Thank you!!!

Kristie

Kristie

Mama Bear....
Staff member
Without you all, there would be no NJC to plan and altho the planning can get a bit tough sometimes, it really warms me up (esp in that COLD of a rroooom hehe) to see everyone having such a good time and making some great memories that will last forever. It was absolutely incredible to meet everyone, put faces to names and continue to improve the JC in-person social network. :D

a HUGE Thank You to all who donated in the donation jar...we really appreciated it! :D

Now, in lieu of that, I need ya'll to give us some constructive critisism about the events... what you liked, what you didn't... don't spare any details and don't worry about our feelings... there's no complaint we can't "take" and the only reason we need your critique is so we can continue to STRIVE for improvement each and every year.

Some things we were talking about in the car on the way back home included:
- adding a pilot to controller roundtable
- adding a roundtable specifically for Dr. Forred (medical related)
- possibly moving NJC to Seattle or Phoenix as a "change of pace"
- Moving all of the events to later in the day (thereby adding a day of things to do...Sun, Mon & Tues or Mon, Tues & Wed)
- changing the 9FI venue next year to someplace new
- putting all tours on one day only
- adding Nellis Thunderbirds Tour
- adding a course or two, like CRM or something like that
- separate restaurant checks (always) for groups larger than 4
- booking a suite and having food/beverage catered in....or booking a condo
- changing the way we do registration and sending out of the itinerary/contact list etc....

so...give us your best shot and don't say "everything was cool" if it wasn't. we need to know.

a couple things i already heard:
- the sahara rooms stunk...well, for $60, yea, they're not going to be like Planet Hollywood...I try to get the rooms as inexpensive as i can.
- the Golden Room was too big....understandable and at the time we booked, we didn't know what would be happening with the change in the industry
- the room was too cold...I totally agree, next time, i will make sure to ask how we can modify the temperature
- MGM tour too early... that makes sense since it was the day after the big party and we'll discuss putting all tours on one day or moving everything to late-morning times or something along those lines
- roundtable was too early, lots of yawning... we'll look into that as well as change in time or what not. The reason we put the party on monday is so we could use the AV equipment and we couldn't afford the AV equipment for 2 full days. so we really had no choice but to have the party on monday night.
- event location a bit too far away from main strip area...yea, we're going to look into getting back down into the location we mostly hang out (4 corners). we might put the event at the MGM but have rooms at the Hawthorne across the street or see if Planet Hollywood is open and what their prices are.

Thanks! We both really hope to see you ALL again next year... we had a GREAT new faces turnout and i hope to see the same thing happen again next year as the industry starts to turn around.

I *personally* had a GREAT time and loved meeting and talking to everyone....the pics, so far (that i've seen) are absolutely priceless! HAHA

also....if anyone that was at NJC decides to make a trip or layover down to the phx area, let us know... we'd be happy to set up a M&G and see ya'll again anytime!! :nana2:

Let's discuss how we want 2009 to go because i want to make it fun for you and *easy* for me... HAHHAHA
 
The upside to Seattle is that there are a couple of really good Indian casinos in town for the folks who like to gamble. However...there's NO place like Vegas. Seattle can be a bid dicey for non-revving to. LAS is better for that, probably PHX, too.

I wonder if ACY could be an option?
 
Thank you, Kristie and Doug!




Well if it's not in Vegas next year, someone better get me a job with nonrev privileges! :)

The hike was a great idea, even though I missed it (A chance for real get-to-know-you without alcohol.)

No early-morning anything.
 
Here's a location idea...

It's the one party town I've ever cited as being BETTER than Vegas-


New Orleans! Not only is it a rockin' town with serious heart and soul, it's not that expensive on the grand scale. MSY shouldn't be THAT hard to get into for non-revvers, I think.

Thoughts?
 
Firebird2XC said:
Here's a location idea...

It's the one party town I've ever cited as being BETTER than Vegas-


New Orleans! Not only is it a rockin' town with serious heart and soul, it's not that expensive on the grand scale. MSY shouldn't be THAT hard to get into for non-revvers, I think.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
That's not a bad idea... the city is trying to lure conventioneers back so there may be some decent discounts too.
 
ACY would be best during the summer months so those JC'ers who want to, could take advantage of the Jersey Shore and the boardwalk. Oh yeah, there's mini-golf right there on the boardwalk as well and I offer a challenge to anyone who dares! :D ;)
 
New Orleans would definitely be cool. As for ACY, IMO you might as well do Vegas again...it's much better and easier to get to.
 
I'd agree that Vegas is getting a bit old. The issue I have with MSY is that other than the Bourbon Street scene, there isn't much else to do there. My vote (and I blame Seggy for this idea) is for San Diego.
 
BobDDuck said:
I'd agree that Vegas is getting a bit old. The issue I have with MSY is that other than the Bourbon Street scene, there isn't much else to do there. My vote (and I blame Seggy for this idea) is for San Diego.
Click to expand...

