Welcome to the First A-Kon 12 News Announcement, November 6 ------------------- Date: It's JUNE 1-3, 2000 (with setup and pre-reg pickup and one vid room starting on Thursday, May 31) HOTEL ANNOUNCED Well, it took awhile, but we now have 2 hotels to host A-Kon 12. The WESTIN PARK CENTRAL and across the street the SHERATON PARK CENTRAL. Located in North Dallas, these are nice hotels with plenty of access to food (some 24 hr!), and visible from the I-635 freeway at Coit Rd (near I-75). These hotels have hosted fan cons in the past (some MANY times) and the staff that we've dealt with, talked to and happened across by accident all are very friendly and helpful. They know we're coming, they know we're weird, and they still WANT us there. This is a big plus. The spaces in some cases are a bit smaller, but with creative use, will serve us quite nicely. Check the website at www.a-kon.com for more information as we get it. The prices and amenities are listed below: WESTIN PARK CENTRAL (www.westin.com)is a 4 Diamond hotel Prices: $100 per night (plus tax) for single/double/triple/quad $110 - Club Level room (upgraded with more amenities) $130 - Executive Club Level (more upgrades) $100 - Mini-suite (it's a corner King room with a slightly larger sitting area) $262 - 1 bedroom Jr. Suite $350 - 1 Bedroom Deluxe Suite (an additional connector would be at the con room rate) Amenities: All rooms have been remodeled to include 'Heavenly Beds'. The Heavenly Bed consists of all white linens, a custom designed Simmons pillow top 900 coil mattress (VERY comfy), 250 thread cotton sheets, a down comforter and 5 hypoallergenic down pillows, TV, cable, AM/FM clock radio, dataports in the phones, in-room coffee, ironing board & irons, and hairdryers. Club level rooms also have a Bose Waveradio, Starbuck's coffee, mini-bar, newspaper delivered daily and a fax/printer. Executive Club rooms are on key-access floors and include all of the above plus complimentary cocktails, hors d'ouerves and continental breakfast in a private lounge, digital safes in the rooms, bottled water service, Wall Street Journal delivered to the rooms, and robes. The Westin also hosts one of 3 5-star American cuisine restaurants in Dallas, Laurel's, on the top floor, where A-Kon's Sunday brunch will be held. Hotel restaurants include: Laurel's, Caf_ in the Park (casual dining & buffets for breakfast/lunch), McNelly's (bar), Atrium Lounge (lobby bar). The SHERATON PARK CENTRAL (www.sheraton.com ) is located across the street (a side street, not the highway! You don't have to go play on the freeway at A-Kon!) a short walk (MUCH shorter than the East/West Tower walk last year). A slightly less 'upgraded' hotel, still very nice and perfectly acceptable. Prices: $90 (plus tax) for single/double/triple/quad They have only a few real big suites - prices will be posted when we know them. Amenities: TV, Clock radio, in-room coffee makers, ironing board/irons, hair dryers, newspaper delivered to rooms Monday thru Friday Restaurants: The Sheraton has the Martini Bar cocktail lounge, and Delaney & Murphy, a steakhouse open for breakfast, lunch & dinner w/buffets. A jogging trail runs outside the hotel, and there is a golf course nearby. Both hotels have fitness centers. Both hotels have pools and hot tubs (we're working on extending the hours for these, which shouldn't be a problem since we're the only thing in BOTH hotels (aside for a few airline pilots) YOU MUST MENTION A-KON TO GET THESE RATES! Reservations can be made from the 1-800-Westin's reservation line, and possibly on-line as well (don't know that for sure yet). The Westin's reservation system will serve for both hotels. PARKING - The Westin offers a con discounted rate for valet of $11 per day (can be added to the room bill)for overnight stays, or $8 for daily (come in and leave the same day). The Westin's parking garage rates are $5 daily. There is free parking at the Sheraton, in their garage and lot, and in lots surrounding both hotels (businesses that aren't open on the weekends), and in a lot owned by the Westin across the street. FOOD & BUSINESS AVAILABILITY - within walking distance are: Jack in the Box (24 hr. drive-thru), Denny's, Fuji-Ya (affordable Japanese fare), Benihana's (Japanese steakhouse), Quizno's Subs, Arby's, Church's Chicken, McDonald's and a Chinese buffet place, a cleaner's, 2 banks, gas stations and a convenience store. A bit further away (hotel shuttle will take you within 5 miles of the hotels for free) is Dickey's BBQ, Black-Eyed Pea, Taco Bueno, Kinko's, Office Depot, Home Depot, a fast-food Chinese place, The Feed Bag (burger place), and more (we'll do a full reconnaissance and report later), and there are 2 malls that the hotel will take you to within that 5 mile radius-The Galleria and Valley View, both with food courts and shops. HANDICAP ACCESS - both hotels have handicap accessible rooms. MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE so you can get the rooms you want - we are working on finding overflow space as we think we'll sell them both out. Reservations require the first night's stay as a deposit, credit cards are encouraged but you can also send them a check or money order. Cancellations are credited back to you, provided you give the hotels 48 hrs. notice before your scheduled arrival. Late check-in (past 4pm) is acceptable if you let them know in advance. Call 1-800-Westin to get the Kon Rates, or use the online reservation