C3 - Chicagoland Christmas Conference

[cenote]

Edit....Whoops, double post

[ErnieHorning]

Registration for C3 is now open. The topics of discussion will be posted at a later date. But, guaranteed, they will be great! I invite you all to join us in Chicago over Labor Day weekend..this is the one you don't want to miss!

http://chicago2012.constantlychristmas.com/index.php

This site just opened and while you can register, there is no event schedule yet. The only thing that has information in it is the FAQ and it's pretty limited. I would expect that Carrie will start adding information to the site shortly.

[buddhawood]

FYI, I just made my hotel reservations for 8-31/9-1 at HotWire.com for $56 a night at the Crowne Plaza in Northbrooke. Sale ends tonight

[ErnieHorning]

The latest from Carie:

If you haven't experienced a C3 yet, you're in for treat! And if you’ve been to one before, you know how much fun it is! We’re working hard so that you don’t have to!

C3 is brought to you by, in part:

Creative Displays - http://www.creativedisplays.com/

Christmas-LEDs/Suprtec Novelties, LLC - http://www.christmas-leds.com/

ChristmasLightShow.com - http://www.christmaslightshow.com/

Displays in Motion, a Certified LOR Partner - http://www.displaysinmotion.net/

GordonLightsLLC.com

Holiday Coro - http://www.holidaycoro.com/

Holiday Technologies - http://www.holidaytechnologies.com/

Light-O-Rama - http://www.lightorama.com

Reinders - http://www.reinders.com/LED/led_home.html

Seasonal Entertainment - http://seasonalentertainmentllc.com/...wspotlight.htm

The Demented Elf - http://www.thedementedelf.com/

Two Dog Lights - http://twodoglightstore.com/

Winkelbottoms Wire Frames - http://www.winkelbottoms.com/

[ErnieHorning]

Some of what you'll get at C3, demonstrations, moderated discussion groups including:

• Stringing A Wireframe - Val Piechur, WI
• Using Pixels - Fabian Gordon, TX
• RGB/LOR3 - (Open discussion)
• Soldering, hands on workshop - William Morris, AZ
• Using the LEDKeeper and LightKeeperpro - John Decosmo, President of Ulta Lit Tree Co., IL
• Display Design - Art vs. Technology - Carrie Sansing, IL
• Electricity - Ernie Horning, MN
• Using, Selecting and Editing Music - Tim Fisher, MN
• Those Kitchy Plastic Things - Blow Molds! - Tyler Scally, VA
• The Great Flood Shoot-Out - Jerry Plak, CA / Tim Herberger, NY

[terrypowerz]

Have you registered for C3 yet?

If not, what are you waiting for?

[raplass]

Ernie, as a born and breed Chicagoan I'd love to come, but... Well, maybe next year... Out of curiosity, have any of the amazing static display lunatics from the Sauganash Village area come in the past? (Actually they are between Devon and Pratt west of the Edens.)

[ErnieHorning]

The Chicago mini has always been a bi-annual event. I don’t know if it will be repeated. Two years ago, Carrie Sansing said that the 2010 mini was the last one. Several of us old timers convinced her to do it again. Previously Carrie did most of the work in preparing this event. Several people have stepped up to ease the burden. We may be able to do it again, I don’t know.

Personal I don’t know exactly where everyone came from. I do know though, that there are several people from Indiana.

It’s a fun time and you do learn a lot with direct interaction with the people that are heavily involved with their displays. There are several of these minis around the country, so maybe you’ll be able to make t to one.

[ErnieHorning]

The latest from Carie:


The White Elephant gift exchange was so much fun in 2010, we're doing it again this year at C3:

What do you do to participate? Remember, this is voluntary..its not a must, but if you don't bring a gift, you don't get one.

1. Check through your stash of Christmas "stuff". Things that are in good shape or new, that you don't want, never used, or won't use. Your discard might just be perfect for someone else..then again, maybe not!

2. There is no minimum or maximum as to value..so if you want to, wrap up that spare controller you don't need.. or those boxes of c7 replacement bulbs..

3. The White Elephant Gift needs to be wrapped, camouflaged, concealed..make it interesting. Go ahead, use that entire roll of tape on the 24x24x24 box with the c7s inside, we don't care..that's half the fun! Shopping bags, newspapers, towels, you name it.. watching people struggle to open their gifts can be fun! The idea is to keep people from guessing what is in the package and who its from. If the gift is gender specific, tag it and let everyone know. But no names..

4. If you don't bring a gift, you won't get a gift..but you can watch the fun!

5. Gifts can be stolen, we encourage it, so be prepared..the gift you open just might be stolen by the next guest. A gift can be stolen twice..after that, it's pronounced dead and the person who has it at that point, keeps it. The gift cannot be stolen again once its dead.

We hope you plan to participate. The WEG is a lot of fun, don't miss out. Start looking through your inventory..you just never know what you'll be bringing home.


In case you were wondering, there will be a rather huge swap meet at C3. Bring what you have to sell or swap, your junk may be someone else's treasure!


Though the White Elephant is somewhat of a tongue in cheek event, there were several vendors that participated that entered some very nice gifts in 2010.

Be sure to check out the vendor links above. Several of them will gladly bring your order to C3, thus avoiding shipping costs; check with them first though.

My understanding is that several of the vendors have generously donated prizes and some of them rather significant. These typically are given out during drawings throughout the night.

Oh yeah this is a big event! There will be several of the long time big decorators at C3 and anybody that’s ever been to a mini, knows that people will talk one-on-one about how-to’s that they would never post on the internet. Come and ask them how they did that, they just might tell you.

[terrypowerz]

With less than a week left to guarantee getting the official C3 shirt with your paid registration, it is time to make your move!