I am not the Facilities Liaison, but a few of the questions I can answer since I was the Facilities Liaison when the contracts were written and I was there to hand off the keys to the new FL.
Philip will have to give you a more in depth answer to your questions, but just to make sure no one is left waiting; I'll touch base on a few things.
#1 The Two Hotel Venue
Kumoricon is so big now! So many events going on we honestly just cannot fit into one hotel! So you are very right that there will be a lot of things going on in both hotels. While I wish I could confirm for you the location of AA, I unfortunately do not know. There may also be a good chance that it has not been decided, there are a few options for locations, and while there has been some preliminary thought - I have not heard for certain. I will make absolutely certain that information is posted to the website as soon as it is available. Obviously where AA and Exhibitors go are very important bits of information for a LOT of people!
#2 Reservations
The system, as is often the case for online reservations systems, seems to be a bit glitchy. I know a few people had the fortune to make online reservations, while others have had great difficulty. It is being worked on I promise and hopefully we should have a resolution soon. For anyone who is comfortable, reservations can easily be made over the phone with the Hilton and I am fairly certain the Red Lion on the Quay. Please make sure you call the Red Lion DIRECTLY as their corporate reservation office may not have the convention listed.
#3 Deposits & Third Party Reservations (AKA Expedia)
Just a quick note - no deposit is required to book, however check your cancellation policy! And please try to remember that your hotel room reservation helps Kumoricon. When you book under the convention code (something you cannot do with an Expedia or Priceline reservation) you are filling our room block which fulfill's our contract with the hotel. I'm not certain if either hotel will have availability listed on Third Party sites but if they do I beseech you not to book there as you decrease the number of rooms listed in our room block, and every room helps! Trust me!
#4 Parking
The parking garage available to Hilton guests (and anyone staying in downtown Vancouver) is significantly cheaper than downtown Portland! My mind says its somewhere about $2 a day? Maybe a bit more if the economy changes. The parking lot does have a "closing" time around 10 or 11pm but as has been the case at events like GameStorm, you may ask the Hilton representatives to let you in to get your car out after that time. Our current Vice Chair has used this method on more than one occasion. Red Lion parking is complimentary, and they have a very very large parking lot with ample spaces. Some day guests may choose to use this space and while I can't approve of taking advantage of this option when a very cost effective option is close by, it is a reality that some may do so. The Red Lion was attached to the original convention center for Vancouver so they have a much larger than is adequate for their rooms parking lot, so hopefully that should help make everyone happy.
#5 Other hotel options
As I said earlier, booking at the Red Lion or Hilton Vancouver Washington helps Kumoricon out tremendously. That being said I believe there are a few other hotels in the area, but I couldn't say any of them are in walking distance. However, if we do end up booking full both the Red Lion and the Hilton, their have been talks to associate with some of the smaller hotels and institute a shuttle system. However we'd have to see how full we get at the Convention hotels themselves before we start talking about that.
Well that got rather wordy rather fast! I am sure Philip may have more to elaborate on and more information. Mine is just basic. If you have specific concerns or questions you can e-mail him at hotel@kumoricon.org
