[sutorbrew]

Not true Denny. I saw a wedding going on in Minneapolis. Somehow I don't think we minded their presence as much as the other way around ;-)

Actually, it looks like they joined us for some mead!  Take a look in the events section.

I figured they needed some so I brought them some of my club members Basswood Mead You need some Honeywine for your Honeymoon right!

[bfogt]

It seem like this derailed a bit anyway, but seems the right place to ask/comment...

It is really only 1500 people?  That's tiny, really.  We had 2000 Geocachers in Kendallville, IN, two years ago.  Look the town up.  Certainly not San Diego or Minneapolis.  Sure, half of them camped at our venue, but I would think that homebrewing and Geocaching would have the same size of base if not more to the homebrewers. 

So you're looking at 900 rooms and meeting space for 2k or a bit more?  I'd think it's just too small to be a huge mark on a city's calendar.  For NHC regional judging in Indy, we were priced out of hotels due to the Firefighters bringing 35,000 to town. 

Has the AHA considered moving to a 2 year planning cycle or more?  It makes facility concerns much easier to deal with.  Take it from someone who had an event for 50 mushroom to 450 the first year, then 800, then 1300 and 2000. 

Shoot, if we had more breweries in the area, I'd offer up my town.

[dbeechum]

We're actually doing that right now. The economy and the AHA's sure footing has allowed us to get there.

One complication for the Conference that we usually forget to remember. Hotels are loathe to allow free alcohol since they envision the loss of dollars. That has thrown a spanner in the works in the past. Plus since we're an organization all about alcohol, you have to imagine most hotel event planners are a bit leary until we provide references for our stellar behavior.

[boulderbrewer]

I think they are looking for places 3 to 4 years in advance. What is really needed is a committed group that can pull it all together. There are many cities that have the space but is there the group willing to put forward the effort. You don't need breweries you need to showcase what you have. I was at this year’s conference and I never got close to a brewery. Step forward with a proposal, check out the document. Maybe you can do it and we will all be there!

http://ahaclubs.homebrewersassociation.org/NHCplanningguide

[bonjour]

Another big concern is to make sure that the majority do not have to drive during the conference.  Something about drinking (do we do that?) and driving.

The combination of rooms and meeting space is limiting our choices.