Pre Pax Dinner [not a headcount]

Bambooza

I heard it mentioned in another thread and figured it was time it was given its due and so figured I would ask. Anyone making any plans this year on the pre PAX dinner?

ctishman

Yep, there's an organizer this year. I forget her name, but she's the same one who put together last year's dinner. Apparently we'll have more space this year, so we won't completely destroy the restaurant so much.

Moe Fwacky

Haha, good times. Yeah, Astayonix (or Jessica if you prefer) is taking care of things. When she's ready, she'll make poast about the good times.

Bambooza

Ahh glad to hear and ya she did a great job of it last year. And destroy? I do believe its still ... standing. But anyways it has become a nice way to end the long drive and I am sure Astayonix will out do herself again.

ElectricTurtle

As her s/o, I can tell you the only thing that's certain right now is that it's going to be Thursday starting sometime between 9 & 10 PM and going to 11-11:30 PM, significantly later than last year (this is due to the fact that restaurants downtown Seattle don't shut themselves down for free during peak hours). The most likely (but not set in stone) location is P.F. Chang's in the Westlake Center (easy to find on ctishman's PAX map).

We'll probably solidify these things in May or June, and she'll open some official information thread to do the whole headcount estimate like last year.

Qs23

ok, so it seems the dinner is working out... what about the movie? May I suggest Fanboys? It comes out the weekend before PAX, so we don't have to worry about the opening weekend "fanboys".

Bambooza

Great suggestion. Not sure it can top snakes on a plane but seems the right type of movie to try.

ctishman

Sounds good to me. Perhaps a real late showing, given the late dinner?

HolyHesus

I am going to the dinner! I miss Illusionz though. I heard only The Geek and some of my friends showed up. I would have hit that up this year.

ElectricTurtle

I know I speak for Astayonix when I say:

This is not an official information or headcount thread.

Anything posted here will not count toward any estimate and could throw us off if you don't remember to post intentions in the real thread when it comes.

If you want to talk about the pre-PAX dinner that's totally fine, even announce your intention to come, but just don't forget to post that again in the official thread once we've made solid arrangements.

Thanks d00dz.

leaf

More room would be good, we had to sit upstairs last year, and didn't meet as many people.

ElectricTurtle

There will be more room this year, but ultimately the problem is mobility. If you sit at any table, you're naturally only going to meet the people at that table, so mingling is necessary regardless. I'm afraid it's not feasible to construct an epic level legendary table that can seat hundreds at once (and produce a commensurate number of Hero's Feasts thrice per day, as the spell).

Qs23

I know... Pre-PAX dinner meets musical chairs!

Otherwise, I say just order everything and ask for the bill with the food. Then you can take your food with you on your merry journey to everybody's table.

leaf

ElectricTurtle wrote: »

There will be more room this year, but ultimately the problem is mobility. If you sit at any table, you're naturally only going to meet the people at that table, so mingling is necessary regardless. I'm afraid it's not feasible to construct an epic level legendary table that can seat hundreds at once (and produce a commensurate number of Hero's Feasts thrice per day, as the spell).

Not quite what I meant, mingling is obvious if you want to meet people, I meant they wouldn't let us downstairs due to fire code regulations and seating the max number of people downstairs at the time, even if it was just to wander in for a bit.

ElectricTurtle

Well, there will be no upstairs/downstairs division this year, but the fire code is always going to be a problem, especially with PAX attendance going up like a goddamn Saturn V every year.

Moe Fwacky

A buffet-style setup would make the mingling easier. Pay to get in, grab a plate, grab your food, then play musical chairs.

ctishman

Qs23 wrote: »

I know... Pre-PAX dinner meets musical chairs!

Sort of like a PAX version of speed dating.

ElectricTurtle

Moe_Fwacky wrote: »

A buffet-style setup would make the mingling easier. Pay to get in, grab a plate, grab your food, then play musical chairs.

