Travis, We not only looked at Vegas, not only did Vegas come in a close 3rd in the survey where 77 members answered back in October 2009 but we actually (3 board members) went there and met with people, trust me Vegas was on our radar. It wasn't first though and an even larger conflict was looming, Oxford wanted to hold their show in Vegas which meant two WISPA shows in the same city.
I called it a regional meeting so people could visit a WISPA event in two locations far apart from each other, trust me as a resident of Washington State they are all far, this one especially since it was designed for a more east coast event. I still remember going to both the San Jose and Baltimore ISPCON shows because stuff changed so fast in the industry, I always figured since it's just a few days out of the year its no harm. Of course it doesn't help that after our planning not to be in Vegas Oxford moved their show to Texas so essentially we're too close together anyway, oh well the best laid plans.... Your input was well received last year and heavily considered and I went into St. Louis based heavily on the Promotion Committee recommendations because I can't speak for that town, never visited it. What Rick has done is nothing less that spectacular, he had turned what would have been a well under-worked meeting into an event worthy of a full show. While money is always an issue the membership (and non-members) have been so over-informed of this event their probably tired of hearing about it. The Regional Meeting approach is supposed to by nature move around so if you can't make this meeting its a shame, it'll be pretty damn good. The other two top choices of Chicago and Vegas will likely be our next venues leaving open areas we haven't gone such as Atlanta or the Northeast, who knows maybe some day I'll get one in my stomping grounds. We have a ton of members in the midwest and they spoke loudest, next time we run the survey make sure and call all your neighbor WISP's to vote, that's how it works. Forbes Promotion Committee Chair On 6/27/2010 10:50 PM, Travis Johnson wrote: > I voted for Las Vegas as well. If you can find a time when things aren't > busy (in Vegas), stuff is really cheap. > > Travis > Microserv > > MDK wrote: > >> I've never been to any WISP or ISP "con" of any kind. Wanted to, but never >> had the dough to go. >> >> First, St Louis? Why? Go to Las Vegas and do it in early November. >> There's a cheap way to get to Vegas from anywhere in the US, especially at >> that time of the year. >> >> Heck, round trip from the pacific northwest is under 200 bucks. Also >> from most larger places in most states there's something cheap to Vegas. >> >> Rooms are cheap, travels's cheap, rental cars are $25 a day or less. >> >> St Louis is never going to be an option. Orlando, maybe - at least I own a >> timeshare there. Vegas, maybe. You want people to come? Go some >> place it doesn't cost an arm and leg to get to, stay at, or get home. >> >> Just my mumblings on a late Sunday evening. >> >> >> >> >> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >> Neofast, Inc, Making internet easy >> 541-969-8200 509-386-4589 >> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >> >> -------------------------------------------------- >> From: "Rick Harnish"<rharn...@wispa.org> >> Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 12:28 PM >> To:<memb...@wispa.org>; "'WISPA General List'"<wireless@wispa.org> >> Subject: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? >> >> >> >>> Members and WISP followers, >>> >>> >>> >>> We would like to better understand some of the challenges that many of you >>> face on a daily basis as we continue to fine tune the Regional Meeting >>> Agenda. As you know the 1st Regional Meeting is scheduled for July 21st >>> and >>> 22nd in St. Louis. We have been pleasantly surprised at the response we >>> have >>> received from vendors in our industry in committing to exhibit at our >>> Regional Meeting. >>> >>> >>> >>> One thing we have noticed during the signup period is that many WISPs that >>> are attending are traveling long distances to come to St. Louis in the >>> first >>> stages of signup. We originally picked St. Louis because of its central >>> location in the US and because there are a tremendous amount of WISP >>> companies throughout the Central US. We really anticipated that 70% of >>> our >>> attendees at this meeting would come from a 500 mile radius from St. >>> Louis. >>> This does not seem to be the case and we find ourselves wondering why this >>> to be the case. >>> >>> >>> >>> My first inclination is to blame it on weather. I realize that weather in >>> the Central US has been extremely volatile this summer with persistent >>> storms continually moving across the region. I am asking if this is >>> really >>> the reason preventing many Midwestern WISPs from signing up for this >>> meeting >>> or not. If it is something else, I would like to investigate further. We >>> believe it is our obligation to the Vendors who have committed staff, >>> money >>> and resources to attend the meeting, that we ask these tough questions. >>> >>> >>> >>> Our goal and the budget for the RM are based on a count of 200 attendees. >>> We >>> are pretty sure we will reach this goal but if we are not going to get >>> there, we need to start preparing now. As you may or may not know, we do >>> have a price increase of $50 per attendee beginning on July 1st. It would >>> be silly of me not to point this out to any prospective attendees. >>> >>> >>> >>> This week, we were able to negotiate a much nicer hotel and meeting >>> facilities at the Renaissance Hotel in St. Louis. The Renaissance >>> actually >>> lowered its room rate surprisingly to $79 per night and threw in free >>> internet, parking and shuttle. These concessions are saving our >>> participants nearly $60 from the previous hotel. The catering and AV >>> budgets alone exceed the registration fees we are charging for members. >>> >>> >>> >>> Therefore, I ask that everyone describe your intentions for attending or >>> not >>> intending and send a brief description why. If it is summer vacation, >>> that >>> is fine, that is a risk we took when choosing these dates. If it is >>> summer >>> activities such as 4H fairs, baseball tournaments, or whatever, just let >>> me >>> know. If it is the weather and damage has not allowed you to book because >>> of excessive repair bills, that is also fine. I am just trying to get a >>> feel on the pulse of the industry as we analyze the success of this >>> meeting >>> and possibly plan the next one. >>> >>> >>> >>> If there are other challenges you wish to discuss, let me know. I would >>> rather the Board be aware so that we can formulate policy and programs to >>> alleviate these concerns as we move forward. >>> >>> >>> >>> Respectfully, >>> >>> >>> >>> Rick Harnish >>> >>> President >>> >>> WISPA >>> >>> 260-307-4000 cell >>> >>> 866-317-2851 WISPA Office >>> >>> Skype: rick.harnish. >>> >>> rharn...@wispa.org >>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
