You can’t please everyone with a lace convention. People have different
priorities. When these are not met, they vote with their feet, and don’t
show up. I have never actually helped organize a lace convention, so I don’t
really know what is involved, except that it seems to be filled with angst.
However it would be interesting to know why people are NOT attending a
particular convention, or why they are. I know, for example, that the venue
for the Bethesda, Maryland convention was chosen in part because it was near
an airport and was near public transportation. It was also quite expensive,
although the surroundings were very nice. How many people used the public
transportation, here in America, where virtually everyone has a car? Could
those few without be accommodated by alternate means? Could arrangements be
made to get people to and from the airport. How much difference would it
make? Where were the venues with 300 participants, and where were the
venues with 125, and what was the difference? If we knew what made
people come to a particular convention, and what made them stay away, when
it has to do with what is provided, and not provided, this might help in
future. If you know the obstacles, you can come up with solutions, so that
more people want to come.
Exit questionnaires and surveys of those who actually decided not to
come might be useful in this regard. Perhaps an online questionnaire for
IOLI members, and anyone who has ever attended an IOLI convention. Or does
the committee who makes decisions on choosing a place already know these
answers? What works or worked, and what didn’t. If 50 people say they
could come in late July but not in early August, would this make a
difference? If there are 50 people who can’t walk far, but 200 who would
come if it were cheaper, such as at a school, could those 50 be
accommodated, but perhaps at greater expense for the carts or the residence
with an elevator? What is the price break for greater or lesser attendance
and cost? Are conventions in more populous venues better attended? Does a
higher price actually reduce the number of attendees? How many people
actually fly to conventions? What per centage?
We need the data that will give us information on how to draw in the
largest number of lacemakers to a particular convention. There will be
tradeoffs, but perhaps these could be minimized by alternate solutions. And
let us remember that not everyone will be pleased, no matter what we do.
Lyn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, where I think this is the consistently
coldest spring I can remember.
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