Monday, October 31, 2011

ECRO 2011 - What you need to know, before you go.


There are a few changes to how things will work this year so please take note!

The Costume Consignment Room (Governor General I on the fourth floor) will also act as a Headquarters over the weekend.  The parents from Gilchrist-Canavan will once again volunteer their time to not only accept your dresses for re-sale and/or help you buy one, but to answer your questions as best as they can, and to assist with the distribution of competitor numbers, results sheets and programs.


THURSDAY
The CC/HQ room will open on Thursday at 5pm for people to drop off their dresses and will close at 8pm.  Browsing will not be permitted on Thursday due to an expected high volume of traffic dropping off dresses.

At 6pm, people may begin to collect their competitor number for all Friday competitions.  Each age group will start with a different number (under 8 will be in the 100s, under 9 will be in the 200s etc.) which is something new for this year too.  Please be aware that there will be a $10 cash fee for replacement numbers - therefore if you collect your number in advance - do not lose it. Having your number the night before takes off some pressure for the morning and means one does not need to check in as early as usual.  Numbers for Saturday's competitions will not be available for collection on Thursday.  Any competitor numbers not collected in advance on Thursday night will be available on Friday (see below for where/when).  Please have your own pins.

Programs will go on sale in the CC/HQ room (or just outside the room) from 6-8 pm at a cost of $15 each.  Exact change is appreciated.  Teachers may collect their programs here from 6-7 pm or wait until the end of the meeting.

The vendor room (Provinces I/II on the fourth floor) will open at 5pm and remain open until 11pm.  Please keep in mind some vendors may still be setting up their stall at 5pm so be patient if you arrive early.

Practice rooms (in various rooms named after assorted Canadian provinces opposite Governor General II/III on the fourth floor) will be open from 5-11pm.  The hotel will not allow practicing in the hallways of the various hotel room floors, by any elevators or in the common space outside the ballrooms.  Practicing on stage is not permitted at any time over the weekend in order to keep it as clean as possible.


FRIDAY
Dancers for all Friday competitions who did not collect their number on Thursday will collect them on Friday.  For 8am starts, dancers are to go to the stage manager inside their ballroom starting at 7:15am.  For 12:15pm starts, dancers are to go to the CC/HQ room (Governor General I on the fourth floor) between 11am and 12pm.  At 12pm, all numbers will be brought to the appropriate ballrooms for collection there.  Hopefully no one will leave it that late to collect their number. Please have your own pins.

The costume consignment room will open on Friday at 10am and close at 4pm.  We expect a lot of traffic in the room on Friday morning which is why there is a one hour delay between the room opening and when people can collect their numbers for Friday afternoon competitions.  Saturday dancers can collect their numbers in HQ from 2pm-4pm.  The staff at HQ won't have Saturday numbers prior to this assigned time slot.  Please be aware that there will be a $10 cash fee for replacement numbers - therefore if you collect your number in advance - do not lose it.

Programs will go on sale at 7:15am until 10:30am just outside the competition ballrooms (Confederation I which is Stage A and Confederation II/III which is Stage B on the fourth floor) at a cost of $15 each.  Exact change is appreciated.  Teachers collecting their programs at this time/location must sign for them.  At 10:30am, program sales will move to the CC/HQ room until 4pm.

The vendor room (Provinces I/II on the fourth floor) will open at 7am and remain open until 9pm.

Practice rooms (in various rooms named after assorted Canadian provinces opposite Governor General II/III on the fourth floor) will be open from 7am-11pm.  The hotel will not allow practicing in the hallways of the various hotel room floors, by any elevators or in the common space outside the ballrooms.  Practicing on stage is not permitted at any time over the weekend in order to keep it as clean as possible.

Results sheets will be handed out to dancers as they exit the stage following their awards presentation.  For those who forget or are not appearing on stage in the result, they can collect their sheets in the foyer outside the ballroom within about 10-15 minutes of the end of that competition's announcement.  Allow time for the sheets to be hand-delivered from the side-stage area to the foyer.  If these options don't suit, the sheets will be in the HQ room on Saturday during regular hours.  Results sheets are never available to those who do not recall before the competition is awarded.

SATURDAY
Dancers for all Saturday competitions who did not collect their number on Friday will collect them on Saturday.  For all solo competitions, dancers are to go to the stage manager inside their ballroom beginning at 7:15.  All adult teams should collect their number in Stage A (Confederation I) at or after 11am.  Since all solo competitions are scheduled to commence prior to the opening of HQ, Saturday competition numbers will only be available for pick-up at the stages.  Please have your own pins.

The costume consignment room will open on Saturday at 10am and close at 4pm.  The room will re-open for two hours after the end of the results ceremony in case Saturday dancers wish to register their costumes (at a reduced rate) for late Saturday and all-day Sunday browsing.  Several Sunday dancers were looking for dresses last year and there just wasn't the selection.

Dancers who did not collect their results sheet for Friday competitions can get their sheet from the HQ office during the hours posted above.  Please do not go to tabulation - they will not be able to help you.

Programs will go on sale at 7:15am until at least 9:00.  Everyone competing on Saturday will have started dancing by this point and should already have a program if they want one.  If the demand is there, sales will continue for a few more minutes, otherwise sales will resume in the CC/HQ room at 10:00am.

