How many peeps - guestamet

[Schweddy]

People also love themes...we should come up with some type of slogan for the convention...something catchy and community minded to make people realize they are part of something.

Good points on the T. We can also get magnets or buttons pretty cheap.

The catchy slogan and theme should be a *must* and a damn fine idea.

 

[jallman]

Good points on the T. We can also get magnets or buttons pretty cheap.

The catchy slogan and theme should be a *must* and a damn fine idea.

well, how about this for the other commemorative items like magnets and buttons...and this is just tossing it out there...

If we have the surplus from registration that I would predict we can achieve, then we funnel some into having those souvenirs for purchase at a slight profit at the convention itself. The proceeds from that can go directly into a high yield savings account and sit as starting capital for the following year's convention or even just to help pay the cost of keeping the forum going.

 

[cnredd]

I believe that certain members here should "play to their strengths"...

I have the organizational skills of an epileptic in a china shop, so I recuse myself from the logistics...

It looks like jallman is the "go to guy" here for the dotting of "i"s and crossing of "t"s...

As for the ideas of t-shirts, buttons, entertainment and the like, I think those priorities are very low and can wait...The ideas can be "pretty good" to "wonderful", but let's be honest...For a convention that is more than a few months away, they can wait...

The first thing we should decide are the facts...Time & Place...

Once we established those as facts, then we can add the icing...

 

[jallman]

I believe that certain members here should "play to their strengths"...

I have the organizational skills of an epileptic in a china shop, so I recuse myself from the logistics...

It looks like jallman is the "go to guy" here for the dotting of "i"s and crossing of "t"s...

As for the ideas of t-shirts, buttons, entertainment and the like, I think those priorities are very low and can wait...The ideas can be "pretty good" to "wonderful", but let's be honest...For a convention that is more than a few months away, they can wait...

The first thing we should decide are the facts...Time & Place...

Once we established those as facts, then we can add the icing...

May I also add...the polls should not be a standard, but only a suggestion. I think it is more important for us to decide logistical and economic viability when deciding time and place. Lets get some numbers in and then make a decision based on economic/budget forecasts. I really want to optimize our revenue versus our costs to make this an attractive event.

 

[cnredd]

May I also add...the polls should not be a standard, but only a suggestion. I think it is more important for us to decide logistical and economic viability when deciding time and place. Lets get some numbers in and then make a decision based on economic/budget forecasts. I really want to optimize our revenue versus our costs to make this an attractive event.

Exactly...

Brass tacks people...

 

[Stace]

In that case.....the further out we reasonably project the date, the cheaper it will be. Not only do most places (and especially airlines for those requiring flights, which would be most) have cheaper rates the further in advance you book, but there's also things to consider like the season. Summer months would obviously be "in" season, therefore, higher rates due to higher demand. Months such as October and February through May typically carry lower rates, barring Spring Break weeks. Not too many people travel during those months other than for Spring Break - kids are in school, there aren't any major travelling holidays during those time frames, etc.

 

[Kelzie]

May I also add...the polls should not be a standard, but only a suggestion. I think it is more important for us to decide logistical and economic viability when deciding time and place. Lets get some numbers in and then make a decision based on economic/budget forecasts. I really want to optimize our revenue versus our costs to make this an attractive event.

Yeah I'm starting to see the light. Too many cooks spoil the dish and all. I really think we can decide everything with the committee and sell it to the forum as something they decided. Politics at its best. :2wave:

Monday I'll start getting numbers on DC. Stace you wanna do NYC? I figure we need to figure bulk hotel rooms for 20-40 people, single catered event (roast dinner) and a single meeting space (debate). Not to mention we should consider airfares from the biggest hubs. Any other things we should consider?

 

[jallman]

If you are going to give me financial obligation, my only concern is going to be running this show as a business venture. Let me know what you want and I will project budgets based on our needs. I cannot stess enough the need for all of us to be on the same page and let us vote early on for the initial financial cost...we need early registrations to give us capital now.

