Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
We've been talking. -Original Message- From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of RickG Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 9:25 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? So are you going are you gonna stay there with Rikeesha? :) On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 12:41 AM, Robert West wrote: > " We originally picked St. Louis" > > With total and absolute respect for the board, we had an online discussion > of where and why among all of us and St. Louis really wasn't in the mix. > The timing is also "weird" because the summer, at least for me, is the > busiest because the weather is damn best for fixing everything and getting > new AP's installed. I'm working like hell to beat the snow. (Just got in > from a new AP install) > > Get me in mid-January and I'll have plenty of time. Look at the volume of > list postings and you'll understand. The winter gives us all lots of time > to list post thus empty time in our schedules. Graph it out, you'll > understand. Yeah, travel in the winter sucks. But I got's the > time then! > > Besides... St. Louis? > > I went to the Dayton Hamvention, met some WISPA members, saw some great > "junk" and spent some cash. Not to push Dayton (Dayton blows) but as we > talked about before, a hook up with another similar event is the cool thing > for me. No matter where it is. I really don't care where but the > Hamvention is well known by a lot of WISPA Hams. > > Anyhow, just no time and no incentive in going. Ticket price and hotel > price have no bearing on my lack of attending. > > Anyone with similar issues??? > > Bob- > > > > > > > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Rick Harnish > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 3:28 PM > To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' > 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
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
LOL, I'm with you. I didnt even look at the vendor list, just who is going to be there. Now I see your name :) I'll make it a point to find you! -RickG On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 11:08 PM, Marlon K. Schafer wrote: > I'll be there. > > I've not see the speaker's roster yet so I'm not sure I'll get much out of > it or not. > > To me, the big draw for a show is being able to hear from my peers and see > my friends. > > I can talk to a vendor any time. It's those that are doing what I do, > successfully, that I want to listen to. > > marlon > > - Original Message - > From: "Rick Harnish" > To: ; "'WISPA General List'" > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 12:28 PM > 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 >> >> >> >> >> >>
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
It is all on the registration page Marlon, has been for about a month. It changes as we refine the topics and speakers. http://wispaslrm.eventbrite.com > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Marlon K. Schafer > Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 11:09 PM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? > > I'll be there. > > I've not see the speaker's roster yet so I'm not sure I'll get much out > of > it or not. > > To me, the big draw for a show is being able to hear from my peers and > see > my friends. > > I can talk to a vendor any time. It's those that are doing what I do, > successfully, that I want to listen to. > > marlon > > - Original Message - > From: "Rick Harnish" > To: ; "'WISPA General List'" > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 12:28 PM > 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 > >
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
I'll be there. I've not see the speaker's roster yet so I'm not sure I'll get much out of it or not. To me, the big draw for a show is being able to hear from my peers and see my friends. I can talk to a vendor any time. It's those that are doing what I do, successfully, that I want to listen to. marlon - Original Message - From: "Rick Harnish" To: ; "'WISPA General List'" Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 12:28 PM 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/ 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/
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
Right on all counts Charles, 1. I would've put it off longer but with the price going up I wanted the discount. 2. Yes, easy to forget with so much going on. 3. For me, the "compelling stuff" is to meet more people in the industry. The fact that the whole WISPA Board is going to be there convinced me. In order to crate more "Buzz" I'd spam out the complete list of attendees already signed up. 4. I agree but sooner or later its good to meet the people behind the posts :) -RickG On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 12:25 AM, Charles Wu wrote: > A few comments / thoughts > > 1. From our experience doing shows, the 500 mile radius drive in crowd will > wait until the last possible minute to book - heck, many will decide the day > before whether or not they can attend - in addition, we've found that almost > 30-40% of your sign-ups will come in the 2 weeks leading up to the actual > show date > > 2. You need to SPAM / harass more -- people are busy, and