Re: Conferences in costly locations--thoughts?

["Sarah O'Keefe" <okeefe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In fairness, Dov didn't say "within walking distance." He said "in the 
general area." I'd compare "off-site hotel plus rental car" to "conference 
hotel, no rental car".

Anyway, I think conference organizers are pretty much in a no-win position:

* Pick somewhere inexpensive, and you get complaints about lack of things 
to do and see.
* Pick a nice resort, and you get complaints about expenses.

We haven't even addressed some of the other considerations, such as:

* Shops, restaurants, and attractions within walking distance of the hotel 
or not. (Rental car or not? Stuck exclusively with hotel services or not?)
* Airport connections and service (Total travel time?) (I mostly fly 
American, and they don't serve Palm Beach. I'll be flying into Miami and 
driving from there. I'm sure PBI would have no trouble with a private jet, 
though, so that's a plus for all private-jet-owning framers.)
* Weather. (DEFINITELY a winner there.)
* Dates (conflicts with national holidays, vacation times, other 
conferences, and numerous other things)
* Location relative to attendees' location

I'm sure I'm not even scratching the surface.

Sarah

PS I'll be there. I'm presenting, and we're planning to have a booth at the 
trade show. I *am* planning to extend this trip into a mini-vacation. Hope 
to see lots of you there.

At 02:16 PM 8/27/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>That is not necessarily true. The Ritz-Carlton sits out on this sandbar 
>all by itself from what I can tell. I have spoken with the Palm Beach 
>Tourism folks and they say that there are no other hotel facilities within 
>walking distance.  A cab ride to the closest one may fail to offset the 
>savings on the room. I opted to share a room with two other people at a 
>Fairfield hotel several miles away. One of my roommates was able to 
>convince her company to rent a car for her, so we have transport.
>
>When my airfare, meals, registration, post-conference workshop fees, 
>hotel, car rental, and sundries are added up, the conference will end up 
>costing me over $3500. That doesn't even take into consideration the 
>amount of billable hours I lose while attending the conference. But I have 
>been planning to attend this conference for two years. I know it will be 
>worth it.
>
>Carol
>
>At 12:18 PM 8/27/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>>Why don't you simply chose a less pricey hotel for your room while at
>>the conference? There are plenty of sub-$100-a-night places within
>>the general area.
>
>
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Sarah O'Keefe           okeefe@scriptorium.com
Scriptorium Publishing Services, Inc.
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