Chicago Gathering November 12th - time to get psyched...

Ok, people. The Chicago Gathering is just around the corner, so I thought I'd start a new thread to coordinate final details (instead of burying it in the earlier one).

Officially (in of course, an unofficial capacity) we'll be getting together Saturday, November 12th and Sunday, November 13th (ooh, Sunday the 13th - I'm nervous already...). Keep in mind some of us (like me) may be in town both before and after those dates.

As of now, the plan is for all of us to meet up at the Westin Chicago River North lobby/lounge Saturday morning:

http://www.westinchicago.com/

Last year I think we made the time fairly late, like 11ish???, mostly to accomodate those that were driving into town from the burbs and points beyond. This year I imagine we'll do the same...

Also, last year the first thing we decided to do after walking around a bit was have lunch :) , so if your idea is to get as much shooting in as possible (mine isn't, btw), then by all means feel free to get an early start on your own and meet up with the group at a later point in the day.

Anyway, if you'd like to be included in the Official Chicago Gathering grapevine loop (in again, an unofficial capacity), please email me at photoasylum@yahoo.com and give me a rough idea of what your itinerary is.

IMPORTANT: If you want to be reachable while in town (or on the road), please include your mobile phone number (which I WILL NOT share with anybody).

As for dinner Saturday evening, in the past we've made elaborate plans, with reservations and the whole nine yards, and each time it seemed to unravel at the last moment. Last year we played it by ear, just found a spot spontaneously, and it worked out great. I assume we'll give that try again this time. Dress is absolutely casual...

Finally, we'll be having a print exchange again this year. Don't worry, participation is purely voluntary, and there are no set rules. Basically (if you want) bring prints (any size) of your favorite work, enough to give one to everyone else there (we'll have a head count by the weekend), and exchange them for prints from the others. Some bring a large assortment of images, some bring multiple copies of one photo...

That's all I can think of for now. We'll discuss more details in the next week. FWIW, I'm kind of working this thing from the outside (think of me as the Gathering Den Mutha), and Steve (another view) is our point man in town. So any questions, feel free to ask either of us...

Can't wait to see old faces (I mean that figuratively, not literally, heh heh), and meet new ones! :cool:

Am I psyched? In the immortal words of Napoleon Dynamite, "Heck Yeah!". :)

I "unstuck" the Official Chicago Gathering Thread, but click here to view that thread if you need it. Let's put any new replies in this thread though - just to keep everything together.

Steve, I'll email you tonight with my cell # although you may already have it. When we get a few people emailing, we can probably do a "reply to all" to pass info around. Feel free to pass my cell # to anyone attending, too. I'm flexible about dinner, and maybe doing this approach again is best. I'm staying at the Westin, so no complaints from me about meeting there. ;) Let's do 11:00 again because I (and I'm sure others) will be coming in that morning. From there, we can figure out where we're headed to and stop for lunch on the way.

I'll be glad to be a part of the print exchange, but I might just do one print to keep life easier for me. It'll be 8x12, whatever it is, and I'll do about 10 of them.

I'm in. I'll send my cell at some point. Also, 11 works for me. Print exchange is good, maybe I'll even bring mine from last year.


Now the big decision...bring the digital or the film camera I just dug out and dusted off.

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Originally Posted by adina

Now the big decision...bring the digital or the film camera I just dug out and dusted off.

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I too am thinking of shooting film this year. I would love to get some (film) grainy b&w urban landscapes, and I know it will be impossible with my DSLR.

I'll have the digicam p&s, and there's a chance I'll bring both film and digital SLRs, but I'd really rather not if I can help it...

Wow - maybe I'll have to dust off the Canonet rangefinder and bring some Tri-X... Outside of that, I'll probably bring the Coolpix instead of the DSLR. Depends on how much "stuff" I feel like carrying!

That's a plus for film as well. Much smaller and lighter.

I'm really looking forward to this event. I think I'm even going to reserve a room downtown for fun....this is assuming I won't have to go back and forth to work over the weekend.

As it turns out, this is going to be a horrible weekend for me. I have another event in Chicago I would like to attend, my brothers birthday is being celebrated around that weekend, and the BIG reason it's going to be tough is because of my job. I'm pretty sure I'll be on call the entire weekend and may even have to come in to work it all. It's just one of those things that come with the job. The timing is bad.

Anyway, it looks like I'll be intermittently around....but riding my bike downtown so I'll be very mobile! ha.

Looks like I'll be going alone, in which case I won't be in need of a marble bathroom. Any suggestions on more affordable accomodations in the area of the Westin?
Mark.

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Originally Posted by mdmc

Looks like I'll be going alone, in which case I won't be in need of a marble bathroom. Any suggestions on more affordable accomodations in the area of the Westin?
Mark.

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I totally understand that comment... ;)

There's a Holiday Inn that's close by, but only about $35 less expensive than the Westin. Downtown Chicago just is expensive.

I'd do a Travelocity search. Like most all cities, the standard rule is: the farther from the downtown tourist area, the cheaper the hotel or motel rates. The thing is, if you have to do a lot of commuting to get in and out of the city, it may be a false economy...

