Convention Cancelled

Sorry guys,

I received the email below from Charlie Larman a couple of days ago. Prior to this I was not aware of any deadline and thought Charlie had it all handled including having banners made up and was preparing news releases, etc....We did have firm committments from Classic Shaving, Vintage Blades, TQH, Mamma Bear, Barberia Italia, Truefitt & Hill Corporate and I thought Charlie was following up on the table fees:

From:"Charlie Larman" To:"'Lynn Abrams'"
Subject: hotel rooms Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 11:22:32 -0400 I spoke to the hotel today…at this time there are no reservations for rooms…if people have registered they have not done so under the convention code…I need to know who they are so I can apply them to the 5 room guarantee…if they do not reserve rooms before aug 20 they will not get the 199 rate…I have no intention of getting stuck for five rooms…if no reservations are made before the 19 of aug I will withdraw my guarantee which will basically pull the plug on the convention…advise me on what you want to do…also I have not received any thing from vendors coming to this convention…if you have received money for tables you need to send the hotel 500 to pay for the meeting rooms…



As a result of this email, I called the hotel and made my reservation. I also called the Sales Director, Bernadette to see what was going on. She advised that Charlie had only asked the hotel to hold 5 rooms at the $199 price and that he had not requested any rooms for Friday night for the event. She indicated that the hotel did not have any more Friday night reservations available at this time. In addition, she advised that the conference room reserves was only 1300 sq. ft. and would only accomodate 35 people at a time and that she had voiced concern previously with Charlie. Bernadette indicated that she might be able to give us 10 rooms at the $199 fee for Saturday, but non for Friday and at best 5 more rooms on Saturday for $257. It became obvious at that point that they would not be able to accomodate us. I asked her to cancel the event and she did at no charge.

I will be cancelling my reservation. I think the only other one made was by Sue.

So........How about we get a committee together between us and the other forums and see if we can plan another event for next spring or summer? I am really sorry guys and take full responsibility for this. Fred, I hope you still want to help.......



Lynn

Ha,

I wasn't planning to attend but it's a pity, as I am sure many others were very excited about the convention. I expected to see lots of interesting videos and photos, not to speak about posts after the event :shrug:

Cheers
Ivo

That sucks in a big way mate... sorry to hear it went pear shaped on you.

My other half is a marketing and PR exec with Singapore Airlines and I know she tears her hair out at times trying to keep events on track.
Just draw a line under this one and move on... these things happen.

Best wishes for the next event.

Greg Frazer

I am hopeful that we can get a small committee together who will be really committed to getting something like this going and include all the wet shaving communities. Onward and upward.

Lynn

Lynn,

Don't feel bad, these things take a lot of planning. We all appreciate the enormous effort it takes just keeping all of this stuff up.

I smell BS. I know positively without a doubt that they had my reservation because I spoke with them personally a few weeks ago, as I posted in another thread.

Glad to find out this soon though. I'd have hated to have bought nonrefundable airline reservations and then have it go sideways.

Thanks for the effort, Lynn. I think cancelling is the best course of action.

I am really sorry to hear this...either misunderstanding or bs i am glad got cought on time.
If you guys are interested in organizing something similar here in California i will be more than glad to help put everything together... i have a friend who might be able to help too...
Classic shaving are located here in palm springs, i know it would be in their interest...
Just a thought ..let me know...
Sorry Lynn , i hope you don't feel bad you haven't failed anybody.
Be well.

Just to clarify my earlier post: I'm not calling BS on Lynn. I'm sure that he did everything he could to make this convention happen.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonedangerousli

Just to clarify my earlier post: I'm not calling BS on Lynn. I'm sure that he did everything he could to make this convention happen.

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I think your earlier post was plenty clear!

Lynn, I am really sorry that this happened as I was just talking to my wife about this the other day and was getting ready to make my reservation and flight arrangements etc. So glad that I looked at this before making flight arrangements that may have been non refundable.

The thing that I was hoping mostly was to meet you Lynn and people that I have emailed or talked to on the phone.