stuff comes up, and > it's easy to forget when there are more pressing things to take care of > (lightening, bills, new tower, etc) > > 3. You need to go about creating more *buzz* -- right now, there's nothing > absolutely compelling that's going to get everyone to go (this is nothing > against this show, but this lack of "compelling stuff" is what the ISPCON > guys had been complaining about for the last 3-4 years before they shut that > down) > > 4. This ties in with the earlier point, but in general, the most valuable > aspect of a show, the networking, has been undone by the growth of the > Internet, aka, this listserv, has made access to information, networking, and > knowledge so readily available that the value of networking at the show has > diminished (e.g., 10 years ago, the networking was a *must go* because people > would try to cram the equivalent of 6 months worth of listserv discussion > into those 3 days) -- compare that to today where someone will post a show > update on the listserv within 30 seconds of that announcement -- kinda > devalues the effort of actually "going to the show" > > Hope this helps > > -Charles > > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Rick Harnish > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 2:28 PM > To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' > 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 cater
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
So are you going are you gonna stay there with Rikeesha? :) On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 12:41 AM, Robert West wrote: > " We originally picked St. Louis" > > With total and absolute respect for the board, we had an online discussion > of where and why among all of us and St. Louis really wasn't in the mix. > The timing is also "weird" because the summer, at least for me, is the > busiest because the weather is damn best for fixing everything and getting > new AP's installed. I'm working like hell to beat the snow. (Just got in > from a new AP install) > > Get me in mid-January and I'll have plenty of time. Look at the volume of > list postings and you'll understand. The winter gives us all lots of time > to list post thus empty time in our schedules. Graph it out, you'll > understand. Yeah, travel in the winter sucks. But I got's the > time then! > > Besides... St. Louis? > > I went to the Dayton Hamvention, met some WISPA members, saw some great > "junk" and spent some cash. Not to push Dayton (Dayton blows) but as we > talked about before, a hook up with another similar event is the cool thing > for me. No matter where it is. I really don't care where but the > Hamvention is well known by a lot of WISPA Hams. > > Anyhow, just no time and no incentive in going. Ticket price and hotel > price have no bearing on my lack of attending. > > Anyone with similar issues??? > > Bob- > > > > > > > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Rick Harnish > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 3:28 PM > To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' > 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 po
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
Even if it smells really badly at least we won't run out of oil, just skim a little off... On 6/28/2010 2:14 PM, St. Louis Broadband wrote: > Isn't the cruise in the Gulf? > ...just sayin'... > > ~V~ > > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Forbes Mercy > Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 4:06 PM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? > > Chuck, > > You wouldn't get any objection from me, are you going on the Wireless > Cruise this fall? > > Forbes > > On 6/28/2010 1:57 PM, Chuck Profito wrote: > >> How about a west coast regional 2 or 3 day WISPA cruise like SF to LA >> > , > >> or just Long Beach to Catalina >> >> -Original Message- >> From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On >> Behalf Of Forbes Mercy >> Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 11:44 AM >> To: WISPA General List >> Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? >> >> Robert, >> >> Are you on the Promotion Committee? These are all important inputs we >> need when we make decisions, it wasn't the board who decided, they >> followed the recommendations of the Promotion Committee. We have no >> intention of having another summer show, we have learned a lot in this >> our first show and that's one of them. You can join at >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/Promotion >> >> If you don't have the time that's fine it's a dent in my summer schedule >> too and I'm not just going for the two days, but no incentive I think >> not, there is a lot of benefit going to this meeting. I'm not sure >> asking what concerns there were was necessary unless to help people who >> needed help coming but to rehash minority views in a well documented >> series of surveys, webinars, and question/answer opportunities isn't >> productive, I hope to see you up front at our next attempt at this >> ongoing series. >> >> Thanks, >> Forbes >> Promotion Committee Chair >> >> On 6/27/2010 9:41 PM, Robert West wrote: >> >> >>> " We originally picked St. Louis" >>> >>> With total and absolute respect for the board, we had an online >>> > discussion > >>> of where and why among all of us and