DCS 2016 Host Hotel Registration is OPEN

[Rich W]

DCS 2016 is now 11 months away. It's time to Hotel Register for DCS 2016.

DCS 2016 Host Hotel Registration is now OPEN for the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel
in Springfield, IL. The PAL Hotel is attached to Prairie Capital Convention Center,
so if next July is like this July (humid and temps in the upper 90's), you will be
very happy that both you and your DeLorean can stay in the air conditioning during
the entire event, with an air conditioned walk-way between the two facilities.

As mentioned earlier, the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel is a Double Tree Hotel that
is managed by Hilton, so if you are a Hilton Rewards customer, your visit is a win win.
The negotiated DCS 2016 event price is $99 per night, with up to 4 people per room.
Larger suites are available, but they were not included in the negotiated prices.
Please use the following link to make your hotel reservation for DCS 2016:

The actual DCS 2016 event days are Thursday, July 21 through Sunday, July 24, 2016, but
feel free to take advantage of the group rate for a few days before and after the event.

http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/S/SPIASDT-LOR-20160719/index.jhtml

If you attempt to register through the regular hotel registration process, you will be
informed that the hotel is fully booked, so use the DCS 2016 group page to register.
If you need to make your hotel registration by phone, we should have some additional
details available soon, but at this time, the call-in group code has not been confirmed.

Of course, it lists the 2016 DeLorean Car Show and Convention, which is a carry-over from the
Ken K. shows that were in the Hilton system (instead of 2016 DeLorean Convention and Show),
but, rest assured, the hotel registrations will be made correctly for DCS 2016. If we do
exceed our current room allocation, we may be able to add more rooms to our group, but we
need to "sell out" our current allocation first (and quickly) to get more rooms assigned.

More details to follow soon.

Thanks,

DCS 2016 Planning Team

[Rich W]

For reference, some photos of the PAL Hotel:

36276

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36283

[StainlessSteelDream]

FYI ... Hilton Reservation said there was only 4 rooms left when I made reservation last week.

[DavidProehl]

I'm planning on booking Thurs-Sat night assuming Thursday morning is going to be registration and Sunday is goodbyes and departures. Is that accurate? I want to be sure I'm not missing any main content.

[Rich W]

I'm planning on booking Thurs-Sat night assuming Thursday morning is going to be registration and Sunday is goodbyes and departures. Is that accurate? I want to be sure I'm not missing any main content.

David and others,

Although not all of the details have been sorted out yet, we will follow a similar format to previous DCS activities.
In most cases, booking Thursday through Saturday evenings (inclusive) should be sufficient for most attendees.

However, there will be an earlier start on Thursday than with past DCS events. Vendor sales will be available on
Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons, and the vendors may be available during some morning hours as well.

Since all DeLoreans will have the opportunity to park indoors at the PCCC for the duration of the DCS event, some
folks may elect to do the driving tour around Springfield, IL on Sunday, more or less just before they head home.

With the early start on Thursday, we encourage the vendors to arrive on Wednesday (and book Wednesday night).

Thanks

DCS 2016 Planning Team

[DavidProehl]

Thank you! Hotel booked!

[Rich W]

FYI ... Hilton Reservation said there was only 4 rooms left when I made reservation last week.

Looks like someone left out a "1" in front of the 4 and a "0" after the 4.
(unless "everyone" registered for the hotel, there are plenty of rooms)

Make sure you are using the DCS 2016 Link to Register for the PAL Hotel.

Easy (tiny) Link provided below:

http://tinyurl.com/DCS2016-Hotel-Register

[StainlessSteelDream]

Looks like someone left out a "1" in front of the 4 and a "0" after the 4.
(unless "everyone" registered for the hotel, there are plenty of rooms)

Make sure you are using the DCS 2016 Link to Register for the PAL Hotel.

Easy (tiny) Link provided below:

http://tinyurl.com/DCS2016-Hotel-Register

You may want to double check that Hilton has it right; I was trying to get a King room and there was none available via the website so I phoned; that's when the representative told me there were only 4 doubles even left; at least for the full 19-25 stay

[Mike C.]

I tried booking from the 19th, no king rooms avail. from Rich's link unless I wanted the suite. Had to reserve the double double.

[Rich W]

In a Production Audit this week, but will place a call to our event representative
at the PAL Hotel today, to see if they can straighten out this registration issue.

