The Penny Arcade Expo is being held in downtown Bellevue, WA (about a half hour from Seattle) August 24-27th.  Console gaming, tabletop gaming, tournaments, panel discussions, and LAN events will abound at the convention center and in the surrounding hotels.  You can read up on all the events available at PAX and order your convention tickets at the url provided at the bottom of the post.

But wait!  There's more!

(PLEASE READ THE ASSOCIATED THREAD FOR UPDATES - THE SATURDAY DINNER HAS BEEN CANCELED)

The Arda Post is hosting the LOTRO Player Gathering and we plan on having an even better time than we had last year!  This year we've decided to attend the Convention on Saturday only - as all three days was just way too limiting in what we wanted to see and do.  As such, we are hoping everyone who wishes to attend the Arda Post Gathering will join us in staying at our hotel of choice in downtown Seattle.

The Holiday Inn Express Seattle City Center is within a few blocks of the major attractions in the downtown area and allows us all a convenient meeting place.  Being able to hang out with everyone and get to know each other away from the hustle and bustle of the convention is a definite advantage.  It has an indoor pool, mini gym, a restaurant next door, and is close enough to some local bars that you won't have to worry about driving back to the hotel during any after-hours time.

Room rates are 143.00 per night but can easily be split into two or three for folks willing to room together - if 10 or more individual rooms get booked we can get a discount on the price - right now I think if everyone doubles up we will have right around half of that number.  To make your reservation visit the link below and call the number for the Hotel Front Desk (not the 800 number) and make sure to mention that you would like to have your room located near the other attendees from the Arda Post.

I'm currently working on securing a meeting room for our use on Thursday and Friday night (Thursday for early arrivers, and Friday just to hang out in the evenings), and hope to have those details squared away soon.  Saturday we will spend the late morning and early afternoon at the PAX Convention in Bellevue (about half an hour away by car) and Saturday evening at 7pm we'll start the AP Dinner.

I have not yet finalized plans for the dinner, but last year we held it at Gameworks in downtown Seattle and this year I'm looking for something closer to the convention to minimize driving time but may go with Gameworks if those plans fall through.  The AP Dinner will be where we get some definite time with the Turbine folks who make it out for the convention, to talk and discuss the game and Community, as well as where we will hand out the swag and prizes from the AP.  The corporate sponsorship we acquired for the dinner ought to give everyone a really great chance to take home at least one great item - not to mention the beta seats we have to give away. :)

Transportation in and around Seattle won't be an issue as we'll be within walking distance of everything.  The only transportation issue there might be will be for the Saturday trip to Bellevue and back - so the earlier folks start talking and planning the earlier we can address any issues there might be.

Currently we're still working on the official AP t-shirt for the event but in the mean time feel free to take a look at the LOTROG shirts, as well as the design from last year.  Thanks to MAWorking, LOTROSource, and Morthoron for their time and effort with these shirts.

Important URLs

Penny Arcade Expo - Official Website for the convention.  Read up on events, sign up for panels and gaming, and [b]order tickets[/b] to the convention (we're plannig a full convention day only on Saturday) for one or all three of the convention days.

The Holiday Inn Express Seattle City Center - Hotel website, click for the hotel's front desk line and reserve your room as an Arda Post attendee

The Arda Post - your host for the LOTROG II - West events

AP Schedule

August 24 - Thursday: no official plans, but many folks are arriving on Thursday so they can have a full day on Friday

August 25 - Friday: We plan on spending time touring Seattle and enjoying the free day to just hang out.  There's lots to do and see in the area so this is the day you'll want to get that done.  There's Pike's Market, the Space Needle, tons of shops, art museums, the sci-fi hall of fame (which I MUST see!), and plenty of other really fun stuff to do.  If you plan on going to PAX on Friday the doors open at 3pm and close at 2am.

August 26 - Saturday: Second PAX Convention Day (9am - 2am): we'll plan on getting there around 11:30am and taking the Team to lunch with us if they are available.  The rest of the day is yours to do as you please around the convention.  The AP Dinner will be Saturday night (if Turbine has any conflicts, the dinner will be rescheduled for Friday night).

August 27 - Sunday: We plan on just hanging out again before folks begin their homeward bound travels.  For folks who wish to be at the convention on Sunday, doors open at 9am and close at 6:30pm.

T-shirts

2006 LOTRO-G2 shirt

Free Morthoron shirt

2005 LOTRO-G1 shirt

* The AP shirt url will be provided when we get a design finished - feel free to submit some designs :)

That's it for now.  If you are planning on attending please let us know in the poll, even if it's just for one day of the schedule we'd love to get to meet you!

Updates to this post and the thread will occur as plans are finalized.