Plus, there are exceptions, such as newly renovated hotels downtown that are offering great rates to re-establish clientel. I took advantage of this two years in a row to get "suburban" rates at nice hotels with great downtown locations.

I'm sure there are also last minute deals on unbooked rooms around town, but you've gotta look.

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Originally Posted by adina

That's a plus for film as well. Much smaller and lighter.

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My EOS film SLR is as big or bigger than my DSLRs... :(

I've pulled out the good old original Rebel 2K. I feel like I'm playing with a toy. I've got the 50mm f/1.8 on it, and compared to the 20d with the 24-70 f/2.8, it's like holding a newborn baby after lugging my 5 yr old around (who seems to have the miraculous ailment of legs that only work sometimes)

Film, what an idea ;) I've got some Kodak B/W Portra in the 'Fridge. Need to use it eventually. If anyone wants to play with some FUJI 1600 there's most of brick of that isn't going anywhere.

I think I'll probably just shoot digital as I not sure I want to spend a lot of time scanning. Then again the convenience of P/S and smalll digicams can be attractive. Probably wait till the weather picture is a little more certain.

To be in Chicago tomorrow! Supposed to be middle 70's!!!

My schedule is a little up in the air for Friday so may come in on Saturday AM. Still shooting for Friday PM.

Looking forward to seeing the people behing the pics and posts.

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Originally Posted by drg

To be in Chicago tomorrow! Supposed to be middle 70's!...

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Well, I suppose it's way too soon to get depressed over this, eh? Last year I was bummed when it was in the 50's. Luckily, it dipped into the 40's before I had to leave... :cool:

Give it a week. We may have snow.

Pity it's such a distance for me to join in! Cant wait to "see" you all when you get back!! Have a great day!!

I'm out of the trip. We've missed so many days at school due to Hurricanes the mucky mucks have cancelled all trips till further notice.

Extreme bummer. Mayvbe next year. I hope you all have a great time.

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Originally Posted by MJS

I'm out of the trip. We've missed so many days at school due to Hurricanes the mucky mucks have cancelled all trips till further notice.

Extreme bummer. Mayvbe next year. I hope you all have a great time.

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Michael, that's too bad. Guess we'll just have to plan another Miami Gathering to make up for it... :cool:

BTW, sorry things kind of fell through regarding the summer assisting idea with your students. I ended up laying low because of the heat and working on other things up here.

But now the "season" is upon us, the weather is better, and obviously I plan on making trips to Miami again to work. So maybe we can talk about it (and other projects) again...

~~running breathlessly into thread, dropping noisily into chair~~

*whew!* I'm finally here again. Been so busy! But I'm coming! I'll most likely be coming down Sat morn. I can stay and want to stay, but don't have a room yet. Think that's a problem at this late date?

And I will not be participating in the print exchange. Just don't have it "together" yet, and don't really have a place for prints I'd bring home. It's gonna be hard, though, to watch all those great prints getting handed out. Someday ...

Can't wait!

We're ready when you are to come down our way again Steve. We're getting a list of victims from the publicity director of the school. She wants a series of environmental portraits from us for an upcoming mag about the movers and shakers that is targeting the rich alumni. Give me a yell if you still have my cell.

I'm psyched - Saturday is becoming a problem because of work, won't actually know details until this evening.

Sunday looks fine at this moment (unless we don't get done and can't deliver Saturday).

Got to run, time to reload the CD burner. A client "suddenly" needed MANY (yes I'm yelling again) copies of a job, but only 'selected' images and they picked some I needed to spend time with as it's a different format. I am going to be spending the next 48 hours or so off and on with their print house. I might even get some sleep.

More soon,

Oh, the weather looks like a nice early spring day or two this weekend for Chicago.

Steve, I haven't been saying anything here because I didn't know for sure if I'd be able to make it this weekend or not. It turns out that I will not be there, as much as I wish I could. I hope you all have a good time and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the shots you all take.

Chunk,

I was just putting together the final list now and getting ready to contact everyone. Too bad you can't make it. You'll be missed...

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Originally Posted by Chunk

Steve, I haven't been saying anything here because I didn't know for sure if I'd be able to make it this weekend or not. It turns out that I will not be there, as much as I wish I could. I hope you all have a good time and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the shots you all take.

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Steve,

Do we happen to have a list of those that we know are still making it?

Everyone,

I wanted to let you all know that I'm attending two events this weekend downtown. One is bicycle related (pretty big event for fixed gear/messenger riders) and the other is with the wonderful photogs here :) I will be around a bit intermittently because of this, so please don't wait on me or wonder what's going on. I'll be keeping in contact with Asylum Steve.

I'm looking forward to meeting new people and seeing some familiar faces!!! Definetely psyched.

Heck, the biking event could be a decent photo-op as well :) While you're around town....keep an eye out for large groups of riders that only have one gear on their bikes...especially starting at 2PM and for a few hours after that.

Trevor,

All the addresses on the email I sent you today are the ones who responded to this last thread. That includes Adina, Kelly, Steve M., and James Villa. Plus me, you, and Sebastian...

There are a few more on the bubble that haven't contacted me directly. They know the meeting place and time, so I guess we'll see...