[Rich_NYS]

In a Production Audit this week, but will place a call to our event representative
at the PAL Hotel today, to see if they can straighten out this registration issue.


Any movement on the registration issue?

[DavidProehl]

Any movement on the registration issue?

I called the hotel last week to ask about this as I wanted to extend my reservation another day and the website wouldn't let me. I was told to call back a 2-3 months prior to DCS and they would be able to open up more rooms at the group price likely at that time.

Sounds like they don't want to book up the hotel at a discounted price before people wanting to pay full price have a shot at it.

[Rich_NYS]

I called the hotel last week to ask about this as I wanted to extend my reservation another day and the website wouldn't let me. I was told to call back a 2-3 months prior to DCS and they would be able to open up more rooms at the group price likely at that time.

Sounds like they don't want to book up the hotel at a discounted price before people wanting to pay full price have a shot at it.

Thanks

[Rich W]

Any movement on the registration issue?

I was in Springfield on Saturday, but unfortunately it was Route 66 Fest and the weather was great and the crowds were crazy big,
which meant I was not able to get any in-person "face-time" at the PAL Hotel while I was there.

However, on a related note, I had members of the DeLorean Midwest Connection club and the Mid-States Club in attendance, to help
with a "preview" of the new LED lighting system in the PCCC. 10 DeLoreans total, with 8 stainless and 2 painted (1 Red, 1 Black).

Although photos never tell the whole story, the imperfections on the stainless cars were less apparent as we dialed up the intensity.
In the group's opinion, the cars looked better as the lights got brighter. Lower intensity lighting was similar to fluorescent lighting.

[Mike F]

Hi Rich-

Curious if there's any new news on the hotel front. Just tried booking and the only option available is a suite at $495/night. Is it looking like we'll have to wait until 2-3 months prior as David mentioned?

[Rich W]

Hi Rich-

Curious if there's any new news on the hotel front. Just tried booking and the only option available is a suite at $495/night. Is it looking like we'll have to wait until 2-3 months prior as David mentioned?

Hi Mike,

Not much I can check on this late, but I can check later this morning or afternoon.

I would need to know more of the specifics of the request, such as if you are trying
to book the convention days plus an extra day or two on either side of convention.

Feel free to send a PM if you do not want to post specifics here and I will see if I can
inquire about the specifics or ask Tony to inquire with our convention contact.

Thanks,
Rich W.

[16949]

Registered, looks like they added room availability-

[DavidProehl]

Registered, looks like they added room availability-

Thanks for the heads up! I've extended my reservation as well.

[Delorean3610]

I plan to attend the DCS for the first time this year, and my family intends to pay for my trip and lodging as my birthday gift.

I want to help them by having the process go as smooth as possible. What should I do?

[Rich W]

I plan to attend the DCS for the first time this year, and my family intends to pay for my trip and lodging as my birthday gift.

I want to help them by having the process go as smooth as possible. What should I do?

Have them book your hotel room now. Hotel Registration is separate from the Event Registration.

President Abraham Lincoln (PAL) Hotel is a Double Tree hotel managed by Hilton, at $99 per night.

http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/S/SPIASDT-LOR-20160719/index.jhtml

Or use the Quick Link: http://tinyurl.com/DCS2016-Hotel-Register

Event Registration will be available soon (targeting January 21, which is 6 months until DCS 2016).

The Dinner Registrations include VIP Guest presentations and photo/video recaps of each day's events.

More details will be available next week (or sooner), if all goes as planned.


DCS 2016 Planning Team

[gulwng3]

Just booked my room! It will be a grueling 90 minute drive from my house to the event... ;o)

Andy

[Jeremy Popp]

We just booked our room, looking forward to the event.

[Rich W]

Thanks to everyone who has already hotel registered ... things have been going much smoother with the bookings lately (knock on wood).
When I get a few free moments (there has not been many lately), I will post stats on which states and countries will be attending (so far).

Testing and finalizing the Event Registration is a little behind schedule (Tony's kids were off school Monday, so he is at least a day behind).
Our target was to have Event Registration up and online today (six months from the start of DCS) and that may still happen by later today.
If not up by later today, it should be up by the weekend, if we do not run into any major issues. I have not had any time to help test so far.
I plan to post to this thread when it is ready, then start another Event Registration thread, so we can keep the comments and Q&A on topic.

Thanks,
Rich W.

