Chicago Seminars October 16-18th, 2015

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Registration, Hotel booking, speaker list and schedule.

If you've been to a previous event expect something very similar. If you haven't been before, check out the 2014 Thread

Post your questions in this thread.

That said, we're not reinventing the wheel here. Expect a few changes and improvements from 2014 but nothing major.
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Hotel Registration Information
Rooms at the host hotel, the Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village can be booked using this link: Chicago Seminars 2015 Host Hotel Booking

Group code is CHS if you call to book over the phone

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Overflow hotel registration

Overflow hotel: Country Inn Suites Mount Prospect. It is only about 3 miles from the Holiday Inn. Their rates are the same as at the host hotel $84.00 single breakfast and $94.00 double breakfast. As soon as we have links they'll get posted here. Or use 15k club carlson points for two nights if you have the CC credit card.
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Schedule
Friday October 16th

4pm - 830pm - Registration Desk Open

5pm - 530pm - Introduction and Welcome to Chicago Seminars (thehowieee)

6pm - 7pm
Rookie Bootcamp with Dave (Bikeguy)
International Bootcamp with Stefan (Rapid Travel Chai)
Become an Expert with ExpertFlyer (Chris from ExpertFlyer)

730pm - 830pm
All About Delta with Rene (DeltaPoints)
All About Southwest with Bonnie (FrugalTravelLawyer)
Organizing Everyone's Points with Howie (thehowieee / FTG)

Saturday October 17th

830am - 12pm - Registration Desk Open

830am - 930am - Customer Service & Aviation with Captain Denny Flanagan

945am - 1045am - Credit Cards with Rick the Frugal Travel Guy

11am - 12p
Beginners with Summer (Mommy Points)
Bluebird, Redbird and Serve with Greg (Frequent Miler)
Dream Destinations on Points & Miles with Daraius (Million Mile Secrets)

12pm - 1pm - Lunch

1pm - 215pm
How To Find Cheap Premium Airfare with Ben Schlappig (One Mile At A Time)
Maximizing Online Portals with Greg (Frequent Miler)
Cruising with Shawn & Amtrak with Dave (Shawn Coomer & Bikeguy)

230pm - 345pm
Last Minute Award Bookings with Ben Schlappig (One Mile at a Time)
101 Tips to be an Expert Traveler with Stefan (Rapid Travel Chai)
Amazing Value on Aeroplan (via Amex and SPG) with Miguel (PMMTravelConsulting / FTG)

4pm - 5pm
Live: Award Booking with Ari Charlestein (Award Magic)
Exotic and Adventure Travel with Matthew Klint (Upgrd)
Booking Awards for Five or More People with Dave (Bikeguy)

515pm - 615pm
Round-the-World Trips Since the Death of RTW Awards with Scott (MileValue)
Award Stopovers with Drew Macomber (Travel Is Free)
Sweet Spot Award Redemptions with Angelina Aucello (Just Another Points Traveler)

7pm - 8pm
Happy Hour / Reception in Woodfield Ballroom

Sunday October 18th (All Sunday Sessions are open to all)

8am - 9am - Open Panel Discussion on Credit Cards

9am - 10am - Sponsors Workshop

10am - 11am - Charity Raffle

1115am - 1215pm - Hotel Breakouts

1215pm - 115pm - Lunch

115pm - 230pm - Airline Breakouts

245pm - 4pm - Event Closing & Open Panel on Everything Else
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Sponsors
Our event sponsors are:

Award Magic
AwardWallet
ExpertFlyer
MileValue
MillionMileSecrets

We have room for 8. Please contact [email protected] if you're interested in sponsoring.
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Charity Raffle & Donations
Hi everyone! Yup, it's me - SkiAdcock, the Charity Raffle Queen, the one who runs around yelling ge-e-e-t your tickets, ge-e-e-t your tickets!

Once again we'll have great prizes, and in addition to cash we will accept credit cards via the square or PayPal app.

Prizes to be detailed as seminar gets closer. In years past we've had such things as Kindles, free nights at Marriotts in NYC & Vegas, 50% off Starwood stays, AA & UA systemwide int'l upgrades, etc. We expect to have even more great prizes this year!

If you have something you would like to donate to the charity raffle, please PM me (SkiAdcock).

Yes I'll need volunteers to help w/ ticket sales and/or distributing prizes on Sunday. Volunteers do not miss any sessions, as sales occur in between sessions. If you're interested in volunteering w/ charity raffle, PM me (SkiAdcock).

We pick 3 great charities each year, and monies raised are divided between them. We owe it all to you, our generous FT/MP/blog followers!

Each year we've beat the previous record of what was donated. Let the FT Chicago Seminar Event Charity Raffle tradition continue!

Cheers.
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Volunteers Needed
Just as an FYI for anyone wondering, volunteers do not get free registration. As a volunteer you get a firm handshake and a thank you.

Registration
Friday:
4pm - 6pm -- happymondays, HMPS , AJollyLife , travelkeys
6pm - 8pm -- 4 people needed

Saturday:
830a - 945a -- 2 people needed
945a - 11a -- 2 people needed
11a - 12p -- 2 people needed

Projector / Tech Support:
Coordinate making sure supplied microphones are working as are projector and laptops (and Internet).
Support needed throughout the event

Breakout Session Moderators / Leaders:
Airline:
American --
Delta --
Southwest --
United -- Matthew Klint
International & Others -- HPN-HRL

Hotel:
Hilton --
Hyatt --
IHG --
Marriott -- SkiAdcock
Starwood --
Others --

Apples
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Miscellaneous Information
Anyone looking to coordinate group dinners / events? Email [email protected] and I'll get it posted here.
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And let me be the first to say that I can't wait.
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Quote: And let me be the first to say that I can't wait.
Always glad to have you MJ! ^^^
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Date is saved!
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Date saved - looking forward to another exciting Chicago Seminars.
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Quote: Registration, Hotel booking, speaker list, schedule and all the other associated data will be available in April.

If you've been to a previous event expect something very similar. If you haven't been before, check out the 2014 Thread

When everything is available there will be notice provided here in the thread and on FrugalTravelGuy.com.

Post your questions here or email me: howie @ ftg ... if your question is about registration or hotel booking or speaker list or schedule you're probably best waiting until registration is up for the event as I may not have an answer for you.

That said, we're not reinventing the wheel here. Expect a few changes and improvements from 2014 but nothing major.

Excellent! Can't wait - the 2014 sessions were very informative. Looking forward to 2015!
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Will be there this year
I could not go to seminar last year because of a travel conflict, but have scheduled the date for this year. Have also made cheap DL flite arrangements, and called hotel. Have to go thurs to monday so have hotels for thur and sun on points. This will be my first conference and my adrenalin starts running when I think about it. Can't wait to meet you guys!!!!
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Can't wait.
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Quote: And let me be the first to say that I can't wait.
Me too! I'm in! And yes, I will be talking about Delta not AA (I think)!
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