RR '09: General Information

[hummingbird]

Hey - just wanted to start a thread where we give out some general info on what happens at the Rally & stuff. Ask questions too.WHERE DOES IT HAPPEN?Los Angeles, CA. Taxi requests that we DO NOT post this year's location. Just talk about "the hotel".WHAT DO I NEED TO DO IF I'M GOING? First of all, you must be Taxi member or the registered guest of one. Each Taxi member attending is permitted to bring one guest, and you must pre-register the guest at the same time you register yourself. Don't wait too long - there are a limited number of tickets.Pre-register at http://www.taxi.com/rally/signup2009.html or call Taxi's toll-free number at the top of the forum. If you are bringing a guest, you will need their name/address/phone no & email address in order to register them.After you register for the Rally, you can book your hotel room on-line as well - there is a link after the on-line Taxi registration. Or you can call. WHEN DOES THE RALLY START/END:The Rally opens officially at 5 pm on Thursday Nov 6th, for registration. I think there are two open mics that night as well. The "offical" open mike in the big ballroom, where you put your name in a big box & get to play if they pull it; and a small, casual open mic in one of the meeting rooms with a sign-up sheet. The Rally usually ends at 6pm on Sunday afternoon.TAXI MEMBERS NOTE: one of the things you get for being a Taxi member at the Rally is a free 15 minute appointment with the mentor of your choice. These appointments go fast, and you make them immediately after you register & pick up your registration materials. (The actual appointments happen on Friday.) That's why people start lining up an hour or more before registration opens. This will be good time to meet other people in the line-up, something you'll be doing a lot of! So, altho you can register & get your name tag at any time during the Rally, if you want a mentor appointment, you likely need to register on Thursday night.CHOOSING A MENTOR: Taxi will provide you with registration materials when you register that include the schedule of panels, classes, and a list of mentors & other activities. They also provide this info on-line a couple of weeks before the Rally. I strongly recommend you print this information off and take it with you on the plane as you need to do some pre-planning to make the most of your time. CLASSES & PANELS: There are TONS of classes and panels at the Rally. Like I mentioned with the Mentor info, I print off a copy of the schedule before I leave home. Many classes are only given once and several classes run at the same time, and there are always Panels in the main Ballroom. I look carefully through the schedule and mark off events I definitely want to get to and try to figure out a schedule for myself. It's impossible to get to everything... so please take notes from the classes you attend! We all come back from the Rally and post our notes on the forum to pass along what we learned to each other and to the members of the Forum who couldn't make it.MENTOR LUNCHES: In addition to the Classes & Panels, and the member-only Mentor Appointment, there are also member-only Mentor Lunches on Friday and Saturday. You need to buy your tickets for this in advance of the Rally (the email for this came out today, Oct 7th). This year it's $32.50. What you get is... a lovely lunch that would likely cost more if you ate at a local restaurant, and the opportunity to meet Mentors in person. I've spoken with Pat Pattison, Michael Anderson, John Braheny, Fett, and many others at the lunches. Of course, you share your table with other Taxi members, and everyone gets to ask a question or two of the mentors. It's really not about socializing, it's about getting the most out of the 15 minutes your group gets to spend with each industry professional that comes to your table.Further discussion here - http://taxi.proboards.com/index.cgi?boa ... =15602WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING:A notebook! Many bring CDs of their music to pass out/exchange with others. Definitely bring 3 or 4 CDs to enter into the Panel draw... each panel draws music from genre boxes & gives feedback in the moment. You are permitted to enter one song on one CD per panel. And business cards if you have them. Some folks do bring guitars... sometimes there are jams goin on all over, ha ha.ABOUT THE HOTEL PHONE:In 2007 I made the mistake of calling my Taxi friends on their cell phones from my hotel room... at the cost of $5 per minute or something. Even my friend who lives in LA - it cost me $40 to talk to him for a couple minutes to say I had arrived. I didn't know about this until I checked out - it added considerably to the cost of my stay & impacted my budget. I am not the only one who was surprised. So, call your friend's rooms, not their cell. Or call their cell from your cell. Or use the pay phones in the Lobby.OPEN MICS:Yeah, there are open mics at the Rally. They aren't showcases, they aren't for the industry folks to check you out. They are to share what you do with members & guests. They provide sound, electric & acoustic guitar and a keyboard. Or bring your own. Check your registration materials for more info.ABOUT MEALS:The best value at the hotel is the buffet. If you eat a la carte, watch the prices, it can mount up. There is a Denny's just down the street to your left, and to the right is MacDonalds and a little cafe. There's a Starbucks bar in the hotel lobby that serves coffee & muffins & stuff every morning.ABOUT BEING A "DOT":What's a Dot? http://taxi.proboards.com/index.cgi?boa ... ad=16139In the past, when going to the Rally, we'd all say, "see you there". And then you got there and never got to meet the people you wanted to meet, because there were 1,200 other people milling around. So in 2007, Dave Walton had the inspiration that we Forum Members who are going to the Rally could identify ourselves by wearing a "dot" on our name tag. They are those round sticky labels that you use for filing or for price tags. This helped us identify each other, and, I have to say, worked really well. In addition... forum members tended to hang out, when not busy, in the bar So whether you are a new Taxi member or not, if you're a member of this forum, you are a "Dot". If you'd rather not wear a dot, that's fine - but please come and introduce yourself anyway!! I will start a thread for everyone who is going, and I'll make a list of Forum members attending the Rally.***ADD YOURSELF TO THE LIST, HERE:http://taxi.proboards.com/index.cgi?act ... =1MISC:Get caught up on your sleep before you come. The Rally is intoxicating, exciting, overwhelming, inspiring... you might talk so much you lose your voice by Sunday!If you have any other questions, please post them and we'll try to help![PS - I know it's hard on folks who aren't going to see all the posts about the Rally... please excuse us for being excited & bear with us in the lead up to the event. We honestly wish you could come too ]

