Every year and many months prior to Migration, the Migration Chairman provides his/her best guess (based on past attendance, event location, phase of the moon, etc.) on how many folks will actually attend Migration. Then, armed with that guess … err … estimate, the Chairman negotiates with one or more hotels at the selected fly-in location to secure the best possible group rate for everyone. In return for offering COPA the best possible “package” (of which, room rate is but one element), the hotel insists on a few things for themselves (duh). And, as a result, COPA incurs various financial obligations, the two major ones being minimum number of rooms occupied and minimum food & beverage expenditure. To help reduce the remote possibility that COPA will not meet its minimum occupancy obligation, I am going to release our remaining room block back to Green Valley Ranch on September 5th, next Friday.
What does this mean to you?
If you have registered for Migration and made your room reservation, you’re all set. No worries! [Y]
If you plan to attend Migration and have not made your room reservation at GVR, please do it now.
After I release the remainder of our room block back to Green Valley, the rooms become available to the general public for rent. (Of course, they will be rented to the public at the prevailing, high-season room rate.) If you attempt to reserve a room after I release the block, there may or may not be space available at GVR. Currently, GVR is completely booked starting on Sunday Oct. 12th.
Bottom line? If you plan to attend Migration, please make your room reservation at Green Valley Ranch ASAP.
John, you’ve got it! I understand how stuff sometimes gets left/done at the last minute. But, some our our members are going to be disappointed after Friday if the remaining rooms in our block reservation at GVR get snapped up! It’s high-season in Las Vegas - lots is going on. And, the Red Bull Air Races are that weekend, as well. All of that adds up to competition for lodging. Last time that I checked, GVR was already full (actually overbooked) starting on Sunday. One COPAN who tried to amend his existing reservation and add Sunday to his itinerary was quoted $550 for the night! To me, that makes our $160/night rate sound pretty good. Folks who haven’t made their lodging reservation but are planning to attend Migration really (really!) need to make their room reservations now.
Admittedly, our “Early Bird” Migration registration period (that doesn’t have anything to do with lodging) doesn’t end for another 8 days. However, calling it Early Bird is a bit of a misnomer. (In fact, I think that I’ll change the terminology next year since registering eight days from now is far from “early”.) And, it really puts the Migration Planning Team on the short end of the stick; we have to scurry around and have last minute conversations with food vendors, clothing vendors, transportation vendors, and the hotel. All of them want to manage their resources well in advance. And, on the other hand, we’re trying to give our members as much time as possible to register. It’s an interesting tug-of-war … but it gets a little tiring.
What about tickets for the Red Bull Races?! Do you guys have any info or hook ups for the Races? Second, is there any way to come over to the show for a day, but not be there for the whole thing? I’m going to be in Vegas that weekend for the races and figured I would run over Friday for a few hours and say hi to some people. Thanks for the info and help in advance.
We did not set up ROL to have someone register for just Friday. We had 1 day (Sat) and 2 Day (Fri/Sat). But Donna can square you away with a manual registration. Just call her or email here and she will get you registered for just Friday.
I assume you have read the Migration web page. Most of us will be at the Cirrus Red Bull Pre-Race party Friday late afternoon and evening. Many of us will be staying for the finals race on Sunday as well. We are getting on busses and then going to sit together. Is that the type of Hook Up you were thinking of?
For all the rest of you, Tomorrow is Friday and the rooms will be gone when Craig releases them.
Yes, that was the hookup I was thinking about. How do I get tickets for the Friday and Sunday Red Bull race thing? I guess I’ll look at the Migration Web Page and probably find my answers… [:$] Thanks
This will be my first migration so forgive the questions. I have registered for M12 and reserved the room at Green Valley. 2 questions…
How do we purchase the tickets for the air race on Sunday and what time will that be? Our plane leaves at 6pm on Sunday…not sure if there will be enough time to go.
I thought part of migration is the dinner party on Friday night. Are we choosing either the Cirrus party or Dinner or will there be time to attend both?
I’ll save Craig the time and answer your question about the social events myself. To allow for an evening of fun at the Cirrus Red Bull event, we moved the Annual COPA Banquet, featuring NASA astronaut Daniel Bursch, back to it’s former Saturday position for this year only. So you’ll be able to enjoy both events. So be sure to register before prices go way, way up!
For the Sunday Red Bull Air Race, when you register for Migration, you select that you want tickets and that also gets you a bus ride from the hotel to the racetrack and back. My understanding is that the race is from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. But check the Red Bull Site for latest info.
Here are the steps to get all your registrations done:
Go to the Cirrus Red Bull Air Race Friday Pre-Race Party Registration Site to let Cirrus know how many are coming. COPA will provide bus transportation to and from their event. That is why we need to register in both places.
Keep the questions coming, we don’t want anyone guessing on what to do.
For purposes of Migration, we offered a simple package for Sunday, the day of the RBAR finals. And, that’s the option available on the M12 registration website. (Early on, Cirrus talked about special seating for COPA but that was before they really understood the RBAR constraints on sponsors … which are many.) So, basically we’re providing a general admission ticket (no discounts available to folks like us) and the bus ride to/from RBAR (which is about a 1 hr. trip) from GVR. Although Dennis and I tried to get a deal, there was really nothing other than standard fare.
Since I had no idea how many people would attend, I reserved a relative few additional rooms for Sunday night at GVR. (Our major room block is Thur., Fri, & Sat. nights. @ $160/night.) Although GVR increased our Sunday night reservation allowance a couple of times (at their own risk), AFAIK the resort is booked up starting Sunday - no room at the inn…
Ben, although this info has been disseminated elsewhere, I’ve attached a copy of our Migration-at-a-Glance spreadsheet for your convenience.
Basically, if you do the normal 3-day Migration, you’re entitled to do the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (daytime & evening) activities. Some require advance sign-ups and involve an extra fee (e.g., rust removal flights, owner maintenance class) . Some require you to notify us of your particular selection/preference (e.g., Banquet Dinner meal).
If you sign for a 2-day Migration experience, then you’re entitled to do the Friday & Saturday (daytime & evening) activities. On Friday, Cirrus Aircraft is holding a “pit party”. All COPANs are invited. If you want to attend that optional (but fun!) event, advance sign-up should be done during your Migration registration. Again, that option is on our registration website. Note that we (COPA) need a headcount and Cirrus needs a headcount. COPA is providing the transportation to/from the Cirrus event. And, Cirrus’ party invitation includes more than just the COPA audience. So, our headcount will not match their headcount. That’s why you need to register two places. Again, all of this is on our registration website.
If you sign up for a 1-day Migration, then you’re entitled to the Saturday (daytime & evening) activities. Of course, our special Banquet Dinner is Saturday night.
On Sunday, most people fly home. However, since the Red Bull Air Race finals are on Sunday, the Planning Team has planned a group excursion up to the races on Sunday morning. Like most other things, this option is also on the registration website.
At this point, if you haven’t already made Sunday reservations at Green Valley Ranch, you’re probably too late! Last time I spoke to them (about 8 days ago), they were BOOKED for Sunday night. However, they still had rooms available in our Thursday, Friday, Saturday night reservation block.