TARcon 9 (The non-Family Edition) will be held from on 5/17 at Stitch, beautiful, spacious bar/lounge in the Garment District. Stitch is located at 247 W 37th St (@ 8th Ave).

Charges are as follows:
[Registration is Closed!]
Open (Top Shelf!) Bar 7:00PM to 9:00PM and a la carte menu. Check in will start at 6:30 PM
Maximum: 300 people

Checking In: Bring your Paypal receipt (email or printout from Paypal) for admission. Poptart will not hesitate to throw you to the back of the line for not bringing your Paypal receipt.

Again, we’re requiring shipping addresses with your Paypal payment. But remember, No ticket of any kind will be issued. None will be mailed to you and none will be handed out to you. Your paypal receipt is your "ticket."

Deadlines for all are 5/2, but please pay early. We have to give a pretty big deposit ASAP.

Gratuity for your prepaid drinks is included; please tip appropriately after 9:00 PM and for any a la carte food or drinks. The bar will stay open (l-a-t-e) on a cash basis. They said as long as we're drinking, they'll stay open. The kitchen will close around midnight.

There will be a bag/coat check.

There will be no goodie bags.

If you plan to drink to the point of puking, don’t forget to bring someone to get you home safely and it’s BYOB (Bring Your Own Bucket).

Comps: Because of budget, comps can only be admitted after 9. If any comp would like to come before 9, they will have to pay the cover charge (email me for more specific details). If you are a comp or know a comp and will be coming after 9, please email me directly. I need the names for the count.

Wheelchairs: The venue is accessible at the main bar area.

Donations for overhead are welcome.

Information about DimSumCon, the traditional post TARcon brunch can be found here.

Pay Here for Sephoracon. Info will be posted tonight.

The news I have been waiting for! But I'm guessing our payments are due some other time that December 1st? (Heh. I say it because I love.)

EEE! Can't wait.

Fine. 5/2. But get on it...

Woo-Hoo! A big thank you to missdona and the Amazing TARCon organizers for all their hard work.

missdona, has anybody ever told you that you're the hottie-boom-body with the naughty pillates? Expect payment from me soon.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:


Tarcon in Times Square + Planet Hollywood = Pure Gold!


Missdona and Poptart? You're the greatest!

Thank you for all your hard work missdona and the other organizers.

One question: the paypal link is still coded to TARcon 8 Standard. Is that going to be a problem when I show up or will the date of the receipt work to show it is for TARcon 9?

It's fine. It'll have the new date. I'll fix it now.

YESSS!!!! TARCon is back, baby! Thanks a lot to both missdona and poptart!

All paid up already! This is the earliest I've ever paid. Thank God for saving up well.

Will the elevator be in use all night? Or will I have to use the freight elevator at the end of the night like I've had to at PBP?

We have our own "private" elevator, and the world's most fabulous ramp.

OK, Cool! Can't wait to see everyone again!

Yes, but will Team Protege be running the bar?

Thank you to our fabulous TARCon planners. I missed you all in December. Looking forward to seeing everyone in May.

Yay, TARcon!! MissDona and Poptart (and Meggin, et al!) rule, in case anyone doesn't know. :)

Not to be picky, but clarification-wise, the dinner option has nothing veggie besides the cheese & fruit platter, correct?

To borrow a line from Clerks, "It's the social event of the season." I'll be there.

WOO!!! Not that I would have complained about PBP, but I reeeeeeally preferred Planet Hollywood.

YAAAAAAAY, Rangers!!!

How I wish I can attend TARcon...But I'm in the Philippines so, no luck for me! I wish you all the best guys (I really want to meet you) and don't forget to show your pictures!

TARcon is on the best date possible for me. It's the week between semesters, so I'm off from work. Now, I need to convince a friend to come with me, and also, to twist tarsier to skip the school board meeting and attend. Turns out that fellow TWOPer Tarsier moved to my town several weeks ago. So, by later today, I hope to have my plans all made.

I'm on board! (w/dinner, even) Now, to figure out exactly how I'm getting there, where I'm staying, and so forth.

You're only saying that because there were Linzes there.

So happy to see it is Planet Hollywood, that was a great party and I want everyone to enjoy it this time. And my roomie's back! (Go Flyers!)

I'm in for standard, and bringing a nonTWOPer. I even was able to get a night at my timeshare, which was not the case last time. So I'll see you all there.

Now, I need to check and see what shows are available. The nice thing about the Wednesday night finale is the chance to catch an afternoon matinee.

Quick question: Regular check-in is listed as 7:30. Wouldn't it be 6:30 (in relation to the 7:00 - 10:00 (or 7-9 PM) Open Bar) because of the 8:00 start, or is it still at 7:30. Just curious.

Yep. 6:30. It's fixed now.

Is anyone having a problem with the link? I get to a paypal screen but it gives me this message.

"You have entered unsupported characters for this field. Currently only Western European and Chinese characters are supported. Please try again with different characters."

I'm getting the same error message as emjaytee. What gives?

Fair point, that.

Links are working now.

I tried it again, but I'm getting the same error. Sorry to be a pain.

I can get into my paypal account. Is there a way I can get to it from there? Could I do a search for you?
That sounds funny.

ETA: If this means anything... the first time, none of the 3 links provided worked. Now only the last one (for additional donation) is working. Maybe it's a paypal problem. I'll just keep trying.

