2009 National Info

Joe30Essex

I met with Ken Poynter (Home Chapter 2009 National Chairman) this morning to work on some plans. I brought up some of the questions I have seen on this site, so I'll try to give some info to clear some things up.

• The 2009 National will run from July 13-17 (Monday through Friday) The banquet will be held on Friday evening, the last day of the meet.
  
• Please call the Host Hotel (Marriott at Centerpoint) directly for reservations (248-253-9800) and tell them your with the Hudson,Essex, Terraplane Club.
  
• There will be plenty of parking for trailers (a lot will be designated)
  
• Motor Home parking is available, but you cannot use it for sleeping purposes (i.e. you need to get a room in the hotel)
  
• No pets are allowed in the hotel (I will try to find out if there is anywhere close that allows pets)
  
• There will be a number of tours offered- some to the old Hudson factory sites and others of interest to Hudson members. Details are in the works. Pick and choose to your liking.
  

I can assure you, Ken and the rest of the Home Chapter members are working hard to make this a very memorable National.



Joe Delaney

Home Chapter member

VicTor Z

Hello Joe, Thanks for the info. Will it be possible for the Vendors (H E T related) to be grouped together in the swap meet area? I will be there with my Window Channeling Business and I know there will be alot more vendors.

Joe30Essex

VicTor Z wrote:

Hello Joe, Thanks for the info. Will it be possible for the Vendors (H E T related) to be grouped together in the swap meet area? I will be there with my Window Channeling Business and I know there will be alot more vendors.

I'm pretty sure on our walk-around last spring we talked about a specific area for the vendors. I know the group understands the importance of the vendors to our HET members.

Joe30Essex

Pets Info: Here is what I found for those with concerns about pets- The Residence Inn (across the street from the host hotel) allows pets, although there may be a fee (call them @ 248-858-8664). Two hotels just down the road in Troy- Drury Inn & Suites (248-528-3330) allows pets with no fee and is 8 miles (10 minutes from Host). The other Red Roof Inn (248-689-4391), pets with no fee is 11 miles (13 minutes). Hope this helps.

[Deleted User]

Joe30Essex wrote:

Pets Info: Here is what I found for those with concerns about pets- The Residence Inn (across the street from the host hotel) allows pets, although there may be a fee (call them @ 248-858-8664). Two hotels just down the road in Troy- Drury Inn & Suites (248-528-3330) allows pets with no fee and is 8 miles (10 minutes from Host). The other Red Roof Inn (248-689-4391), pets with no fee is 11 miles (13 minutes). Hope this helps.

The residence Inn does allow pets for a nonrefundable fee of$100 special cleaning charge is what I was told (special cleaning of my wallet) I have found 3 others with in a couple miles if anybody wants that info email me

Jon B

Hi Joe, nice of you to maintain this thread for feedback and ideas on next year's National.



A couple of suggestions:



1). Could we get back to having "long distance" awards? Maybe it's my imagination but it seems that I've seen fewer of these awarded in recent years and really, with the price of gas and the increasing age of our cars (and members!), the act of driving a Hudson some distance to a meet ought to be rewarded! I'd be all for separate long distance awards for Hudson, Essex and Terraplane as well as for "modifieds". Maybe even an award for longest distance trailered, as well! If we want to see these great cars showing up at Hudson meets, we ought to offer recognition to those who get them there!



2). With more and more activities at nationals, it's hard to avoid conflicts, but please do your best not to have activities overlap. Maybe we could try scheduling some of the meetings and seminars in the evenings, so those who take the bus tours could attend the other get-togethers as well. I do not wish to criticize any of our recent nationals, because they're all been so good. But we've gotten to the point of having so many functions jammed into one day, that I hear people complain that they wanted to attend "this" but couldn't do it because they were scheduled to attend "that"!



3). As a dedicated resident of our chat room I have appreciated the recent national meets offering a "chat get-together" where folks to "talk" to each other on the internet can actually meet one another face to face. Next year, maybe we can open this up to include the folks who post things on the Forum, as well. And, it would be great to locate this get-together in a place where we might have breakfast, lunch or dinner together, thus killing two birds with one stone. Past "chat breakfasts" have been enjoyable.



