If AKfest09 was moved...

More likely to attend in 09?

  • Yes

    Votes: 36 35.0%
  • No

    Votes: 45 43.7%
  • Makes no difference to me

    Votes: 22 21.4%

  • Total voters
    103
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I voted for the cedar rapids move, but honestly it makes no matter to me. Timing was poor this year so I could not attend. Hopefully next year!

Evan
 
Hell Yes Cedar Rapids Iowa - Love The Idea!!!!!!! We could all go Irish Democrat for some food and beer!!!!

Close Airports to Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids
Waterloo (About 45 minutes away)
Des Moines (About 2 hours away)
Chicago (About 3.5 hours or so)
 
My opinion doesn't count. The difference between Minnesota, Kansas or even Colorado, doesn't seem to make such a big difference when you are starting out from Hong Kong to begin with... if I can make it at all, the domestic add-on flight will probably cost about the same peanuts, anyway!

I hesitate --at this late stage-- to point out that your poll may not be so well constructed. It would have been much clearer (less room for interpretive error) if the choices had read, "More likely to attend if moved to Kansas" and "Less likely to attend if moved to Kansas" instead of just "yes" and "no". It is very possible (even likely) that some people interpreted the answer choices differently from others.
 
I like the Iowa idea, but I'm a little biased being in Minnesota.

FYI...FWIW

The geographical center of the lower 48 states lies outside of Lebanon, Kansas.

The geographical center of all 50 states is located 17 miles west of Castle Rock, South Dakota.

The geodetic center of the U.S. is found approximately 42 miles south of Lebanon, Kansas. (Note: A geodetic survey makes corrections to account for the curvature of the Earth.)
Gee, I thought that everyone on this forum thought the center of the universe was Binghamton, NY.
 
I am in a unique position, mostly because I am married to the "Grumpy" one and I know what kind of work he puts into the fest.

AK fest started as a way to get the local members together. The guys would get the chance to meet and "show off" their audio equipment. Being that we have a tiny house, a local hotel was used. Over the years we have learned alot and continued to get better and better. This year was definately the best. But every year comes with its troubles and alot of stress.

Has the topic of moving the fest ever come up, sure it has...like anything else that you take pride in..we always want what is best for the members and best for the fest. As far as finding an inexpensive hotel, they are not that hard to find. But when you start telling them what we need, example: that you need the furniture removed, then the prices start to rise. Holding an event like AK fest is not like renting a hotel for a convention, it is alot more.

So here I am again. I still believe that, even with the economy troubles, we have more good things to do here in the Detroit area with AK fest 09 and beyond. AK fest is something near and dear to both David and I, and without the help of Ernie, Luther and Dave, it would not be such a great show.

Like it was suggested in this thread, you guys can get your local members over to your house, meet and most importantly "enjoy the music".


Nancy
 
I can empathize with those organizing the event and the problem with logistics. Perhaps we just need to have more regional events to open it up to others who want to attend. I guess that could only work if you could get enough sponsor support to make it work on the $$$ end.
 
:D
I am in a unique position, mostly because I am married to the "Grumpy" one and I know what kind of work he puts into the fest.

AK fest started as a way to get the local members together. The guys would get the chance to meet and "show off" their audio equipment. Being that we have a tiny house, a local hotel was used. Over the years we have learned alot and continued to get better and better. This year was definately the best. But every year comes with its troubles and alot of stress.

Has the topic of moving the fest ever come up, sure it has...like anything else that you take pride in..we always want what is best for the members and best for the fest. As far as finding an inexpensive hotel, they are not that hard to find. But when you start telling them what we need, example: that you need the furniture removed, then the prices start to rise. Holding an event like AK fest is not like renting a hotel for a convention, it is alot more.

So here I am again. I still believe that, even with the economy troubles, we have more good things to do here in the Detroit area with AK fest 09 and beyond. AK fest is something near and dear to both David and I, and without the help of Ernie, Luther and Dave, it would not be such a great show.

Like it was suggested in this thread, you guys can get your local members over to your house, meet and most importantly "enjoy the music".


Nancy


Nancy,
I think EVERYONE is in agreement with everything you say, and if you and Grumpy "want" to keep taking care of it, Detroit is where it should be. But, if you two ever need a break, I'm sure there are AK Members here that would be willing to step up and help, that is all this thread is all about. I am, and have always been, okay with wherever the AK Fest is, and if I wasn't, I guess I wouldn't have driven out to Detroit the last four years. :D




Retro
 
I want to point out that I am not the only one capable of putting on the fest. I will point out that I am the only one stupid enough to put in thousands of hours for no pay to put on the show.

Its very easy to volunteer to put on the show. Its another to actually do it. Basically its a year round full time job with no pay. Oh yeah. By full time job I mean get up 6am in the morning and work on it till 10pm.

Again lots will offer but there is NO possible way it can be pulled off unless you quit your full time jobs to take on this task.

On another note the fest for 09 is nearly finalize. Yes Virginia there will be another fest. However I am considering this one as my last. At that time I may retire and the show will as well.

So to all those who say "I am coming next year"......well you better cause theres a good chance there will be no more.

Grumpy
 
On another note the fest for 09 is nearly finalize. Yes Virginia there will be another fest. However I am considering this one as my last. At that time I may retire and the show will as well.
Grumpy
What does retire mean?

