Thread: Convention Cancelled

not that I need to defend myself but ...I put time and effort into this...I went to chicago specifically to look for a hotel...many of the large hotels were either full in october, not interested in a shaving convention or want a guarantee of 40-50 rooms for the weekend...in addition they wanted between 2-3000 dollars for a a large meeting room...they wanted my persona quarantee along with my credit card ...if you do the addition thats quarantee of $20,000.00 for a convention that we had no idea how many vendors or peope would attend......then I found the hampton inn...I neg a five room guarantee and eyeballed the meeting room avail approx 1400 sq ft...room for10-15 vendors table and room for for approx 50-100 people to walk arround...I asked ynn if he wanted to sign the guarantee and use his credit card and he declined o I went ahead and garanteed the rooms and meeting room..again we had no idea how many would attend...rooms in chicago are plentiful I was concerned about the rooms and meeting room I was on the guarantee for...last week I called the hotel to see how many rooms were booked...I was told by the new sales manager no one had booked and the deadline had passed...I got them to extend the deadline to august 20 and made several posts....asking who had reserved rooms and telling the forum of the new deadline...with regard to the woman previously calling me and offering to cancel ou meeting she was the new boss and I think because I only committed for5,rooms didnt want us...several days ago Ireceived an email from a member of this forum saying he called the hotel and the convention was cancelled...I called the hotel and was told lynn canceled the convention...the banners would take 3 days to make...lynn had spoken with the vendors but no money or comm to me was sent...when I heard he canceled on his own...I told him I was relieved of my guarantee by the hotel ...I told him the space worked....and I was done with the convention...guys I tried ...I went searching for space, I stepped up personally and guaranteed the rooms...I really tried ! if you want to see me as the scapegoat as lynn would like you to see so be it! Iam resigning not only as a mod but from the forum...you are all a bunch of great guys and I wish you the best...it will be interesting to see if lynn lets this post stay up...this is my last post on this forum...charlie larman

Despite the best efforts and intentions fo the fine folks on the forum, planning a convention can drive even the most even-keeled person to drink or to the nut house. I think that the idea is wonderful and that we should proceed, both with the convention and with the committee. The first step is to give ourselves a huge amount of time. Planning now for something in early summer is just about right. Next, what needs to be done?

1. Location - someplace central, but perhaps not a large as Chicago. Big city = big bucks. Alternatively, you also want something to do besides the convention. A happy medium should be found (no, I don't mean a psychic on Valium...ok, weak joke, nevermind)...anyway, the location will help determine the date. Chicago? Deep winter or High Summer can be miserable...Miami - not August; Boston - February not a good idea...so you get the drift (get it? Boston - winter drift? OK, I'll stop with the puns). Hampton Inn may have good room prices, but would they have a large enough space for 150-200 folks? Advance booking with a larger hotel can also get access to a larger space and the rates may not be as high...it all depends. As an example (just random here) the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Philly (right in the middle of all the "stuff"...150 a night for May 2008, 11 event rooms with 9,000+ sq. ft of space to choose from.

2. Date - Friday Arrival, Sunday departure

3. Venue - Hotel, ok. Close to sleeping rooms, catering available, linen service should there be shaving demos. Some convention centers have smaller rooms.

4. Cost - depends on the above. Also, some businesses may pay to participate. Before anything is booked, a minimum number of attendees must sign up. This "attendance number" is then used to both reserve space (We'll be having at least X attendees...what can you do for us?) and entice vendors (Well, we currently have X number of attendees signed up...that would be a good addition to your customer base...what can you do for us?). A fee to attend to cover the venue costs + refreshments, and attendees make their own reservations with the convention committee up to a certain date, (giving the committee clout with the hotel: yes, I'd like to book 35 rooms for 2 nights in <month>), and after that date with the hotel directly, using a group code.

5. Vendors - get them signed up early. Ask for some products to be donated for a drawing (no raffle....otherwise some folks in dark suits may want to know where the $$$ are going) or gift bags for attendees. Offer them a chance to have the convention attendee sign up list with emails so they can distro to attendees, a place to demo and sell products, etc. They should also be able to take orders for items (can they sell them on site? Not sure if that is covered by local Sales Tax laws or not). The web companies are a good start (Classic Shaving, Well-Groomed Gentleman, Shaving Center, Mama Bear's, etc.) but also the major firms: Casewell-Massey, Bath and Body Works, Truefitt and Hill, Art of Shaving, Thiers-Issard, Dovo, Vulfix brushes, and any other company that can be located that is interested in shaving and men's grooming.

6. Demos - get them scheduled so they can be added to the program.

7. Advertising - the convention needs a good logo to catch folks attention. Vendors can put the logo on their sites. Also, look at local media and send press released to all the major networks...the Today show has frequnetly covered "men's grooming Issues". Also, send the listing to the events editors for GQ, Esquire, Details, Conde-Nast Traveler, Vanity Fair, New Yorker, all the major "City Papers" (those weekly what's happening newspapers), the Tourist Board for which ever city we choose, etc. Other shaving websites should be approached for advertising and to boost attendance.

