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Roomshare at Mazer Cup 2011

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akueck

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
I booked my trip to Boulder today. Yay! ;D

I'll be traveling alone, so there is going to be an empty bed in the hotel room. I'm arriving the evening of the 31st (flight gets in at 6pm in Denver) and checking out the morning of the 3rd. If anyone wants to split the room, let me know. Half cost would be about $130 for all three nights.
 
I'm trying to convince myself to come down to volunteer and for the mead tasting/pairing event, if I come I'm likely coming alone as well...

... man I really need to make a decision and just do it! Maybe tomorrow I'll decide for sure.
 
Do it, do it do it! I don't have any mead to enter but I'll bring at least a bottle or two for "evaluation" purposes.
 
I'm still waffling... I do have an extra week off work to use this year (finally passed the point where it bumps from 2 weeks to 3, very nice), so I could burn a couple days of that on this, no biggie there.

I seriously don't know why this decision is so hard for me. I should just do it.
 
Just do it!

Ken Schramm has definitely committed to attend this year, as has Brad Dahlhofer (most successful new commercial meadmaker in years, IMHO) as have most of the usual suspects. Since there's no guarantee that we can all be there in future years, now's the best time to do it!! ;D
 
AToE said:
I'm still waffling... I do have an extra week off work to use this year (finally passed the point where it bumps from 2 weeks to 3, very nice), so I could burn a couple days of that on this, no biggie there.

I seriously don't know why this decision is so hard for me. I should just do it.
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There is no medal for trying, only for doing. Besides, I need new people to harass and befuddle, you must come to Boulder. There will be . . . . mead!

Oskaar
 
I'm decided, I'll be going. ;D I've got to buy my ticket to the winners circle and fill out the volunteer form. Then whenever Akueck works out the room business he can let me know and I'll pitch in.

Now I've just got to get my flight sorted out.


I do have one kinda weird question. Since I'm physically coming down is there any way for me to submit my entries late and just bring them in my luggage? If not for organizational purposes I totally understand - but I figured I should really ask since paying what will probably be pretty expensive freight to get my mead down there a couple weeks early is a bit painful.

Like I said though, if thursday isn't early enough to get my meads in the running I understand, and will get back to looking into my freight options.
 
AToE said:
I'm decided, I'll be going. ;D I've got to buy my ticket to the winners circle and fill out the volunteer form. Then whenever Akueck works out the room business he can let me know and I'll pitch in.

Now I've just got to get my flight sorted out.


I do have one kinda weird question. Since I'm physically coming down is there any way for me to submit my entries late and just bring them in my luggage? If not for organizational purposes I totally understand - but I figured I should really ask since paying what will probably be pretty expensive freight to get my mead down there a couple weeks early is a bit painful.

Like I said though, if thursday isn't early enough to get my meads in the running I understand, and will get back to looking into my freight options.
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Actually the cutoff date is March 18th, 2011 for all entries. We need that extra time to sort the mead entries, be sure that payment for the entries has been made, and sort the mead by category. So that date is a hard close date for logistical reasons.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
To amplify on what Oskaar said, we expect around 250 (or more) entries for the home competition this year. At three bottles per entry, that's 750 bottles of mead (think 37 cases of beer bottles) to unpack, register, tag, sort, box and lug from the sorting facility to the event site. Not a small task, and getting it done takes more than a couple of days' work. This year, with the restrictions on bottle types lifted, that logistical challenge will be even more, well, challenging. That's why we have a hard cutoff for entry arrivals.
 
Understood, that's what I was expecting but figured I had to ask (would have felt dumb if I spent a pile on shipping then got there and everyone said "hey, you could have just brought it!").

Thanks to both of you for indulging my curiousity!


Is it generally pretty easy to pack mead/wine/beer into checked lugagge when flying in the US or is it going to get me in trouble?

I'd like to bring 750ml bottles of my entries and a few other meads of mine to share and discuss with people in the evenings.
 
Liquids >3 oz are of course banned in carry-ons. Checked bags are fine, just remember that baggage handlers are not known for their gentle treatment of people's luggage. I'd recommend packing with lots of bubble wrap or similar, and enclosing the bottle in a leak-proof bag in case it does crack or the top pops.
 
akueck said:
Liquids >3 oz are of course banned in carry-ons. Checked bags are fine, just remember that baggage handlers are not known for their gentle treatment of people's luggage. I'd recommend packing with lots of bubble wrap or similar, and enclosing the bottle in a leak-proof bag in case it does crack or the top pops.
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I ship my mead to the Hotel (my drinking mead that is since I don't enter) instead of paying those steen-keeng airline shipping rates. Two years ago I learned my lesson.
 
Oskaar said:
I ship my mead to the Hotel (my drinking mead that is since I don't enter) instead of paying those steen-keeng airline shipping rates. Two years ago I learned my lesson.
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Is it that much for a checked bag? I rarely take a checked bag, but I remember one year going to LA I had to and I do remember it costing something like 20 bucks extra (in Canada it's generally "free"... "free" meaning "built into the cost of a ticket" ;) ).

EDIT: Wanted to say too that I'm super excited to have people with experience evaluate my meads and to get to taste meads made by some of the people on this forum and meaderies like BNektar. All the mead I've ever found that I didn't make up here was very sub-par, so I have no real road-map other than my own tastes.
 
Hmm, you can just ship it to yourself at the hotel? They'll hang on to it for you?

At least from CA to CO, the cost should be about the same for FedEx vs. USAir. FedEx at least doesn't toss it like a sack of potatoes, I hope.
 
I'm missing something here, does checked baggage somehow end up as airfreight? THAT would be very expensive, but if I pack it in something sturdy and bubblewrapped inside a suitcase I can't see it being very expensive to bring, certainly not more than shipping would be from Canada!
 
No I meant USAir, a generic domestic airline. :) Just a checked bag fee, whoever thought of that. Next we'll have "arrives at correct city" and "plane doesn't crash" fees (charged in advance, non-refundable of course).
 
Anyone coming to volunteer at the Mazer Cup, if you don't want to wait until the last minute to ship your "drinking meads," you may ship via the usual carriers (UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.) to my attention, at my office address. It is the same address as the one you'd use to ship your home entries to. Just be sure to mark the outside of the package VERY OBVIOUSLY "Hold For XXX," so I know that it isn't an entry but rather something that you want personally at the event.
 
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