I'd be curious to know what other people's thoughts are on these suggestions.

Joe30Essex

Jon,

I think I have taken on the title of "unofficial spokesman" of our group-that's OK-I told Ken anything I can do to help!

I will pass these suggestions on, I think they are all pretty easy things to implement.



Joe

Unknown

I've got my hotel reservations, now to find to find a flight from Seattle to Chicago to Flint/ Bishop Int.. I'm not sure if I can make flight reservations this soon. Hudsonly Lou Cote

hudsontech

Jon B wrote:

Hi Joe, nice of you to maintain this thread for feedback and ideas on next year's National.



A couple of suggestions:







2). With more and more activities at nationals, it's hard to avoid conflicts, but please do your best not to have activities overlap. Maybe we could try scheduling some of the meetings and seminars in the evenings, so those who take the bus tours could attend the other get-togethers as well. I do not wish to criticize any of our recent nationals, because they're all been so good. But we've gotten to the point of having so many functions jammed into one day, that I hear people complain that they wanted to attend "this" but couldn't do it because they were scheduled to attend "that"!





I'd be curious to know what other people's thoughts are on these suggestions.

I also heard complaints at Marlborough about the tours keeping people from attending seminars and other activities going on at the same time. And it affected the vendors as well.



I also think this problem should be addressed - the idea of having meetings and seminars scheduled in the evening is a sound one. If a tour returns around 5, the meeting or seminar could be scheduled for 6:30 or 7. Most don't run more than an hour so that time slot should work.



Of course we're beginning to get into "enjoy the cars" time here!! LOL To many things to do, so little time!!!!!



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

Aaron D. IL

In most conventions these days organizers sceduel more events and tours (at the same time) than one could possibly go to. The theory being that there's something an attendee would want to do and other activities they would not be interested in... therefore a person could pick and choose and not have to idle through a good chunk of time during the event waiting for the next thing they really were interested in doing..... That's just the argument for it. But if someone wanted to do EVERYTHING I can understand why they might complain about overlapping activities or tours.

Nevada Hudson

The 2008 National was fantastic! We live a long distance away, and chose to go on the tours. We were able to see many amazing places that otherwise we would have never been able to see on our own. The down side was that the club store closed at 5pm, ( No t-shirt, the tour busses returned at 5pm. ) and all the tech sessions, chat meeting, and Special interest group meetings went on when we were on the tours. There are always a lot of people in the parking lot in the evenings, as nothing else is going on. I quess if you have seen it before or live close by , the tours would be moot.The tours are the only way I can get my family to join me at the Nationals. Now I really appreciate what a wonderful, historical, beautiful place New England is! We plan on taking the tours in 2009. I know we can't see and do everything, but to be able to do a little of the above mentioned activities would be nice.

[Deleted User]

Victor, do you make the rubber seals for the vents on a 55 Hash? I sure need some new ones so I can replace my broken windows. Mine are so hard I'm afraid they are going to fall apart when the windows are taken out.



Harry

Sarah Young

dynolou2 wrote:

I've got my hotel reservations, now to find to find a flight from Seattle to Chicago to Flint/ Bishop Int.. I'm not sure if I can make flight reservations this soon. Hudsonly Lou Cote

If not Chicago, Minneapolis is another major hub. (Went through Chicago airport a few days ago. My kids kept begging to go on the "moving sidewalks" they have in the concourse, lol.) With Flint airport about 40 miles to the North of Pontiac and Detroit airport 40 miles to the South, I would prefer the smaller airport as well!



I've never had the opportunity to attend a regional or national meet, so I'm amazed that the nationals are a week long event. What is there to keep us busy the whole week?

Aaron D. IL

Well Sarah, technically they're not a week long event. The first day or so is usually the "Regional meet" blended into the National meet to make it a week long in whatever region is holding the National that year. However if you're a dyed in the wool hudnut there's plenty to do. Tours, Tech sessions, events, sightseeing, museums, cruise nights, caravans, parts shopping, on-site repairs, swappin lies, loungin by the hotel pool or bar, Meetings, banquets photo ops, hanging out with security in the parking lot, maybe even test-drives.

