NESP Forum

DH manages a Holiday Inn just outside Boston and he made calls to several IHG properties near Springfield and NONE are offering the employee rate that weekend because of peak demand due to the Fair. Some may even raise the group rate because they can in high demand periods.

I would suggest reserving a room by next week to be safe...you can always cancel if you find a better deal elsewhere.

I'll wait and see what transpires over the weekend (I love it when my brain comes up with a million dollar word...).

oooo good word   I think this might be the only place I might have to book a hotel room. This could be the last one for a long time so we gotta make it count.

Mary Beth    

I just talked to the Clarion and we have a reserved block of rooms
under Soul Patrol. The rate is $109 plus tax. Most rooms are 2
queens, but you can request differently if you need king,etc. They
were really nice. First come first serve so I would reserve asap-they
fill right up due to BigE. This block is for 10 rooms and is available
until 8/1 only. If we need more she'll add them if she can. Check in
is at 3:00. I figure we'll get there early a.m. so we can see the fair.
We can leave cars in the parking lot and take the shuttle. She
doesn't know shuttle price yet. We can check in late night as long
as it's reserved with a credit card. Check out is at 11:00 the following
a.m. It would probably be best to do official get together on Sunday
if people want to I think Saturday people will be
all over the place tracking the hotness and eating fried twinkies :haha: We can meet in the parking lot to get the gifts
together,etc. and I'm sure we'll be partying afterwards as well
http://www.wsclarionhotel.com/#    Group sales  Peggy 413-781-8750

Does anyone know how much it is to get in to the Big E?

http://www.thebige.com/fair/fair_admission.html

Looks like it's $15 that day, or $10 if you buy before 9/1 in advance
if I'm reading it correctly...I call that NESP Cheap Thrills!!

Just found this article too-it's all looking good!

Big E lineup off to a good start
Thursday, June 07, 2007

While local concert fans might be gearing up for the summer concert season, over at the Big E in West Springfield they are getting ready for the fall fair.

When September rolls around the fair will present a diverse lineup of live music with acts such as Daughtry, Montgomery Gentry, Trace Adkins, Taylor Hicks and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

"It has been a difficult year to book acts," said John Juliano, talent buyer for the Big E. "There wasn't a lot out there and the bigger acts were looking for bigger money, but I am happy with the shows we have landed so far."

The three ticketed events currently available are Daughtry with "America Idol" alum Chris Daughtry (Sept. 15), Trace Adkins (Sept. 16), and Montgomery Gentry (Sept. 28).

According to Juliano, the Daughtry show is already halfway sold, and the two country acts are also selling well. "We've tried to keep the ticket prices low," said Juliano. "The Daughtry show is $38 and includes your day at the fair. The country shows are $30, including the fair."

The list of free shows for the Comcast Arena Stage includes Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (Sept. 14), Josh Turner (Sept. 23), and Brooke Hogan (Sept. 22). Brooke is the daughter of wrestler Hulk Hogan.

"She has an album coming out right around the fair," said Juliano. "We are hoping for a Hulk sighting as well."

Juliano also confirmed a date with "American Idol" winner Hicks who plays the fair on Sept. 29.

"We just signed him last night," he said.

The crew at the Big E also has done some renovations to the Comcast Arena to make the live-concert experience even more enjoyable for fair patrons. Along with a new state of the art sound system, the Big E has actually reduced the number of seats and reconfigured the floor seating to improve the sight lines.

"We have shrunk down about a thousand seats to 6,300," said Juliano. "We will fly the video screens and the sound. Basically we want to ensure that everyone who comes to these shows can see well and hear well. We tested the new sound system on the grounds today and it was amazing what I heard."

Juliano needs to add two more shows, including the closing night of the fair, and as always he is thinking big.

"We are upgrading every year," he said. "We don't want people to come here and have a bad experience."

Tickets for the Big E shows are available on the Internet at http://www.thebige.com or by calling the Big E Box Office at (413) 205-5109.

Going to the Big E with our friends - the couple who joined us in Hampton Beach, some of you met them at Mullet Toss and The Clam. We have reserved two rooms at the Clarion. The AAPR discount came into play ($107.00) so we did not take any of the NESP reserved rooms.... so there should still be enough for everyone !

I may add another block of rooms for Friday. Are most people coming
up on Friday? If so, we could do the preparty Friday night and have
the whole day Saturday for the fair and show Really do an
NESP birthday bash! Since we don't have to pay for concert tickets,
and many are doubling up on rooms this may work great!

Liz
we have already booked for Friday night and may go back into Thursday even - she had no problem with that so maybe you don't have to do anything formally - people can just ask if they want the extra day

depending who they book for the closing show on Sunday night we might even stay over for that too - -

love the idea of a NESP birthday party ! ! ! ! !   can we have silly hats and noise makers and cupcakes and - - - - - oh wait that was my grandaughter's 3rd birthday party

hmmm - how about Red Snappers and seeing who can toss the most purple beads around a plastic fish - - -    

we are bringing another couple who we sometimes travel with for other things - the guy has always wanted to do the Big E and is very curious about this "fixation" I have with Taylor and all of you so this is perfect - they can come and go as they please if they chose but they are very fun people and think they'll fit in nicely - - they booked outside the SP group too btw

I hadn't thought about Friday night, but if I have any money left after August, I'm not opposed...