PDA

View Full Version : Boogie by the Bay (Oct 8-11, 2009)



AussieJ
7th-September-2009, 08:49 PM
Hi everyone!

In the last 24 hours, I'd been giving some serious thought about attending the Boogie by the Bay 2009 event in San Francisco - even though I'd NEVER been to the US, let alone any US WCS event. In the last couple of weeks I'd been hearing about some friends going to this - not just those from the UK WCS scene here, but ALSO some of my Aussie MJ compatriots-cum-WCS enthusiasts are flying from Australia to San Francisco!!!

Last night I made the decision to go for it! The thought of attending a US WCS event, even after what I'd experienced at the UK WCS Champs and Swing Masters is very exciting!

I'd already emailed the BbB ticket person Kim Liu about tickets - thankfully that sounds like the easy part, as long as I pre-register, I can get the weekend event ticket alright. However the Hyatt Regency hotel room block for BbB attendees is completely booked out :eyebrow:

Kim suggested I try to find someone who can kindly let me share their room, and thus help split and reduce the hotel room costs for the weekend.

To that end, does anyone know of any BbB attendees who are open to the idea of having me jointly sharing their hotel room? :flower:


Thanks in advance! :nice:

Little Monkey
8th-September-2009, 03:32 PM
Go - go - go!!!

It's a fantastic event, and the people are so friendly!!! I travelled over by myself in 2007, but shared room with Dave Hancock and Jennifer (best room mates ever, although sleep deprivation and jet lag led to some rather bizarre conversations!), then had a few days of discovering SF by myself afterwards,

Bloody Brilliant!

Hope you'll find someone to share with, and that you'll have an amazing time.

LM :hug:

Minnie M
8th-September-2009, 09:23 PM
Why can't you delete a post on this thread ?

AussieJ
10th-September-2009, 10:06 AM
After much time spent getting the hang of using Kayak.com, I finally booked my flights for San Francisco last night via British Airways (they have a 'Worldwide Sale' on). I even added a £28 carbon offset - I do hope it does get used properly as BA's website says it will be.

I'd gotten in contact with some UK WCSers on facebook who're also attending BbB, so that's great :nice:

Still a few hurdles to sort out though - one is that I'm still not sure whether I can get a room share happening at the Hyatt... :eyebrow:

Another hurdle is that I only just realised this morning that my existing travel insurance policy does not cover the U.S.A. - and I didn't opt for extra travel insurance during the online booking process last night :doh:

I'm going to contact my existing travel insurance provider (Covermore) about getting covered for my US trip, but in the meantime I'd like to ask forumites here if they've got recommendations on travel insurance providers that they prefer to use, given my wanting travel insurance for the trip (Oct 1st - Oct 14th) ?

johnnyman
21st-September-2009, 01:07 PM
I second previous comments.

BBTB was my first US WCS event and irrespective of your accomodation, you will find a whole new group of people to hang out with and I wouldn't be surprised if by Sunday evening you have bonded with people and they will be asking you which US event you will be going to next.

Also arriving during the early afternoon is beneficial as it gives you a chance to prepare. As per advice of Robert Cordoba, make sure you get some sleep so that you don't miss out on watching the pros during the Champions J & J and Strictly Swing finals.

best
johnnyman

AussieJ
21st-September-2009, 02:31 PM
Oops I forgot to update this, so much has been happening every day...

Trip dates:

I took the crazy spontaneous decision to book my arrival flight 1 WEEK early - i.e. I will be arriving on Oct 1st, several days before the BbB Oct 8th event start date! My plan is to do some sightseeing and exploration and meeting new people, maybe some local WCS classes as well in the leadup to Oct 8th :nice:

So all up, I'm spending just shy of 2 weeks in San Francisco area :D


My accommodation news:

I believe I'm now a roommate at the Hyatt Regency for 6 nights, including the Boogie weekend. At approximately £143 for my roomshare, I believe its a pretty good deal! Just waiting for confirmation on how to settle the money, but I think that's me sorted on the BbB weekend accommodation front.

Prior to the BbB weekend, I'm planning to arrive and stay my first 3 nights in San Francisco downtown - I'm awaiting reservation booking confirmation at one of either two hostels I'm sounding out in San Francisco downtown (Green Turtoise Hostel and Adelaide Hostel).

Between my hostel stay and the start of Boogie on the 8th, I have also been kindly allowed to stay at someone's place in Burlingame a couple of miles away from Hyatt Regency :clap:

So with these 3 separate accommodation arrangements, my entire US trip is finally shaping up - to be a reality!! :eek: I'm just wanting to get all this organisational stuff out of the way so I can finally feel excited about it all! :lol:

johnnyman
21st-September-2009, 04:35 PM
If you can, try and get on the Alcatraz Tour during your stay - on the island. This is one of the most popular attractions, but you do have to book far in advance as you can't just turn up on the day. Check the official Alcatraz ticket agent - I think it is Hornblower. This is recommended. If possible, try and get the last one in the evening.

best
johnnyman

Dottie
12th-October-2009, 04:01 PM
Anyone know any results?

FoxyFunkster
13th-October-2009, 01:54 PM
Anyone know any results?

Results were......

Paul and Cat came 7th in Classic
Paul and Cat drew each other in All Stars JnJ and came 1st :worthy::worthy:
Paul and Cat both made Allstar Strictly finals but neither placed
Brady and Susan Rogers drew each other in Advanced JnJ and came 6th
Steve Hall(DS87) Came 2nd in Inter Strictly and 3rd in Inter JnJ :clap::clap:
Naomi Hulbert came 3rd in Inter JnJ and made advanced strictly finals
I came 4th in Inter Strictly and 6th in Inter JnJ
Mel Boyle made finals in Inter JnJ
Rob Day came 4th in Novice JnJ and 5th in Novice Strictly

I`m sure i`ve forgotten some results but i`m pretty shattered after another good event across the pond.....see y`all in southport this weekend....

robd
13th-October-2009, 03:04 PM
Couple to add.

NZ Monkey (Shannon) won the Novice JnJ and was 6th in Intermediate Strictly with Lisa Vivo
Also from the UK, Ben Stopford was 6th in Novice JnJ and Kate Lovegrove was 7th.