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I've decided I want to go to a tuba conference and hear what there is to hear, see what there is to see, meet some tuba players whom I've only BBS'd with so far.....and playtest some instruments.
Which one would be best to do that?

MA

The Army Band tuba-euph Conference in Jan (21-24?) is great and it is free! (Other than getting a hotel room and meals anyway)
There is a website about it, but I do not know the address off the top of my head. Search around this site and I think you should be able to find some info about it.

ken k

MaryAnn wrote:I've decided I want to go to a tuba conference and hear what there is to hear, see what there is to see, meet some tuba players whom I've only BBS'd with so far.....and playtest some instruments.
Which one would be best to do that?

MA

The US Army Band Tuba Euphonium Conference, held usually the third or fourth weekend in January. It's free (though, of course, you have to travel) and it will give you a break from that Tucson heat. There is usually a pretty good crowd of us there. It has a good exhibition, good master classes, all styles of performance, fun reading sessions, etc., etc.

Rick "who has heard nearly all the greatest greats there in the last several years" Denney

I don't know where you're located, but March 17-19 is the North Eastern Tuba Euphonium Conference at West Point, NY. If you wanted to find more, go to www.iteaonline.org and in the middle there's a link that says "Visit our events calender for complete complete regional conference site".

http://www.usarmyband.com/events/tuba/

If you are in the area, please stop by and say hello at my booth!

***

Ryan_Beucke wrote: March 17-19 is the North Eastern Tuba Euphonium Conference at West Point, NY.

Is any more info available on the web?

Thanks for the suggestions. I think there is also one coming up in Las Vegas, which is driveable for me, or at least cheap flying. Is that the SW tuba conference?

The Army one sounds good but is expensive air fare distance, plus lodging. I'll think on it.

MA

Come to Vegas!

Deanna is known as Vegas' #2 party girl (Paris Hilton is #1). Word on the street say the Palms is throwing a party for he and everyone at the conference at their rooftop bar.

Look at http://www.swtef.com/

MaryAnn wrote:Thanks for the suggestions. I think there is also one coming up in Las Vegas, which is driveable for me, or at least cheap flying. Is that the SW tuba conference?

The Army one sounds good but is expensive air fare distance, plus lodging. I'll think on it.

MA

If you buy in advance and fly into BWI instead of National or Dulles, it's a lot cheaper. Lots of us go--if you need a ride to and from the airport, someone is very likely to be able to take you. TubaRay usually finds a deal no more than about $300 from Texas. Southwest Airlines flies into BWI, and holds the prices there down.

The standard hotel is the Days Inn on U.S. 50 across from Fort Myer. There is a shuttle-bus service from there to the conference. But you are right that hotels in that part of the world are too expensive for what they are. Las Vegas may or may not be better, however, depending on the crowds that weekend.

Rick "who knows people who drive to the Army conference nearly that far" Denney

Z-Tuba Dude wrote:

Ryan_Beucke wrote: March 17-19 is the North Eastern Tuba Euphonium Conference at West Point, NY.

Is any more info available on the web?

I can't seem to find anything online about it, but Jason Ham is hosting it so there should probably be info up soon on his website or you could email him. www.jasondham.com

Rick Denney wrote:The standard hotel is the Days Inn on U.S. 50 across from Fort Myer. There is a shuttle-bus service from there to the conference. But you are right that hotels in that part of the world are too expensive for what they are. Las Vegas may or may not be better, however, depending on the crowds that weekend.

Rick "who knows people who drive to the Army conference nearly that far" Denney

Can't figure out what "BWI" is....all I can come up with is British West Indies, and I'm pretty sure that is not right. Baltimore? If I could get one of those internet special SW fares I could prolly do it.
Shuttle bus would work, too.
Lost Wages ususally has pretty cheap airfare available because of all the people going there all the time to lose their money. I'm not real fond of the place; I've done many meetings there because it's cheap for everybody to get there (transmission system reliability engineers in the West.)
MA

Both BWI and Reagan National airports have rail access to DC and Ft. Myer. From BWI, though, you'd have to get on one of the regional trains, head in to Union Station (two blocks from where I live), and ride the Metro subway to the Ft. Myer/Arlington Cemetery area. Reagan National has a Metro stop right there, and is just a few minutes away by rail.

However, both Metro stops near Ft. Myer (Rosslyn and Arlington Cemetery) are a mile or two hike from the post itself. It wasn't a bad walk for me, but I wasn't dragging my tuba around, either. But, getting a ride shouldn't be much of a problem.

MaryAnn wrote:Can't figure out what "BWI" is....all I can come up with is British West Indies, and I'm pretty sure that is not right. Baltimore? If I could get one of those internet special SW fares I could prolly do it.

Sorry--you have the answer already. I travel so much I think in airport codes.

Baltimore-Washington International is about 18 or 20 miles north of DC, east of the 95 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Someone coming into the conference from up north could probably fetch you on the way, and if you happen to arrive the same time as the folks who are staying with me, I can fetch you and drop you off at the Days Inn on the way back home. Won't know the answer to that for a while, but I would think you could make air plans now and then seek a ride with a really good chance of finding one.

Once you get to the Days Inn, you can take the shuttle bus over to Fort Myer, and there will be plenty of car space available if groups decide to eat off the base, which we always do to avoid overdosing on the hamburgers at the bowling alley.

Rick "who puts a lot of miles on his car during the Army conference" Denney

Here is the link to the ITEA frontpage, with links to all the regionals that are happening this year

http://www.iteaonline.org/

(the Army conference is more of a national/international as opposed to a regional)

The Army Conference in D.C. is consistently the best. There may be ones that occur once (or once in a while) that could rival that one... heck, there are ones that come along and are probably better, the this one is like Outback Steakhouse or McDonalds (not in quality folks!)... you know exactly what you're going to get. You know it will be good. You know the exhibits, artists, and clinicians are top notch.

What you don't know is whether it will be 28 degrees and snowing, or 33 degrees and raining!

All that being said, there are many people that go that probably would be able to share housing costs with you. After the new year, you'll probably be able to find a cheap flight since the airlines are traditionally in a lull.

Good luck.

ajh670 wrote:What you don't know is whether it will be 28 degrees and snowing, or 33 degrees and raining!

Last several years, it's been clear, 25 degrees and blowing like hell.

Rick "who thinks the Town Hall is a long way from Brucker in the teeth of a blue norther" Denney