[Cory]

Well, I have no idea whether flying or busing would be cheaper, but to get an idea of how much it would cost to fly, you can search travelocity, expedia, etc, plus Southwest and other "discount" airlines that the main travel sites dont search. After that, you can call the airlines with the cheapest prices and see if you would get a group discount.

FIRST usually has a few hotels listed for each regional. They usually aren't the cheapest. You can also use websites like expedia and travelocity to find hotels. I know that this year we found the hotel we stayed at in Sacramento through the AAA book for California. You should be able to find these books for any state.