I can't resist starting some trouble!
There is no OFFICIAL Open House for 2011
...but why not an UN-official one? Here's what it would look like:
NUMERO UNO: A bucketload of work for a few dedicated volunteers.
Let's not kid ourselves. If you've ever put on a block party or company picnic, you know that there is x10 the workload you first imagined when some braniac said "Yeah, let's have a luau!"
NUMERO DOS: A meeting of the minds with the hotel
I have no idea what is involved in securing the public rooms at the hotel and/or how large of space exists there to game. Certainly, we can play inside the rented hotel rooms and "Hotel-Cons" are actually kinda cool with everyone just piling on the beds, chairs and bringing their own chairs too.
The dedicated volunteers would have to do liaison work with the hotel and even work out some kind of price agreement if possible. USUALLY hotels trade free/low cost "conference rooms" for groups promising to rent out X number of rooms.
I would LOVE a major nationwide economic recovery by next summer...but realistically IF we pick the right weekend, the hotel will probably be VERY happy to negotiate with us.
And if not them, there are always other hotels.
NUMERO TRES: A call-to-arms of PB fans
PB does lots of marketing to fans for the OH and I am sure they would make some nice mentions, but not the support of an official OH. Understandably! Thus, everyone who would want to attend would need to evangelize the event. That means word-of-mouth via the Internet and game stores and flyers at conventions, etc.
If just the core dedicated volunteers do the marketing, an unofficial event will FAIL. The marketing would have to become "all 4 one, and one 4 all" effort by lots of fans.
NUMERO CUATRO: Kev & his Dudes may not come
A large draw of the OH is playing with Kevin and meeting the PB staff and the freelancers and the artists. It is POSSIBLE that some "Big Names" might enjoy coming to an Unofficial event, but maybe not.
Fans who want an Unofficial OH would have to be happy with just a weekend of gaming with other fans in a hotel. I am unsure if that would be a real draw.
NUMERO CINCO: It probably couldn't be called the Unofficial Palladium Open House.
Like a tribute band, we would need a cool name like " EARTH IN CHAOS: the Unofficial Gathering of Palladium Fans 2011" or something else.
So...any thoughts?