CGW 2: Coordinating Sightseeing & Room Shares

[Bing Wu]

To everyone attending CGW 2, here are some things to think about that I learned after CGW 1:

1. SIGHTSEEING PLANS. I planned to stay in Vegas only for 1 extra day after the workshop, and I arrived just in time for the pre-workshop MEET-UP. Given a choice, I would have stayed a little longer. I found a significant number of people, especially international travellers, stayed for 2 or more days after the seminar. This gave them time to hang out, see the Grand Canyon, visit Steve's Toastmasters club, etc.

For the January workshop, I'm going to stay until at least Wednesday, maybe even a little longer if there's anyone wanting to hang out/do a road trip (and maybe visit Sedona, Arizona).

2. SHARING HOTEL ROOMS. I didn't share a room during CGW 1 but I'm considering it for the January workshop (the greatest advantage in my opinion is to make a friend). If sharing a room with someone else is something you're interested in, get on it early, and express your interest here on the forums.

3. MOBILE PHONES. I brought one, and it was HIGHLY USEFUL. My phone is from Rogers in Canada, and they charged $25 for 40 roaming minutes in the US. It was expensive, but it was worth it, because it helped keep me in the loop of sightseeing plans. I strongly urge everyone to bring their mobile if they have one, and bring the charger so it doesn't die

[emeadow]

Originally Posted by Alex Wu

3. MOBILE PHONES. I brought one, and it was HIGHLY USEFUL. My phone is from Rogers in Canada, and they charged $25 for 40 roaming minutes in the US. It was expensive, but it was worth it, because it helped keep me in the loop of sightseeing plans.

Just as a tip to check into if you haven't already, I don't know what your Canadian plan offers, but when my husband went to Canada from the US I found this out. Our mobile service provider (Sprint) had a deal where if I paid like $2.00 per month, it reduced the per minute rate for Canadian phone usage from .60 cents a minute to something like .15 cents. So we just paid the $2.00 fee for the one month and it made the call cost much more affordable.

[Bing Wu]

In Canada we have relatively little cell phone competition, the $25 for 40 mins was a special roaming package from Rogers that's recently been offered... it used to be all pay per use (which was >$1 per minute). But I agree - check out special roaming packages because they can reduce the cost. The point being that for the period of the workshop, stinginess has no place, especially when it comes to communication

[mattyblu]

I'm definitely going to try to stay longer this time around. Wednesday seems like a pretty good bet, and a road trip is a great idea. There are so many neat places to go in that area.

[Michelle]

I will be in Vegas for at least a week, perhaps more.