[instantminstrel]

Beautifully done. No stone unturned.

[ullali]

Hi Vikki.Thank you so much for posting all this and answering most of my questions, this is GREAT and I can't wait to attend and meet you all!I read somewhere on the Forum that I am supposed to recieve a Rally information package. I haven't gotten one yet....would you happen to know when I can expect it?

[hummingbird]

Oct 26, 2009, 9:39am, ullali wrote:Hi Vikki.Thank you so much for posting all this and answering most of my questions, this is GREAT and I can't wait to attend and meet you all!I read somewhere on the Forum that I am supposed to recieve a Rally information package. I haven't gotten one yet....would you happen to know when I can expect it? You'll get it at registration @ the Rally - but TAXI will offer it as a download within the next few days. I highly recommend that you print it off and bring it with you on the plane, as you'll want to organize your time effectively & read up on other instructions.Looking forward to meeting you!!VikkiPS -- my best friend moved to Billund a couple years ago.

[ullali]

Thanks a bunch Vikki....You BET I will print it out and work on it on the plane, if I get it in time before I leave....I sure hope so, cause I want to make the most out of it all. And 15 hours on the plane will come in handy there! Small world hu!?...Your best friend moved to the tiniest country in the world and even one of the smallest towns too, wow! She must have been deeply in love! It's like 6-7 hours drive from me. Nice place.See you soooon!Ulla

[angoramusic]

Thanks for the info Vikki! Very helpful!

[Casey H]

Oct 7, 2009, 10:32am, hummingbird wrote: Get caught up on your sleep before you come. The Rally is intoxicating, exciting, overwhelming, inspiring... you might talk so much you lose your voice by Sunday!Sleep before we come?? But when would be burn those CDs and print those lyric sheets we procrastinated on all these weeks?

[dynamicalan]

Hello,

I am really glad you posted this. It seems to be very useful information.

Thanks,

Alan

[dynamicalan]

I am bringing my bass. By sound do I understand that amps will be provided? Will there be opportunity to play with other musicians in the open mic, or is the open mic for organized groups or solo acts only?

Thanks,

Alan

[dynamicalan]

Hello,

I am wondering if there's free wireless. I read on the hotel web site that it's cost around $11.35 a day. I checked the AT&T hot spots and there are no connections in the surrounding area. If you feel this post gives away the hotel name please let me know and I will delete the post.

Thanks,

Alan