St. Louis really wasn't in the mix. >>> The timing is also "weird" because the summer, at least for me, is the >>> busiest because the weather is damn best for fixing everything and >>> > getting > >>> new AP's installed. I'm working like hell to beat the snow. (Just got >>> > in > >>> from a new AP install) >>> >>> Get me in mid-January and I'll have plenty of time. Look at the volume >>> > of > >>> list postings and you'll understand. The winter gives us all lots of >>> > time > >>> to list post thus empty time in our schedules. Graph it out, you'll >>> understand. Yeah, travel in the winter sucks. But I got's >>> >>> >> the >> >> >>> time then! >>> >>> Besides... St. Louis? >>> >>> I went to the Dayton Hamvention, met some WISPA members, saw some great >>> "junk" and spent some cash. Not to push Dayton (Dayton blows) but as we >>> talked about before, a hook up with another similar event is the cool >>> >>> >> thing >> >> >>> for me. No matter where it is. I really don't care where but the >>> Hamvention is well known by a lot of WISPA Hams. >>> >>> Anyhow, just no time and no incentive in going. Ticket price and hotel >>> price have no bearing on my lack of attending. >>> >>> Anyone with similar issues??? >>> >>> Bob- >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -Original Message- >>> From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On >>> Behalf Of Rick Harnish >>> Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 3:28 PM >>> To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' >>> Subject: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? >>> >>> Members and WISP followers, >>> >>> >>> >>> We would like to better understand some of the cha
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
Chuck, I am guessing the next event after the Oxford Show in Dallas will be a Regional Event on the West or East Coasts or at least a centralized location along the coasts. We will probably do another survey to see which coast wins! Rick > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Chuck Profito > Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 4:58 PM > To: 'WISPA General List' > Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? > > How about a west coast regional 2 or 3 day WISPA cruise like SF to > LA , > or just Long Beach to Catalina > > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Forbes Mercy > Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 11:44 AM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? > > Robert, > > Are you on the Promotion Committee? These are all important inputs we > need when we make decisions, it wasn't the board who decided, they > followed the recommendations of the Promotion Committee. We have no > intention of having another summer show, we have learned a lot in this > our first show and that's one of them. You can join at > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/Promotion > > If you don't have the time that's fine it's a dent in my summer > schedule > too and I'm not just going for the two days, but no incentive I think > not, there is a lot of benefit going to this meeting. I'm not sure > asking what concerns there were was necessary unless to help people who > needed help coming but to rehash minority views in a well documented > series of surveys, webinars, and question/answer opportunities isn't > productive, I hope to see you up front at our next attempt at this > ongoing series. > > Thanks, > Forbes > Promotion Committee Chair > > On 6/27/2010 9:41 PM, Robert West wrote: > > " We originally picked St. Louis" > > > > With total and absolute respect for the board, we had an online > discussion > > of where and why among all of us and St. Louis really wasn't in the > mix. > > The timing is also "weird" because the summer, at least for me, is > the > > busiest because the weather is damn best for fixing everything and > getting > > new AP's installed. I'm working like hell to beat the snow. (Just > got in > > from a new AP install) > > > > Get me in mid-January and I'll have plenty of time. Look at the > volume of > > list postings and you'll understand. The winter gives us all lots of > time > > to list post thus empty time in our schedules. Graph it out, you'll > > understand. Yeah, travel in the winter sucks. But I > got's > the > > time then! > > > > Besides... St. Louis? > > > > I went to the Dayton Hamvention, met some WISPA members, saw some > great > > "junk" and spent some cash. Not to push Dayton (Dayton blows) but > as we > > talked about before, a hook up with another similar event is the cool > thing > > for me. No matter where it is. I really don't care where but the > > Hamvention is well known by a lot of WISPA Hams. > > > > Anyhow, just no time and no incentive in going. Ticket price and > hotel > > price have no bearing on my lack of attending. > > > > Anyone with similar issues??? > > > > Bob- > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -Original Message- > > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] > On > > Behalf Of Rick Harnish > > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 3:28 PM > > To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' > > 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 i
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