Thanks for all of the work and planning on your part and Charlie's it was very much appreciated. I guess from each experience we learn something so hoping next spring or whenever will be a bit less hectic.

Here is to the hotel........:cen :cen :cen

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

:nj

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....).


:tu

Greg

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

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. :(

Quote:

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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

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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.:bow

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. :cool:

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.

Well, shoot, that's too bad... And even though I probably couldn't attend because of a short financial leash, it's pretty clear that this is an idea whose time has almost arrived, and that the convention will eventually happen. But based on my experience with a million-dollar summer guest season, I'd say the planning alone could wind up being a nearly-full-time job for someone in the months leading up to the event. Further, I'd suggest that all attendees be asked for an advance deposit that's only partially refundable, with a pretty strict cancellation policy. Otherwise, it's too easy for someone's rear end to wind up hanging out in the breeze.

-denis

Oh myyyyyyy!

Well, I just so happened to be out and about and saw the post regarding the convention. I must confess that I was bringing up the rear in regards to funds for the trip, but nonetheless would have been there.

I am very sorry to hear that the convention has been cancelled.

...and yes it is true that these things take a HUGE amount of planning. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to find arrangements suitable for both vendors and attendees.

I would be happy to throw my hat in the ring for a committee volunteer...

:hmmm: Lets see......We have a convention center here in Beckley, it is located at the Tamarack. www.tamarackwv.com ( go to the bottom of the page and click on Conference Center) and West Virginia IS a beautiful state and we do have hotels too.... but for activities....I'm afraid you need to be the outdoorsy type...we have hiking, camping, river rafting, horseback riding, and of course early in the spring we have TURKEY hunting, and y'all know I can do a killer turkey call now :roflmao

BUT what I'm thinking is, large groups of people have conventions all the time at the Tamarack. I could find out thru administration who handles these things and HOW they go about organizing such an event. Perhaps there would be some helpful information that we could use.

Lynn are you heading the Committee ?? Just point me in the right direction and I'll do whatever I can to help.

Kind Regards, Colleen

anything worth having doesn't come easy....we can do this, I know we can.

I hate to here this I was planning on coming over for Saturday, not staying the nigh though.

If you want a location suggestion I would suggest Cincinnati, Columbus or Toledo. All centrally located in the US, all less than expensive compared to the big cities.

Sorry to hear this!:( I had located a Motel 6 by the airport for $66/nite and had been seriously planning to attend.

I had no idea that the hotels are such holdup artists with room guarantees and high rental fees for meeting rooms!:rant:

I want to say thank you to all who worked on this. Your efforts are much appreciated!

If we have a meeting next spring/summer then I will be there as both a vendor of vintage & custom razors and a demonstrator for honing. Lets try to keep the cost down since a lot of us are on very limited budgets. The $199 fee was simply far to expensive for me. The maximum table fee I would be willing to pay is $100. Most of the local/regional gun and knife shows around here charge $20-$40/table.
Perhaps we could have our convention within an established Gun&Knife show? It would have a heck of a lot of traffic and very low costs for vendor tables. Believe me, the gun and knife guys find straight razors fascinating!:)

Just my two cents,:)

I certainly agree that keeping the cost down is important to many of us. Since we're a worldwide community, regardless of where you choose to hold it, the majority of our members and vendors will have to fly there. Thus, the cost of the airline ticket will usually swamp the cost of the hotel, so I believe the best city choice will turn out to be one whose airport is served by multiple (major) carriers (ie, lots of competition will push fares lower). So even though hotels and meeting rooms in BFE might be low, airfare to get there might be much more expensive. Flying to Chicago for me was going to be about a $550 proposition... Beckley, WV, for example, would be almost $1000.

It might also help if the date is "off season" with regard to tourism and sports events in the chosen city... both airfare and hotels should be cheaper. I know Phoenix or Houston in July/August is intolerable, or Minneapolis in January. But we'll be inside at the convention, so does it really matter how hot/cold it is outside? I've been to plenty of trade shows under these conditions... I figure if it works for companies it might work for us?