:yeahthat: San Diego would be pretty sweet. The wx is top notch and hotels are priced well. SEA would also be a good choice due to all the aviation history. A Boeing tour would be awesome.
 
My thoughts.

First we all owe a HUGE thanks to Doug and Kristie for making this happen. With their hard work they are shaping the careers of many of us coming up in aviation. Thank you.

ACY, forget it. Almost impossible to nonrev to. MSY, nope, to much of a party type place. We need to focus on why we go to NJC. To network, educate ourselves, and enhance our careers.

This is what I would like to see.

First off a professional speaker at the event speaking about something related to aviation. Captain Al Haynes was an unbelievable experience. We where truly fortunate to have him speak to us. I am sure there are some ex-astronauts, writers for 'Flying' Magazine, etc that would speak to our group about a specific topic. I would like to see a professional speaker so much that I would much rather have a cash bar at the main event rather than an open bar if we could bring in a good speaker.

Speaking of which, no matter what, I think the facility that we have it at, tends the bar. Much less of a liability.

If we change it to another place besides Vegas, I think it would need to happen from a Thursday to Sunday. In other cities, Sunday through Wednesday are big convention nights, so hotels would be expensive.

I would like to see San Diego. Here is why. First off, easy and inexpensive to get to. Secondly, I think the possibility of some exciting tours are there. SAN is the busiest single runway airport in the world. Imagine an ATC tour there? We have a variety of military instillations that hopefully, someone would be able arrange a tour with. I am sure there are some other things aviation related that we can come up with.

Ok what about hotels? I have stayed at the...

http://manchestergrand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp

numerous times on a priceline bid for about $80.00 a night on Thursday, Friday, and Sat nights.

When a hotel is offering a priceline bid, they have a ton of availability. Obviously we would need to book the hotel ahead of time, but I think we would be able to negotiate a group rate of around $100.00, especially if we rent a room, catering, etc. Hotels are going to be hurting in this economy and I think there are going to be deals to be made.

We can have a BBQ on the bay, easy beach access, and a wide variety of other options.

My simple thoughts. Doug or Kristie, if you need help contacting the Manchester Grand or other hotels to get things going, let me know.
 
Qgar said:
Oh yeah, there's mini-golf right there on the boardwalk as well and I offer a challenge to anyone who dares! :D ;)
Click to expand...

Careful what you wish for. One bad hole can KILL you!

Back on topic, SAN is a great convention place. You could probably convince the PAO on NAS North Island to give you a bus tour. And individual Squadron PAOs would probably give you squadron tours. Of course, there's just S-3s, Helicopters and 737s there.

You might get the same deal up as MCAS Miramar if you want to tour Marine fighters.
 
SAN is a great idea. Especially if we can arrange to stay in the Gaslamp District as there will be less need for rental cars. SAN has a cool aviation museum in Balboa Park, the zoo, and lots of aviation opportunities (both military & civilian. Not to mention its an easier trip for Mr. & Mrs. Taylor.
 
I already told Kristie a lot of this - but here's my thoughts:

I thought this year was awesome. I LOVED having everything in one place, and I really enjoyed the Sahara. Our room wasn't anything special, but it wasn't bad either, and for $40-50, I'm not really expecting much more than a Motel 6. Plus, the hotel is really nothing more than a place for your drunk ass to crash at the end of the night!

I loved that Sahara is a small casino so it wasn't super crowded with a ton of people, I liked having the cheap gambling that is MUCH harder to find (and more crowded tables) farther down the strip. I loved being on the monorail, I really had no problems taking that around to get down to 9FI or to anywhere else. It's a 15min trip down the strip.

I liked having the big room, even though it was a little chilly it was better than in past years when it was SUPER hot in the suites at the Bellagio. It was also nice because I didn't feel so crowded/cramped. I agree with Seggy that we should have a tended bar to limit our liability.

I vote for the Sahara again, for everything :) But if you want someplace else, we also saw the Marriott near the LAS convention center (which is also on the monorail!) and they might be a little bit cheaper because they are "off strip" but honestly, I think we spent $137 for the 3 nights we were there, and I couldn't ask for a better deal.

The other thing to think about with costs is that there are a lot of flight instructors and first year guys on the site who are coming to NJC and they can't afford hotel rooms that are $100+ for each night. I know we certainly couldn't afford that this year, which would have led us to find someplace else to stay. I like having everyone in one place - we were able to meet up with Dazzler and his wife, and Tony for breakfast yesterday bfore we left which was nice. If we were all scattered in different places, that never would have happened.

I think this year was by far the best yet. It just keeps getting better :) I'm so happy to have met everyone, and I (obviously) had a great time. Thanks Dough and Kristie for being so awesome and such great mentors to everyone on this site :) I love you guys!!
 
I liked the MSY idea as well - and last call isn't until 4am.

Thinking about the aviation aspects though, SAN is pretty ideal!
 
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