The vendor room (Provinces I/II on the fourth floor) will open at 7am until 5pm.

Practice rooms (in various rooms named after assorted Canadian provinces and are opposite Governor General II/III on the fourth floor) will be open from 7am-11pm.  The hotel will not allow practicing in the hallways of the various hotel room floors, by any elevators or in the common space outside the ballrooms.  Practicing on stage is not permitted at any time over the weekend in order to keep it as clean as possible.

Results sheets will be handed out to dancers as they exit the stage following their awards presentation.  For those who forget or are not appearing on stage in the result, they can collect their sheets in the foyer outside the ballroom within about 10-15 minutes of the end of that competition's announcement.  Allow time for the sheets to be hand-delivered from the side-stage area to the foyer.  If these options don't suit, the sheets will be in the HQ room on Saturday and Sunday during regular hours.  Results sheets are never available to those who do not recall before the competition is awarded.

SUNDAY
Dancers for all Sunday competitions will collect their numbers on Sunday morning in the ballroom where they will compete, beginning at 7:45.  One representative from each team can collect their team's number as of 10:30 in their ballroom.  Please have your own pins.

The costume consignment room will open on Sunday at 9:30am and close promptly at 1pm.  All unsold dresses not collected at this point will be sent to hotel security for the owners to collect at their own expense.

Dancers who did not collect their results sheet for Friday or Saturday competitions can get their sheet from the HQ office during the hours posted above.  Please do not go to tabulation - they will not be able to help you.  Results for Treble Reels, Premieres and Team events go to teachers in the form of a master list.  Check with them once you get back to class.

Since most Sunday-only dancers usually do not purchase programs, we are going to print out the competitor lists on regular paper (stapled together) for the Premiere and team events, and sell them for $5.  Leftover programs (plus these lists) will go on sale at 7:45am until at least 9:00 in the foyer just outside the ballrooms on the fourth floor.  Being the last day, programs will be discounted.

The vendor room (Provinces I/II on the fourth floor) will open at 7:30am and remain open until no later than 2pm.

Practice rooms (in various rooms named after assorted Canadian provinces and are opposite Governor General II/III on the fourth floor) will be open from 7am-12pm.  The hotel will not allow practicing in the hallways of the various hotel room floors, by any elevators or in the common space outside the ballrooms.  Practicing on stage is not permitted at any time over the weekend in order to keep it as clean as possible.



DO NOT BE LATE.  ONCE THE FIRST DANCERS STEP FOOT ON THE STAGE, CHECK-IN IS CLOSED AND ANY DANCERS NOT YET CHECKED-IN WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO DANCE.  ANY DANCERS WHO MISS THEIR ROTATION WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO DANCE EITHER.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Timetable Information - Starting Times of First Round in Running Order
(Version 2 - corrections to Premiere age groups have been made) - October 31.

FRIDAY

FRI Hall A - 8am BU10, BU8, GU10, GU8
FRI Hall B - 8am BU11, BU9, GU11, GU9
FRI Hall A - 1215pm BU14, GU14, GU15
FRI Hall B - 1215pm BU12, BU13, GU12, GU13
Champ Treble Reels - Hall A - U9, U11 and Hall B - U15, U13 - will follow the light rounds
RESULTS IN HALL B - aiming for about 630/645 and lasting approximately 1.5-2 hrs
SATURDAY

SAT Hall A - 8am BU16, M20&O, GU16
SAT Hall B - 8am BU17, MU18, M18-20, GU17
SAT Hall A - 845am LU20, L20&O
SAT Hall B - 9am LU18, LU19
SAT Hall A - Adult 4H at 1115am and 8H at 145pm
Champ Treble Reels 18&O (Hall A) and U18 (Hall B) will follow the light rounds.
RESULTS IN HALL B - aiming for about 215/230pm and lasting approximately 60-90 mins
Dinner Dance - Black and White Masquerade Party - Cocktails at 7pm in foyer outside competition ballrooms, Dinner at 730pm.
SUNDAY

SUN - Governor General Room II, 4th floor - 8-830am Mass
SUN Hall A - 830am Premiere 13&O, U11, U8 for R1 (R2 should start about 930)
SUN Hall B - 830am Premiere U13, U10, U9 for R1 (R2 should also start about 930)
SUN Hall A - 1030am Premiere Treble Reel 13&O, U11
SUN Hall B - 1030am Premiere Treble Reel U13, U10
SUN Hall A - 11am 4H U15 and 15&O
SUN Hall B - 11am 4H U9 and U12
SUN Hall A - 12pm 8H U15 and 15&O
SUN Hall B - 12pm 8H  U9 and U12
RESULTS IN HALL B - aiming for about 115/130 and lasting approximately 60-90 mins




Competitions will run in blocks.  The boys sections are very small and will take only a few minutes.  Hard shoe will go first.  Start times for each age group within the block are not posted because it is impossible to exactly predict a timetable and we want the freedom to keep things going and/or not to worry that we are running late.  While it would be nice to know the number of dancers in a competition NOW, it is not necessary.  You will find out once you arrive on site and buy your program.


The Premiere on Sunday IS a proper competition.  The anonymous comment on the message board suggesting that these dancers are unjustifiably holding up teams is cowardly and rude.  Anonymous message board comments are why many regions choose to not release info in advance.