DCS 2016 Planning Team

[Rich W]

Although we did not have 'major' problems, issues were significant enough to require some substantial changes for Event Registration.
We had hoped to use the same Merchant Services as the Raffle Car purchases, but the way we wanted to do it, we were unsuccessful.

However, the good news is the "Shopping Cart" architecture we are doing the re-design with now, will work with the discount options,
and there will be several discount options, such as early registration discount, "full convention" discount (purchasing all three dinners)
and possible additional discount options, depending upon how the options are re-adjusted with the "Shopping Cart" architecture.
Some additional good news (for many of you) is there will be a PayPal payment option for the Event Registration.

Unfortunately, after we decided to do the switch to the "Shopping Cart" architecture, I found out a water pipe broke at my sister's place
and she had 3 feet of water in the basement, so the rest of my weekend was spent pumping out water instead of helping finalize details
in the "Shopping Cart" architecture and testing, so we will do our best to try to get the Event Registration up and online before Jan. 28.
(Tony will be at an out of town convention next weekend, so either it will be up by Jan. 28 or after Feb. 1, hopefully sooner than later)

Thanks,

DCS 2016 Planning Team

[Iznodmad]

Finally got around to booking my room. Now just gotta get VINs 5000 and 16128 put back together and ready for the show!

[DMC02766]

Got my room booked and I am in the same boat... I've got to get 02766 put back together.

[Delorean Industries]

Finally got around to booking my room. Now just gotta get VINs 5000 and 16128 put back together and ready for the show!

Correction: I need to work faster. :)

[Lwanmtr]

If I can get mine completed by then, I may try to hit it.

[StainlessSteelDream]

So is DCS 2016 still a go? Getting late for people to commit to booking vacation time. Most of our local owners have already dropped plans to go.

[Rich W]

So is DCS 2016 still a go? Getting late for people to commit to booking vacation time. Most of our local owners have already dropped plans to go.

Yes, DCS 2016 is still a go. I know there have been a lot of inquiries into Event Registration and all I can do is re-state what has already been stated.

Dates and Location for DCS 2016 have been posted since last July (and will not change) and Host Hotel registration has been open for over 6 months.
July 21 through July 24, 2016, at the Prairie Capital Convention Center (PCCC) and the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel (PAL Hotel) in Springfield, IL.

Yes, there was some doubt (about a year ago) if DCS 2016 would happen or not, but a lot has changed in a year, although the transition was not easy.

As DCS 2016 was about to fall to the way-side, Tony Swann, myself and members of the DMC Midwest Club stepped in to prevent that from happening.
Please keep in mind that we stepped in when everything was already behind by 18 months (in the "normal" DCS planning time-line) and the New DCS
Planning Team did a great job of getting the event back on track and making up most of the "lost" 18 months in record time (in their own spare time).
With so much "early success" with playing catch-up last year, we were bound to encounter a few glitches, as the "New DCS" is still a work in progress.

There was no DCS Funding "transfer" so the Team had to quickly creating a DCS Funding Plan and execute it, in time to get the location "locked in" with
a significant payment to secure the Event Location, with only 1/3 of the planned funding complete. Again, a difficult task the team pulled off "in time".
There has been a significant amount (read this as tens of thousands of dollars) "loaned" to DCS to complete some of the other "tasks in progress", so
this should not be over-looked or under-stated, besides the hundreds of hours already spent on DCS 2016 planning by the entire DCS Planning Team.

The DCS 2016 Location was selected and finalized less than 8 months ago (with deposit paid). The DCS 2016 Host Hotel was selected and finalized just
over 6 months ago and the Hotel Registration has been open and going well for nearly half a year (along with its own few glitches, worked out, early on).

There are several returning VIP Guests that have confirmed, including former DMC Executive Nick Sutton and a few of the POGs from the QACs in the US,
as well as Bob Gale on the Back to the Future side of the event. Other VIPs have been invited, but have yet to confirm, so the list is very "fluid" right now.

Steve Concotelli will be presenting OUTATIME: Restoring the DeLorean Time Machine "Full Documentary", complete with a review Q&A session afterward.
Members of the DeLorean Time Machine Restoration Team will be on hand after the screening, but we do not have a complete list of attendees at this time.