system or we'll send you a reservation card when you pre-reg for the Kon! You can also call the hotels directly at 972-233-4421 (Sheraton) or 972-385-3000 (Westin) ---------------------------- FAQ: What Took You so Long To Find A Hotel? Well, it went like this...we had a hold on the space at the Hyatt again, but in late August we got a phone call telling us that their corporate office had scheduled the Exhibit Hall we use for the dealers room to be taken out of service and completely refurbished. We tried to move part of our programming to the West Tower..but were told there was something already there. As we found out, the 'something' was a wrecking ball! The Hyatt's West Tower is scheduled for demolition as the airport is putting a new airline terminal in it's place. This left us nowhere to put a lot of things, so we started the search for a new hotel. Dallas/Ft Worth does not have the best of hotels outside of downtown, as far as meeting space in the sizes we need, and those that were available had been booked already, in some cases for a year or more in advance. There are not many hotels that are 'across from each other' in this area either, and those that were, when spoken to, either one or the other was not available. Meetings, phonecalls, walk-thrus, phone tag, over the next several weeks found a couple things that were only (possibly) available Memorial Day weekend (conflicting with a lot of things, including two already scheduled anime shows), and those that might have been available in June wanted high prices for their rooms (starting at $150 per night). So we continued looking. One property that looked very promising had gotten down to the 'putting it on paper' part of the negotiating, then decided at the last minute they did not want the business (I guess we're too weird for them). The hotels we found with the Westin and Sheraton is the best of the situations we could find, with enough space for us, enough sleep rooms for our people, at prices that didn't choke us all. So that's the story. We're already working on things for 2002 to try to avoid the last minute scramble that has taken us 3 months to iron out this year. Hopefully no more of our hotels or potential hotels will be knocked down between now and then! ----------------------- GUESTS Now that we have dates and places, we can start asking. We'll keep you all informed. --------------------- PRE-REG Is open now (and has been, actually), and the credit card system will be up shortly. Watch the website for more info. Check back often! -------------------- BLATANT PLUGS... We've found out about these cool things you might be interested in... If you're bored the weekend after Thanksgiving (you can only take SO MUCH turkey!) then check out UNCOMMONCON at www.uncommoncon.com - they have a BIG FAT HONKIN guest list from media and comics and general interest stuff. They will have anime as well as dealers, autographs, contests and stuff. That runs from Friday-Sun, right after Thanksgiving at the Hyatt-DFW where we held A-Kon 11 (gee, wonder who told them about that hotel ^_^) Check out their website for more info. If you ever wanted to gross somebody out, here's the place to get the stuff. WWW.SLIMYTHINGS.COM , recently started by one of the A-Kon staffers, has some of the goo-iest, yucky-est stuff I've seen (and I've seen a lot!), from chocolate covered insects (really! And he made me eat one too...eeewww!!) to slime balls of various types, with some scientific stuff thrown in there just so people don't think he's as bent as he is. Candy, educational, slimy, buggy, alien, it's all there, so go and check it out! It's OOZE you can USE!! -------------------- THAT's ALL FOR THIS ONE - this is the first update, and there will be much more as we get going full force on this. Many things have been on hold until we could nail down place and time (understandably), but now we can get on with it, and will! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY (or type) SEND ME ___________ A-Kon 12 Tickets at $32 ea. (make checks payable to Also send _________Banquet Tickets at $25 ea. "Phoenix Entertainment") And I want _______ T-Shirts at $18 ea. Size: _______ (M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL are available and will be stuffed in your pre-reg pack) (if ordering multiple shirts for people, tell us who gets what size!) Guest Star I want to Sit With at Banquet:_____________________________________ 2nd Choice_________________________ 3rd Choice_________________________ NAME(s)_________________________________________________________________ (if ordering multiple tickets, give us full names of ALL attendees so we can make packets) Name(s) you want on Badge (if you use a 'handle') __________________________________ (LIMIT 25 letters this year) ADDRESS__________________________________________ Apt. #________ CITY, STATE, ZIP________________________________________________ EMAIL ADDRESS:__________________________________Age: __________ Send me info on: ____Banquet ___Gaming ___Dance __ Art Show ___Costume Contest ___Group Discounts ___Komik Market ____Other (what?)_________________________ Mail this coupon plus your check/Money Order (make checks payable to Phoenix Entertainment) to: Project: A-Kon, 3352 Broadway Blvd., PMB 470, Garland, TX 75043 -------------------------- FEEL FREE TO CROSSPOST THIS MESSAGE WHEREVER THERE MAY BE ANIME FANS! Meri Hazlewood--Chairman Phoenix Entertainment www.a-kon.com