 

[Kelzie]

In that case.....the further out we reasonably project the date, the cheaper it will be. Not only do most places (and especially airlines for those requiring flights, which would be most) have cheaper rates the further in advance you book, but there's also things to consider like the season. Summer months would obviously be "in" season, therefore, higher rates due to higher demand. Months such as October and February through May typically carry lower rates, barring Spring Break weeks. Not too many people travel during those months other than for Spring Break - kids are in school, there aren't any major travelling holidays during those time frames, etc.

It'd be a pretty easy thing to ask what the difference in price is between the months. We can factor that in when we're researching.

Booking has limits. A flight six months out will cost the same as a flight four months out.

 

[Kelzie]

If you are going to give me financial obligation, my only concern is going to be running this show as a business venture. Let me know what you want and I will project budgets based on our needs. I cannot stess enough the need for all of us to be on the same page and let us vote early on for the initial financial cost...we need early registrations to give us capital now.

What do you mean what we want? What we want to accomplish, or what much we want it to cost? Two different things, IMO.

 

[Stace]

Yeah I'm starting to see the light. Too many cooks spoil the dish and all. I really think we can decide everything with the committee and sell it to the forum as something they decided. Politics at its best. :2wave:

Monday I'll start getting numbers on DC. Stace you wanna do NYC? I figure we need to figure bulk hotel rooms for 20-40 people, single catered event (roast dinner) and a single meeting space (debate). Not to mention we should consider airfares from the biggest hubs. Any other things we should consider?

I think I can tackle the Big Apple. Only other consideration I can think of off of the top of my head would be A/V equipment - mikes and speakers, etc. Preferably, we can find a place that already has that equipment and includes the use of it in the charge for the meeting space, but if we can't find a suitable place with that availability, we'll need to look into renting it, unless we have some members that own such equipment and would be willing to lug it along.

 

[Kelzie]

I think I can tackle the Big Apple. Only other consideration I can think of off of the top of my head would be A/V equipment - mikes and speakers, etc. Preferably, we can find a place that already has that equipment and includes the use of it in the charge for the meeting space, but if we can't find a suitable place with that availability, we'll need to look into renting it, unless we have some members that own such equipment and would be willing to lug it along.

I'd be willing to bet that most places that have a convention center would have the equipment. In the interest of keeping cost low, I don't expect 100 people to show. I think 30 is well within screaming range, so I wouldn't sweat it if a cheap place doesn't have the equipment.

 

[jallman]

It'd be a pretty easy thing to ask what the difference in price is between the months. We can factor that in when we're researching.

Booking has limits. A flight six months out will cost the same as a flight four months out.

So what I am hearing is this: lets research costs and then report back with budget forecasts based on location and time. Compile the data and lets go forward from there.

Lets look at it this way:

Kelzie...get your data from NYC possibilities

Mixie...make a proposal for fla, orlando style

Aps, get with oldreliable and let us know as friends of the comittee whats possible

Deegan: show us what you can do in chicago,babe. Plus and I am stepping way out of line, but now is the time for dramatics...would you be willing to bring your forum on board?


Anyone else, put your ideas forth and lets make a decision...we need to think about capital first before we can decide anything else. I need numbers to help make this happen.

 

[Stace]

So what I am hearing is this: lets research costs and then report back with budget forecasts based on location and time. Compile the data and lets go forward from there.

Lets look at it this way:

Kelzie...get your data from NYC possibilities

Mixie...make a proposal for fla, orlando style

Aps, get with oldreliable and let us know as friends of the comittee whats possible

Deegan: show us what you can do in chicago,babe. Plus and I am stepping way out of line, but now is the time for dramatics...would you be willing to bring your forum on board?


Anyone else, put your ideas forth and lets make a decision...we need to think about capital first before we can decide anything else. I need numbers to help make this happen.

And numbers you shall receive, my dear.