Hey all:) I'm paid for VIP and all ready to go. Can't wait to see everybody again:)

It's weird. I re-did them and they were working and now they're not again.

I'll re-do them again, and if they fail again, I'll call paypal. In the meantime you can paypal me directly to missdona-at-yahoo.com.

Thanks so much. I will do that.

Okay, they're fixed again. We'll call the money-keepers if it keeps happening.

I'm in and bringing my Mom as my plus one. She expects to see debauchery. I hope you don't let her down.

Okay, the link finally worked. I'm in for non-VIP -- see you all there, dadgummit!

I'm all paid up, VIP style! BoDiva I'm counting on sharing a table with you and loftyideas - it wouldn't be TARCon without snarking with you guys.

And I'm also counting on kvetching with DavidK93 about the sad state of Days of Our Lives.

Can't wait to see you all!

Pointe3579 check your email!

djeber, I am going to do that now. Can't wait to see you at TARCon:)

How exciting ... I've heard tale told about the conference and was always curious.

Does Miss Allie need a place to stay in town?

Anyone can go (so as long as they pay the admission). It's a great time. Everything about this Tarcon is right here.

If you do decide to come to NYC where the event is, IMO, cantlookaway, I find it the easiest to travel to Tarcon solo. But per your edit, I see you're actually in NYC. Well, for anyone else, it's still best to go solo, but as for mingling with others, cantlookaway, it's such a great experience meeting people that share the same love for something. Last year (rather pretty much everytime except for Tarcon8), I looked into going with people, but unfortunately, last minute things came up and were unable to accomodate me. Other cases include someone leaving at a difficult time, or having something else to do. However, speculating this, I had a backup plan to go solo (where there's no interference but getting there is completely my responsibility) and therefore go to and from Tarcon safely and without any flaws.

In other words, it's not unusual to travel solo. Several people (who may back me up on this) have gone solo, not knowing anyone, and left with a fleet of new friendships. So, IMO, if you have to go without knowing anyone, go for it. It's the best experience that I felt when I was in the same boat.

If Miss Alli doesn't mind (and if so, I'll delete this), I actually searched for and found the "Basic Info and Common Concerns Thread" from last year, in case anyone new needs to know the answers to frequently asked questions/everything you need to know (i.e. What to do if you're too shy to be there, what happens, at the event, the guarantees of meeting celebrities (no guarantee), whether we can be disrespective to or get into a confrontation with the slackers or any unpopular Racers (p.s. - A Definite No) whether you'll receive anything after payment (very important to bring the receipt) and other things).


Once again, don't be afraid to meet and talk to people. It's a lot better than not doing so and regretting it after it's all over.


Edited for tags and other stuff

Ah concur with SeaBreeze341. It's time for me to break out my old refrain: if you are at all interested in attending, most of the reasons that are making you reluctant are hogwash. Going alone? Don't drink? You're a total dork? Doesn't matter, doesn't matter and have you actually looked at what this event is? If TARcon sounds like fun to you and you can afford the time off, then you have no excuse not to attend.

I, of course, am totally broke (seriously... I recently gave up eating Chex Mix with lunch as an unnecessary expense), and so it is with a heavy heart that I will be unable to attend my fourth TARcon. I expect everyone to spend the evening constantly lamenting the fact that I'm not there. But I'll be lurking here and eagerly awaiting reports and photos, so y'all better have a great party or I'll be pissed.

Breaking News:

We have a venue change. The written contract from PH was not going to meet our needs this time around.

The dinner option has been canceled and anyone paying for dinner will be refunded $40 per seat. The rest of their payment will be converted to a standard admission. You can expect those refunds within the next couple of hours.

The standard option is now a top shelf open bar from 7-9. The new venue is very accomodating and is willing to stay open as long as we're drinking. There will be a coat/bag check.

Oh, how awesome! I'm assuming all areas of this venue is wheelchair friendly?

While that sucks about PH, I'm still excited to learn that we're now at Stitch. Loved the place when I was there!

They do have a mezzanine and I'm uncertain about the elevator situation. I'll check with him next time I speak to him.

The main action will be on the ground floor, for sure.

Oh, you saw it, SeaBreeze? What did you like about it?

Will they have their full menu for us? Some of those dishes sound really tasty!

I'll find out tomorrow. I hate to keep calling with question after question.

So bombard me with questions tonight and I'll get all the answers tomorrow.

It seemed as though I was in a familiar setting. Despite the fact that I was out of town, I felt relaxed and it felt like home. The setup was very similar to at least 2-3 places that I used to "frequent" in the Burgh (one on a weekly-to-monthly basis), and the service/wait was great. Like Tonic (another new bar/lounge), it was home away from home.

I went early and stayed for a little while, but it was a grand ol' time, for me at least. I didn't order anything, so I'm not sure about the food, but overall Stitch as well as Tonic were both worth checking out. Definitely reminded of places down here. That, and the fact that I was in a great mood.

Yes, DuchessKitty, we'll both be there.

As for going alone, I didn't have the courage for TARcon4 so I made one of my vendors take me (it's good to have power over others). But I met Lofty Ideas at that party and we've been roomies for all subsequent standard edition TARcons.

Damn, none of the amazing fresh donuts. Oh well, an adventure!