As for the Schedule of DCS Event Activities, a tentative has been posted elsewhere (over a month ago) and I may re-post it here again, below this post.
There has never been a detailed advanced list of DCS Event Activities posted nearly 6 months in advance of DCS (to help attendees plan their activities),
but apparently this has been over-looked by more than a few people, during their event planning. We hoped attendees would find these details helpful.
There has already been quite a bit of effort put into DCS, and the few glitches and few delays should be a "small price to pay" for those attending DCS.

Please remember this is an all Volunteer Effort that was taken on in a very compressed time-frame, and growing pains with a new team are to be expected.

There are many reasons for the recent delays, but without going into too many personal details, basically, life happens. Out of town business trips, family
activities, family responsibilities and work commitments (in general) have taken time away from the DCS 2016 Volunteer Effort (to be expected). This list
of reasons impacts the entire DCS Planning Team, to various degrees ... sometimes at different times ... sometimes all at the same time. Please keep this
in mind when considering whether or not to attend DCS 2016. DCS 2016 will happen July 21 through July 24 ... just hang in there for Event Registration.

While I do not have any direct responsibility for the online Event Registration programming, I do know the team is working on it, when they are available,
which has not been much in the last month. Sorry for the delays, but our volunteers will have the Event Registration up and running as soon as they can.

BTW: The Team has recently finalized the list of locations on Both of the Driving Tours and the Walking Tour. "Beta Runs" are expected later this Spring.

Thanks,

DCS 2016 Planning Team

[Rich W]

DCS 2016 - Tentative Preliminary Events Time-Line - updated as of 03/01/2016

As mentioned previously, DCS 2016 will be running differently than DCS events in the past,
therefore a preliminary time-line will assist most attendees in planning their activities.
Depending on how many activities you want to do and when you want to do them, you can start
your DCS 2016 activities as early as 8am on Thursday, July 21 after picking up all of your
registration materials in the Lobby area of the PCCC. If you are a morning person, you can
either drive one of the two self-guided tours or go to the Abe Lincoln Library and Museum.

The two self-guided drives will be a Route 66 Driving Tour and an Abe Lincoln Historic Tour.
In addition to driving the Abe Lincoln Historic Tour, there are several other Abe Lincoln
Historic sites within walking distance of the Convention Center and Hotel and they will be
on the list of Things to See on the Walking Tour of Downtown Springfield, IL. The less busy
times to do the driving tours will be in the morning, so you can pick and choose which tours
you would like to do and when you would like to do them.

DeLoreans will be able to be parked in the PCCC starting at Noon on Thursday, July 21. You can
choose to keep your DeLorean in the PCCC for the duration of the convention or you can use
your DeLorean during the day and park in the PCCC overnight, using hourly In/Out capability.
Specific overhead doors and Main Floor areas in the PCCC will be designated for daily In/Out,
and overhead doors will be opened for a few minutes hourly, at the top of the hour, starting
at Noon on July 21, until 5pm, then Friday 8am-11am and 1pm-5pm, and Saturday 8am-10am.

There will be no Car In/Out capability during the Saturday Car Show, from 10am to 4pm. After
the Car Show, you may move your car out from 4pm-5pm, otherwise all cars are in for the night.
All DeLoreans can remain in the PCCC until about 11am on Sunday, since we would like to have
all of the vehicles exit the building by Noon on Sunday. PAL Hotel check-out is also at Noon.


Thursday, July 21 -- Morning

- Registration Open (PCCC Lobby) ... 8am to 11am
- Vendor Move In - PCCC Lower Level ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Route 66 ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Walking Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 8am to 12pm


Thursday, July 21 -- Afternoon

- Registration Open (PCCC Lobby) ... 1pm to 4pm
- Vendor Sales at PCCC - Lower Level ... 1pm to 5pm
- DCS DMC Museum Open - Lower Level ... 1pm to 5pm
- Optional Vendor Demos - Lower Level ... 1pm to 4pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Route 66 ... 1pm to 5pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 1pm to 5pm
- Optional Walking Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 1pm to 5pm


Thursday, July 21 -- Evening

- Dinner at PCCC - Lower Level Main Hall ... 6pm to 9pm
- About 9pm - OUTATIME Documentary Screening, followed by Q&A Session


Friday, July 22 -- Morning

- Registration Open (PCCC Lobby) ... 8am to 11am
- Vendor Tech Demos - Lower Level ... 8am to 11am
- VIP Guest Speakers - Lower Level ... 9am to 11am
- Optional Vendor Sales - Lower Level ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Route 66 ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Walking Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 8am to 12pm