It may also be worth looking at holding it mid-week (I believe air fares are lower on Tues, Wed, Thurs, Saturday evening/Sunday morning).

I like the idea of teaming up with a knife show, but we'd have to make sure they were "friendly" to our needs.

I'm pretty much open guys. I was thinking that if we just could find a facility for the convention or show itself, along with the knife guys would be great too, we could then just do our own hotels and work out the details of the get together.

Thanks for your understanding and we will get this thing going!!!!

Lynn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by azjoe

I certainly agree that keeping the cost down is important to many of us. Since we're a worldwide community, regardless of where you choose to hold it, the majority of our members and vendors will have to fly there. Thus, the cost of the airline ticket will usually swamp the cost of the hotel, so I believe the best city choice will turn out to be one whose airport is served by multiple (major) carriers (ie, lots of competition will push fares lower). So even though hotels and meeting rooms in BFE might be low, airfare to get there might be much more expensive. Flying to Chicago for me was going to be about a $550 proposition... Beckley, WV, for example, would be almost $1000.

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Since we have the new 5th runway Atlanta's looking better and better:w

Quote:

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It might also help if the date is "off season" with regard to tourism and sports events in the chosen city... both airfare and hotels should be cheaper. I know Phoenix or Houston in July/August is intolerable, or Minneapolis in January. But we'll be inside at the convention, so does it really matter how hot/cold it is outside? I've been to plenty of trade shows under these conditions... I figure if it works for companies it might work for us?

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I'd advise against anywhere north in winter. I don't mind cold but there are transportation issues to consider. I wouldn't want to have to be out and about here with the heat we've been having this past week either.

Quote:

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It may also be worth looking at holding it mid-week (I believe air fares are lower on Tues, Wed, Thurs, Saturday evening/Sunday morning).

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I would strongly advise against this. The airfares being lower during the week would be partially offset by lower hotel rates on the weekend. I'm not sure what the median income level is here on the group but I'd imagine that most folks would come out better working and paying a bit more for the flight to attend on the weekend.

Quote:

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I like the idea of teaming up with a knife show, but we'd have to make sure they were "friendly" to our needs.

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I think having it in conjunction with a knife show is a great idea. Good group to recruit new members, as well as the crossover interest of many of our current ones.

Sorry to hear about the cancellation of it. I was planning on making the way down there.

Hey why not have it in the Great White North eh?
Hit up a place in Toronto or a bit outside of it, then it will be a nice trip and people cans ee the Falls :)

I agree with WireBeard that we need to start planning now if we want a convention to be held sometime in the spring or early summer. Big events need adaquet amounts of prep time. Vendors need enough time to prepare what they want to have at the convention. People who want to have demos need to have time to reherse, and they need to be organized. Depending on how you want to do the demos, you can either have them all queued or they can have their own stations and people can walk around to each demo.

To get a rough idea of who will be able to make it, pick a date and location and see if it's somewhere, and sometime, agreeable to people's schedule. This would be something they won't have to commit to. That way it's flexible and you can change the date to something more agreeable. When you've finalized the date and location, see who can actually commit to it and who is interested in attending, but don't know if they can make it.

You'll need one hotel liaison, and nobody else can contact the hotel except this person. This will help reduce confusion if any occurred. I'm not sure if this is possible, but people would make hotel reservations through the liaison instead of directly to the hotel. Again, this reduces confusion, but will also give us a head count. People will just have to book their own travel arrangements.

Randydance062449 raises a good point. We could do it with the Gun&Knife group, which would cut down on the workload significantly, plus with a larger group it may be more economical.

I think a combo of all these ideas would give the convention a boost towards success:

1. Schedule/share a venue with a Gun/Knife show (we'll have the sharpest blades there anyway). Anyone an enthusiast? (I try to steer clear of those events....at least with a checkbook or credit card within reach). We could have a separate area for our demos and vendors.

2. Attendees do their own hotels. That way, you can choose. Also, if you belong to a member program, you can make sure you get points for the stay.

