Jeri wrote: Dear Lacemakers, There is a need to explain charges some people are not accustomed to paying. It is important to realize that hotel practices and pricing have changed through the years, and the contracts our organizers now sign really commit the Chairwomen to pay the hotels no matter what extenuating circumstances arise. You can be sure the hotel lawyers are on permanent retainer to enforce contracts! Some things are best left unexplained to the world at large. But, the critical comments lead me to ask - How many of the people writing and complaining know that the revenues collected for the very-well-attended Convention in New Jersey were not adequate to pay the hotel obligation? I was told the three sponsoring New Jersey groups did not make money. I respect them for how this problem was quietly handled it without upsetting many people. The hotel was paid - - before we all checked out. It is probably this experience that has influenced the pricing of the Harrisburg Convention.
--- My small group of lacemaking friends are at the moment looking at hotels in Illinois for a future convention and I know from a fact that we were surprised at the large amounts of money the hotels wanted for the use of the meetings rooms, a figure of $2,000 per day has been mentioned whereas others ask for huge lump sums. This is a lot of money for a local group to pay and now I can see where all the registration money went in the past. I once questioned why we had to pay as early as March for something in August but now realise the amount of organisation and allocation of funds involved. All this talk about boycotting may be making my friends very nervous about taking on the organisation of a convention and I hope it is a "once in a blue moon" kind of thing. I have enjoyed all my past conventions, this one is almost headache making in the variety of package deals available. I can assure you if we do find a suitable hotel and get accepted as a host for a convention then it will be a "meat and potatoes" convention. Classes and tours similar to that held in the past at a price that we, ourselves, would be prepared to pay. I cannot understand denying access to the vendors room to anyone who is registered for part of the week on days when they are not registered for class. The joy of getting into the vendors room on the first opening, chasing around to find the best possible deal on a commemorative bobbin will be denied to us if we decide we can only afford a class at the end of the week and not wish to fork over another $7 for the privilege. This convention costs about $200 more than last year and for that I can't shop every day!! The convention is also a day longer than usual which digs into the pocketbook even more. My other question regards the $80 NRD (non refundable deposit) and I probably should address this to the hosts - if I apply for a workshop and it is not available or cancelled I guess I will be out $80 which is a huge chunk of change for most people, is that correct? Now maybe you can see why I mentioned only the wonderful lace articles by Arachneans and not what I saw regarding the convention, which I am planning on attending even though this year I am giving the competition a miss. Janice Blair - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
