Tech help?
Well, we've got a good batch of movies to watch during SitS'08, but how to watch them? I'm temporarily baffled.
Here are our options:
--Rent a projector to use with a pull-down screen on the wall. I thought this would be the ideal way to go, as there are going to be at least fifteen of us. Then I actually tried to rent a projector. It turns out that they're fantastically expensive. I've been calling around, but the best price I could find came to $130 per day. We'd need it for at least Friday and Saturday movie viewings.
--Crowd around a laptop with a big screen. There are so many of us that this might be way too awkward. I do own a laptop with a good-sized screen (15 inches), but still--that just doesn't seem good enough. You guys are coming all the way to Boston for this booze-up, after all, so we ought to do something less cramped.
--Rent or borrow a TV and DVD player and set them up in my hotel room. Also possibly expensive, unless a crew member has a TV she doesn't mind hauling in for the occasion (or having me haul in).
I've just found out that these aren't options:
--Renting the movies on the Radisson's in-house movie pay-per-view. I just talked to the nice hotel lady, who tells me that their movie service only includes recent releases.
--Plugging a laptop into the hotel TV. Apparently they have a set-up that won't let you do that.
How do you guys feel?
My own suggestion: if someone who lives fairly near Boston has a television and DVD player that we could just bring in for the duration, that'd be a good solution. Or, if someone owns a projector, then that'd be even better. If not, then maybe we could rent a projector after all, and do this in style. The money is the only trouble. I can't afford to pay for the $260 projector by myself. We could pass the hat to pay for it, of course. But I don't want to just tell you guys "Okay, time to chip in for the projector", because that wouldn't be fair. I'd rather leave it up to a vote from the crew.
Here are our options:
--Rent a projector to use with a pull-down screen on the wall. I thought this would be the ideal way to go, as there are going to be at least fifteen of us. Then I actually tried to rent a projector. It turns out that they're fantastically expensive. I've been calling around, but the best price I could find came to $130 per day. We'd need it for at least Friday and Saturday movie viewings.
--Crowd around a laptop with a big screen. There are so many of us that this might be way too awkward. I do own a laptop with a good-sized screen (15 inches), but still--that just doesn't seem good enough. You guys are coming all the way to Boston for this booze-up, after all, so we ought to do something less cramped.
--Rent or borrow a TV and DVD player and set them up in my hotel room. Also possibly expensive, unless a crew member has a TV she doesn't mind hauling in for the occasion (or having me haul in).
I've just found out that these aren't options:
--Renting the movies on the Radisson's in-house movie pay-per-view. I just talked to the nice hotel lady, who tells me that their movie service only includes recent releases.
--Plugging a laptop into the hotel TV. Apparently they have a set-up that won't let you do that.
How do you guys feel?
My own suggestion: if someone who lives fairly near Boston has a television and DVD player that we could just bring in for the duration, that'd be a good solution. Or, if someone owns a projector, then that'd be even better. If not, then maybe we could rent a projector after all, and do this in style. The money is the only trouble. I can't afford to pay for the $260 projector by myself. We could pass the hat to pay for it, of course. But I don't want to just tell you guys "Okay, time to chip in for the projector", because that wouldn't be fair. I'd rather leave it up to a vote from the crew.