Friday, July 22 -- Afternoon

- Registration Open (PCCC Lobby) ... 1pm to 4pm
- Vendor Sales at PCCC - Lower Level ... 1pm to 5pm
- Vendor Tech Demos - Lower Level ... 1pm to 4pm
- VIP Guest Speakers - Lower Level ... 1pm to 3pm
- DCS DMC Museum Open - Lower Level ... 1pm to 5pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Route 66 ... 1pm to 5pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 1pm to 5pm
- Optional Walking Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 1pm to 5pm


Friday, July 22 -- Evening

- Dinner at PCCC - Lower Level Main Hall ... 6pm to 9pm
- DCS 2016 Raffle Car Drawing (after recap) ... about 9pm


Saturday, July 23 -- Morning -- Car Show 10am to 4pm

- Registration Open (PCCC Lobby) ... 8am to 11am
- Vendor Tech Demos - Lower Level ... 8am to 11am
- VIP Guest Speakers - Lower Level ... 9am to 11am
- Optional Vendor Sales - Lower Level ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Route 66 ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Walking Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 8am to 12pm


Saturday, July 23 -- Afternoon -- Car Show 10am to 4pm

- Vendor Sales at PCCC - Lower Level ... 1pm to 5pm
- Vendor Tech Demos - Lower Level ... 1pm to 4pm
- VIP Guest Speakers - Lower Level ... 1pm to 3pm
- DCS DMC Museum Open - Lower Level ... 1pm to 5pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Route 66 ... 1pm to 5pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 1pm to 5pm
- Optional Walking Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 1pm to 5pm


Saturday, July 23 -- Evening

- Dinner at PCCC - Lower Level Main Hall ... 6pm to 9pm
- DCS Car Show Awards Presentation ... about 9pm


Sunday, July 24 -- Morning

- All DeLoreans exit PCCC ... 8am to 11am (12pm checkout)
- Vendor Move Out - PCCC Lower Level ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Route 66 ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Driving Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 8am to 12pm
- Optional Walking Tour - Abe Lincoln ... 8am to 12pm

[DMCMW Dave]

Yes, DCS 2016 is still a go.
--
Sorry for the delays, but our volunteers will have the Event Registration up and running as soon as they can.
-

TLDR Short Version:)

[StainlessSteelDream]

TLDR Short Version:)

Awesome Thanks! If there is anything that the community can help with just put out the call...

(hotel, flights and rental have been booked so some of the Canadians will be there...)

[StanMan PushN 88]

Rich & friends,

Great job working a complicated event and raffle project too? I haven't met you yet as I'm very new to the DeLorean life...living the dream in my recently acquired #20034 Gull Wing Dream (PHOTO IS 3 days after purchase, I drove it in the HOT ROD POWER TOUR down near Red Bud, Illinois.... Supposedly it is one of the last 100 cars made in 1983 (?) but hope to learn more about all of our car's Irish history at the convention in July (Springfield, Illinois). I've heard a lot about you, your awesome cars and DMC Midwest and caught some of your great videos. I see some good stuff on FACEBOOK, perhaps we/you/fans could start posting these various updates to groups like "DELOREAN FANATICS" and other DeLorean sites & directly to car clubs you know. Does DMC HQ in Humble, Tx or DMC Midwest in Chicago & Florida have capability to send out emails/Facebook or Twitter updates for the DMC convention too?

See you in July!

Stan-PushN88

[dodint]

I'll be there, already booked the room. No D yet but hope to learn a lot. My wife and I will drive in from Wisconsin. Great location for us. ;)

[driveintim]

What is the website for registration. I have been to http://www.deloreanconvention.com but can not find anything?

[Rad Dad]

Rich - just got my room - now need to register - looking forward to another great gathering

Dick Ryan,The Rad Dad

[Rich W]

DCS Event Registration is Open, but do not forget to Hotel Register at the PAL Hotel.

If you have already DCS Event Registered, but you have not DCS Hotel Registered yet,
use the following TinyURL to Hotel Register for DCS 2016:

http://tinyurl.com/DCS2016-Hotel-Register

The Discounted Hotel Registration ends July 5th, or when the Discounted Rooms are
fully booked, so make sure you Register soon, and do not wait until July 4th.

More than half the "room nights" have been booked at the Discounted Room rate, so
do not wait too long, to make sure you are Hotel Registered at the PAL Hotel.