I attend an IEEE technical conference annually. They now charge more for registration for those who don't stay at a conference hotel, which this year was an additional $200. They handle it by requiring you to register for the hotel before you can register for the convention without paying the premium. Of course, this is a larger conference, so it has to be in a larger city and hotel rates approach #200/night.
Having suitable hotels is probably easier with a smaller convention like the NASG rather than some of the larger ones, like the National Narrow Gauge Convention or the NMRA National. Look at some of the recent hotel rates for the NMRA Nationals, and you'll see that the NASG convention committees generally do a good job of trying to keep the rates reasonable. Actually, the tours seem to be the most expensive part, but those are optional. Personally, in general, I wish the layout tours were self-guided, pick your own, rather than bus tours. That said, one of the main reason Carla and I go to the NASG is to keep seeing some of you. Dave Heine Easton, PA -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bob Werre Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 11:09 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Cheap Lodging The only problem with "staying off campus" is most conventions need large meeting rooms, banquet rooms plus the trade show hall. These are leased out based on the number of folks staying at the hotel. So if everybody stayed at the local Super 8's all of a sudden you will find the cost of the convention will go up to cover those lost room rentals. Therefore we also can save so much money that there won't be any more conventions because there simply not profitable to anyone. When our local division of the NMRA sponsored the Lone Star Convention this past summer, people who stayed at non-convention accomondations were billed an additional fee to cover the convention facilities. I'm not sure how that's enforced but nobody wants to stick the convention hosts with a loss. Two groups in Texas have talked about hosting the NASG convention but the financial part of the deal can be daunting considering the travel distance. So this door swings both ways. If you try to save money at conventions you will only have them in cities where there is a track record of success which might be a long way away! A quick check of past conventions will show that certain clubs have done successful conventions that produced profits for both the local clubs and the NASG itself (perhaps helping to keep our dues at $20). I think the few times we have had co=conventions of some sort, the profits have been marginal or even generated a loss--which is pretty scarey for the local sponsors. Bob Werre BobWphoto.com ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
