My comments were not made excluding the hybrid model that should be in the mix... very aware overall attendance was up.
How has Post-COVID tempered the Business model you describe if at all? I would imagine they offer more to get the business. If not then they are not worthy. On Sat, Jan 13, 2024, 18:12 Ed <[email protected]> wrote: > The 'elephant in the room' in this email thread > is the stark reality that without a sufficient > number of booked hotel rooms, we can't have the > conference facilities we want. That's how > hotel/conference facilities do business. Rich and > John have ably juggled these requirements for > many years--and a lot of other SWLfest > organization details--extremely well, in my > opinion. It's a huge labor of love for them. > > The industry term for this business model is > often called "heads in beds": a group of people > must book a certain minimum number of hotel rooms > to subsidize the conference facilities the group wants to use. > > Example: If we have 100 people pre-pay their > hotel rooms at the DoubleTree, (I'm guessing on > the actual number this year; it varies) then we > can afford to use the conference facilities we > want. Otherwise, the conference admission fee > would have to increased high enough to cover the > unsubsidized cost of the conference facilities we > want. And if that higher admission fee is more > than a certain number of people are willing to > pay, then we can't have an in-person SWLfest there. > > The virtual conference model we used in 2021-2023 > (necessarily due to the pandemic) taught us it > brought attendees who otherwise couldn't afford > to come, including some new presenters who made > excellent presentations. So that's why Rich and > John are considering a 'best of both' hybrid > model this year with both in-person and virtual > attendees. Doing that would bring even more > operational and logistical challenges. > > Pulling all this off so an in-person SWLFest is > affordable for enough people, and has a full > schedule of interesting presentations, seems more > complicated than a Rubik's Cube! > > If anyone's curious, here's the URL for a web > page showing diagrams and specifications of the > DoubleTree Plymouth Meeting conference > facilities. (The Presidential Suite that we've > used for our Hospitality Room since 2014 after I > first suggested it in 2012 is not shown.) > > > https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/phlghdt-doubletree-suites-philadelphia-west/events/ > > So if we're looking at alternative venues, this > info could be helpful in determining what might work for us. > > -Ed Cummings > > > > At 12:47 PM 1/13/2024, Dennis Dura wrote: > > >I'll add another 2¢ to what Fred said. > > > >Knowing the Double Tree has had bumps over the > >years, and it wasn't their fault there was a Blizzard... it served well. > > > >Plenty of decent eating nearby... Breakfast > >accomodated SWL Fest groups forming... You could > >chat with folks out in the common areas, and > >your room was right upstairs if you wanted a > >break. Radio-Hospitality suite too! tpo pay, > > > > > > >I'd say that a place like, if not exactly that > >place, would work best for the diverse attendees > >we have, that some of the other suggested venues could not offer. > > > >Dennis > > > >PS: Yes we would come down with the WinterFest > >crud from time to time post event too... but > >that's a function of groups of people together in the Winter. > > > >On Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 16:32 Fred Zalupski > ><<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]> wrote: > >My $0.02... I would like to attend live and very > >much enjoy the "convention" model. Call me conventional. > > > >I have complete faith in the Festmeisters' > >judgement and will be happy with the outcome, even if it's unconventional. > > > >Happy New Year, > > > >Fred > > > >On Fri, Jan 12, 2024 at 2:40 PM John A. > >Figliozzi <<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]> wrote: > >It’s not, really. The event hLOGNULL > >NowTransReader::ReadIt() > >JJFileMT::Truncate(1332873208) LOGNULL > >NowTransReader::ReadIt() JJFileMT::Truncate(0) > >as always had a hospitality suite where snacks > >and beverages including beer but also several > >non-alcohol options including water have been stocked. That’s why it > came up. > > > >This is a different challenge this time. In the > >pre-covid era covering about 30 years, the event > >was held convention-style — self-contained in a > >hotel where most registrants stayed and included > >a banquet the last night. Now that we only had > >a “virtual” event on Zoom for the last 3 years > >we’re trying to gauge interest in having a > >hybrid event — virtual and in-person — and > >trying to figure out how extensively if at all > >we should follow the convention model. > > > >Cabeesh? :)) > > > >Sent from my iPhone > > > >>On Jan 12, 2024, at 2:30 PM, Henry Mensch > >><<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> > >> > >>Not having attended before, I have to ask why booze is required... > >> > >>On January 9, 2024 08:32:07 Ron Hunsicker > >><<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]> wrote: > >>>Public schools almost certainly will not allow booze. > >> > >>_______________________________________________ > >>Swlfest mailing list > >><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] > >>http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest > >> > >>To unsubscribe: ½ Send an E-mail > >>to > >><http://[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, > >>or visit the URL shown above. > >> > >>For more information on the Fest, visit: > >> > >><http://www.swlfest.com>http://www.swlfest.com > >>http://swlfest.blogspot.com > >_______________________________________________ > >Swlfest mailing list > ><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] > >http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest > > > >To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail > >to > ><http://[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, > >or visit the URL shown above. > > > >For more information on the Fest, visit: > > > ><http://www.swlfest.com>http://www.swlfest.com > >http://swlfest.blogspot.com > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Swlfest mailing list > ><mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] > >http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest > > > >To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail > >to > ><http://[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, > >or visit the URL shown above. > > > >For more information on the Fest, visit: > > > ><http://www.swlfest.com>http://www.swlfest.com > >http://swlfest.blogspot.com > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Swlfest mailing list > >[email protected] > >http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest > > > >To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail > >to > >[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, > >or visit the URL shown above. > > > >For more information on the Fest, visit: > > > >http://www.swlfest.com > >http://swlfest.blogspot.com > > _______________________________________________ > Swlfest mailing list > [email protected] > http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest > > To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to > [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL > shown above. > > For more information on the Fest, visit: > > http://www.swlfest.com > http://swlfest.blogspot.com >
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