Disney MeetsDiscuss 2007 MagicMeets Information Thread in the Vacation Planning forums; Let's see if we can use this thread to share newsletter posts. If you get one that isn't already here, please go ahead and add it for me? So..here I ...
Let's see if we can use this thread to share newsletter posts. If you get one that isn't already here, please go ahead and add it for me? So..here I go.
Walt Disney World Fans to Gather in Camp Hill, PA,
July 14, 2007
Sayreville, NJ, December 5th, 2006 -- MagicMeets.com,
organizer of the largest annual get-together
of Walt Disney World fans in the United States'
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, has announced that its
fourth annual Northeast Disney Fans Gathering will be held
Saturday, July 14, 2007, in a new location -- the recently
renovated Radisson Penn Harris Hotel and Convention Center
in Camp Hill, PA, just across the river from the state
capital, Harrisburg.
"Attendance at this event has grown rapidly in just three
years," notes Fred Block, organizer of the meet under the
auspices of MagicMeets.com (formerly DisMeets.com). "In
2004, the first get-together, held in Edison, NJ, was
attended by just 44 people. By last summer, we had a
capacity crowd of 350 at our Allentown, PA, location. We
actually had to turn away more than 100 people due to space
limitations. We don't want that to happen again."
This year's new location in Camp Hill offers more than twice
the convention space of last year's facility (over 30,000 total square feet),
so that even more Disney enthusiasts will be able to comfortably enjoy
a full day of activities. The agenda includes: special guest speakers,
contests, breakout session seminars, a children’s play area,
door prizes, pin trading, and much more. In addition, the new location
is conveniently situated just five minutes from downtown Harrisburg
and 15 minutes from the Harrisburg Airport. It is close to shopping,
golf courses, and a number of Harrisburg-area attractions, such as
Hershey Park (celebrating 100 years in 2007), Gettysburg Battlefields,
Dutch Wonderland, and Indian Echo Caverns. The Radisson Penn Harris Hotel
also offers an on-site full service restaurant (Bridges Café) and lounge
(Bridges Lounge), as well as room service, an outdoor
swimming pool, and a fitness center.
"The main goal of this gathering is to allow Disney
enthusiasts who may only know each other from email or the
Internet put faces to names," says Block, an avid Disney fan
who visits Walt Disney World several times a year with his wife
and two daughters. "This new location will provide an even greater
number of event attendees that opportunity, as well as the
chance to explore an interesting area with a number of
close-by attractions."
For more information on the fourth annual Northeast Disney
Fans Gathering, visit: http://www.magicmeets.com.
This is the year of the 2007 MagicMeet! What I expect to be the biggest and best one yet! With us having a new name and new venue there are LOTS of logistics going on behind the scenes and let me tell you, I've been REALLY busy!
In this issue:
1) Planning on coming? Book your room now!
2) Special Guests - Who's coming so far???
3) When can you sign up??
4) Sponsors - WE NEED YOU!
5) Volunteers - WE WANT YOU!
HOTEL ROOM INFORMATION
==========================
Are you planning to attend the 2007 MagicMeet? You can now book your room! The room requires a credit card to hold it but they don't actually charge to the card until we get closer to the event date. Again, this is not a pre-payment it's a hold.
We were able to negotiate a fantastic group rate for those attending. The rack rate is $162 and up plus tax per night. Our group rate is $119 per night plus tax! This covers rooms booked for Thursday 7/12, Friday 7/13, Saturday 7/14, and Sunday 7/15. At this time, there is no option to book online. Please note that there is a best rate of $129 on the Radisson website but it requires payment at the time of booking and you cannot cancel without losing at least 1 night payment.
I ask for those considering attending and staying overnight to please use our group code when booking your rooms. You should know that by doing so, you are helping us keep our costs down. If we don't sustain a minimum block of rooms there are substantial fees that would need to be paid for the ballrooms we will use for the event. Fees that we can fully or partially avoid paying depending on the size of our room block.
Please also consider coming in the night before the meet (Friday) and staying through Sunday. We may have something special planned for Friday night. Perhaps an exclusive pre-meet hospitality event. More details on that later. Make a family weekend of it all. The hotel is 20 minutes away from Hershey Park. I am working with Hershey to arrange for a group rate. More info on that later as well.