3. Up front registration fee with only a partial- refund after a certain date (usually once the space is booked).

4. Vendors - demos, sales, new products. We would also need to let them know the venue, in case they have an issue. (You never know....). Flat fee per table.

5. Advertising. In concert with the Gun/Knife Show? Also in the same venues as I mentioned in my previous post.

6. A new idea - on-site SRP registration. "Step up and sign up! It's free!" We would have to have a laptop, LAN, and someone to monitor /assist.

7. Arrangement with the site for support for demos. Not much of an issue unless there will be shaving demos, then hot water, linens, good lighting.

8. Assistance for any overseas members (airport meet, etc.)

Comments? Other ideas?

So, who is going to be the committee? :tu

Greg

Folks, are we interested in forming a committee for the convention? If one is already formed, I must have missed the thread...I wold love to help out!

Let me know...post or PM.

Greg

:tu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WireBeard

Folks, are we interested in forming a committee for the convention? If one is already formed, I must have missed the thread...I wold love to help out!

Let me know...post or PM.

Greg

:tu

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Yes! Yes!.....let's have a committee. I want to help any way I can. But my very first thought....is how do we decide who is on the committee?

Recently a position was open for the advisory board at the Tamarack. I was nominated by one of my peers for the seat. But I still had to apply by listing a short bio of why I thought I would be a good candidate. Then..... that was put forth on the table, and my peers voted yet once again; Sad to say, I was nixed......:gth as two other nominees where also up for the position, so of the three, that individual received the seat. Which is how it should be, she had 15 years experience in the arts/business arena.

So I'm not suggesting anything as complicated as the above....but people who are on the committee need to be contributing members, so I would like to suggest that first we begin with the basics.

How large should the committee be...?

10 to 12 seats is my vote, and there could always be additional volunteer seats :shrug:

Greg, you seem to have excellent ideas about what needs to done, I would nominate you for a seat on the committee....

So Gentlemen let's begin......it's already September. How large should the committee be? How many seats? ......and I nominate myself to ask questions :roflmao

Soapmistress

I attend a lot of pen shows and have been to many different venues.
We used to have the South Florida Pen and Knife Show at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale. If there's interest, I can help coordinate the logistics there, just let me know. South Florida is well served by many airlines and there's plenty of accommodations at all price levels.
I would be glad to make the arrangements, if there's an indication that attendance by dealers and sellers would be good.
Just let me know.

Just my 2 cents:

Try Las Vegas. It's the most accommodating convention city in America. I should think it would be comparatively easy to find the proper venue and reasonably-priced accommodations, especially if joining up with the gun, knife and doll people. As long as the convention is in a central location, folks could make their own lodging arrangments with one of dozens of really nice hotels. Spouses could attend, knowing that there are a many other attractions more interesting to them than a straight razor convention. The weather is also a bit more predictable during fall and winter. The only drawback is that members who might have gambling problems (probably a small percentage) might be hesitant to attend.

Chairperson (proctors meeting and is responsible to SRP members for posing info)
Vice-Chairperson (in case the Chairperson has a shaving accident or is hit by a bus)
Finance and Audit - 1 person to track reservation payments, donations from the vendors, disbursement of funds to site. Provides accounting reports to the Committee and SRP membership. (Excel is your friend.....)
Media/Press - 2 people - both generate press releases. 1 to work with media outlets; 1 to produce and manage printed materials
Vendors - 2 people: 1for those attending, 1 for donations for prizes, drawings
Site/Co-location Coordination 2 people: 1 for actual site/co-location; 1 for research into permits, tax requirements, etc.
Membership Liaison - 1 person: respond to FAQs
Activities (demos, drawings, lunch, etc.) - 2 people: 1 to coordinate with presenters; 1 to schedule
Transportation - 1 person: generate list of hotel options; work with site to ensure shuttles or courtesy cars are available for folks bringing tons of stuff (vendors), international arrivals, etc.