If we were to do that, we'd have to charge people at the door, and that would require a considerable risk of an invested deposit, assuming we could even raise the money. Probably the only way I'd feel comfortable is we pre-registered everybody and had the money up front for a deposit, but even then I think it's not the sort of attitude we want the event to have. Right now you can come and order as much or as little, or even nothing, as you want. I don't want to close the doors to people.

(I will admit though, if the popularity of the dinner grows too much, we might have to go to such a system, or even approach PA Inc. about rolling into the umbrella of the main event somehow. We had 150+ people last year, and knowing PAX's growth patterns, it could quickly grow beyond our capacity to organize. If I were you, I'd worry about Sealab in the same way.)

Moe Fwacky

This much is true, at this rate the extraPAX activities will need their own enforcer teams.

ctishman

ElectricTurtle wrote: »

This is not an official information or headcount thread.

That text is quite big. I think we should quote it at every opportunity.

Moe Fwacky

yes, i agree completely, we need to get a mod to put that in the thread title

Rankenphile

I'd like to put in a vote for Buca de Beppo. It's a great place, fantastic food and terrific atmosphere, and is really set up to handle large parties, if needed. The servings are gigantic and are really designed to let everyone order something and share it all around.

xxhennersxx

what is this prepax dinner? like, a dinner for forumers to meeet before pax?

Moe Fwacky

Basically we all congregate at a local eatery on Thursday evening with the intentions of eating and mingling. All PAX attendees are welcome, it's just something for us to do in the anticipation of PAX. Last year it was before the movie, however since it appears like it's going to be later this year, the movie is going to happen first.

ElectricTurtle

Rankenphile: Jessica wanted to keep it within walking distance of PAX and the hotels, and P.F. Chang's in Westlake Center has been very willing to work with us without any financial commitment, is fairly large, and is in walking distance, so unless something changes it's the top of the list.

xxhennersxx: There's really not much to it, it's just a dinner to meet people the night before PAX opens. It's mostly forumers, supertrippers and their friends because we don't talk about it anywhere else (it's too big already). There's no structure or agenda, you order what you want, sit whereever. It's the people that make it fun, especially the supertripper stories.

Rankenphile

ElectricTurtle wrote: »

Rankenphile: Jessica wanted to keep it within walking distance of PAX and the hotels, and P.F. Chang's in Westlake Center has been very willing to work with us without any financial commitment, is fairly large, and is in walking distance, so unless something changes it's the top of the list.

Makes sense, and sounds good. I was just tossing it out there as an idea.

Qs23

ElectricTurtle wrote: »

Rankenphile: Jessica wanted to keep it within walking distance of PAX and the hotels, and P.F. Chang's in Westlake Center has been very willing to work with us without any financial commitment, is fairly large, and is in walking distance, so unless something changes it's the top of the list.

xxhennersxx: There's really not much to it, it's just a dinner to meet people the night before PAX opens. It's mostly forumers, supertrippers and their friends because we don't talk about it anywhere else (it's too big already). There's no structure or agenda, you order what you want, sit whereever. It's the people that make it fun, especially the supertripper stories.

Ya know, I remember at the last dinner, we were actually discussing the NEXT supertrip and PAX even before that one had started. And then we got to pick the brains of some of the enforcers about how everything is set-up and where we should go when the doors open. But I honestly never knew anybody at the table that I sat down at... and I loved it.

And I think I regaled the ironic tale of "lucky sue" to some people.

Moe Fwacky

That reminds me of when I'm up at the mic during the first G&T panel talking about the CCST and all of a sudden part of the crowd yells, "REMEMBER LUCKY SUE!"

Viscountalpha

Qs23 wrote: »

I know... Pre-PAX dinner meets musical chairs!

Otherwise, I say just order everything and ask for the bill with the food. Then you can take your food with you on your merry journey to everybody's table.

