I had to miss the rod building show yet again in '05, but I'm going in '06. I just called the Westin to get room rates using the number from the show site, and they didn't have any of the group rates set up for us yet. I know I'm a bit early, but is there going to be lower rates like last year? What were the group rates last year? I'm not really in a huge hurry to book, but I need to get some approximate numbers so I can start saving money for the trip. Thanks.

Yes there will be special room rates (about $89 per night and the Westin is a very, very nice hotel).

The latest info on the show is listed via the link near the top of the sponsor column. But it will be July or so before we have the list of seminars and presenters ready to list. We'll have the full list of vendors ready to go a bit earlier this year as we're going to enforce a booth sales cut-off date well before the end of the year.

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Greg you're in for a real treat. The show is great on all counts. Seminars, dealers, manufacturers, products, information, meeting other builders and more. There really is nothing else even close to this event. It's the most fun I think I've had outside of my honeymoon some years ago.

The Westin IS a very nice hotel and $89 is a bargain for a place like that. But I spent the 3rd night of my stay a bit further out from downtown Charlotte at a Days Inn and got a room for just $49. It was more than nice enough.