 

[Kelzie]

So what I am hearing is this: lets research costs and then report back with budget forecasts based on location and time. Compile the data and lets go forward from there.

Lets look at it this way:

Kelzie...get your data from NYC possibilities

Mixie...make a proposal for fla, orlando style

Aps, get with oldreliable and let us know as friends of the comittee whats possible

Deegan: show us what you can do in chicago,babe. Plus and I am stepping way out of line, but now is the time for dramatics...would you be willing to bring your forum on board?


Anyone else, put your ideas forth and lets make a decision...we need to think about capital first before we can decide anything else. I need numbers to help make this happen.

Sounds good. Cept aps hasn't signed on since this started soo...might be someone else with DC. Wait I had DC. Stace had NYC. Other than that, seems like a plan.

 

[jallman]

Sounds good. Cept aps hasn't signed on since this started soo...might be someone else with DC. Wait I had DC. Stace had NYC. Other than that, seems like a plan.

for my benefit, lets get aps on board. is that cool?

 

[mixedmedia]

So what I am hearing is this: lets research costs and then report back with budget forecasts based on location and time. Compile the data and lets go forward from there.

Lets look at it this way:

Kelzie...get your data from NYC possibilities

Mixie...make a proposal for fla, orlando style

Aps, get with oldreliable and let us know as friends of the comittee whats possible

Deegan: show us what you can do in chicago,babe. Plus and I am stepping way out of line, but now is the time for dramatics...would you be willing to bring your forum on board?


Anyone else, put your ideas forth and lets make a decision...we need to think about capital first before we can decide anything else. I need numbers to help make this happen.

I'll see what I can find out tomorrow. :2wave:

 

[jallman]

I'll see what I can find out tomorrow. :2wave:

Okay, but I wont even look at your data until monday afternoon, so you have some time.:2wave:

 

[Schweddy]

What do I need to do?

 

[Deegan]

I am going to check with the Holiday Inn here, and see what kind of deal I can swing with my limited influence. I do book over 100 rooms there a year, for clients, reps, and others, so I thought I would speak to the gentleman that handles this for me. I guess I will have to see what kind of numbers we are looking at first, as that would be a lot of rooms to secure, and make sure their hotel can handle those numbers, but I don't see a problem there.

 

[Stace]

I am NOT having much luck with the NYC angle. Anything near JFK or La Guardia is too expensive (upwards of $100 a night for one room), or the hotel itself doesn't have enough rooms (i.e. they only have 50 rooms total, so even if we only had 20 folks show up, can we really expect them to block out nearly half of their rooms for just us?).

Anyone else having better luck? I've been using Expedia and visiting websites for specific hotels I come across, but I'm not coming up with much.

 

[Kelzie]

Yeah I kinda figured NYC would be too pricey. DC's shaping up to be around $100 a night...and that's in the suburbs. Any idea how many people would want to double up? Cause the prices are different.

 

[Stace]

Yeah I kinda figured NYC would be too pricey. DC's shaping up to be around $100 a night...and that's in the suburbs. Any idea how many people would want to double up? Cause the prices are different.

I just made a poll for that. :mrgreen:

 

[Kelzie]

I just made a poll for that. :mrgreen:

Start a thread on NYC in the committee forum...we can discuss the pros and cons there.

 

[mixedmedia]

Well, today was my boss' birthday and I didn't have time to do much checking on rates and such. I did visit the Orlando Convention and Visitor's Bureau website. They have a feature for planning group vacations and will help you with finding facilities that match your budget. They also help plan catering and touring, photographers, transportation, childcare and other special needs.

Tomorrow I will send them an email with some (low) guesstimated numbers and see what they come up with for me. It is probable that they have this sort of thing at the DC and NYC visitor's bureaus, as well. It would be more efficient and most likely cheaper to put together packages through them. As it is their job to capture business for their cities.

Sorry I wasn't able to get much accomplished today, but I forgot about the birthday and had a bunch of other things come up as well......the nerve of these people. :lol: