<VV> Tim's Buffalo Report

[John Sweet]

Well I just returned from Buffalo and I think that was the most messed up
convention that I have seen in a long time.  It is definite that someone did
not think about the number of trailers and the parking that was needed for
them.  I know of atleast 2 people that were going to show there cars and
when they found out about the parking and trailer situation and then went
home.  One of them did return but in his Lincoln Town car.
The Adams Mark Hotel was the poorest hotel that I have seen in years.  Our
air conditioning in our room did not get below 77 degrees for the first 2
evenings.  We call the front desk and they send up a person to look at it
and it still does not work.  We tried to change rooms but all they had was
smooking rooms and that was not acceptable to us as we only stay in
nonsmoking rooms due to my allergies.  They never offered us anything for
our inconvenience.  There were three ice machines that were not working and
the elevators were out of service off an on.
Corsa needs to get a better handle on these conventions so we can have
everything on site except the autocross.  Most people did not know where
things were and confusion reigned supreme at this convention.
On a positive note, we enjoyed the welcome party and the dinner cruise as I
feel they were top notch.
My 2 cents worth.
John Sweet

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <mhicks130 at cox.net>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 2:47 PM
Subject: Re:<VV> Tim's Buffalo Report


I too will not be sad to leave Buffalo but I can't totally agree with Tim on
all his points.

My registration was completely cheesed up.  I wasted a good part of Tuesday
and a little on Wednesday trying to get it straightened out.  I registered
online the week before so I'm not totally surprised but it did seem to take
a Herculean effort to get things fixed AND I never got my XXL Chino polo
shirt because they didn't have any.  I ended up getting a tote and hat
instead (both quite nice actually).   On the other hand, I got talked into
doing the autocross at the last minute and that got taken care of quite
efficiently.  Overall I think the convention stuff itself was fine.  The
registration had its problems but I liked the locations of events.  The
valve cover races on the ship was fun and the park for the show was
beautiful and had a playground for my son.  It was a long walk but they
supposedly had a shuttle.  That would be my one convention complaint,
communications weren't that great.  They weren't bad but some of us are
easily confused and need help.  The autocross was a drive but there were
really good directions in the autocross packet and the facility was great.
I had a wonderful time (but really bad times, if you know what I mean).  The
convention was worth coming to just to hear the guys from the Tonawonda
plant talk about building Corvair engines back in the day.  That was
fantastic!!  I wish we could have had more time for the VV meeting too, it
was too short.  I did get to thank Garth for trying to keep things under
control here though.

The downtown location was inconvenient in some ways but fun in a lot of
others.  I was never worried about my 9 year old, maybe because I've spent
more time in cities than Tim.  Maybe I wasn't driven to the edge of insanity
because, well, you know, I'm already there.  Buffalo's roads are a bit
confusing because they aren't laid out on a north/south-east/west gride
because of the lakes and all.  I found my way around OK just using the free
maps available at checkin.  My only beef with the directions given out was
that I would prefer to have a map printout available with the directions -
I'm a visual person.  Oh, and the directions to the park from the hotel had
a typo in them.  I figured it out pretty quickly but I would hate to be a
person uncomfortable in a downtown area trying to figure out what's wrong
the directions.  Niagra Falls and the locks in Lockport were fun to see and
the countryside around the city is really beautiful.  Plus they have pretty
good food here.  The Pearl Street Brewery was within easy walking distance
and it was fine for kids and the food and beer were quite tasty.

I'm not in love with the hotel but when you need a facility that can handle
as many people as us and have places for the vendors and seminars, your
choices get limited.  Even so, I don't think the hotel is very good.  The
rooms are a little small, the "hi-speed" internet is as slow as my old
modem, no fridge, no free breakfast, very limited channels on the TV, none
of the good things I've come to expect from a decent hotel.  Plus it is the
most bizarely laid out facility I've ever seen.  It's difficult to find your
way around and very easy to get lost.  The parking was messy (fire retardant
material falling from the ceiling) but it was great otherwise.  It was
fantastic seeing all those Corvairs parked together and seeing guys hanging
out with the cars.  The stupid parking pass things only worked once in a
while BUT the attendents seem to handle it well.

So, thumbs up for the convention, thumbs down for the hotel, overall thumbs
up.

mike
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