We need a buffet style or some mongolian grill action.. mmmm fresh pinapple!

whypick1

A bunch of gamers descending on a Mongolian grill like a bunch of, er, Mongolians, sounds awesome.

ctishman

We must all grow long fu-manchu moustaches (yes, even the women) and wear silk pillbox hats in bright colors.

neville

Is there a Mongolian grill in the area? There was one on broadway, but it closed ~2 years ago. Only ones I know of are on the East side... (Not to say there aren't any, but I'm not aware of any) :-/

whypick1

Well, Google Maps says the closest one is in the U-District, which would be a nightmare to mob because parking in the area is sparse (the closest lot is a good 8 blocks away, and there's no way I'd count on being able to park on the Ave).

A shame really, as we could easily occupy the whole place and eat up all the food (I think it seats 40-50, and you can go back for seconds for free).

Pinfeldorf

Just found out about PAX today, and it sounds like something I could see myself really enjoying, so I'll try to throw out some ideas that will make everybody's enjoyment the maximum allotted.

There is a Denny's-esque restaurant on Denny and 7th or so, maybe 12-14 blocks from the CC, called The Hurricane. They have live music on weekends and are open quite late. Between the dance floor and the normal restaurant I'd wager it could seat about 80 and house about 50 more (I'm sure fire codes would have a max capacity of maybe 150, 175 tops), but the place is owned by some really awesome people, who may let us rent the place out entirely. Greasy spoons with reputable food and cool owners are fairly rare, and this is a place that only drunkard locals would know about (This is me pleading the fifth, officially).

Depending on the total head count of attendees, The Hurricane could just be too small, but I feel it would be worth exploring to find out for sure.

People have mentioned Mongoloid Barbeques and stuff, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the downtown Seattle area is a bit too metropolitan to have very many places in the greater downtown area that would accomodate a crowd of this magnitude. I know many phenominal restaurants in the area, but they're all too fancy-pants.

ElectricTurtle

As much as I appreciate the enthusiasm, let me tell you that the organizer of the Pre-PAX dinner hates The Hurricane. She always refuses to go there. (I've actually been wanting to check it out myself for a long time.) I think she's afraid it's too 'hardcore' or something because she's heard horror stories about thugs hanging out there or whatever. It's almost certainly paranoia, but you try talking a stubborn woman into anything... pick your battles and all that.

(oh, and I'm sure where 24 hr. diners are concerned, Beth's Cafe > The Hurricane without a doubt.)

Pinfeldorf

The only redeeming qualities behind Beth's Cafe were the waiters/waittresses yellling obsceneties at the cooks while in customer earshot, and the fact that they were the only place besides Denny's that allowed smoking. With the smoking ban, Beth's is just a Denny's with less seats adjacent to a gay bar.

ElectricTurtle

Ooooh you're part of the blood feud. I see how it is.

As much as I'd love to see this thread deteriorate into a flame war about which obscure local 24 hr. diner is superior, I'm afraid we're just going to have to agree to disagree. (And after I had gone out of my way being so reasonable already, giving private insights into my fiance's mind. Perhaps she's right about the sort of people that go to The Hurricane...)

Pinfeldorf

Not so much a blood feud, as I've never been a smoker, and everyone in that place smoked so it was basically a huge space filled with tobacco smoke and the scent of runny eggs.

Beth's is quite far away from anywhere resembling downtown, anyways, so I'm afraid we both struck out =(

dyaballikl

Rankenphile wrote: »

I'd like to put in a vote for Buca de Beppo. It's a great place, fantastic food and terrific atmosphere, and is really set up to handle large parties, if needed. The servings are gigantic and are really designed to let everyone order something and share it all around.

bucca di beppo rocks, and great wine, but it's kinda far away, ya?
[edit] not to mention it's way too small and compartmentalized.

Methos645

This sounds great!

skwisgaar Skwigelf

I honestly cannot wait for this. I missed the dinner last year and I'll be DAMNED if I miss it again!