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 <rgunder...@gmail.com> 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 <rharn...@wispa.org> > 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! 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