ASLOK XXXI Official TD AAR

Bret Hildebran

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Stopped by the hotel today in the early afternoon to see how things were going and check out the state of the hotel. Around 25'ish in by the time I left near 3PM including a few who didn't pre-reg which would bring our official count to 129 to date. Lots of games ongoing. World out to a 2-0 early lead, but it's still early at least. The World may be getting a little over confident as 2 perennial World MVP candidates were throwing down against each other as Hennie van der Salm & Philippe Briaux were poised to play. I told Wild Bill that was clearly a World Loss in the making :)

Hotel is in the middle of a refurb and not as done as I'd hoped, but should likely provide the facilities we need for the week. The biggest impact/annoyance may be the lack of luggage carts. They are using dollies as a substitute and they work, but are a little small. They did say that they have workers standing by to help if needed. So if you're at 5PP and looking at a minimum move, add an SMC (or 2) to help with your portaging needs.

Breakfast is setup in the hallway outside the elevator with a temporary bar on the way in selling drinks/sandwiches. Right now we have 3 large rounds setup in front of the bar for breakfast gathering - as the week goes on we may evolve that if we need the space and depending on how folks are eating breakfast. Breakfast is either 7-9AM or 6-9AM depending on the day - when you check in the welcome letter has the schedule.

The hotel is running a makeshift front desk by the elevators which is the temporary main entrance for now. It sounds like we're nearly the only ones at the hotel so rooms should be available - if you have trouble booking at all, let me know and I can make sure, but I've been told we shouldn't have a problem with rooms at the moment.

The hotel was having some issues with lighting which they are trying to address. They indicated they will have lamps available to borrow and extension cords for folks that need them. If you have any lighting issues let us know and we can work on addressing them.

They are running bathrooms out of the 5th floor instead of on the 6th like normal. The Hospitality suite is on the 4th floor. There should be a microwave in there as well as the one on the main floor. Do note the hotel is NO SMOKING at all, so the burning wreck room is no more...

The hotel rooms looked nice & offer a pretty nice TV for a hotel and if the Guide is legit, lots of channels, although I didn't surf them all to verify they are real.

Overall, I'm not thrilled about the refurb not being done, but I think we'll make do, although I fear we won't have any amazing horror stories like the subterranean excavation from the last ASLOK Hotel refurb...
 

rdw5150

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walking down a flight of stairs to pee..... dully noted: do not wait until the last minute.

<SIGH> no luggage carts? WTF just dig the old ones out :cool::D

Peace

Roger
 

ActionBurk

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Can't be worse than Brookpark and Hell's Kitchen. Good gunnin' to you all!!
 

bendizoid

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I'm still hoping for a 'disco explosion' at 1am. The tables will shake like one of those electronic football games.
 

Bret Hildebran

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Apparently the luggage carts got trashed in the renovation and they can't get new ones quickly. Seems odd to me, but I have to admit, I know nothing about the luggage cart business. They have some construction like dollies which were usable, but it likely took me 2 trips what I could have overstuffed 1 luggage cart with before. Certainly mildly annoying, but...Not exactly the end of the world.
 

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One of the most difficult jobs for a TD is finding a suitable venue for the event. Bret has done a great job for the last ten years so cut him some slack this year.

The lack of carbonated beverages on site may be a nuisance but the men represented by your cardboard counters would probably have made due.

Enjoy the camaraderie, the venue has been much worse.
 
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Bret Hildebran

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No last minute date change? No African drums next door? No snow?
What kind of fly-by-night operation are you running, Hildebran?
Well it is Cleveland, so I can't rule out snow by the end of the week. Matching the snowpocalypse you guys pulled off in Bowie this year could be tough though...MMP set the bar pretty high there.
 

Bret Hildebran

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Can't be worse than Brookpark and Hell's Kitchen. Good gunnin' to you all!!
Brookpark did set the bar pretty low. Although the strippers in the halls did provide a certain "ambiance" I guess :) And I did like the taco place right next door...
 

rdw5150

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Apparently the luggage carts got trashed in the renovation and they can't get new ones quickly. Seems odd to me, but I have to admit, I know nothing about the luggage cart business. They have some construction like dollies which were usable, but it likely took me 2 trips what I could have overstuffed 1 luggage cart with before. Certainly mildly annoying, but...Not exactly the end of the world.
multiple trips, no big deal, just annoying......... still seems odd to me as well (no carts).

All things being equal it cannot be as bad as the last year at the previous hotel.

Peace

Roger
 

Pitman

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multiple trips, no big deal, just annoying......... still seems odd to me as well (no carts).

All things being equal it cannot be as bad as the last year at the previous hotel.

Peace

Roger
So far I would say it is worse. There were bathrooms with soap and paper towels at the jackhammer hotel. And there were luggage carts. And there were coke machines.
 

rdw5150

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all good points, but it was also dirty as hell and I had to switch rooms when my toilet stopped working, that was a PITA.

The one toilet for all those dudes is gonna be an issue. That thing will be nasty by end of the day. I see myself going to my room a lot.

