The Evansville IceMen Maniacs Booster Club is excited to announce the schedule for the 2014 ECHL Booster Club Jamboree. The vast majority of the convention will be held at Tropicana Evansville (formerly Casino Aztar) in Downtown Evansville on the north bank of the mighty Ohio River. Other sites on the itinerary are Ellis Park and Turoni’s Pizzery & Brewery. (We had hoped to also take a tour of the Ford Center, but the arena has booked a large religious convention on the weekend of the Jamboree.)
The 2014 Jamboree will get started with a casual mixer at Ellis Park on the evening of Friday, July 18. A full day of programming and entertainment will follow on Saturday, July 19. We will then wrap things up on the morning of Sunday, July 20. (More schedule details are below.)
Check-in and registration will be Friday from 5 to 6 PM and Saturday during breakfast from 8 to 9 AM. We highly recommend registering in advance on our Registration page, but folks who don’t register online in advance will also be able to register and pay in person during the stated check-in times.
The Jamboree is open to all ECHL fans, including those who are not a member of a team’s booster club. Registration is required, and your registration fee goes toward deferring the costs of facility rentals and select meals. For IceMen Maniacs Booster Club members, registration is $40 for Saturday only or $60 for the full weekend. For all other attendees, registration is $45 for Saturday only or $60 for the full weekend.
We expect to have a bunch of IceMen Maniacs in attendance, as well as guests from several visiting ECHL booster clubs. We’ll have visitors coming from as far away as California, as we’re thrilled to say that we will be welcoming some delegates representing the Ontario Reign!
Dress is casual, so feel free to support your team with jeans and your favorite jersey!
The current schedule for the 2014 Jamboree is below. Please keep in mind that minor changes may be made as we finalize plans, and that individual elements should still be considered flexible and somewhat tentative. We may make adjustments “on the fly” as the Jamboree progresses, based on how things are going. But we’re confident in saying that the start and end times for each day should not change at this point!
NOTE: Evansville is in the Central Time Zone, and is currently observing Daylight Saving Time. (Thus, “Evansville time” is the same as “Chicago time.”) All times below are Central Daylight Time.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
FRIDAY, JULY 18
4-6~ PM: Tropicana Conference Room*
Check-in for guests who registered in advance, and registration for guests who did not.
7-9~ PM: Ellis Park
Casual reception/mixer with food provided for all “Full Weekend” registrants. Cash bar will also be available.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
SATURDAY, JULY 19
8-9 AM: Tropicana Conference Room*
Check-in for guests who registered in advance, and registration for guests who did not. Coffee and bagels will be provided.
9-11:30 AM: Tropicana Conference Room*
Jamboree conference programming will begin with introductions. Topics of discussion will then include legal and financial matters, using the web and social media, fund-raising, and services provided to teams. IceMen personnel will join us to discuss the impact of booster club involvement.
(30-minute break for travel/etc.)
12-1:30 PM: Turoni’s Pizzery & Brewery
Lunch will be provided.
(30-minute break for travel/etc.)
2-4 PM: Tropicana Conference Room*
Jamboree conference programming continues with overflow discussions/topics from the morning session.
4-5 PM: Tropicana Conference Room*
Board members of booster clubs will conduct the annual ECHL Booster Club Council meeting, which is required by the league. All other Jamboree attendees will have the hour to themselves.
(1-hour break for buffet preparation)
6-9~ PM: Tropicana Conference Room*
Dinner buffet will be provided, followed by the evening’s entertainment. IceMen game night emcee (and booster club member) Stephen Rickard will conduct a brief auction, leading into the “main event” featuring IceMen Trainer Brian Patafie. IceMen fans know him and love him already, and we’re confident that others will soon follow suit. For those who don’t know him, Brian has spent decades working in hockey, from the NHL to the minor leagues to juniors. He is a published author, a man of faith, a husband and father, and the man behind the incredibly successful IceMen “No More Bullies” anti-bullying campaign. He’s also one of the most colorful characters you’ll ever meet, and a tremendously funny story-teller. Brian has a speech prepared for the Jamboree, and he will then sit down for an interview with IceMen play-by-play man “The Mouth of the IceMen” Derick Benigni. Derick and Brian will finish by taking questions from the audience, which is sure to be a good time. Brian Patafie is an unstoppable force when it comes to sharing his hilarious experiences in hockey, so there’s no telling when the evening will come to an end!
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
SUNDAY, JULY 20
10-11~ AM: Tropicana Conference Room*
If necessary, we will finish off any overflow discussions from Saturday. We’ll then wrap things up and bid farewell!
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
* – All “Tropicana Conference Room” portions of the event are in the “Las Vegas” and “Atlantic City” conference rooms in the Tropicana Hotel. These rooms are not part of the large complex of convention and banquet rooms in the Tropicana Conference Center. Our conference rooms are actually inside the primary hotel (not to be confused with Le Merigot), and have easy interior access to the parking garage, restaurants and casino itself. The “Las Vegas” and “Atlantic City” rooms are on the 2nd floor of the hotel. If you enter the facility from the 2nd floor of the parking garage, walk toward the casino pavilion but turn left just before the walk bridge that goes over Riverside Drive. Proceed down the corridor and you will see the conference rooms shortly after entering the hotel.