For some Hudnuts this is their only meet they have vacation time to get to every year, for others, it's like a family reunion. It all depends on how passionate you are about the whole thing. If the answer is "not very" I could see someone getting bored. As far as kids, some have a great time and others feel totally dragged along, but the club usually tries to give them things to do also.

[Deleted User]

VicTor Z wrote:

Hello Joe, Thanks for the info. Will it be possible for the Vendors (H E T related) to be grouped together in the swap meet area? I will be there with my Window Channeling Business and I know there will be alot more vendors.

Hi Victor --- as an aside to the subject at hand, I'm presently doing a '53 Convertible, and some of the window seals are looking a bit tattered, with a couple missing (between door and rear windows).



You got anything that'd fix the problem ?



silverone

Joe30Essex

Sarah Young wrote:

If not Chicago, Minneapolis is another major hub. (Went through Chicago airport a few days ago. My kids kept begging to go on the "moving sidewalks" they have in the concourse, lol.) With Flint airport about 40 miles to the North of Pontiac and Detroit airport 40 miles to the South, I would prefer the smaller airport as well!



I've never had the opportunity to attend a regional or national meet, so I'm amazed that the nationals are a week long event. What is there to keep us busy the whole week?

Flint Bishop is a great small airport. The problem you will run into is finding the flights in-some will take you seemingly out of the way. For example, you might have to go through Minneapolis or Atlanta to get to Flint from Seattle. Many flights will go directly into Detroit then send you to Flint-thus defeating the purpose (unless you really prefer the convenience of the small airport). It is a VERY easy drive from Flint to the National hotel site in Pontiac-straight south on I-75 with virtually no traffic. Detroit Metro, on the other hand, is much more congested and will be more time consuming (although the new McNamara Terminal has many "moving sidewalks" to entertain the kids!).



If you have younger kids and are looking to keep them entertained with things other than club events, there are numerous things to do within a reasonable area. The Detroit Zoo is not far from the hotel site. There are a couple of 'Water Parks' close. If you want to travel north toward Flint, there is a great place called Crossroads Village,it has an old time train and the Village is made up of 1800's buildings taken from the area. Also, Greenfield Village in Dearborn is fantastic.

hudsontech

"I've never had the opportunity to attend a regional or national meet, so I'm amazed that the nationals are a week long event. What is there to keep us busy the whole week?[/QUOTE]





You would be amazed at where there is to keep everybody busy; there's combing the vendor booths, looking at the cars, meetings, tours, catching up on times with old friends, making new friends (very important) and just trying to keep up with everybody.



And when it's all over and you are home you will be wondering how you managed so much in so short a time.



Believe me, there is so much going on all the time you will not (1) be bored or (2) left wondering what to do next.



And, oh, by the way, when John Fromm's excellent video of the event comes out, be sure to buy one. It's one of the best souvineers you can get. A T-shirt or something from the club store is great - but John's video's take you back and you'll find yourself saying, over and over, I remember that.



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

HudsonTech

Memphis, TN

Sarah Young

Joe30Essex wrote:

Greenfield Village in Dearborn is fantastic.

I spent Tuesday at the Henry Ford Museum. We only had time to do one or the other and chose the museum to see the Tucker Torpedo and Rosa Parks bus they have there. The village is definately on my list of things to do next time I'm in that area!

Unknown

Speaking of airports a look at my road atlas shows Oakland/Pontiac international as being even closer. Does this have the same facilities as Flint/Bishop? Is there any way to find out what regional airlines serve the afore mentioned airports? Thank You Lou Cote

Joe30Essex

dynolou2 wrote:

Speaking of airports a look at my road atlas shows Oakland/Pontiac international as being even closer. Does this have the same facilities as Flint/Bishop? Is there any way to find out what regional airlines serve the afore mentioned airports? Thank You Lou Cote

Lou,

You are correct-Pontiac/Oakland is much closer, but unless you hitch a ride on a cargo flight or fly your private plane/jet (not the Hudson kind!) this airport won't help you.

