AMV Dinner @ AWA - Pizza Party!

[Red Wolf]

Here are details on the pizza party plan for the AMV Dinner @ AWA, which got the best response earlier. Nothing is in the works at this time but this is how things would work if we went ahead with this plan. I NEED APPROVAL OF THIS PLAN, SEE THE END OF THIS POST FOR DETAILS.

Please remember neither myself, nor this dinner, is official associated with AWA in any way. This will be the third year the dinner has been held and if this plan goes through I believe it will be our biggest and best yet. Also please keep in mind this is for AMV creators, not the general AWA crowd.


Pizza Party @ Cobb Galleria

This plan would give us a private room with a pizza buffet and A/V equipment in the convention center connected to the con hotel. The total per person will depend on how many people sign up but the range should be between $39 to $30.


The Room

The room will be able to seat up to 80 people. Seating is with large, round tables which seat 10 people each. Between the round tables and the privacy of the room this should provide for all of the ease of socializing everyone missed last year. Should we get more than 80 people for dinner we can get a room big enough for 100 people at no additional cost.


The Food

Dinner will be a pizza buffet provided by the chefs at the galleria (we cannot bring in our own food) and will include:

Assorted Pizzas (3 kinds at our choosing)
Mixed Green Salad with a Selection of Dressings
Garlic Breadsticks
Chef's Choice of Dessert


The A/V Setup

The A/V setup will be an LCD projector (I'm planning to bring one from work to save on the additional rental cost), a screen (rented), and access to the room's sound system (rented). This will allow me to plug in a laptop computer and play AMVs in the background throughout the evening. Later on I will accept one AMV per person attending to add to the play list. However, no videos that were submitted to AWA this year will be allowed. Any empty slots will be filled in from my personal collection (read: not my own AMVs, just my collection of other people's AMVs) so beware.


Cash Bar - I NEED FEEDBACK

We have the option to have a cash bar where those 21 or over (yes, you will be carded) can purchase not so soft drinks. The cost of the drinks will be up to each individual. However there is a bartender's fee which will be $75 for three hours ($100 if we want the bar the entire time). If we want the bar this additional fee could be handled one of two ways. One, everyone chips in for it. Two, everyone 21 or over chips in for it. This cost is NOT built into any of the totals given anywhere in this post. This option is very much up in the air so let me know if you are interested in having the bar there or not. I have a list of the beverage selections and prices available online at http://www.redwolfstudio.org/dinner/bar.pdf


Cost Break Down

Here is the break down of the cost. I have also listed a range of total vs attendance.

Pizza Buffet - $21.50/person + 20% service charge + 5% tax = $26.88/person

Room - $375, however 27% of what we spend on food (before add ons) goes as an offset toward the room. So the room itself will cost anywhere from $200.85 to $0 depending on how many people come. The 100 person room costs $475 but if we have 81 people or more the room offset give us a free room even at the higher room rate.

Screen - $50

Sound System - $65

AMV Dinner Badge & Mailing - $1/person

30 AMV Creators - $39/person
40 AMV Creators - $35/person
50 AMV Creators - $32/person
60 AMV Creators - $31/person
70+ AMV Creators - $30/person

Before you complain about the price please consider these items:
- the average cost per person for one of the Galleria's buffet is $40 JUST FOR THE FOOD... your price for everything is guaranteed to be less than that
- the average cost per person at Carrabba's was over $18 with food, drink, tax, and tip... $10 more gets you a private room, a great social atmosphere, and AMVs for four hours (Carrabba's only lasted for two hours)
- there is no transportation hassles, there is no need to walk over a scary bridge and through a Canadian eating forest, if you can't get to the hotel until 8:15 you can still come to dinner, you can leave at any time, you can even go to your room and then come back


Attendance Requirements

These requirements are based on the due dates of the deposit and the total and based on the fact that I am the one ultimately responsible for the bill. Because we aren't in a restaurant where everyone gets their own check these rules will be enforced this year. That means early reservation is the key and our tradition of adding people at the hotel lobby is over.

1. You must be an AMV creator (that means you've completed an AMV at some point in your life), a VAT staff member, or a VAT guest. You will be allowed one guest but your guest can only be either a significant other or a friend who came to the con with you who would otherwise be left alone Thursday night. Remember this is a dinner and social event for AMV creators.

2. A deposit of $15 will be due within two weeks after we decide to go ahead with this plan.

3. Your remaining balance will be due no later than September 13. Payment will be by PayPal (no credit cards), money orders (USPS only), and personal checks. When I receive you full payment you will be sent an AMV Dinner badge. YOU MUST HAVE THIS BADGE TO GET IN!

VAT staffers who show up AFTER 10:00 PM will be exempt from paying to get in. That also means you'll get no food, just access to the room. Only VAT staffers wearing their staff badges will meet this exemption. Why are they exempt? Because they didn't eat which is the bulk of our cost and the reason they showed up late is because they were too busy setting up the VAT so the rest of us would have a great time at AWA.

In addition to the advance payment requirements I will also expect good behavior from everyone in attendance. We're there to have a good time and given we're in a private room late Thursday night I'm not worried about noise. But ultimately it is my butt on the line as far at the Cobb Galleria is concerned so we will abide by their house rules and I will reserve the right ask anyone to leave, without refund, who is causing damage or a disturbance. I doubt we will have a problem with this crowd but there it is just in case.


Plan Approval

Here is where I need your feedback on this plan. Any thoughts, suggestions, or questions you have should be put forth now (just post it right here or email me directly at red_wolf@mac.com). For me to go ahead with this plan I need a minimum of 30 people to post or email me that they want to attend this event and that they are willing and able to pay the maximum possible amount ($39) within the deadlines given. I don't need a deposit this second but those who post will be held to their word.

If this plan doesn't go through we will be going back to Carrabba's Italian Grill for the dinner. All other plans which were being considered are more expensive and more complex for me to organize compared to this plan.

Please post and/or email your interest ASAP. The faster I get a good response rate the more likely we are to get the choice room and have everything in place before AWA.

[mexicanjunior]

Count me in.

[Castor Troy]

Count me in.

Same here.

[Machine]

Add me to the list

[AMV_4000]

Im in for that... Also, i got a vid i wanted to be shown at awa, but since time is limited *and the vid is over 16 minutes* i wanted it to be shown at/after the dinner... so im prolly gunna PM you a few questions about that... in a day or 2...

[Mr Pilkington]

I'm, in!

[badmartialarts]

I'll be happy to send the money, regardless of actual attendance.

[Vlad G Pohnert]

You can count me in...

I'll even Pay you in Canadian Funds

Vlad

[Corran]

I'm in.

[mexicanjunior]

I'm in.

Can we borrow your laptop again for iron cheffing?