 6pm.  Usually not much earlier than 4pm or so, since no one will even be at the lakehouse before then.  Sometimes there will be a carpool of riders waiting for one last person's flight.  If they need to wait until 11pm or something, they will, but if you have an option to get in before that, usually works out better.

Also, it seems like there are frequently delays on the inbound side with people coming from diverse locations.  One year Neo was delayed about 5 hours. Last year I think both people I was riding with were delayed at least an hour.

returning saturday

People flying out on Saturday tend to have flight times in the late afternoon or evening.  Think like, 3pm or later.  If you have to go earlier, someone will help you get there in time, but it can be inconvenient.  It takes at least 2 hours to drive to Dulles on Saturday due to consistently slow traffic.  So if you have an international flight out at noon, you're probably looking at leaving the lakehouse by 8am or something, which can be a pretty tough ask if everyone just stayed up until 4am Friday night.

There have been a few times when someone had an early morning flight out (like 6am) and got someone to drive them to the airport in the night before they went to sleep.  Depending on what kind of flights you can find, that could be an option as well.

[Joshua Nash]

I pass Dulles on the way so I can offer rides. Only issue is my car will be packed so it could be a tight fit. I'm not sure if I should rent an SUV or not. I guess it depends on what all people need me to bring. I was talking to Stinson and I think he mentioned about bringing some crts. It seemed ok last year though. I only brought the PAL crt and a regular crt for myself. I can easily bring more though but then it cuts down on room for people. I am also bringing a desktop and Vive this year. I will see what all I can fit when I get home but I should be able to pick up at least two people. I will also be able to bring an extra n64 on top of my pal and ntsc thanks to a friend lending me his

[wheatrich]

wow @ hitting a 30 man cap; you snooze you lose!  Yeah, I agree the ground rules are fair, hope all of you can make it and have a blast.

[NathanStinson]

wow @ hitting a 30 man cap; you snooze you lose!  Yeah, I agree the ground rules are fair, hope all of you can make it and have a blast.

No Wheat?

[azuarc]

I wanted to thank all of you guys for having me down last year. I know I probably had no business trying to hang with this group, but it was a really cool experience and one I will definitely remember. My summer work ends just before Virginia, so feel free to contact me again if there are last minute vacancies. Maybe I'll even try to practice some Mario Kart over the summer so I don't just outright suck if I get the call. (If I'm welcome to attend from off-site, I might consider that as well.)

-Stephen Kittel

[NathanStinson]

I wanted to thank all of you guys for having me down last year. I know I probably had no business trying to hang with this group, but it was a really cool experience and one I will definitely remember. My summer work ends just before Virginia, so feel free to contact me again if there are last minute vacancies. Maybe I'll even try to practice some Mario Kart over the summer so I don't just outright suck if I get the call. (If I'm welcome to attend from off-site, I might consider that as well.)



-Stephen Kittel

I believe that off-site attendees are welcome. You'll just have to fend for yourself for sleeping arrangements. You'll likely have to play in a play-in for the tournament also, if you are ok with that

[SgtRaven]

So I was approached on January 11th about playing a large role in 2D Con in MPLS the weekend of the meet. I agreed and was told I would be emailed in a few weeks. I tell you guys on Feb 2nd that I can't make it for that reason. I finally received an email yesterday (Apr 26th) full of apologies about not getting back to me sooner but everything has been taken care of since then and I was given this pitch about still having a booth if I wanted.

Needless to say I'm pretty f'ing annoyed that it looks like I'm now not doing either. I feel as if some of this was intentional since the largest sponsor of this event and the ones that put it on are employees from a company that I used to work for and left on bad terms. They knew VA was the same weekend. Some people just can't let shit drop from 5 years ago.

If a spot opens up, let me know. I'd love to make plans on attending but offsite arrangements are not my thing. If every spot is locked and confirmed then I hope everyone has fun and I'll see everyone next year.

-Daniel

 

[NathanStinson]

Would be great to have you Dan

[Imperfect Clark]

Can mark me 100%, I paid Donna weeks ago. I'll probably delay my new job search (I do client work now) until after the trip to ensure a 100% status. I'm moving to Seattle in June.

I hope as many as people as possible can make it! Unless you suck!!!

[Imperfect Clark]

Veterans: Let's be extra conscious of the demands a large group imposes. We need to make sure tradition stays positive for the Weathertons.

Newer People: Please & thank you go a long way toward making these trips just as rewarding for the Weathertons (their profits are modest vs. the hours they spend preparing beds, cooking nonstop, doing dishes, laundry & cleanup after we go). Be tidy and help with chores when you can. Remember this is their home. Still, gratitude is more than enough for Mrs. Weatherton, and if you have her favor, you're good. The DIY/Family reunion feel is what, imho, makes these meets better than corp-organized "cons" and whatnot.


PS: Apparently my Egypt 00 Agent Untied 0:48 happened 15 years ago yesterday. Thanks for the tidbit, Jim!

[deletedprofile.u]

Next pay I want to book my flight and I'll be sending off my cash to the Weathertons as well.

Kyle where u at 

[NathanStinson]

Thanks for the info Clark! Will be great seeing you again

[Thiradell]

[Jonesy]

Just a quick update on some of the potential new karters:

Dotman: Almost certainly not coming.
Abney: Might be another month before I have a decent idea if I'll be able to come. It will depend on job and living arrangements.
Matthias: I still have the VA week free (if I want to take holidays), confirmation from Abney would help to give me some motivation again.