[Air-l] Question of Rooms for meeting space
Steve Jones
sjones at uic.edu
Fri Jul 8 11:05:29 PDT 2005
Hi Ted:
Thanks for your question.
Finding meeting space for anywhere from 300 - 500 people in one place
is difficult, at best. Most universities do not have sufficient meeting
space to allow conferences that large to meet at their facilities (and
of those that do there are few options for accommodations near the
campus - even outside the academic year student residence halls often
do not provide sufficient space as there are multiple other uses to
which they are put). Thus our only options are to either pay for space
at a convention center or barter for space in exchange for room
occupancy at a hotel that has sufficient meeting space for a group the
size of ours (which quite a bit narrows the number of hotels we can
consider).
The dues that are paid to AoIR are minimal compared to those of other
organizations, and bring with them quite a few benefits (those have
recently been enumerated by Jeremy Hunsinger or Nancy Baym, I believe).
A good part of the income from dues goes toward subsidizing portions of
the conference (that is why, for instance, the registration fee and the
meal costs are lower for students). Thus far we have been able to keep
operating expenses fairly low, thanks to support from several
universities (though that may change and we may have to pay for a
variety of things that have thus far been free or given at greatly
reduced cost, such as servers, hosting, etc.). Indeed, I dare say that
AoIR's operating expenses are but a fraction of those of most other
scholarly associations.
The conference registration fee is set such that we can be reasonably
certain the conference will break even and not cause AoIR to take a
loss, and that the fee not be so high as to be out of reach for most
prospective participants. But it is also set with the thought that we
will not have to pay for meeting space. Although I can only estimate
the registration fee were we to pay for space, I would guess that we
would probably need at a minimum to triple the registration fee.
In short, the balance is a delicate one, between finding sufficient
space, negotiating room rates, operating on a shoestring budget,
keeping member and conference participant costs down, and keeping AoIR
going. It certainly is dicey! I would not recommend to anyone that they
start a scholarly association unless they are prepared to be unafraid
of insolvency. :-)
Sj
On Jul 8, 2005, at 12:28 PM, Ted M Coopman wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Different organizations have different approaches to conventions. Some
> link meeting space to room occupancy, others separate the two.
>
> I was wondering, considering the tools available for easily finding
> alternative accommodations (especially for a group of internet
> researchers!) isn't linking occupancy and meeting room rates a bit
> dicey?
>
> While I appreciate the call for attendees to book at the convention
> hotel to support the organization, the reality is that (at least)
> graduate students and junior faculty, especially those at institutions
> with scant/no travel funding, will choose the cheapest option.
> Besides, we do all pay membership and registration fees to support
> AoIR.
>
> I assume the Council has discussed this strategy. I was wondering what
> the process was and what the decision was based on?
>
> Just curious as a member/attendee as well as interested in behavior of
> organizations in the face of increased information access.
>
> -TED
>
> Ted M. Coopman
> Department of Communication
> University of Washington
>
> On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, Steve Jones wrote:
>
>> Michela:
>>
>> There are other options undoubtedly, but none that AoIR can
>> officially sanction. We have a contract with the Marriott that
>> provides us with meeting space and other amenities in exchange for
>> having conference attendees stay at the hotel. (Should we not meet
>> the minimum number of attendees, we will have to pay for the meeting
>> space.)
>>
>> I would encourage you to consider sharing a room if the cost is
>> prohibitive. In all likelihood (barring the occasional good luck with
>> Priceline or other such site) most hotels near the Marriott will be
>> priced the same, or higher.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Sj
>>
>> On Jul 7, 2005, at 6:30 AM, Michela Drusian wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Steve,
>>> are there other possibilities for accomodation? Possibly cheaper
>>> accomodations..
>>> thanks,
>>> michela
>>> At 19.03 06/07/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>>>> The AoIR room rate is $155 USD per night. Please use the url from
>>>> the
>>>> registration page if you book online. I do not think there is a way
>>>> to
>>>> get that rate directly from Marriott's own web site without using
>>>> the
>>>> link. Or, if you book via telephone or travel agent, please make
>>>> sure
>>>> to identify yourself as an AoIR conference attendee to get that
>>>> rate.
