Do over!! WCChicago 2010 Venue Announcement Part II

Hello Chicago WordCampers!

Thank you SO much for your patience this week! I know I mentioned I would be updating the site with additional hotel information on Monday. Monday became Tuesday, then Wednesday….and now it’s Friday already – how did that happen??

So, due to circumstances WAY beyond our control (and budget, and capacity) – I would like to introduce you to our newest venue for WordCamp Chicago 2010. Forget what we announced a couple of weeks ago about the Congress Plaza – - we have nulled our contracts with them, and have moved WordCamp Chicago down the street a little and have contracted with, and secured, a new and different venue for our event. This time it’s solid (I swear!) and we’re ready to put all planning efforts in full motion. I won’t go into details here on the reasons for the switch – - if you’re curious, ping me and I’ll fill you in… but let me just say that for a volunteer role here at WordCamp Chicago, this has become somewhat of a full time job over the last couple of weeks trying to wade through some of the issues we’re facing.

But – we’re golden now and I have tons of info for you – so without further ado….

The Chicago Mart Plaza
350 West Mart Center Drive
Chicago, IL 60654

Tel: +1 312 8365000 Fax: +1 312 2229508

View Larger Map
Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza is located atop the Apparel Center (the building with ‘CHICAGO SUN-TIMES’ sign)

We have secured the Sauganash Grand Ballroom for our event — the ballroom has the capacity for 500, and has an electronic door that we can use to split the room in half to enable us to hold two break out sessions for a User Track, and a Developers track. Sliding the wall closed takes about 20 minutes – during which time we can take a break, enjoy some breakfast and chit chat with our fellow Chicago Wordcampers:

Some quick facts:

• Find Transportation information here.
• I have provided you with a long list of area hotels within walking distance of the venue – the venue, itself, does NOT have rooms available and , as such, we were not able to contract with them for special rates for our group (sorry!)
• Driving direction and different ways to get to the Chicago Mart Plaza can be found here
• WordCamp Chicago will provide a nice continental breakfast on BOTH mornings – lunch is still up in the air.
• Registration starts Saturday June 5 at 7:30 am – attendees MUST have tickets and ID’s to present at the door. As of right now, it us unclear whether or not we will be accepting walk-ins – stay tuned.
• On Sunday June 6 – - the official panels and presentations will end at 4pm – however, we have the Grand Ballroom scheduled until 6pm . . so we we have unofficial WordCamp Chicago networking and general milling around form 4-6, but for those looking to plan their travel – the official event will conclude at 4pm on Sunday June 6, 2010.
• We cannot emphasize this enough – - there is a large medical convention being held in downtown Chicago on our same weekend – - plan accordingly! This means book your rooms as soon as possible and plan for a little extra time getting to and from different places . . . and Brian – that probably means longer lines at the Starbucks, FYI

More details forthcoming as we have them – - we’re still working on the programming portion of the event, but rest assured we have a fantastic line up for you all! Those of you who have submitted proposals for speaking opportunities – thank you for your patience during this time. Honestly, the delays here were unexpected and unavoidable – - but we have things well in hand at this point. The devil is in the details, my dad always says!

105 days left!!