For those that are coming from far far away, (hehe) the hotel has complimentary transportation to and from the local airport for guests that are staying overnight at the hotel.
Ok, ready to book? Call: (717) 763-7117 and be sure to mention the group code when booking. It's really easy! The code is "MagicMeets".
WHO'S COMING SO FAR?
==========================
We've been working hard at making this event the most that it can be! So far we have quite a few people that have committed to coming to this year's event! Many of them are veterans of past year events. I should add that for now, this list is tentative. Many of our special guests have stated they will or may be attending but we are still firming up the commitments.
Some of our guests include:
Deb Wills (3rd Year) - Founder of AllearsNet.com and Publisher of the All Ears® weekly newsletter. Author of "PassPorter's Walt Disney World for Your Special Needs"
Lou Mongello (4th Year) - Author of "The Walt Disney World Trivia Book Volumes 1 and 2" and owner of "DisneyWorldTrivia.com"
John Rick (4th Year) - Founder of the Central Jersey Disney Pin Traders
Mike Scopa (2nd year) - MousePlanet.com Columnist and Co-Host at wdwtoday.com
Steve Barret (2nd year) - Author of "Hidden Mickeys, A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets"
Sharla Whalen (3rd Year) - Author of the upcoming book, "A Scrapbooker's Guide to Walt Disney World" to be published in 2007.
Tim Foster - (1st Year) - Author of "Walt Disney World Resort Guide to the Magic" and owner of "GuidetotheMagic.com".
We plan to add to the list soon so keep your eyes peeled for our next newsletter.
THE REGISTRATION SYSTEM
==========================
We are beta testing the new registration system. It's not quite ready but we are REALLY close. There will be a few new features added but we are spreading those out so we can get everyone signed up. I know I know...many of you have been asking when. Right now I can say...SOON! Maybe we'll have it ready within a few days. With football playoffs taking a lot of my time this weekend (Go Giants and Go Jets!) I am hesitant to promise anything. I know my friend Mike Scopa will be cheering on his hometown Patriots too!
SPONSORS
==========================
We can't do this event without sponsors anymore. Last year they really made a difference in the overwhelming success of the 2006 Fans Gathering. This year will be no different. With the new (larger) venue, our sponsors will be essential to help defray the costs involved. If you would like to sponsor the event please email fred@magicmeets.com to discuss further. There are several ways to sponsor. Communities, authors, and more can elect to attend and create a presence with a 6 foot table or you can elect to sponsor in print advertising without attending. (but why would you want to do that?)
VOLUNTEERS
==========================
Yup! We'll need them! I firmly believe that much of my event's success comes from my volunteers that work so hard to make it a great day!!! Remember....my volunteers pay to get in to the event just like everyone else does and still give it their all without complaint. If you are interested in volunteering, send an email over to Colleen as she will be in charge of the volunteers again this year. You can email her at colleen@magicmeets.com.
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading. Till next time!
Fred Block
MagicMeets Founder and Senior Event Coordinator
Warning: I am REALLY tired right now. PLEASE forgive any typos and my really bad attempts at humor.
In this issue:
1) Ready...set....REGISTER! WOOHOO!
2) Going...going...GONE! DWT Auction Returns!
3) Userbars! Spread the word!
4) Sponsor rates and information now available.
5) Another call for Volunteers.
Ready...set....REGISTER! WOOHOO!
=============================
Ok it's what you've all been waiting for! It's here! It's better than ever! It's....well....it's the registration system. How do you hype up something that takes your name and address...blah blah??? Well it's the ONE thing that most people have been asking for over the past month. (Besides how much it will cost to get in. Budgets...UGG!)
Please note that this is a completely new database. if you've attended a previous meet, you will still need to create a new account in the system. This is because we made a few changes to the system that required database modifications.
Aside from that, it's all pretty easy to figure out. Please read the terms and conditions before creating your account.
The first account to be made will be the master record holder. This person adds attendees to the master reservation and is the one that is responsible for paying for all of the people on that reservation. If you DO NOT want that, I suggest that you split up the reservation so there are two (or more) people that will be responsible for their own attendees and payments.
