Get on the Bus!

[tabannon]

Detroit is talking about chartering a bus to travel from the Midwest to ABQ. We've been discussing this in our Midwest Poetry Slam League listserve, but I wanted to throw out the idea here for anyone not in Slam League who might want to ride.

Things to know:
1) We don't have a price yet.
2) We want to limit the number of stops overall and also how far off a general straight-line route we go.
3) You would have to find your own way to/from a drop-off point.

Todd Bannon

[cynthia]

Interesting idea...for Minneapolis, it would depend on how long the trip would take - my poets probably couldn't want to take too many more days off.  Do you have an idea at all of when the bus would be taking off?  We thought about doing this same thing for people that wanted to go to volunteer...but no one wanted to take the time to plan it.  lol.

[tabannon]

The trip is pretty much 24 hours from Detroit. We're thinking it's going to leave from Columbus. I'm not sure where you up northers would catch the bus. Chicago? I don't know.

I'm not in charge of it, so I'm not sure what time it would leave. I'm assuming it would leave late night Monday or early morning Tuesday so we could make it by Wednesday morning. On the way out, I bet we leave Sunday morning early or even Saturday night late (although it would suck to leave the party early). I'm thinking the going back is going to be the issue. I bet a lot of people need to be at work Monday morning.

I will keep this list updated as decisions are made. I can also put you in touch with the organizers as well.

Todd Bannon

[cynthia]

Thanks Todd...we're going to have to decline as we have a going away show on Monday night.  But let me know the info once it's available in case I have any volunteers that want to have the option...i know a couple want to go, but are low on the cash flow.

Cyn

[tabannon]

Okay Everyone,

Here's the breakdown.  The prices are ridiculous but if we get enough
people, we can pull it off.  We calculated 220-$250 per person which
is better than the $350 (minimum) for airfare (not including
discounts for non-profits or other agency discounts).  If you want
the total cost, you can do the math  If you can find a cheaper
airline ticket then let me know.

The name of the charter is Blue Line Tours.  We would leave on August
8, 2005 (7:00am) from Detroit and depart on August 14, 2005 (2:00pm)
from Albuquerque. We won't get home until August 15, 2005. I doubt
which city we leave from is going to cut travel time because the
buses only go about 65miles/hr.  So plan for 22-25 hrs on the bus.  I
didn't ask about TV/VCR because I just need to know who would be
interested in going at this time.  The bus can't be used while we're
in town but we're not going to use it anyway.

The trip is straight through and the price per person covers the
transportation and the driver's hotel (1 room for all).  We have 50
seats available.  The policy is %10 down upon confirmation and full
payment is due July 1, 2005.

If this is something everyone is down for then I need to know like
within the next 14 days.  AND SOMEBODY BRING A GUITAR

-C

PS. I'm still shopping for cheaper quotes.  I'm hoping to use one
quote against another so pray for me.

[tabannon]

Christina just wrote me and I will paste it below, but let me emphasize that we need a lot more people to make it work. If you're interested get back to Christina ASAP.

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So this is not official yet because you're the only team that confirmed tickets.  The price, as of now, is $210 per person because I got a quote for ruffly 10,000.  It includes, a bathroom, use of the bus while in town, TV/VCR, the room & board of the drivers, and the distance is about 25hrs.  Also they can stop anywhere

---- ---- ---- --- --- --- --- ---

Christina's e-mail is: poeticplatinum02@yahoo.com

Todd Bannon

[Stefan Sencerz]

If it is 220-$250 per person, if 5-6 folks from one city are coming down, it may be cheaper and more comfortable to rent a van. Just saying...

[tabannon]

The bus idea really wasn't for cost-effectiveness over driving. It's cheaper than flying, but not driving. However, the advantage of the bus is no one has to drive and there would be lots of poets together having fun on the road. It's all about the Midwest love.

However...it looks like we're not getting enough people to sign up. We may not be going this route anyway.

Todd Bannon
Kalamazoo