Seems like I got the original post.

This thread is for throwing out and discussing ideas for the EEC 2016. I'd like to remind everyone that unless stuff changes, the decision will be made in Birmingham at the 2015 EEC, by those who participate there.

Also, we're going to throw quite a bit of stuff at the wall here to see what sticks. If you plan to put your hand up to run the 2016 competition you don't need to satisfy every single one of the posters in this thread. That's guaranteed to be impossible

I don't think we've got anything concrete so far, but I think the current suggestion for procedure is that bids for running the 2016 tournament will be presented here at TacComms in the weeks before the Birmingham tournament so everybody can have a look at the options, and then the decision is made in Birmingham. Maybe present the proposal at the start of May?

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probably yes....

I have no preference, although considerations would be stuff like:

access to airports - nobody wants a 3-hour drive through a foriegn country to reach the location
accomodation - while a jacuzzi and michelin star restuarant are nice, some of us can't afford that and would prefer cheap and cheerful
availability of cheap restaurants and such - while some people are happy to live off the land, grazing on lichen and moss like some kind of prizewinning cow, it would be nice if there were decently priced restaurants and bars nearby so those of us staying locally have some choice about where to eat (even if it's mcdonalds or similar!) and something to do in the evening

I've always wanted to visit sweden and norway personally, although I've not seen nearly enough of any of europe so I'm happy wherever!

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One idea would be to have it at Gothcon, the largest convention in Sweden. Pros include cheap lodging in a school (included in the entry fee), close access to the airport (30 minutes by bus) and likely cheaper dining than in Stockholm or Oslo (wouldn't know about Copenhagen or Helsinki). The one major disadvantage I see is that it's held during easter whuch may affect how willing people are to travel.

Gothcon would be awesome for me, of course (driving distance from Oslo, and I know several who attend each year so I have options for travel)). Like the con in Birmingham, Gothcon can also provide deals for lodging. There are several restaurants close to the venue, and unlike in Norway, swedish prices aren't ridiculous.

I think the Three big issues With Gothcon is 1) the timing, like Karegak said, 2) that Gothcon is not the national Capital (in my experience it is simply easier to fly to a foreign capital than comparable cities in the same country) and 3) it's a convention. The last is both an advantage and a disadvantage, disadvantages would be that the tournament would be competing for Space With the rest of the con. I'd vote for Gothcon (it's a great deal for me), but I'm not sure if I could recommend it for others.

Really great news about the French, what about other European teams?

And FWIW, Birmingham is not the capital of the UK either . . . .
I think timing is much more likely to be an issue for those with young families,

However, finances are a much bigger issue for everyone. Finding somewhere with cheap accommodation and food to offset the cost of travel for the majority who do not live 'locally' is key. This is why arranging it within the UK Game Expo in Birmingham, or Gothcon are such a good idea.

Which means that, if I could attend, I'd either have to leave sunday around noon, or go through London. And that's for, what, the second largest airport in the UK?

I think Sweden is a good shout, and that seems like a good option for venue. The main downside I would anticipate is the connectivity of Gothenburg via air. So with that in mind I had a look at the airports connected to Gothenburg Landvetter:
http://www.swedavia.com/landvetter/flig ... tinations/
And the timetable for this year:
http://www.swedavia.com/landvetter/flig ... timetable/

I was shocked to see Cambridge on the list, but sadly they don't fly over weekends or Easter. It also looks like the list is not up to date, so you might need to do some of your own investigation to figure out if there are flights. For example there are Ryanair flights from Edinburgh on certain days, but that airport is not mentioned in the above list. Plus, although Birmingham is listed, it doesn't look like there are any flights - around that time of year at least.

Looks like options in UK would be London (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted) and Manchester via BA. For me that's absolutely fine, Stansted is ideal and cheap and the flight times look quite suitable too. I am pretty close to there so could always offer lodgings the night before.

Players in other locations perhaps they could check flights and timings and see how they would do it.

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Birmingham is a large city by population, but it isn't a particularly well connected airport. It tends to have the "low cost" airlines though. In terms of size, it's probably more like:
London Heathrow
London Gatwick
Manchester
London Stansted
Edinburgh
London Luton
Birmingham
Glasgow

In my experience of choosing destinations for meetings Sweden doesn't have the best connected airports (probably on a par with Birmingham), so the combination is likely to be problematic, e.g. involving travelling to Stansted or Manchester (extra expense, possibly extra days). Birmingham is quite well connected by train to both Manchester and London but you can't get away from the fact it takes time.

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As long as you're travelling either to or from one of the big European Capitals (London, Paris, Berlin etc) there should be plenty of options (Berlin to Landvetter is €130 for this easter, even a little over a month in advance). But it's a bit unreasonable to require the EEC to be held only in those cities. I ran a quick comparison between Landvetter and Arlanda (Stockholm airport): Landvetter has 70 destinations, but Arlanda has more than twice as many (146).

Having said all that, not-Capital is far from a dealbreaker for me - if I didn't have an exam june 1st I would have been in Birmingham this year. But ease of travel should still be a consideration when considering where to hold the EEC NeXT year.

Both Malmö (close to Copenhagen) and Stockholm have better air connectivity in Sweden, yes. As I'm not local to those areas however I shall leave it up to others to propose arrangements for them. Stockholm is bound to be pricier as well, but perhaps the air fare makes up for it?

Another option in west Sweden if the easter timing is too horrible is Borås and BSK in the end of October. Same issues with flights (same airport) and an extra 30 minutes by bus though. Just throwing it out there.

We will host in in Stockholm otherwise! The east coast has a large following now with 2-3 strong groups of players!

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Excellent! As team Viking has representatives (a majority of them in fact) from Stockholm at Birmingham I'm certain we'll be able to present both the Swedish options well for the debate/decision.

FWIW, I suspect most people attending anything like this event in a foreign country would need to spend a day travelling either side of the event, which inevitably adds to the overall costs.

Sure, we might all want to go to an event within walking distance of London Heathrow / Stockholm Arlanda etc, but that is both highly unlikely and possibly even more expensive if not well supported by low cost airlines - the hotels are almost certainly to be more expensive precisely because of their location.

Heck we might as well consider meeting in Adepticon (right by Chicago O'Hare) as a potential venue, provided we give them enough warning to allow us to set up the required number of tables . . . . .
(I would love to go; I have cousins living in the area, though the air-ticket is still too much )

We all agree that cost, travel constraints, location and general timing are key but this is an exercise in compromises, with cost being the main issue for many / most people, and travel constraints / timing running a close second. Basically you have to be *really* dedicated to attend in a different country, which is why there has been so much difficulty getting people to come over to the UK

Not a different country, but Onyx and shadowlord flew 3000 kilometers to go to Cancon 15 in Australia and we also had a fella fly in from Jakarta! Thats dedication to gaming! Not sure I would do the same, but gotta love them for doing it.

Isn't that the average round trip for a weekly shop in Australia?

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