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
well I think Grumpy nailed it,, he is doing the majority of the work, its hard enough to organize without attempting it by phone only... keep it there Grump
 
What does retire mean?

To become tired again. I was tired, then I slept and wasn't tired anymore. Now I'm retired.

Or, to put new tires on your car. My tires wore out, so I retired my car. Of course, before I could retire, I had to detire.

Or, to go to bed. I have retired for the evening.

And there you have it. Good night.
 
I want to point out that I am not the only one capable of putting on the fest. I will point out that I am the only one stupid enough to put in thousands of hours for no pay to put on the show.

Its very easy to volunteer to put on the show. Its another to actually do it. Basically its a year round full time job with no pay. Oh yeah. By full time job I mean get up 6am in the morning and work on it till 10pm.

Again lots will offer but there is NO possible way it can be pulled off unless you quit your full time jobs to take on this task.

On another note the fest for 09 is nearly finalize. Yes Virginia there will be another fest. However I am considering this one as my last. At that time I may retire and the show will as well.

So to all those who say "I am coming next year"......well you better cause theres a good chance there will be no more.

Grumpy

I don't want to step on any toes but this is my take on it.

I thought this was talked over with Army and Grumpy to see how much interest there was to move the show?

It seems like there is good interest about having AKfest somewhere else and now it sounds like it will be no more. So be it if that is what you want but why was it brought up in the first place?

If you don't want to talk about it anymore lock the thread or delete it.
 
I don't want to step on any toes but this is my take on it.

I thought this was talked over with Army and Grumpy to see how much interest there was to move the show?

It seems like there is good interest about having AKfest somewhere else and now it sounds like it will be no more. So be it if that is what you want but why was it brought up in the first place?

If you don't want to talk about it anymore lock the thread or delete it.

You aren't stepping on any toes Denny!
It was brought up because my greatest wish was to help shoulder some of the burden with or for Grumpy and family. I've been to every fest except the first one to lend a hand and I had also brought up this idea before because as one of Grumpy's close personal friends I know how big an undertaking this is and just how stressful it can be.
Dave had mentioned he was having a hard time finding a hotel in the area with decent rates and the needed dates. There are other shows and he plans AKfest so we have the best time frame for a good turn out and more importantly when the vendors are more apt to be available.
There are drawbacks to having the fest in Cedar Rapids I'll admit, I'd thought about most everything everyone has mentioned and didn't bother to try and sell the idea very hard. If I had I could easliy come up with alot more pro's and equally as many con's why the fest should be moved out of Detroit. But to do so would have been counterproductive, if the fest stayed where it is. Grumpy and I discussed the pro's and con's there were equally compelling reasons to at least post the idea.

As for closing or deleting the thread I'll leave it up to Grumpy.
 
So to all those who say "I am coming next year"......well you better cause theres a good chance there will be no more.

Grumpy

Why is it then that after next year it will "be no more"?

If he doesn't want the hassle it sure looks like there are plenty others that would gladly take over but seems to think that no one else besides him can do it. I can see his reasoning behind not moving it but like I said why bring it up?

If the plan is to not have another AKfest why not let someone else take over if they want to? I'm sure you, Retro or plenty others are dedicated enough to take on the challenge.

Denny
 
Denny,
I wasn't going to reply to this after Grumpy's last post, but now I feel the need.

This is Grumpy's site, and it is Grumpy's AK Fest every year. He is the CEO of AudioKarma and he runs the show. It now sounds like he will be putting on one more AK Fest :)thmbsp:), and then sadly afterwords, possibly retire :)tears:). This is entirely his decision, and the rest of us need to respect that.

That is all.




Retro
 
This isn't set in stone nor did I offer any of this without discussing it with Grumpy first. And yes I would do my best to be the eyes and ears and do as much as possible to set this up and manage this end of it. I also have a lot of family that would be able to lend a hand before during and after the fest.
I have a very good idea of what the burden Grumpy and Mrs Grumpy go thru every year to put on a show like this. And that is why I offered to find a hotel big enough and nice enough and do some of the prefest leg work over the last couple of days. And the hotel I contacted has the dates we prefer. This thread is only to gauge interest...

I understand he has every right to do what he wants. I just wish he would have said that was his plan to begin with. Obviously Army and Grumpy talked about it by the looks of it.

I am just wondering why there was a thread started about moving it in the first place if the plan was to have only one more fest? Why stir up conflict about it that might cause hard feelings?
 
If we were going to get the same 60/40 split of local vs non-local attendees, we'd need the entire state of Iowa to show.
 
Grumpy has to do what is best for Grumpy - please repsect that. They were talking about it - but someone would have to shoulder ALL the work that Dave does now. Please stop if you do not plan to volunteer - because I will NEVER EVER fault Grumpy on this.

As was said - this is Dave's site - he is the head honchoe - he can do what he wants and no one should fault him on that.

I have all the respect in the world for the guy for all the things he has brought us. I don't know where you came up with that. I have never faulted him either for what he has done. Please don't disrespect me for my opinion either. I know it is his site and that he is the head honchoe. I never said he wasn't.

It seems as if no one is stepping up to the plate to take over and Grumpy has doen it long enough.

If you read the whole thread you would know that Scott (Army) said he is willing to take over. Greg (Retro Stereo) has also volunteered to help the cause. Grumpy has every right to say no if he wants and I respect that.

I'm not going to go back through the whole thread just so I can quote them. You can read it yourself.

Cheers,
Denny
 
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