Did I say payments? Well...we're not ready for that yet. One thing I CAN say is we are going to be a bit higher than last year. The new venue and the plans I have in the works just wont allow for me to keep the price the same. I have a goal of less than $50 per adult as of right now. Sorry I can't give you much more but at least this sets some expectations for those that are planning on attending.
"How are you going to top last year's event Fred?" It's a question that has been asked of me several times since the meet. Without bragging or anything, it did go pretty smoothly. Almost like clockwork. Almost. There's always things we do to try to make it better but some things need to be left alone. A delicate balance I must say.
This year WILL be better. I FEEL IT! Can YOU feel it too? I KNOW you can. Let me tell ya...I know how to throw a party! (with a lot of help from my friends of course!) The word about the event is spreading and more and more people are joining the mailing list.
Speaking of the mailing list, we have almost 1000 people on this year's list already! 1000 people! Wow...just typing that right now made the hair on the back of my neck stand up!
Like Virginia Slims, I've come a long way baby (ok how many people get that?) from my first event. 44 people came to my first meet in Edison, NJ. This year we could be looking at 400 to 500. What kind of growth percentage is that? I failed math so don't ask me.
Before you go though, read on to the end of this message please.
Going...going...GONE! DWT Auction Returns!
=============================
I am EXTREMELY proud to announce that the crew at DisneyWorldTrivia.com have officially announced that they are going for ROUND 2 of the wonderful auction they did at last year's event.
The DisneyWorldTrivia.com Dream Team recently presented a $3,500 check to the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation to send two pediatric cancer patients and their families on a Walt Disney World vacation. The check amount was the result of monetary donations from DisneyWorldTrivia.com members, revenues generated by last year's auction of over 60 Disney-related items and collectibles at the Allentown,PA MagicMeet, and a portion of the proceeds from every purchase of DisneyWorldTrivia.com logo merchandise made from the web site. Lou Mongello, DisneyWorldTrivia.com owner and Web master, spearheaded the fundraising effort, which also resulted in the donation of two huge Disney tote bags filled with Disney-related items for children.
How much will they raise this year? IT MUST BE MORE THAN LAST YEAR! I am counting on all of those planning to attend to bring large bags of cash to make sure the amount is much higher this year. Lou and Pat have assured me that there will be LOTS of items this year with a variety of high and low priced merchandise so everyone can get in on the fun.
Help spread the word! Userbars!
==========================
I created some UserBars for MagicMeets. Add them to your email and
forums/community signatures to get the word out about MagicMeets!
SPONSORS - Rate sheet is now available!
==========================
We can't do this event without sponsors anymore. Last year they really made a difference in the overwhelming success of the 2006 Fans Gathering. This year will be no different. With the new (larger) venue, our sponsors will be essential to help defray the costs involved. If you would like to sponsor the event please email fred@magicmeets.com to discuss further. There are several ways to sponsor. Communities, authors, and more can elect to attend and create a presence with a 6 foot table or you can elect to sponsor in print advertising without attending. (but why would you want to do that?)
VOLUNTEERS - THIS MEANS YOU!
==========================
Yup! We'll need them! I firmly believe that much of my event's success comes from my volunteers that work so hard to make it a great day!!! Remember....my volunteers pay to get in to the event just like everyone else does and still give it their all without complaint. If you are interested in volunteering, send an email over to Colleen as she will be in charge of the volunteers again this year. You can email her at colleen@magicmeets.com.
Uhh....what time is it? Seeing three of everything. I better quit while I'm ahead. Thanks for reading everyone!
Fred Block
MagicMeets Founder and Senior Event Coordinator
I am being interviewed for the WDWToday podcast on Thursday. When that episode airs, there might be a tidbit or two of new info you might be interested in. Let's just say I'd listen if "I" were you!
************************
Aside from that, we are finalizing the budget tonight or tomorrow which means we should be ready to start accepting payments very soon.
Last edited by MickeyBabe; 02-02-2007 at 02:45 PM.
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I know my friend Mike Scopa will be cheering on his hometown Patriots too!
Great job, Fred the Great!
AKQJ10 
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