BCinDC & the 2011 Convention

We passed the 50% mark on the fund-raising meter! That means it’s time for a run-off vote to decide what color hair DiscoveryLover will sport at the 2011 Convention in April.

Voting to decide DiscoveryLover’s hair color ends: Friday, March 18 at 11:59PM EDT.

So donate here: http://tinyurl.com/bcindcdonate
Whatever hair color is in the lead at the end of the day on Friday will be her hair color. Then we’ll start a run-off vote to decide k-j-h’s hair. It might turn out to be the same color or it might be different–it’s up to you! Keep in mind that if we hit the 80% and 100% marks, we’ll be dyeing our hair two or three colors. In that case, this would just be the first color.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far! We truly appreciate your support.

You may have heard about the wacky scheme concocted by DiscoveryLover and the Convention Planning Team to dye their hair as our fund meter reaches certain percentages: http://tinyurl.com/bcindcdonate But why should the women have all the fun? A few of our beloved BookCrossing men have joined the challenge, and the levels are now as follows:

50% – DiscoveryLover dyes her hair one color
55% – k-j-h dyes his hair one color
60% – crrcookie dyes her hair one color
65% – ResQgeek dyes his hair one color
70% – KateKintail dyes her hair one color
75% – Skyring dyes his hair one color
80% – melydia dyes her hair one color
90% – 2 colors for the girls
95% – 2 colors for the guys
100% – 3 colors for EVERYONE!

If the meter jumps such that multiple people hit their hair dyeing percentage at the same time, we’ll hold a run-off vote, at the end of which, the current victim will dye his/her hair the color in the lead. Then, another day later, we’ll hold the next run-off vote. For example, if the meter jumps from 69% to 75% on Tuesday, we’ll hold a run-off vote for KateKintail on Thursday (running midnight-midnight EST), then a run-off vote for Skyring on Saturday. (Hint: the meter is going to jump soon!)

Best of all, you as a donor get to choose the colors we dye our hair. Want to see a red ResQgeek or maybe a pink Pete? Donate today!

We have some new deadlines for 2011 BookCrossing Convention registration & hotel rooms that you should be aware of. Registration rates for the whole weekend will increase after March 20, but Day Passes will continue to be offered at the same rate until all registration closes. We also got a few more rooms added to our room block for the weekend at the convention hotel, and the deadline for booking a room has been extended to March 23.

• March 20- Regular Registration closes (last day to register at the $175 rate)
• March 20- Add-on form closes (last day to purchase convention shirts, cheap raffle & prize tickets, METRO passes, early bird activity spots, Sunday excursion activity spots, and hanger-on dinner)
• March 21- Late Registration begins ($199)
• March 23- Last day to book a room in our room block ($99, while rooms are available)
• April 7- Last day to donate to the convention to choose the hair colors of the planning team & friends
• April 10- Late Registration & Day Pass Registration closes (last day to register at the $199 rate or to purchase Day Passes)

Please be aware that if you register after March 20, you will not get to choose add-ons. You will have to choose options that don’t require reservations or find your own transportation to Sunday activities. Attendees who register after March 20 may also not receive a full goodie bag.

Please spread the word!

Remember that today, March 15 at 5pm EDT, is the DEADLINE for reserving a room at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, the convention venue, at the $99 rate. After today, the block will no longer exist and you’ll have to pay the normal rate for all the days of the convention or find another hotel at which to stay.

You can reserve your room online or call Central Reservations at 888.627.8209 if you have a last minute room request.

Remember, you don’t need to pay anything in advance. There is no deposit required to book a room. However, you will need to provide a credit card to hold your reservation and you will need to show a photo ID at check-in.

On February 26, we staged our second trial run of the Literary Museum Hopper activity. This is a self-paced scavenger hunt through all the museums on the National Mall to find specific items of literary importance–just one of many activities that can be chosen during the 2011 BookCrossing Convention in April. We visited 11 museums in several hours, working out a few small bugs in the questions and directions here and there.

The activity was put together by KateKintail. BookCrossers who went hunting were: authorauthor & a visiting Flat Stanley, crrcookie & lilgrovers, Ixion, littlewhitebird & her husband, melydia, nat4lee, and ResQgeek.