Some of the regional airlines that serve Flint are: American Eagle (American Airlines), Continental, AirTran and Northwest.

mars55

The other two airlines servicing Flint are Delta and Midwest. To help with your planning the code for Flint is FNT. The problem with Flint is that the travel time can be double or triple a nonstop flight into Detroit. In my case, a nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Detroit is about 4.5 hours. Going to Flint my travel time can go up to 12 hours and shortest time is about six hours (very few flights at this time).

Park_W

silverone wrote:

I'm presently doing a '53 Convertible, and some of the window seals are looking a bit tattered, with a couple missing (between door and rear windows).



You got anything that'd fix the problem ?



silverone

Silverone, I think K-Gap is still selling those window seals.

Unknown

bump (for lou)

oldhudsons

Just made my reservations for the 15th, 16th, & 17th.

Should be a fabulous meet as I know everyone will bring their best & finest for this 100th anniversary. The 2 Nationals I attended at Dearborn I think were the biggest & best I've ever gone to over a period of now 40+ years so really anticipate this one!

Present plan: clean out the garage, just keep the mech. parts I need for the '35 Railton, & load up parts (some used & worthless, some new & rare) + literature collection, and head east, probably take 3 days.

Couldn't make the one this year, a big disappointment, but AIN'T gonna miss the 2009!

hudsontech

oldhudsons wrote: »

Just made my reservations for the 15th, 16th, & 17th.

QUOTE]



Hmmmm - wonder if Aunt Hester got another flower pot.



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

HudsonTech

Memphis, TN

Unknown

Some diligent searching on Orbitz found two choices; for $490 incl taxesdirect flight to Detroit and direct back Seattle on Northwests 757's. Second choice for $412 incl taxes, Seattle to Detriot to Flint and back to Seattle on Northwests 757,DC9 , ret., Airbus 319, and 757. Now since these fares are non refundable how stable is Northwest Air? Lou Cote next stop check Southwest Air

Unknown

Just made my reservations at $89.00 a night. Thanks, Ron

SuperDave

Any suggestions for those with RV's? The host hotel doesn't allow overnight sleeping. I know some of us would trailer or tow our Hudson's. Nearby campgrounds? I can check my listings, but thought maybe a local member could give some insight.

hudsontech

SuperDave wrote:

Any suggestions for those with RV's? The host hotel doesn't allow overnight sleeping. I know some of us would trailer or tow our Hudson's. Nearby campgrounds? I can check my listings, but thought maybe a local member could give some insight.

Drop Mike Reilley an email @ HEThammered@bignet.com (drop the HET) - he should be able to help you.



We put this info on the New England Chapter National Meet web site - the Home Chapter may do the same (hint, hint) when they get the site up.



In the meantime a google search for "Campgrounds Detroit, MI, area" turned up this list - and there are other lists to look at:

http://www.camping-usa.com/campgrounds/michigan/detroit/



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

Unknown

Thought I would bump this up incase some new information was out there ? Ron

hudsontech

I got the following email(s) this morning: First from Carl Weber:



Subject: 2009 NATIONAL MEET FYI



Hi everyone; Just a quick note to let you know if you haven't made your reservations for next years national meet, be prepared!



Yesterday I called the host hotel and they informed me that ALL the blocked $80.00 a night rooms were gone and the current rate is $198.00 per night.



I was wandering how many of these $80.00 rooms they blocked?



I've emailed Ken to find some more reasonable rooms in the area, but haven't heard back yet.



At this rate, it will limit the number of members who can afford to attend.



Hudsonly Carl



The second from Sue Kennedy:



There are three hotels. The first one is booked, but I think you can get reservations at the other two:







Marriott Hotel 248-253-9800 Host hotel - booked)



Marriott Residence Inn 248-858-8664



Marriott Courtyard 248-858-9595



Sue Figert Kennedy