>>>> Thank you,
>>>> Sj
>>>> On Jul 6, 2005, at 9:25 AM, Sue Cranmer wrote:
>>>>> Hi
>>>>> Any chance of getting the hotel rates ahead of submitting the
>>>>> registration
>>>>> to the conference. I need to cost out the whole thing before I can
>>>>> make a
>>>>> decision on this.
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>> Sue
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
>>>>> [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces at listserv.aoir.org]On Behalf Of Steve
>>>>> Jones
>>>>> Sent: 06 July 2005 15:09
>>>>> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
>>>>> Subject: [Air-l] AoIR 6.0 Chicago 2005 Registration is now open
>>>>> Online registration is now open for the sixth annual conference of
>>>>> the
>>>>> Association of Internet Researchers to be held in Chicago October
>>>>> 6 -
>>>>> 9, 2005 (with pre-conference workshops held on October 5, 2005) at
>>>>> the
>>>>> Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile hotel.
>>>>> To register for the conference and workshops go to:
>>>>> https://www.conted.vt.edu/ssl/aoir/index.lasso
>>>>> You will be able to pay the registration fees by credit card or by
>>>>> check.
>>>>> You can also at this time register for the conference banquet
>>>>> (taking
>>>>> place on Friday, October 7, at the Mid-America Club, on the 80th
>>>>> (top)
>>>>> floor of the Aon Center, Chicago's second tallest building, and the
>>>>> conference brunch (taking place on Sunday, October 9). [Vegetarian
>>>>> options will be available at both meals.]
>>>>> You may also register for a historical tour of Chicago's "L"
>>>>> elevated
>>>>> train (taking place on Saturday morning, October 8). Join others
>>>>> in an
>>>>> AoIR-only L car for a tour of some of the L system's oldest routes
>>>>> with
>>>>> the Chicago Transit Authority's historian.
>>>>> A link to online hotel registration is provided on the site after
>>>>> you
>>>>> have clicked the "submit" button and sent in your registration. We
>>>>> have
>>>>> negotiated the best possible rate from the hotel and encourage you
>>>>> to
>>>>> book a room early. As is the case with most all hotel-based
>>>>> conferences
>>>>> we have to meet the minimum occupancy with which we are able to
>>>>> use the
>>>>> hotel's meeting rooms and if we do not meet that occupancy rate
>>>>> then
>>>>> we'll have to increase the registration fees, to cover the
>>>>> additional
>>>>> meeting room cost.
>>>>> I appreciate everyone's support of the conference and of AoIR and
>>>>> look
>>>>> forward to seeing you in Chicago in October!
>>>>> Sj
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> The Air-l-aoir.org at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>>>>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers
>>>>> http://aoir.org
>>>>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
>>>>> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>>>>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>>>>> http://www.aoir.org/
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> The Air-l-aoir.org at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>>>>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers
>>>>> http://aoir.org
>>>>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
>>>>> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>>>>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>>>>> http://www.aoir.org/
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> The Air-l-aoir.org at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>>>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers
>>>> http://aoir.org
>>>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
>>> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>>>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>>>> http://www.aoir.org/
>>> ______________________________________
>>> Michela Drusian, PhD
>>> Dipartimento di Sociologia
>>> Via S.Canziano, 8
>>> I - 35122 Padova
>>> tel: +39-049-827 4314
>>> cell: +39-340-2677379
>>> email: michela.drusian at unipd.it
>>> web: http://www.sociologia.unipd.it/
>>> ______________________________________
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> The Air-l-aoir.org at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers
>>> http://aoir.org
>>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
>>> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>>> http://www.aoir.org/
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> The Air-l-aoir.org at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
>> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>>
>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
>>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-l-aoir.org at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
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