BCinDC & the 2011 Convention

Archive for the ‘BookCrossing Convention 2011’ Category

We have two new convention activity choices for you:

1. Early Bird Friday Morning: a guided group tour of the Library of Congress – The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, something not to be missed on a visit to Washington, D.C. You can now choose to visit and tour it on Friday morning.
2. Sunday Afternoon: a trip to the International Day of the Book Festival in Kensington, MD – This annual festival celebrates the book with live music, author readings, activities, booksellers, publishers and much more in historic Old Town Kensington. BCinDC have enjoyed giving out and releasing books at this festival for the past few years. You can now choose to spend Sunday afternoon at the festival.

Visit the Add-ons page any time to make your choices.

This post is part 7 of our Wednesday Adventure Series. Each week we will highlight something different in the Washington, D.C., Metro Area, many of which will be options for part of your own BookCrossing Journey. With so many things to see and do, how will you choose?

Special Notices – Check out the current special deals on registration. Make your hotel reservations soon; rooms are filling up quickly!

Forecast Radar Cameras

Weather in April in the Washington, D.C., area can be tricky. The best pieces of advice are to dress in layers and to be prepared! You can check out weather websites for typical high and low temperatures for April in Washington, D.C. Typically the high is around 66°F (18.9°C) and the low can be around 46°F (7.8°C) usually in the early mornings and late at night. You can check out the current temperature at any time by looking at the WeatherBug widget on our location page.

If you bring a light jacket or sweatshirt/sweater you’ll be able to wear it if it’s chilly and then take it off later in the day if you’re walking around town and warming up. Also, sometimes hotels can be a little cool, so it wouldn’t hurt to have a sweatshirt while indoors either. Don’t want to put on a sweatshirt and hide your t-shirt with the convention logo on it? You’re in luck! We’re selling long-sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, and zipper hoodies with the large convention logo on them.

The old saying “April showers bring May flowers” is true in this area. Occasional drizzles or afternoon rainstorms are common in April, but unpredictable. It doesn’t hurt to come prepared just in case (and we know if all of you pack rain gear, we’ll be pretty much guaranteed a rain-free weekend). We suggest you bring some rain-resistant item such as a light rain jacket, a poncho, or an umbrella. And you should bring a few protective plastic bags for your wild released books. Also, be sure to allow extra travel time. If there is a thunderstorm, it might cause an unexpected delay at the airport. We wouldn’t want you to miss out on the fun just because of a little rain.

Wondering what to pack? We recommend:

• Good walking shoes/sneakers
• Long pants/jeans (and maybe a pair of shorts in the event that the weather is unseasonably warm)
• Long-sleeved shirts or t-shirts and sweatshirts
• Something waterproof like an umbrella, rain jacket, poncho, or waterproof pullover
• Plastic bags for your books

Also, the convention is just after peak cherry blossom season. If you have bad allergies to grasses and pollens, you might want to pack medicine or be prepared to buy some over the counter.

Remember: pack what you will be comfortable in and be prepared!

This post is part 6 of our Wednesday Adventure Series. Each week we will highlight something different in the Washington, D.C., Metro Area, many of which will be options for part of your own BookCrossing Journey. With so many things to see and do, how will you choose?

Special Deals! – We will now be offering special deals — anything from getting entered into a drawing for a special item to earning extra raffle tickets. Check now for the current deals and take advantage of them quickly because they will only be available for a short time.

Union Station is one of the busiest places in Washington, D.C. You can find people coming and going from the Metro, Amtrak, MARC, and VRE as well as people sightseeing, shopping, working, and viewing a bit of history that dates back to its opening in 1907.

The red line Metro station area of Union Station looks like any other platform in the Metro system, with the same architecture and features. But you only need to leave the station area to be awestruck by the grandeur of Union Station itself. The Main Hall has an impressive design with great arched ceilings, beautiful artwork, and sculptures. Don’t forget to go outside and look at the front, with its grand facade that sits in an intersection designed by Pierre L’Enfant, who also designed the city plan of Washington. If you are interested in historic buildings you will be delighted to know that Union Station is on the National Register of Historic Places. Statues and plaques inside and out – including a large sculpture of Christopher Columbus out front – may captivate others, especially the Markeroni.com members among us. (A list of nearby historical markers will be provided upon request.)

If you are looking for something to do near Union Station, we have a couple of suggestions for you. You can take advantage of the shopping within Union Station (there is a Barnes & Noble and a Fantom Comics for the book-lovers among us) and several places to purchase souvenirs, postcards, and other touristy items. If you have a bit of extra time you only have to cross 1st Street to the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum(free admission) where one highlight is sending a postcard from their own metering machine. (Bring small change with you for the stamp.)

Union Station is not only a wonderful place to visit, but its central location has made it the site of a few BCinDC meetings. The food court and numerous other small restaurants are great places to sit and chat for a while enjoying the company of BookCrossers. The only downside is a few security officers who do not understand BookCrossing have asked us not to advertise the free books in any way. It is also to be noted that the cleaning staff is diligent and wild released books may end up in the trash.

Union Station will be the starting point for our Extreme Early Bird activity on Thursday, which you can register for now. After getting something to eat on your own in the food court at 5:00 PM, we will meet in the Main Hall at 6:45 PM to board our tour bus just outside the front doors. From there, we will take a moonlit tour of the Washington, D.C., monuments.

The Early Bird Rate expires as the clock ticks over into the new year! We are on Eastern Standard Time here in D.C. and so that is when the change will become effective.

If you would like to qualify for the lower $150 rate you must do 2 things:

One: your registration form must be filled out and submitted BEFORE the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 2010 EST. (That’s when the ball falls in Times Square.)

Two: you must submit payment within 3 business days. That means that your PayPal transaction must be submitted or your check postmarked by Wednesday, January 5, 2011. If you cannot make this deadline then please send the regular convention fee amount of $175.

There are some special deals available now on the website. In order to qualify you must submit your PayPal payment or postmark your check within 3 business days of submitting your registration form. Don’t get disqualified from some great deals by procrastinating on sending in the payment.

(Please note: if you submitted your forms prior to December 1 and you have already paid, you will be grandfathered in and are qualified for promotions regardless of the length of time it took you to pay).

What are you waiting for? We want to see YOU at the convention in April, so register today!