American Go E-Journal

US Go Congress registrations soar

Saturday April 14, 2018

After opening registration on March 31st, the attendee count for the 34th U.S. Go Congress, to be held this July in Williamsburg,2018.04.14_congress-pineapple Virginia, has steadily climbed. “We marched past 100 like a fife and drum brigade!” said Gary Smith, the Go Congress registrar. “128 and counting!”

“Gary [Smith], Diego [Pierrottet], and I are getting tons of emails, and making changes every day,” said Nate Eagle, who, with Pierrottet, is directing this year’s Congress. “I’ve been really grateful for some of the early registrants who’ve written to us about suggestions for the site, or information they need. Everyone who lets us know about something to improve helps hundreds of other users.”

“We’ve made a lot of updates,” Eagle continued. “We’ve added the ability to add on Friday-night accommodations for anyone who needs to travel to Williamsburg the day before. We’ve launched the official Go Congress mobile app with a download button on the main page. We’ve moved the Congress site to SSL to ensure the security of people’s login information. And I’m continuing to work with Rex Cristal, who’s provided invaluable support for the Congress site for years, and Joel Cahalan to make steady improvements to the Congress website to make it more mobile-friendly and easier to use.”

“We’ve also added a Frequently Asked Questions page,” Eagle says. “If you’ve got a question, or have information that you think would be useful to other people interested in or attending Go Congress, please let me know! The more information we can provide, the better.”

Pineapples were an important symbol of hospitality in Colonial Williamsburg. Congress Co-director Nate Eagle wanted to use a pineapple in the Congress logo, but everybody thought the reference was too obscure.