as posted over on OO, we chicagonites are planning a "mini-con". Since GT and OO have a long and friendly relationship, it only seems natural to let you folks in on it, too.
Update: 9/27/07
What: OctoCon Chicago 2007
When: Saturday, November 3rd, 2007, 9:00 AM to Midnight
Where: United In Faith Church, 6525 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago, IL
Why: Games, games, games!!!
Who: OOers, spouses, and friends
The Skinny:
We wanted to try and spread the gaming love beyond our Chicago borders, so we (the boardgaming contingent of the Chicago OO'ers) have broken out of our basement and into my church, and are inviting everyone here to come and play!
The Facilities:
I have acquired the use of the fellowship hall and lounge of my church for us to use for a gaming day. Cost of using said room is whatever donation you care to make, so I would like everyone attending to make a donation of some sort. Don't care how much, just a donation, however much you want to give. (Note that this is NOT manditory, just if you feel like donating, donate!)
My church also houses a food pantry that feeds a couple of hundred families on the northwest side of Chicago. I am currently working up the possibility of getting a raffle prize that we will give away for anyone making a dontation of canned goods at the door. More on this if I can get something firmed up.
The church is a converted printing plant, so the main fellowship hall is inside of the main plant space. It is large and roomy and doesn't look very church like (except for the statue of Jesus that will be staring out at the room the whole time. Hoping this might deter cheating.) We will have access to over a dozen 4X8 tables, and more could be grabbed if needed. It is totally handicap accessable. There is a soda machine in the fellowship hall that we are free to use. There is also a kitchen that is part of the hall, we should be able to use the refrigerator there for soda and snacks.
The lounge is right off of the fellowship hall, with couches and places to relax if you are not playing a game at the time. There is a 35" TV in there, so if someone so desired we could have video games running in there during the down times as well.
Food:
There are a number of restaurants in the area. Across the street is a Burger King, a Subway, a Dunkin Donuts, and a chinese fast food restaurant. Down the street is a gyros/hot dog place, a typical Chicago corner greek restaurant, a bar, and another Chinese place (non-fast food).
There are two grocery stores right by the church, a large chain store, and a smaller Polish market, for your junk food needs. You can bring your own munchies and soda in with you.
I have been thinking that we may do something like this. I would provide 3-4 dozen donuts and coffee for breakfast in the morning, on a first come first serve basis. Everyone would be responsible for their own lunch, but we have a wide selection. For dinner, we could have everyone that wants to eat chip in $5 (or whatever the total may be) and we would order a bunch of Giordano's Chicago Style pizzas for a buffet dinner. But like I said, that's just an idea at this point, we could once again disperse and have everyone do their own thing for dinner.
Alcohol:
I'm still waiting to hear if we could have beer in the church. Lutherans generally like beer, but i need to hear from the church council/building committee to see if there is an insurance liability if we do that.
Regardless, there are a number of neighborhood-style bars and pubs around the church.
Lodging:
Link to Google Maps showing hotels in the areaI've checked out a couple of no-name hotels in the area. Most are kinda on the rundown side, but are probably fine, in the general sense of the term.
The closest motel is the LP Motel, 4605 N Harlem Ave, Harwood Heights. Room rate is $65 a night for two queen beds. This motel is about 5 minutes from the church. Number for the motel is (708) 457-0600. No guarantees about quality, it looks pretty beat up and run down from the outside.
However, if you are wanting to go the inexpensive route, I'd recommend the Motel 6 at 9408 Lawrence Ave in Schiller Park. It's also $65 a night for two queen beds. Disadvantage is that it is more like 15-20 minutes from the church. If I were coming here and didn't want to stay in a fancier hotel, that would be my first choice. Phone number is (847) 671-4282.
If you want to stay someplace with historic significance, why not stay at the hotel were OJ cut his hand on the broken piece of glass, and not on a big old butcher knife? Stay at the Ramada Plaza O'Hare! 5615 N. Cumberland Ave., Chicago, IL
(773) 693-5800. No idea about rates, but, here's another little secret...you'll be staying mere minutes away from where John Wayne Gacy lived!!!
Otherwise, lots of hotel choices all very close because we are near O'Hare. Just look at the map link I provided and use whatever cheap lodging deals you can find!
List of games so far:
Talisman - Zarathud
Game of Thrones - Snow
Tide of Iron - Snow
Call of Cthulhu RPG - Snow
AT-43 - Friend of Zarathud's
Tannhauser - Hentzau
Heroscape - Chaosraven and Hentzau
Arkham Horror - Hepcat
Would like to see run:
Cosmic Encounters
Twilight Imperium III (was said almost in jest, but I'll throw this out there anyway...)
Last Days on Earth
Open Pick up and Play games:
Carcassonne
Munchkin
Apples to Apples
Cineplexity
Attendees:
Confirmed:
Hentzau
Hepcat
Jeff V
Snow
Seppe
Zarathud
Chaosraven
Thinking about it
Zaxxon
Remus West
Lord Mortis
JimDave
ImLawBoy
Stimpy
Windows95
Orgull
Archinerd
(plus some random other non-OO folks)
If I misinterpreted anyone's status, please let me know.
More info as we go along!!!