Isn't the cruise in the Gulf? ...just sayin'... ~V~ -Original Message- From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Forbes Mercy Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 4:06 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? Chuck, You wouldn't get any objection from me, are you going on the Wireless Cruise this fall? Forbes On 6/28/2010 1:57 PM, Chuck Profito wrote: > How about a west coast regional 2 or 3 day WISPA cruise like SF to LA , > or just Long Beach to Catalina > > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Forbes Mercy > Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 11:44 AM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? > > Robert, > > Are you on the Promotion Committee? These are all important inputs we > need when we make decisions, it wasn't the board who decided, they > followed the recommendations of the Promotion Committee. We have no > intention of having another summer show, we have learned a lot in this > our first show and that's one of them. You can join at > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/Promotion > > If you don't have the time that's fine it's a dent in my summer schedule > too and I'm not just going for the two days, but no incentive I think > not, there is a lot of benefit going to this meeting. I'm not sure > asking what concerns there were was necessary unless to help people who > needed help coming but to rehash minority views in a well documented > series of surveys, webinars, and question/answer opportunities isn't > productive, I hope to see you up front at our next attempt at this > ongoing series. > > Thanks, > Forbes > Promotion Committee Chair > > On 6/27/2010 9:41 PM, Robert West wrote: > >> " We originally picked St. Louis" >> >> With total and absolute respect for the board, we had an online discussion >> of where and why among all of us and St. Louis really wasn't in the mix. >> The timing is also "weird" because the summer, at least for me, is the >> busiest because the weather is damn best for fixing everything and getting >> new AP's installed. I'm working like hell to beat the snow. (Just got in >> from a new AP install) >> >> Get me in mid-January and I'll have plenty of time. Look at the volume of >> list postings and you'll understand. The winter gives us all lots of time >> to list post thus empty time in our schedules. Graph it out, you'll >> understand. Yeah, travel in the winter sucks. But I got's >> > the > >> time then! >> >> Besides... St. Louis? >> >> I went to the Dayton Hamvention, met some WISPA members, saw some great >> "junk" and spent some cash. Not to push Dayton (Dayton blows) but as we >> talked about before, a hook up with another similar event is the cool >> > thing > >> for me. No matter where it is. I really don't care where but the >> Hamvention is well known by a lot of WISPA Hams. >> >> Anyhow, just no time and no incentive in going. Ticket price and hotel >> price have no bearing on my lack of attending. >> >> Anyone with similar issues??? >> >> Bob- >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -Original Message- >> From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On >> Behalf Of Rick Harnish >> Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 3:28 PM >> To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' >> 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
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
Chuck, You wouldn't get any objection from me, are you going on the Wireless Cruise this fall? Forbes On 6/28/2010 1:57 PM, Chuck Profito wrote: > How about a west coast regional 2 or 3 day WISPA cruise like SF to LA , > or just Long Beach to Catalina > > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Forbes Mercy > Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 11:44 AM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? > > Robert, > > Are you on the Promotion Committee? These are all important inputs we > need when we make decisions, it wasn't the board who decided, they > followed the recommendations of the Promotion Committee. We have no > intention of having another summer show, we have learned a lot in this > our first show and that's one of them. You can join at > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/Promotion > > If you don't have the time that's fine it's a dent in my summer schedule > too and I'm not just going for the two days, but no incentive I think > not, there is a lot of benefit going to this meeting. I'm not sure > asking what concerns there were was necessary unless to help people who > needed help coming but to rehash minority views in a well documented > series of surveys, webinars, and question/answer opportunities isn't > productive, I hope to see you up front at our next attempt at this > ongoing series. > > Thanks, > Forbes > Promotion Committee Chair > > On 6/27/2010 9:41 PM, Robert West wrote: > >> " We originally picked St. Louis" >> >> With total and absolute respect for the board, we had an online discussion >> of where and why among all of us and St. Louis really wasn't in the mix. >> The timing is also "weird" because the summer, at least for me, is the >> busiest because the weather is damn best for fixing everything and getting >> new AP's installed. I'm working like hell to beat the snow. (Just got in >> from a new AP install) >> >> Get me in mid-January and I'll have plenty of