Are you going to Autreat/Autscape 2013?

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Yes, they do.
The registration fees are as low as possible for this kind of event.
In order to lower the registration fees, Autreat will have to be shortened, or be moved back to a camp site, with log cabins, bunk beds, outdoor toilets and mosquitoes.

I believe it is better for Autreat to remain at its current length, at its current venue.

Whoever wishes to organize a cheaper event is encouraged to do so. It would be a very difficult task, though.

KenG, please note I said "not the ideal location", I've said that before in public posts. California, PA is better than Bradford, which is why I plan to visit this year. My issue is that it's not easy to get there from the major East coast transporation corridors. Since autreat is on a budget and has a limited following, they have to work with what they can get. One works with what one can get sometimes.

Getting to Bradford wasn't too difficult. I got there from NYC within 16 hours or so. (Left Manhattan by greyhound around midnight, which got me to Buffalo around 8am. Waited for about three hours, then took a greyhound which got me to Bradford around 4pm, if I remember correctly).

Anyway, the last Autreat at Bradford was in 2010.

In 2011-2012, Autreat was in Johnstown, PA, which was even easier to get to. (Got there in a train straight from Manhattan. Took about 8 hours, if I remember correctly).

Getting to this year's venue, California, PA, should be about as simple.

Having Autreat closer to major East coast transportation corridors would probably require raising the registration fees, which wouldn't be good.

Regardless of thoughts for 2014's location, based on the poll to date, people want to learn more.

Which I think is a great thing, since it means more interest in an established offline event, which is rare these days.

Does anyone have personal stories of how they found travel arrangements, the accomidations, and registration?

It looks like Autreat's organizers will be posting travel information over here:
http://autreattravel.podserver.info

Significantly, there is no local interstate transportation in California, PA. The closest interstate transportation is Pittsburgh. Connections will require either reserving an outside shuttle service or sharing rides.

Autreat's organizers are obtaining information about a shuttle service and hope to get a discount from one of the services for people reserving a shuttle.

As to sharing rides, this may be the most economical. This would involve individuals each renting a car and riders sharing the basic costs (rental fees and tolls). The advantage to the individual renting the car is access to the car during the week.

We have 2 rides and riders in the database section of the autreatinfo yahoo website. One is for Pittsburgh (mostly car
renters and riders), and the other is from everywhere else:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/autreatinfo/database

It's not that far off the PA Turnpike (I-76) either.

For the other WP attendees, is there a particular day that anyone would like to meet?

For those of you who will be at Autreat this year, I think the best time to meet would be any of these -
The weekend before Autreat
Autreat's first day (Monday)
Autreat's second day (Tuesday)
Autreat's third day (Wednesday)
Autreat's fourth day (Thursday)
Autreat's fifth day (Friday)
The weekend after Autreat

Trust me. I know what I'm talking about.

I don't doubt you know what you're talking about. My thoughts are that there are many WP members who live within "day trip" range of Autreat, but who don't have the time, energy, or financial resources to visit on more than one day. In the interests of being inclusive, I wanted to ask if there was a particular day that would work if people were going to make one-day trips to Autreat.

Also, since there are now 15 votes that are effectively asking for more information, it might be an easier sale to get people to visit for one day, as opposed to commiting an entire week's block of time.

I can't manage a trip to Autreat or Autscape this year, but I would like to attend in the future. In the meantime, I'm hoping that Alex's festival will take place in Los Angeles or San Francisco, which would be easier for me to plan around. All of these events sound great!

I understood that.
My entire post was a bit of a joke. I wrote "the best time to meet would be any of these" and then listed all possible days in and around Autreat 2013.

The phrase "Trust me. I know what I'm talking about" was a part of the joke, because it is obvious that whatever day you choose to meet at would have to be one of the days I mentioned.

In addition to Pittsburgh International Airport, there is a regional airport, also about 45 miles from CALU - Latrobe, PA. It turns out this airport is used by Spirit Air, and apparently has some very cheap flights. Connections are mostly from the South and West, although there are also international connections from South America:

Connections via LBE (Latrobe, Pittsburgh area)

US CONNECTIONS:

ATL - Atlanta, GA
ACY - Atlantic City, NJ
DFW - Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
DEN - Denver, CO
FLL - Fort Lauderdale, FL / Miami, FL AREA
LAS - Las Vegas, NV
LAX - Los Angeles, CA
MYR - Myrtle Beach, SC
MCO - Orlando, FL
PDX - Portland, OR
BQN - Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
SJU - San Juan, Puerto Rico

DIRECT (NON-STOP) US CONNECTIONS:

DFW - Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX (after June)
FLL - Fort Lauderdale, FL / Miami, FL AREA
MYR - Myrtle Beach, SC
MCO - Orlando, FL

US AND INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS:

BQN - Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
ATL - Atlanta, GA
ACY - Atlantic City, NJ
DFW - Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
DEN - Denver, CO
FLL - Fort Lauderdale, FL / Miami, FL AREA
LAS - Las Vegas, NV
LIM - Lima, Peru
LAX - Los Angeles, CA
MGA - Managua, Nicaragua
MYR - Myrtle Beach, SC
MCO - Orlando, FL
PTY - Panama City, Panama
PDX - Portland, OR
SJO - San Jose, Costa Rica
SJU - San Juan, Puerto Rico
SAP - San Pedro Sula, Honduras
SAL - San Salvador, El Salvador
STI - Santiago, Dominican Republic
TLC - Toluca, Mexico / Mexico City, Mexico AREA

As is the case with Southwest flights, Spirit flights may be "accidentally missed" by several on-line services. (Kayak tends
to have the least deletions, but may not show Latrobe as part of Pittsburgh.)

I guess it would have to be one of those days, unless our UK posters care to lend us a blue calling box.

It's good to see that some our our fellow WPers are making the trip to California, PA, home of the Vulcans (seriously, the team is called the "Vulcans").

Do you know when a list of "official" presentations will be available? I want to pick from one of the previously referenced 9 days...

I didn't look too much at the details, but these already sound like they'd be fun. Unfortunately, like a lot of other things I'd like to go to, I doubt I'm going to go to it anytime soon because travel. The odds of going to something increase somewhat if it's in my state, though that's still not a guarantee.

Hmm, maybe someday. ^_^

The deadline for submitting proposals is today: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt226585.html

I suppose Autreat's organizers will take a few weeks to discuss the various proposals and then publicize the official program.

The airport at Latrobe is called Arnold Palmer Regional Airport:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Pal ... al_Airport

There are several other connections through DFW which do not show up on the current listing for Latrobe airport. The US
connections are listed below.

More information is at
http://autreattravel.podserver.info/
http://autreattravel.podserver.info/latrobe.html

US CONNECTIONS:

ATL - Atlanta, GA
ORD - Chicago, IL - O\u0027Hare
DFW - Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX (nonstop)
DEN - Denver, CO
FLL - Fort Lauderdale, FL / Miami, FL AREA (nonstop)
RSW - Fort Myers, FL
LAS - Las Vegas, NV
LAX - Los Angeles, CA
MSP - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
MYR - Myrtle Beach, SC (nonstop)
MSY - New Orleans, LA
OAK - Oakland, CA / San Francisco, CA AREA
MCO - Orlando, FL (nonstop)
AZA - Phoenix/Mesa, AZ
SJU - San Juan, Puerto Rico
TPA - Tampa, FL
IAG - Toronto, Canada AREA / Niagara Falls, NY
PBI - West Palm Beach, FL

For those who are considering driving by car, California, PA is not that far off of the PA Turnpike (I-76).

If memory serves, it's a fairly straightforward expressway drive, probably a bit boring in the summer.