Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense
Thanks all for your comments. Driving in the US is no problem, I've done it many times in the past. I don't intend hiring a car though as it would remain parked for most of the week. Looks like the closest other hotel is a Days Inn but it's too far to walk. I've booked into the Hilton now. Cheers Peter -Original Message- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Doug Blair Sent: 04 May 2011 00:03 To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense Folks, I have just spent a week attempting to commute around Washington DC while both working and visiting family, and can vouch for the fact that rush hour driving, especially for more than 5 or 10 miles can easily take five times longer than even veterans of Chicago's insane commuter wars anticipate. Suburban Washington area drivers pick up slugs! That's what they call you - a slug - if you stand at certain locations on entrance ramps or parking lots and are willing to let someone else drive you to work. In exchange for this, the driver gets to use the high occupancy vehicle lanes, which require at least 3 people in the car. The freeways are jammed to the point where the term parking lot is totally inadequate. There are lines of people standing in line at freeway park and ride lots. The conference hotel is on the northern Virginia side of the Potomac, and it does have free shuttle service every 30 minutes from Reagan National airport (Washington has three major regional airports: Reagan, Dulles and Baltimore. These are 4, 40 and 50 miles away respectively). The airport can be reached by the DC Metro trains, which are crowded at rush hour but this does open up a few commuting possibilities. Most of the places the trains go will be nearer to the central part of Washington, which will be more expensive. Center of power and all that :-) The last time there was a RUG in DC I stayed with family in northern Virginia. I love my kids, but this time NO WAY! We left the house at 4:30 AM to be downtown by the time sessions started. Exhausting! Dan's point about the cost of the hotel vs. cost of commuting from somewhere else is well taken, but i think of this in terms of time, not money. Think about the WWRUG experience as how much you learn per hour spent with your colleagues. Knowledge that I've picked up atvthat rate, useful tips and tricks and techniques, in the social context and hallways and evenings with engineers has been far more valuable than I ever could have saved by going off campus. Overall, DC is indeed in the expensive side. Sigh. Your tax dollars at work :-). But you would really have to go pretty far away from the hotel before the drive costs begin to make sense. But by then you're an hour away, twice each day. Not worth missing that much of the fun! Doug -- Doug Blair +1 224-558-5462 Sent from my iPad2 Any typographic errors or misspellings are Steve Jobs' fault :-) On May 3, 2011, at 1:49 PM, Joe Martin D'Souza jdso...@shyle.net wrote: Yes you are right there.. Depending on where you are coming from you could get a lot of traffic and if the conference as Dan pointed out starts at 7:30 AM you could well miss an hour of it everyday if traffic holds you back.. Which hotel is it at this year? Joe -Original Message- From: pritch Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 2:21 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense 20 minutes ? During rush hour that would equate to about a 45-60 minute drive. On Mon, 2 May 2011 15:58:49 -0400, Joe Martin D'Souza jdso...@shyle.net wrote: You may also want to check out options a little outside the DC area in Virginia, which may be about 20 minutes driving distance from the hotel. Some of those hotels may even have a shuttle service into DC if you do not feel comfortable renting a car and driving one here considering that you would be used to right hand drives in London. Taxi’s in most places in Virginia run by meter instead of higher flat rates so that may be a relatively cheap option too – not cheaper than a car rental but relatively cheap.. Joe From: Warren R. Baltimore II Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:41 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense ** Peter, While DC is in no way as expensive as say London, it still isn't cheap. You might want to take a look at Hotels.com or priceline. You may be able to find something a bit less pricey. Maybe I should rent out space in my basement! I could make a fortune The only problem is getting everyone to and from my house in Maryland... especially after a happy hours! Good luck! On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Peter Romain p.romain.arsl...@parsolutions.co.uk wrote: ** For anyone knowing the area of the conference centre that the RUG is being
Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense
You may also want to check out options a little outside the DC area in Virginia, which may be about 20 minutes driving distance from the hotel. Some of those hotels may even have a shuttle service into DC if you do not feel comfortable renting a car and driving one here considering that you would be used to right hand drives in London. Taxi’s in most places in Virginia run by meter instead of higher flat rates so that may be a relatively cheap option too – not cheaper than a car rental but relatively cheap.. Joe From: Warren R. Baltimore II Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:41 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense ** Peter, While DC is in no way as expensive as say London, it still isn't cheap. You might want to take a look at Hotels.com or priceline. You may be able to find something a bit less pricey. Maybe I should rent out space in my basement! I could make a fortune The only problem is getting everyone to and from my house in Maryland... especially after a happy hours! Good luck! On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Peter Romain p.romain.arsl...