time. Look at the volume of >> list postings and you'll understand. The winter gives us all lots of time >> to list post thus empty time in our schedules. Graph it out, you'll >> understand. Yeah, travel in the winter sucks. But I got's >> > the > >> time then! >> >> Besides... St. Louis? >> >> I went to the Dayton Hamvention, met some WISPA members, saw some great >> "junk" and spent some cash. Not to push Dayton (Dayton blows) but as we >> talked about before, a hook up with another similar event is the cool >> > thing > >> for me. No matter where it is. I really don't care where but the >> Hamvention is well known by a lot of WISPA Hams. >> >> Anyhow, just no time and no incentive in going. Ticket price and hotel >> price have no bearing on my lack of attending. >> >> Anyone with similar issues??? >> >> Bob- >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -Original Message- >> From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On >> Behalf Of Rick Harnish >> Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 3:28 PM >> To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' >> 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
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
How about a west coast regional 2 or 3 day WISPA cruise like SF to LA , or just Long Beach to Catalina -Original Message- From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Forbes Mercy Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 11:44 AM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? Robert, Are you on the Promotion Committee? These are all important inputs we need when we make decisions, it wasn't the board who decided, they followed the recommendations of the Promotion Committee. We have no intention of having another summer show, we have learned a lot in this our first show and that's one of them. You can join at http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/Promotion If you don't have the time that's fine it's a dent in my summer schedule too and I'm not just going for the two days, but no incentive I think not, there is a lot of benefit going to this meeting. I'm not sure asking what concerns there were was necessary unless to help people who needed help coming but to rehash minority views in a well documented series of surveys, webinars, and question/answer opportunities isn't productive, I hope to see you up front at our next attempt at this ongoing series. Thanks, Forbes Promotion Committee Chair On 6/27/2010 9:41 PM, Robert West wrote: > " We originally picked St. Louis" > > With total and absolute respect for the board, we had an online discussion > of where and why among all of us and St. Louis really wasn't in the mix. > The timing is also "weird" because the summer, at least for me, is the > busiest because the weather is damn best for fixing everything and getting > new AP's installed. I'm working like hell to beat the snow. (Just got in > from a new AP install) > > Get me in mid-January and I'll have plenty of time. Look at the volume of > list postings and you'll understand. The winter gives us all lots of time > to list post thus empty time in our schedules. Graph it out, you'll > understand. Yeah, travel in the winter sucks. But I got's the > time then! > > Besides... St. Louis? > > I went to the Dayton Hamvention, met some WISPA members, saw some great > "junk" and spent some cash. Not to push Dayton (Dayton blows) but as we > talked about before, a hook up with another similar event is the cool thing > for me. No matter where it is. I really don't care where but the > Hamvention is well known by a lot of WISPA Hams. > > Anyhow, just no time and no incentive in going. Ticket price and hotel > price have no bearing on my lack of attending. > > Anyone with similar issues??? > > Bob- > > > > > > > -Original Message----- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Rick Harnish > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 3:28 PM > To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' > 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 t
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
Robert, Are you on the Promotion Committee? These are all important inputs we need when we make decisions, it wasn't the board who decided, they followed the recommendations of the Promotion Committee. We have no intention of having another summer show, we have learned a lot in this our first show and that's one of them. You can join at http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/Promotion If you don't have the time that's fine it's a dent in my summer schedule too and I'm not just going for the two days, but no incentive I think not, there is a lot of benefit going to this meeting. I'm not sure asking what concerns there were was necessary unless to help people who needed help coming but to rehash minority views in a well documented series of surveys, webinars, and question/answer opportunities isn't productive, I hope to see you up front at our next attempt at this ongoing series. Thanks, Forbes Promotion Committee Chair On 6/27/2010 9:41 PM, Robert West wrote: > " We originally picked St. Louis" > > With total and absolute respect for the board, we had an online discussion > of where and why among all of us and St. Louis really wasn't in the mix. > The timing is also "weird" because the summer, at