Some Questions About the New Workshop Location

Got some Great Questions

About the New In-Person Workshops in Las Vegas.

Let  me just list the questions and then below I have copied the announcement again.

Question: Room Rate the Same for Both Early Bird and those who pay later?

Answer: Yes. We will have the room block set for each workshop and will send those who are paid the code to the room block to get the discounts. We will send out those hotel codes as soon as you pay for the workshop. If the block fills, those who get in late will most likely end up paying a little more. We will try to solve that if that happens.

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Question: Will these workshops fill?

Answer: Yes, both are limited. But right now both workshops, the Business Master Class and the Anthology Workshop still have room. Both will limit to the same size as last year. We are not increasing the number of people attending with the move. Not the reason for the move at all.

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Question: Are there vegan and other food restrictions restaurants close?

Answer: Oh, my, yes! Within a two block radius of the Golden Nugget there has to be fifty restaurants, most reasonably priced, of all types, that cater to vegan and other food issues. This is heaven for those of you with food allergies like Kris has. We live three blocks away and Kris so far has tried successfully over twenty restaurants that she can eat in comfortably with a milk allergy.  Everything an easy two or three block walk from the Golden Nugget.

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Question: What does the parking cost?

Answer: Parking is free and easy to get to in a parking garage right next to where we are meeting in the convention center and the tower the rooms are in.

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Question: Are there shuttles from the airport?

Answer: Yes, numbers of them, as well as Uber and Lyft and so on. It is a $40 cab ride from the airport, so shuttles are a good idea and are about $15. Not sure what Uber and Lyft cost. Sharing a ride cuts things in half if people are coming into the same terminal at the airport around the same time.

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Question: Explain why the three rates for workshop fee?

Answer: Well, for us, this move and being in a major hotel like the Golden Nugget is far, far more expensive than in a small town on the Oregon Coast. We figured we will save some money on airfare for our instructors, but wash that in the room costs.

And we also have to have a suite for the evenings. And we have to pay for every bit of equipment we use instead of just bringing our own in. So it costs us a ton more.

And most conferences have early bird rates, so we figured that since some have paid ahead, we would honor that old rate until the 1st of May as an early bird special.

Then we have to jump the rate up for the months ahead and even more for those coming on board the last minute if there is still room available. We will see how it goes this year to see if we can hold these rates for next year or not.

Early Bird Fee… $650.00 Ends May 1st. Same price each for both workshops announced. So everyone signed up and paid is in at the early bird fee. Or you can jump in and take advantage of the lower fee now. If you have only paid a deposit, you need to pay in full by May 1st I’m afraid.

Regular Fee…. $750.00. Ends September 1st. Again the date is for both workshops since the Anthology Workshop starts writing the end of November.

Late Sign-up Fee… $850.00. Any time after September 1st for both workshops.

TO PAY, write me and I’ll tell you the Paypal address. It has not changed.

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Question: Is the Golden Nugget family friendly?

Answer: Yes. The pool is amazing and a slide goes right through a shark tank. Fremont Street right outside of the Golden Nugget might not be a great place for kids, though. But Vegas has a ton of great things for the family to do while you are in the workshop. But you may want to rent a car if you are going to go out of the downtown area.

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Question: Will the networking with other writers be as good as before?

Answer: I think it will be better, to be honest. We will set up a suite to gather in after hours for discussions. Great time a lunches, dinners, and bars also, so the networking will be far better than in Lincoln City in my opinion.

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Question: Will we still have a group list?

Answer: Yes, it will start like normal in July.

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Thanks everyone for the great questions. Feel free to ask more if you want. We are getting excited about the move now that we have decided to make it. So many things that are a ton better.

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Here is the Announcement Post Again

Starting in October…

That’s right, after this summer Series Workshop here in Lincoln City, all “coast workshops” will be held in Las Vegas.

That’s right, after almost twenty years here (first was in 1999), we are graduating the in-person workshops up to the next level.

I will be writing those signed up for the two workshops coming up, the Business Master Class in October and the Anthology Workshop in early March to confirm if you still want to attend or not. Or you can contact me. Either way is fine. 

There are slight changes to format and schedule which will make this better for everyone. (We talked to a lot of people about these, so thanks everyone for the feedback. Everyone seems excited to be moving.)

Here are some details…

Travel… First off, we tried to make this easier to get to. (Las Vegas is a ton easier by factors of hundreds. Cheaper to fly into from anywhere by a long, long ways, and we also get rid of the two plus hour drive one way over the mountains to the coast. In Vegas you don’t need rental cars.)