8. Media - printed programs, flyers, a banner or two, video recording of demos, discussions, etc. (then available for sale on a disc.)

9. Events - demos, rountable discussions, Q&A sessions, presentation of new products from the vendors.

10. A sit down dinner the evening of the convention, X$ per person, choice of meat/chicken/veggie entree, two sides, beverage, dessert, coffee/tea. Cash bar.

Each item above will need someone to be responsible for geting it up and running, with status reports every 2 weeks. there will have to be milestones met (X number of paid attendees, confirmed site booking, etc.) which will keep the members in the know as to how things are proceeding.

All comments are welcome (well, not all...any involving me walking and a short pier would NOT be welcome....).




Greg

How about San Diego, sunshine all year long and a great place to have a convention.

I am sorry this had to happen. Even though I would have missed it due to work commitments, I still thank Lynn, Charlie, all the vendors and everyone else who worked hard to make it happen.
If you're planning a spring/summer convention, you may want to look into Toronto. The city's well known for conferences/conventions, has tons of hotels, motels, hostels, a great party scene, more resturants (of all kinds) per capita than any other city in the world and it's 1hr from Niagara Falls.

It's sad that this event fell through, and even sadder that Charlie and Lynn have had a falling out over it.

Originally Posted by clarman

not that I need to defend myself but ...I put time and effort into this...I went to chicago specifically to look for a hotel...many of the large hotels were either full in october, not interested in a shaving convention or want a guarantee of 40-50 rooms for the weekend...in addition they wanted between 2-3000 dollars for a a large meeting room...they wanted my persona quarantee along with my credit card ...if you do the addition thats quarantee of $20,000.00 for a convention that we had no idea how many vendors or peope would attend......then I found the hampton inn...I neg a five room guarantee and eyeballed the meeting room avail approx 1400 sq ft...room for10-15 vendors table and room for for approx 50-100 people to walk arround...I asked ynn if he wanted to sign the guarantee and use his credit card and he declined o I went ahead and garanteed the rooms and meeting room..again we had no idea how many would attend...rooms in chicago are plentiful I was concerned about the rooms and meeting room I was on the guarantee for...last week I called the hotel to see how many rooms were booked...I was told by the new sales manager no one had booked and the deadline had passed...I got them to extend the deadline to august 20 and made several posts....asking who had reserved rooms and telling the forum of the new deadline...with regard to the woman previously calling me and offering to cancel ou meeting she was the new boss and I think because I only committed for5,rooms didnt want us...several days ago Ireceived an email from a member of this forum saying he called the hotel and the convention was cancelled...I called the hotel and was told lynn canceled the convention...the banners would take 3 days to make...lynn had spoken with the vendors but no money or comm to me was sent...when I heard he canceled on his own...I told him I was relieved of my guarantee by the hotel ...I told him the space worked....and I was done with the convention...guys I tried ...I went searching for space, I stepped up personally and guaranteed the rooms...I really tried ! if you want to see me as the scapegoat as lynn would like you to see so be it! Iam resigning not only as a mod but from the forum...you are all a bunch of great guys and I wish you the best...it will be interesting to see if lynn lets this post stay up...this is my last post on this forum...charlie larman

Not that you need to defend yourself dude, but I told you I would pay the money out up front to ensure we were covered and that we would have an event for certain. Your visit to your daughter as I recall was the main reason for you to be in Chicago, but it was appreciated that you at least checked out the hotel. All you did for this event was tell me you had it covered and what I should do including charge the vendors $250 a table. I held firm at $100 per table so that we would at least have a some vendors. I tried to leave it to the facts here, but your explanation compared to what the sales director told me which also included trying for 3 months to get information from you indicates exactly what you did here. No ill feelings from my side. Have fun Charlie and I appreciate your upcoming absence.

As I said earlier, I take full responsibility here and we have had an excellent SRP representation regarding getting a committee together and going forward. I hope the other forums will be participating as well. Let there be no further bickering in this thread.

Thanks,

Lynn

Hi All!

Please let me know when we have the committee finalized, I would love to participate and help out. Thanks again to everyone for their hard work.

Greg

I'll volunteer for the committee as well.

I was looking forward to the convention in Chicago, sorry to hear it was cancelled. I had no idea what was involved in putting on a convention. I will be looking for info on the next one.

I'm sad to see this didn't work out. Thanks to all you guys that put an effort forth to organize it, I guess unfortunate things sometimes happen. I'll volunteer for the committee as well, I think a second go at this is worth it and I look forward to meeting all of you in person.

I'm happy I just came across this thread, I was going to make my plane rez tonight.