least for me, is the > busiest because the weather is damn best for fixing everything and getting > new AP's installed. I'm working like hell to beat the snow. (Just got in > from a new AP install) > > Get me in mid-January and I'll have plenty of time. Look at the volume of > list postings and you'll understand. The winter gives us all lots of time > to list post thus empty time in our schedules. Graph it out, you'll > understand. Yeah, travel in the winter sucks. But I got's the > time then! > > Besides... St. Louis? > > I went to the Dayton Hamvention, met some WISPA members, saw some great > "junk" and spent some cash. Not to push Dayton (Dayton blows) but as we > talked about before, a hook up with another similar event is the cool thing > for me. No matter where it is. I really don't care where but the > Hamvention is well known by a lot of WISPA Hams. > > Anyhow, just no time and no incentive in going. Ticket price and hotel > price have no bearing on my lack of attending. > > Anyone with similar issues??? > > Bob- > > > > > > > -Original Message----- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Rick Harnish > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 3:28 PM > To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' > 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
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? mumble back
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" >> Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 12:28 PM >> To:; "'WISPA General List'" >> 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. >>> Thi
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
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" > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 12:28 PM > To: ; "'WISPA General List'" > 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 oth
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
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" Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 12:28 PM To: ; "'WISPA General List'" 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/ > -
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
" We originally picked St. Louis" With total and absolute respect for the board, we had an online discussion of where and why among all of us and St. Louis really wasn't in the mix. The timing is also "weird" because the summer, at least for me, is the busiest because the weather is damn best for fixing everything and getting new AP's installed. I'm working like hell to beat the snow. (Just got in from a new AP install) Get me in mid-January and I'll have plenty of time. Look at the volume of list postings and you'll understand. The winter gives us all lots of time to list post thus empty time in our schedules. Graph it out, you'll understand. Yeah, travel in the winter sucks. But I got's the time then! Besides... St. Louis? I went to the Dayton Hamvention, met some WISPA members, saw some great "junk" and spent some cash. Not to push Dayton (Dayton blows) but as we talked about before, a hook up with another similar event is the cool thing for me. No matter where it is. I really don't care where but the Hamvention is well known by a lot of WISPA Hams. Anyhow, just no time and no incentive in going. Ticket price and hotel price have no bearing on my lack of attending. Anyone with similar issues??? Bob- -Original Message- From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Rick Harnish Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 3:28 PM To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' 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/ --
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
A few comments / thoughts 1. From our experience doing shows, the 500 mile radius drive in crowd will wait until the last possible minute to book - heck, many will decide the day before whether or not they can attend - in addition, we've found that almost 30-40% of your sign-ups will come in the 2 weeks leading up to the actual show date 2. You need to SPAM / harass more -- people are busy, and stuff comes up, and it's easy to forget when there are more pressing things to take care of (lightening, bills, new tower, etc) 3. You need to go about creating more *buzz* -- right now, there's nothing absolutely compelling that's going to get everyone to go (this is nothing against this show, but this lack of "compelling stuff" is what the ISPCON guys had been complaining about for the last 3-4 years before they shut that down) 4. This ties in with the earlier point, but in general, the most valuable aspect of a show, the networking, has been undone by the growth of the Internet, aka, this listserv, has made access to information, networking, and knowledge so readily available that the value of networking at the show has diminished (e.g., 10 years ago, the networking was a *must go* because people would try to cram the equivalent of 6 months worth of listserv discussion into those 3 days) -- compare that to today where someone will post a show update on the listserv within 30 seconds of that announcement -- kinda devalues the effort of actually "going to the show" Hope this helps -Charles -Original Message- From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Rick Harnish Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 2:28 PM To: memb...@wispa.org; 'WISPA General List' 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 WISP