Workshop Time… We will be holding the meetings from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. with a lunch break. Six hours per day. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. We will then have a two hour session on Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. that will be summary, so people can fly out that day. It can be skipped if you need to catch an early flight.

This also allows people to only be gone one weekend and if need be come in a day late and only miss work from one week. A ton easier than a full week over two weekends as it has been here.

So basically five full days. About the same amount of total time as we were doing on the coast. Single track the entire time for both the Master Business Class and Anthology Workshop.

Food… The coast food sucks, to be honest. Now, oh, my, anything you want to eat is close. There has to be upwards of a hundred restaurants within easy  couple-block walking from the Golden Nugget, not counting the restaurants in the hotel itself. Anyone with any kind of allergy or food issues will be able to eat easily and with selection.

Resort… Oh, my, the pool is something to believe, not counting all the other stuff. The Golden Nugget has been completely remodeled even since I was there at Superstars six years ago. Brand new meeting rooms are wonderful and the staff is amazingly helpful.

Entertainment and fun… Well, we are changing the format of the workshops to end at 6 p.m. every day, so you have dinner and evenings free. We will have a hospitality suite to gather in after hours to talk as we did here at the Anchor after hours, but every evening is open and unscheduled to enjoy the wonderful city. And if you have never seen the Fremont Street Experience, you are in for an eye-opener. Think Bourbon Street in New Orleans, covered and then done crazy.

Hotel Costs… The best we can figure, for the entire time at the Golden Nugget, checking in on Thursday and out on Wednesday, counting all fees and taxes, would be around $800 per room. For the entire time. That is if you book with the workshop code we will give you through the workshop block. (The block is limited.) More expensive if you don’t go through the block.

That is about $300 for the entire workshop more expensive than the Anchor was here. But you will save that much on travel costs and the ride over the mountains to the coast. Plus it is hard to compare the Golden Nugget and the Anchor. (grin) But the hotel rooms will be standard and cleaned every day, with fresh towels and all that normal stuff. (grin)

Limited Enrollment… These workshops are still very limited. The Master Business Class is limited to 60 writers and the Anthology is limited to 50 writers. (Both are the same numbers as last year. We are not changing that because we feel those are good sizes.)

Workshop Fees… Here comes a part we can’t avoid I’m afraid. For the first time in 18 years, we have to raise our price for the workshop itself. We have to contract for those wonderful meeting rooms and the hospitality suite for after hours and pay for instructors and all that.

So here is what we are going to do. We are going to a normal convention kind of structure for fees.

If you have already signed up and paid, you are in at the Early Bird Rate. If you have a deposit in, you will now need to pay the full amount of whatever time laid out below. We need full payment on these timelines I’m afraid.

And I would not wait for the after September 1st fee since more than likely these will both be sold out by then. Sorry.

Early Bird Fee… $650.00 Ends May 1st. Same price each for both workshops announced. So everyone signed up and paid is in at the early bird fee. If you have only paid a deposit, you need to pay in full by May 1st I’m afraid.  Write me with questions on this at dean.wmgworkshops@gmail.com

Regular Fee…. $750.00. Ends September 1st. Again the date is for both workshops since the Anthology Workshop starts writing the end of November.

Workshop Fee… $850.00. Any time before October 15th for the Master Business Class and November 15th for the Anthology Workshop.

So like all conventions, the Early Bird fee is by far the best. May 1st isn’t far away I’m afraid. Nothing we could do about that.

Summary of Costs… If you get in on the Early Bird fee or have already paid, the price of coming here or going to Las Vegas should pretty much be the same, or very close when the extra price of the hotel is added in, but the savings on travel costs and time are taken out. We worked very hard to try to make this a wash in price for everyone who has come here before and wants to keep attending.

Business Master Class…

October 19th to the morning of October 24th, 2018. (Travel on Thursday the 18th and on Wednesday October 24th since the last session is done at noon.)

Hotel: The Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas, right on the Fremont Street Experience. (We have a block of rooms reserved and will be sending out codes to those paid to get the discounts and extra stuff when you book a room. The block numbers for the rooms should be to us around the first of May, so please wait to book rooms until then.)

Anthology Workshop…

March 1st to the morning of March 6th, 2019. (Travel on Thursday and on Wednesday March 6th since the last session is done at noon.)

Hotel: The Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas, right on the Fremont Street Experience. (We have a block of rooms reserved and will be sending out codes to those paid to get the discounts and extra stuff when you book a room. Codes will go out after May 1st.)