[Sukoshi's Mom]

At long last, I’m finally ready to post ALL the details of the 1st (Annual) International YorkieTalk Meet-up 2008! I will post all the info here, and then Admin is going to make this a sticky in the “Off Topic Discussions” forum, as they said there are already a lot of stickies in this forum. So…you can reply to this thread with questions and such, but if you’re looking to quickly reference this information down the road, it may be easier to find the sticky in the Off Topic Discussions forum, so please keep that in mind.

Who: EVERYONE
What: International YorkieTalk Meet-up 2008
When: Friday, June 20th – Sunday, June 22nd
Where: Kansas City, MO (airport code – MCI)
How: Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

HOTEL

- We will hold the meet-up at the Holiday Inn at the Country Club Plaza (www.holidayinn.com/hiattheplaza). According to their website, “The Holiday Inn Hotel at the Plaza-Kansas City is located on the world famous County Club Plaza, the Midwest’s premier shopping/dining/entertainment district. The 241 room hotel just completed (Fall 2005) a multi-million dollar renovation. The hotel features free Wi-Fi, free garage parking (all other Plaza hotels charge), free local and long distance calls, and free shuttle service within a 2 mile radius. The Holiday Inn Country Club Plaza Hotel also offers an oversized exercise room along with the largest heated outdoor pool in the city. Finally, relax in [their] bar or simply order room service and relax in your room.”

- Rooms will cost $139 per night for either 1 king or 2 double beds (for up to 4 people per room) for those who want to share a room. This is a discounted rate the hotel is offering us from June 16-25, so if you want to extend your stay, I highly recommend doing it between those days to keep your rates lower.

- There will also be a $50 non-refundable pet fee per room, for up to 2 dogs per room. The fee for any additional dogs is $50 per dog. The hotel normally only allows pets in a few rooms at a time; however, they’ve agreed to let us bring all our dogs to their hotel (no other hotel would), but we have to pay the pet fee to cover the additional sanitation they’ll have to do to all the rooms when we depart.

- The hotel has agreed to let us leave our dogs alone in the room unattended (for those of you who may wish to do that at any time during your stay), however, they ask that the dog be closed in the bathroom at a minimum where there is little they can damage, or preferably even their crate, for those who will be traveling with a crate in tow. Please be respectful as there are other guests in the hotel as well. All animals must be leashed at all times when on the hotel grounds (except in your personal hotel room). Any damage incurred is the responsibility of the dog’s owner. The dogs will be welcome at all YT functions (including dinner) for those who do NOT wish to leave them unattended in the room.

- Call 816-753-7400 to make your reservations, and tell them you are with the “International YorkieTalk Meet-up” in order to ensure they give you the discounted rate of $139 per night. You'll have to provide a credit card number when you make your reservations, but you can cancel your reservation up to 24-hours before your planned arrival at the hotel.

REGISTRATION FEE

- We will be requiring a non-refundable registration fee for each person wishing to attend the event. Continental breakfast on Saturday and Sunday is included with every registration fee paid. The registration fee for those who would like to attend the dinner as well will be slightly higher (see pricing schedules below). Sorry, but dinner is limited to 200 people (the maximum number of people that can be accommodated in the dining room). This is on a first come, first served basis, so get your registration fees in early! We will update the thread to let you know how many spots are still available when we get close to selling out.

- Registration Fee Schedule (with dinner):

- $70 per person if paid by January 1st
- $80 per person if paid January 2nd - April 15th
- $90 per person if paid by April 16th - May 15th
- $100 per person if paid May 16th – June 1st
- Registration closes June 1st (no exceptions)

- Registration Fee Schedule (without dinner):

- $30 per person if paid by January 1st
- $40 per person if paid January 2nd - April 15th
- $50 per person if paid April 16th – June 1st
- Registration closes June 1st (no exceptions)

- This registration fee is per person attending the event and includes continental breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday morning and meeting space on Saturday. For those who are attending the dinner (i.e. paying the higher registration fee), your fee will also include a goodie bag (if paid by April 15th) to take home with you and one raffle ticket.

- Unfortunately, because we have to pay for the food up-front, regardless of whether or not you have to cancel at the last minute, all registration fees will be non-refundable. In the event the meet-up is cancelled or does not occur for any reason (other than acts of God), your money WILL be refunded.