Peace

Roger
 

ActionBurk

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Stopped by the hotel today in the early afternoon to see how things were going and check out the state of the hotel. Around 25'ish in by the time I left near 3PM including a few who didn't pre-reg which would bring our official count to 129 to date. Lots of games ongoing. World out to a 2-0 early lead, but it's still early at least. The World may be getting a little over confident as 2 perennial World MVP candidates were throwing down against each other as Hennie van der Salm & Philippe Briaux were poised to play. I told Wild Bill that was clearly a World Loss in the making :)

Hotel is in the middle of a refurb and not as done as I'd hoped, but should likely provide the facilities we need for the week. The biggest impact/annoyance may be the lack of luggage carts. They are using dollies as a substitute and they work, but are a little small. They did say that they have workers standing by to help if needed. So if you're at 5PP and looking at a minimum move, add an SMC (or 2) to help with your portaging needs.

Breakfast is setup in the hallway outside the elevator with a temporary bar on the way in selling drinks/sandwiches. Right now we have 3 large rounds setup in front of the bar for breakfast gathering - as the week goes on we may evolve that if we need the space and depending on how folks are eating breakfast. Breakfast is either 7-9AM or 6-9AM depending on the day - when you check in the welcome letter has the schedule.

The hotel is running a makeshift front desk by the elevators which is the temporary main entrance for now. It sounds like we're nearly the only ones at the hotel so rooms should be available - if you have trouble booking at all, let me know and I can make sure, but I've been told we shouldn't have a problem with rooms at the moment.

The hotel was having some issues with lighting which they are trying to address. They indicated they will have lamps available to borrow and extension cords for folks that need them. If you have any lighting issues let us know and we can work on addressing them.

They are running bathrooms out of the 5th floor instead of on the 6th like normal. The Hospitality suite is on the 4th floor. There should be a microwave in there as well as the one on the main floor. Do note the hotel is NO SMOKING at all, so the burning wreck room is no more...

The hotel rooms looked nice & offer a pretty nice TV for a hotel and if the Guide is legit, lots of channels, although I didn't surf them all to verify they are real.

Overall, I'm not thrilled about the refurb not being done, but I think we'll make do, although I fear we won't have any amazing horror stories like the subterranean excavation from the last ASLOK Hotel refurb...
Bret the only influx of guests might occur when the Tribe starts post season play on the 6th.
 

ActionBurk

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all good points, but it was also dirty as hell and I had to switch rooms when my toilet stopped working, that was a PITA.

The one toilet for all those dudes is gonna be an issue. That thing will be nasty by end of the day. I see myself going to my room a lot.

Peace

Roger
You're supposed to use your helmet!!
 

rdw5150

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One of the most difficult jobs for a TD is finding a suitable venue for the event. Bret has done a great job for the last ten years so cut him some slack this year.

The lack of carbonated beverages on site may be a nuisance but the men represented by your cardboard counters would probably have made due.

Enjoy the camaraderie, the venue has been much worse.
I hope I did not sound like I was bashing brett's efforts, I assure you I am not. I appreciate his efforts with ASLOK (and the even itself) more than I can say.

Brett had to rely on the information he was being given. Nothing he can could do about it. From what I hear the biggest problem is the bathroom. The rest is just sort of a bummer.

Peace

Roger
 

Aaron Cleavin

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World Cup is Currently 7-2 World at end of Sunday.

I am 3-1 having played great games vs John Stttadick, Stan Jackson and Ray Wolozyn yesterday.

Won Slamming the Door against John Staddick as the German, and Dare Death & the Iron Division vs Ray Wolozyn. Ray pivoted his Japanese 3 times in 4 times and eventually broke to many Japanese ankles in so doing but kept in it till the end. In Slamming the Door the German 50mm Mortar Immobilized 2 different T26's in 2 shots and the remaining platoon members then refused to move, this and my drawing 4 Black chit in a row from an 8/4 draw pile meant John had little chance, but he was very gentlmenly about the outrageous fortune
DB 131 A Thorne in the Side was a great game vs Stan Jackson, with Stan just pumping to many good 75mm Sherman shells at me for my Japanese to survive, A nice scenario and well played to Stan.
 

Aaron Cleavin

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Wild Bill's summation of the state of play to date

"I was surprised to see two games in Progress by 6:45am on Sunday"

"What a chipper bunch"
 

ActionBurk

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I hope I did not sound like I was bashing brett's efforts, I assure you I am not. I appreciate his efforts with ASLOK (and the even itself) more than I can say.


Brett had to rely on the information he was being given. Nothing he can could do about it. From what I hear the biggest problem is the bathroom. The rest is just sort of a bummer.

Peace

Roger
Nope, didn't sound like that to me. Hope everyone can overlook the inconveniences and enjoy themselves.
 

Aaron Cleavin

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BREXIT is however having a huge Military impact, no British ASL players at ASLOK this year!

Donald Trump may actually be correct in saying certain NATO allies are not pulling their weight :)
 
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