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
I recommended the show to alex with axxcelera. Not sure what his decision is. Sent from my iPhone On Jun 27, 2010, at 6:44 PM, "Rick Harnish" wrote: > Good deal Jeremie. I know the unpredictable weather can toss curve balls at > our businesses this time of year. I had surmised that quite a few operators > would not be able to make the decision till the last minute. I'm just > trying to get a feeling of whether people are writing this event off or > waiting until the last minute. I have found out the trials of being a > meeting planner! :) > > Hope to see you there! > Rick > >> -Original Message- >> From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On >> Behalf Of Jeremie Chism >> Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 7:24 PM >> To: WISPA General List >> Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? >> >> I am also trying to figure out a way to get there. Between the weather >> and other variables it's hard to make an early commitment. If I can go >> it will be a last minute decision. I think you might find out that >> other people may be in the same predicament. >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Jun 27, 2010, at 6:11 PM, RickG wrote: >> >>> Rick, >>> >>> You've done a fantastic job getting great vendors, putting together a >>> wonderful track, and a beautiful hotel venue! >>> Being a Mom & Pop WISP has made it a real challenge to get away from >>> town, ESPECIALLY during thunderstorm season. I'm keeping my fingers >>> crossed the weather is kind and I can make the whole show. It's a >> risk >>> but I really want to meet the brain trust on this list. Looking >>> forward to it! >>> -Rick (NOT Rikeesha) Gunderson >>> KyWiFi >>> >>> On Sun, Jun 27, 2010 at 3:28 PM, Rick Harnish >> wrote: >>>> 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 &g
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
Good deal Jeremie. I know the unpredictable weather can toss curve balls at our businesses this time of year. I had surmised that quite a few operators would not be able to make the decision till the last minute. I'm just trying to get a feeling of whether people are writing this event off or waiting until the last minute. I have found out the trials of being a meeting planner! :) Hope to see you there! Rick > -Original Message- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Jeremie Chism > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 7:24 PM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges? > > I am also trying to figure out a way to get there. Between the weather > and other variables it's hard to make an early commitment. If I can go > it will be a last minute decision. I think you might find out that > other people may be in the same predicament. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jun 27, 2010, at 6:11 PM, RickG wrote: > > > Rick, > > > > You've done a fantastic job getting great vendors, putting together a > > wonderful track, and a beautiful hotel venue! > > Being a Mom & Pop WISP has made it a real challenge to get away from > > town, ESPECIALLY during thunderstorm season. I'm keeping my fingers > > crossed the weather is kind and I can make the whole show. It's a > risk > > but I really want to meet the brain trust on this list. Looking > > forward to it! > > -Rick (NOT Rikeesha) Gunderson > > KyWiFi > > > > On Sun, Jun 27, 2010 at 3:28 PM, Rick Harnish > wrote: > >> 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 >
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
I am also trying to figure out a way to get there. Between the weather and other variables it's hard to make an early commitment. If I can go it will be a last minute decision. I think you might find out that other people may be in the same predicament. Sent from my iPhone On Jun 27, 2010, at 6:11 PM, RickG wrote: > Rick, > > You've done a fantastic job getting great vendors, putting together a > wonderful track, and a beautiful hotel venue! > Being a Mom & Pop WISP has made it a real challenge to get away from > town, ESPECIALLY during thunderstorm season. I'm keeping my fingers > crossed the weather is kind and I can make the whole show. It's a risk > but I really want to meet the brain trust on this list. Looking > forward to it! > -Rick (NOT Rikeesha) Gunderson > KyWiFi > > On Sun, Jun 27, 2010 at 3:28 PM, Rick Harnish wrote: >> 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/ >> > > > > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >
Re: [WISPA] What are the Challenges?
Rick, You've done a fantastic job getting great vendors, putting together a wonderful track, and a beautiful hotel venue! Being a Mom & Pop WISP has made it a real challenge to get away from town, ESPECIALLY during thunderstorm season. I'm keeping my fingers crossed the weather is kind and I can make the whole show. It's a risk but I really want to meet the brain trust on this list. Looking forward to it! -Rick (NOT Rikeesha) Gunderson KyWiFi On Sun, Jun 27, 2010 at 3:28 PM, Rick Harnish wrote: > 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/ > 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/
[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/