:hmmm:

Greg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WireBeard

Chairperson (proctors meeting and is responsible to SRP members for posing info)
Vice-Chairperson (in case the Chairperson has a shaving accident or is hit by a bus)
Finance and Audit - 1 person to track reservation payments, donations from the vendors, disbursement of funds to site. Provides accounting reports to the Committee and SRP membership. (Excel is your friend.....)
Media/Press - 2 people - both generate press releases. 1 to work with media outlets; 1 to produce and manage printed materials
Vendors - 2 people: 1for those attending, 1 for donations for prizes, drawings
Site/Co-location Coordination 2 people: 1 for actual site/co-location; 1 for research into permits, tax requirements, etc.
Membership Liaison - 1 person: respond to FAQs
Activities (demos, drawings, lunch, etc.) - 2 people: 1 to coordinate with presenters; 1 to schedule
Transportation - 1 person: generate list of hotel options; work with site to ensure shuttles or courtesy cars are available for folks bringing tons of stuff (vendors), international arrivals, etc.

:hmmm:

Greg

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Now THAT is a beginning! You obviously have some experience in this, and while I have none.....looking at the list I see that each step has been thought out from beginning to end. :tu

Should people cast their votes here for positions open? I'll go out on a limb here and say I think I would be best suited for the Media/Press position.

I think its a good idea to say why I think so, ( that short bio thing ) but haven't had my morning coffee yet.....and I think too, I'd like to hear what some other folks have to say.

Greg, my hat is certainly off to you! or perhaps a curtsy would be in order....lol.... All it takes is a beginning, and then following thru. I'm excited, I think we can really do this.

XXWarm Regards, Colleen

ps.... Greg, I am already seeing you in the position of Chairperson, or Vice-Chairperson

Ahhh...the wisdom of not doing anything too involved before morning coffee....

I want to see what responses are posted. As for media/press, I think that would be a nice fit, given the presentation I see for your products....good basic marketing. Also, you might be a good fit for contacting vendors (being one yourself).

I forgot to add another task for the person who is doing membership: Registration. This would make sure all attendees are accounted for, any freebies are handed out, and walk-ups are registered. Also, any no shows would be accounted for and any refunds (if applicable) could be disbursed.

:rolleyes:

Greg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WireBeard

Ahhh...the wisdom of not doing anything too involved before morning coffee....

I want to see what responses are posted. As for media/press, I think that would be a nice fit, given the presentation I see for your products....good basic marketing. Also, you might be a good fit for contacting vendors (being one yourself).

I forgot to add another task for the person who is doing membership: Registration. This would make sure all attendees are accounted for, any freebies are handed out, and walk-ups are registered. Also, any no shows would be accounted for and any refunds (if applicable) could be disbursed.

:rolleyes:

Greg

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Why yes.......morning coffee and waiting to see what others will say is important...;)

Soooooo.....has anyone else finished their coffee?

Soapmistress

I haven't finished my coffee yet, but I'm working on it :).

One thing that the committee will ultimately have to do is forecast what attendance might be. Without that the committee won't know whether they need a venue the size of the back table at Cheers (the bar) or the large hall at McCormick Place (the convention hall).

Obviously, attendance will strongly correlate to the cost of attending... people will come if they can afford it. But, we don't have a good model of the financial resources of our membership... hence, there's no way to predict how many could afford to attend at various cost levels.

So, a poll was started Saturday to try to nail that down. We should encourage everyone to vote their feelings in the "Will you attend the Convention if it Costs you $X?" thread.

Basically, it asks if you would attend the convention if it cost you:

1. <$150,
2. 150-300,
3. 300-600,
4. 600-1000,
5. 1000-1500, or
6. >1500.

So far, there haven't been many voters... that could be taken as an indication that not many people are seriously interested no matter what it costs??? Hopefully, it's just that they haven't seen the poll yet. :shrug:

To reiterate the message of this thread... the convention originally planned for Oct. 2007 has been canceled.

WireBeard has opened a thread "Convention Planning and Suggestions..." for further discussion of planning activities for a future convention.

Hence, I'm going to close this thread and remove it's "sticky" quality.