@parsolutions.co.uk wrote: ** For anyone knowing the area of the conference centre that the RUG is being held in, is there a cheaper hotel option? The conference is £1250, flight from the UK ~ $950 but the hotel is $1311 ! As I’m paying myself I’d be happy with a Days Inn or other cheap and cheerful chain. However, I don’t intend getting a car so walking distance would be good. I’ve done some searching and the conference centre is a bit out of the way so maybe that’s why the hotel can charge this much. Cheers -- Warren R. Baltimore II Remedy Developer 410-533-5367 _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug11 www.wwrug.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are
Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense
There is a conference rate that shouldnt be anywhere near that high unless you are staying for a week. Did you follow the link from the Conference Registration or Conference Accomodation site? I negotiated a rate of $195.00 plus tax (including internet access) to keep it within US Government guidelines. That requirement ruled out many hotels and wasnt easy to get. Once you stay elsewhere you have to pay to get to the conference hotel and given we start at 7:30 a.m. and go to the wee hours at times, it is also safer and more comfortable. . Dan From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Joe Martin D'Souza Sent: May 2, 2011 3:59 PM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense ** You may also want to check out options a little outside the DC area in Virginia, which may be about 20 minutes driving distance from the hotel. Some of those hotels may even have a shuttle service into DC if you do not feel comfortable renting a car and driving one here considering that you would be used to right hand drives in London. Taxis in most places in Virginia run by meter instead of higher flat rates so that may be a relatively cheap option too not cheaper than a car rental but relatively cheap.. Joe From: Warren R. Baltimore II mailto:warrenbaltim...@gmail.com Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:41 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense ** Peter, While DC is in no way as expensive as say London, it still isn't cheap. You might want to take a look at Hotels.com or priceline. You may be able to find something a bit less pricey. Maybe I should rent out space in my basement! I could make a fortune The only problem is getting everyone to and from my house in Maryland... especially after a happy hours! Good luck! On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Peter Romain p.romain.arsl...@parsolutions.co.uk wrote: ** For anyone knowing the area of the conference centre that the RUG is being held in, is there a cheaper hotel option? The conference is £1250, flight from the UK ~ $950 but the hotel is $1311 ! As Im paying myself Id be happy with a Days Inn or other cheap and cheerful chain. However, I dont intend getting a car so walking distance would be good. Ive done some searching and the conference centre is a bit out of the way so maybe thats why the hotel can charge this much. Cheers -- Warren R. Baltimore II Remedy Developer 410-533-5367 _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug11 www.wwrug.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are
Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense
20 minutes ? During rush hour that would equate to about a 45-60 minute drive. On Mon, 2 May 2011 15:58:49 -0400, Joe Martin D'Souza jdso...@shyle.net wrote: You may also want to check out options a little outside the DC area in Virginia, which may be about 20 minutes driving distance from the hotel. Some of those hotels may even have a shuttle service into DC if you do not feel comfortable renting a car and driving one here considering that you would be used to right hand drives in London. Taxi’s in most places in Virginia run by meter instead of higher flat rates so that may be a relatively cheap option too – not cheaper than a car rental but relatively cheap.. Joe From: Warren R. Baltimore II Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:41 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense ** Peter, While DC is in no way as expensive as say London, it still isn't cheap. You might want to take a look at Hotels.com or priceline. You may be able to find something a bit less pricey. Maybe I should rent out space in my basement! I could make a fortune The only problem is getting everyone to and from my house in Maryland... especially after a happy hours! Good luck! On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Peter Romain p.romain.arsl...@parsolutions.co.uk wrote: ** For anyone knowing the area of the conference centre that the RUG is being held in, is there a cheaper hotel option? The conference is £1250, flight from the UK ~ $950 but the hotel is $1311 ! As I’m paying myself I’d be happy with a Days Inn or other cheap and cheerful chain. However, I don’t intend getting a car so walking distance would be good. I’ve done some searching and the conference centre is a bit out of the way so maybe that’s why the hotel can charge this much. Cheers -- Warren R. Baltimore II Remedy Developer 410-533-5367 _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug11 www.wwrug.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug11 www.wwrug.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are
Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense
Yes you are right there.. Depending on where you are coming from you could get a lot of traffic and if the conference as Dan pointed out starts at 7:30 AM you could well miss an hour of it everyday if traffic holds you back.. Which hotel is it at this year? Joe -Original Message- From: pritch Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 2:21 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense 20 minutes ? During rush hour that would equate to about a 45-60 minute drive. On Mon, 2 May 2011 15:58:49 -0400, Joe Martin D'Souza jdso...@shyle.net wrote: You may also want to check out options a little outside the DC area in Virginia, which may be about 20 minutes driving distance from the hotel. Some of those hotels may even have a shuttle service into DC if you do not feel comfortable renting a car and driving one here considering that you would be used to right hand drives in London. Taxi’s in most places in Virginia run by meter instead of higher flat rates so that may be a relatively cheap option too – not cheaper than a car rental but relatively cheap.. Joe From: Warren R. Baltimore II Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:41 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense ** Peter, While DC is in no way as expensive as say London, it still isn't cheap. You might want to take a look at Hotels.com or priceline. You may be able to find something a bit less pricey. Maybe I should rent out space in my basement! I could make a fortune The only problem is getting everyone to and from my house in Maryland... especially after a happy hours! Good luck! On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Peter Romain p.romain.arsl...@parsolutions.co.uk wrote: ** For anyone knowing the area of the conference centre that the RUG is being held in, is there a cheaper hotel option? The conference is £1250, flight from the UK ~ $950 but the hotel is $1311! As I’m paying myself I’d be happy with a Days Inn or other cheap and cheerful chain. However, I don’t intend getting a car so walking distance would be good. I’ve done some searching and the conference centre is a bit out of the way so maybe that’s why the hotel can charge this much. Cheers -- Warren R. Baltimore II Remedy Developer 410-533-5367 _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug11 www.wwrug.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are
Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense
http://www.wwrug.com/ Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel: http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/D/DCAAHHF-WWR-20110909/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG -David J. Easter Manager of Product Management, Remedy Platform BMC Software, Inc. The opinions, statements, and/or suggested courses of action expressed in this E-mail do not necessarily reflect those of BMC Software, Inc. My voluntary participation in this forum is not intended to convey a role as a spokesperson, liaison or public relations representative for BMC Software, Inc. -Original Message- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Joe Martin D'Souza Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 11:49 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense Yes you are right there.. Depending on where you are coming from you could get a lot of traffic and if the conference as Dan pointed out starts at 7:30 AM you could well miss an hour of it everyday if traffic holds you back.. Which hotel is it at this year? Joe -Original Message- From: pritch Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 2:21 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense 20 minutes ? During rush hour that would equate to about a 45-60 minute drive. On Mon, 2 May 2011 15:58:49 -0400, Joe Martin D'Souza jdso...@shyle.net wrote: You may also want to check out options a little outside the DC area in Virginia, which may be about 20 minutes driving distance from the hotel. Some of those hotels may even have a shuttle service into DC if you do not feel comfortable renting a car and driving one here considering that you would be used to right hand drives in London. Taxi’s in most places in Virginia run by meter instead of higher flat rates so that may be a relatively cheap option too – not cheaper than a car rental but relatively cheap.. Joe From: Warren R. Baltimore II Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:41 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense ** Peter, While DC is in no way as expensive as say London, it still isn't cheap. You might want to take a look at Hotels.com or priceline. You may be able to find something a bit less pricey. Maybe I should rent out space in my basement! I could make a fortune The only problem is getting everyone to and from my house in Maryland... especially after a happy hours! Good luck! On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Peter Romain p.romain.arsl...@parsolutions.co.uk wrote: ** For anyone knowing the area of the conference centre that the RUG is being held in, is there a cheaper hotel option? The conference is £1250, flight from the UK ~ $950 but the hotel is $1311! As I’m paying myself I’d be happy with a Days Inn or other cheap and cheerful chain. However, I don’t intend getting a car so walking distance would be good. I’ve done some searching and the conference centre is a bit out of the way so maybe that’s why the hotel can charge this much. Cheers -- Warren R. Baltimore II Remedy Developer 410-533-5367 _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug11 www.wwrug.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are
Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense
Folks, I have just spent a week attempting to commute around Washington DC while both working and visiting family, and can vouch for the fact that rush hour driving, especially for more than 5 or 10 miles can easily take five times longer than even veterans of Chicago's insane commuter wars anticipate. Suburban Washington area drivers pick up slugs! That's what they call you - a slug - if you stand at certain locations on entrance ramps or parking lots and are willing to let someone else drive you to work. In exchange for this, the driver gets to use the high occupancy vehicle lanes, which require at least 3 people in the car. The freeways are jammed to the point where the term parking lot is totally inadequate. There are lines of people standing in line at freeway park and ride lots. The conference hotel is on the northern Virginia side of the Potomac, and it does have free shuttle service every 30 minutes from Reagan National airport (Washington has three major regional airports: Reagan, Dulles and Baltimore. These are 4, 40 and 50 miles away respectively). The airport can be reached by the DC Metro trains, which are crowded at rush hour but this does open up a few commuting possibilities. Most of the places the trains go will be nearer to the central part of Washington, which will be more expensive. Center of power and all that :-) The last time there was a RUG in DC I stayed with family in northern Virginia. I love my kids, but this time NO WAY! We left the house at 4:30 AM to be downtown by the time sessions started. Exhausting! Dan's point about the cost of the hotel vs. cost of commuting from somewhere else is well taken, but i think of this in terms of time, not money. Think about the WWRUG experience as how much you learn per hour spent with your colleagues. Knowledge that I've picked up atvthat rate, useful tips and tricks and techniques, in the social context and hallways and evenings with engineers has been far more valuable than I ever could have saved by going off campus. Overall, DC is indeed in the expensive side. Sigh. Your tax dollars at work :-). But you would really have to go pretty far away from the hotel before the drive costs begin to make sense. But by then you're an hour away, twice each day. Not worth missing that much of the fun! Doug -- Doug Blair +1 224-558-5462 Sent from my iPad2 Any typographic errors or misspellings are Steve Jobs' fault :-) On May 3, 2011, at 1:49 PM, Joe Martin D'Souza jdso...@shyle.net wrote: Yes you are right there.. Depending on where you are coming from you could get a lot of traffic and if the conference as Dan pointed out starts at 7:30 AM you could well miss an hour of it everyday if traffic holds you back.. Which hotel is it at this year? Joe -Original Message- From: pritch Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 2:21 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense 20 minutes ? During rush hour that would equate to about a 45-60 minute drive. On Mon, 2 May 2011 15:58:49 -0400, Joe Martin D'Souza jdso...@shyle.net wrote: You may also want to check out options a little outside the DC area in Virginia, which may be about 20 minutes driving distance from the hotel. Some of those hotels may even have a shuttle service into DC if you do not feel comfortable renting a car and driving one here considering that you would be used to right hand drives in London. Taxi’s in most places in Virginia run by meter instead of higher flat rates so that may be a relatively cheap option too – not cheaper than a car rental but relatively cheap.. Joe From: Warren R. Baltimore II Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:41 PM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense ** Peter, While DC is in no way as expensive as say London, it still isn't cheap. You might want to take a look at Hotels.com or priceline. You may be able to find something a bit less pricey. Maybe I should rent out space in my basement! I could make a fortune The only problem is getting everyone to and from my house in Maryland... especially after a happy hours! Good luck! On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Peter Romain p.romain.arsl...@parsolutions.co.uk wrote: ** For anyone knowing the area of the conference centre that the RUG is being held in, is there a cheaper hotel option? The conference is £1250, flight from the UK ~ $950 but the hotel is $1311! As I’m paying myself I’d be happy with a Days Inn or other cheap and cheerful chain. However, I don’t intend getting a car so walking distance would be good. I’ve done some searching and the conference centre is a bit out of the way so maybe that’s why the hotel can charge this much. Cheers -- Warren R. Baltimore II Remedy Developer 410-533-5367 _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where
Re: WWWRUG 11 - Hotel Expense
Peter, While DC is in no way as expensive as say London, it still isn't cheap. You might want to take a look at Hotels.com or priceline. You may be able to find something a bit less pricey. Maybe I should rent out space in my basement! I could make a fortune The only problem is getting everyone to and from my house in Maryland... especially after a happy hours! Good luck! On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Peter Romain p.romain.arsl...@parsolutions.co.uk wrote: ** For anyone knowing the area of the conference centre that the RUG is being held in, is there a cheaper hotel option? The conference is £1250, flight from the UK ~ $950 but the hotel is $1311 ! As I’m paying myself I’d be happy with a Days Inn or other cheap and cheerful chain. However, I don’t intend getting a car so walking distance would be good. I’ve done some searching and the conference centre is a bit out of the way so maybe that’s why the hotel can charge this much. Cheers Peter _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ -- Warren R. Baltimore II Remedy Developer 410-533-5367 ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug11 www.wwrug.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are
