the preliminary information is set and we're moving ahead with the planning. can you believe we're actually doing this?? i get to meet a bunch of you?? i'm so excited!

here's what we know so far:

date: June 25, 26 & 27, 2004
where: Chicago, IL
Hotel: Holiday Inn Navy Pier - www.chicc.com
Price: 159.00 per night
To reserve Room: Reservations must be made no later than May 25, 2004. Please call the central reservations office @ 800-465-4319 or hotel reservations directly @ 312-787-6100 Mon-Fri between the hours of 8:00 am and 6:00 pm, or Saturday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, identify yourself as part of the Sandy Blair room block in order to get our room rate. If you are sharing a room with someone, please be sure to give both names at the time of the reservation. A valid credit card is needed to gurantee the reservation.
Cancellation: A guest reservation may be cancelled or revised prior to 4:00 pm on the date of arrival. All guaranteed room reservations that are not cancelled or registered on the night of arrival will automatically be cancelled after that night and will be charged for that night.
Checkin/checkout: Check-in is @ 3:00 - Check out is at Noon. Most hotels will hold your luggage if you arrive early
Parking: Covered Parking is available to registered guests and is directly adjoining the hotel. The current parking fee is $22.00 for 24 hours, which includes in/out privileges - no vans or oversized vehicles. The parking facility is not operated or managed by the hotel. Space is available on a first come/first serve basis.

I have the current list of attendees as...

AmyJ
Shiela53 - confirmed still coming - sharing with DH
Shiela's DH - confirmed still coming - sharing with Shiela53
boiaby - confirmed still coming
SAPF - confirmed still coming
Daners - confirmed still coming
mulledk
rochemist - confirmed still coming - sharing with gonzostar
jiffypop - confirmed still coming - single room
Jennelle
slimdown - can't come!!
gonzostar - confirmed still coming - sharing with rochemist
JacobsMommy - confirmed still coming
Jillegal - confirmed still coming
Slimmingsi - Doesn't think he can come
Suzanne 3FC - Going to try!!
matt_H - confirmed still coming
Jenniffer - Says she's coming!!
Susan (pipergale) - confirmed coming!!

here's what we don't know (yet):

1. what activities we will do

here's what i NEED TO KNOW!!

1. who is planning on coming.

if you are, i'd love to collect some information from you. PM me with: your real name, your phone #, and an email address. this is so i can contact you if i need to.

2. activity ideas

post them here if you want!

Sandi and i will keep you updated on future developments. i hope you're all getting as excited as we are!!

Do they do dinner cruises down the Chicago River? That would be cool....

Maybe rent bicycles and ride the lakeshore...?

Whatever hotel we choose, can we choose one with a fitness room?

I'm so excited about this!!!!!

Oprah, Oprah, Oprah!

Yes.

how expensive would a dinner cruise run?


should i surf that "chicago tourist" sites? maybe find out some cool things to do?

do we want to have a few speakers? either our own members or someone else?

does anyone want to volunteer their name, weightloss, and pictures to include in a letter to oprah?

Okay...I just looked at one cruise site and their dinner cruises run $95.00 per person! Lunch cruises are a little more reasonable - $37.00.

As for speakers....I'm not sure we're going to be able to afford a speaker.

Yes, we will have to keep costs in mind. I'll find a bunch of cool things to do and then list them with prices.

Can we do a cruise w/o lunch or dinner? Much cheaper, can even get a group rate?

yippeeee yahooooo!!!!!!!!!

maybe some of us could be speakers?

oh. and here's another thought... maybe a group session with personal shopper? so we can make the most of what we have while we're losing? and figuring out how to dress without breaking the bank while we're switching sizes all the time?

Jiff - I really like your idea about the personal shopper!

Just a thought....can any of our computer whizzes write the code for a countdown to convention clock and post it at the top of this sticky?

jiffy - that's an AWESOME idea!! how do we look in to getting that?

Most large department stores have a personal shopper. and it's a FREE service... of course, they want you to eventually spend money, but they really want to establish a relationship so that you think of THEM when you need to buy something.

so, maybe one way is to see if there's a major national chain in chicago [there HAS to be!] and see what happens. bloomingdales. nordstroms. macy's. SOMEONE.

The chain that comes to mind is Marshall Fields...

I want to see an Oprah show, lol. That would be a blast!!!!

Bella23