Part 2
I
n part one of this series, we discussed the detailed planning, logistics, food and
beverage costs and budgeting involved when a professional association like PFA
selects a city to hold its annual symposium and exhibition. It is safe to say we have
only just scratched the surface, and in the final part of this series, we will discuss
the next areas of importance in organizing a conference that is both comfortable,
and educational. The goal of a professional conference is to give each attendee the
opportunity to educate themselves with the most state-of-the-art technologies and
educational knowledge available, and to walk away with an increase in professional self-
esteem that reflects in their professional practice.
Travel and Hotel Accommodations
When a contract is signed to lock in a conference site, additional
contracts are needed for room accommodations and travel
arrangements. In most cases, the location of the conference itself
has an advantage of already having hotel accommodations for
attendees located or connected to the conference venue. This
can be especially advantageous for conference attendees, and
the conference host and their conference planner who has to
decide how large of a room block they need to be set aside for
reservations.
The size of a reservation room block for any conference can
be tricky; reserve too many rooms, you could lose money if not
sold out by a certain date; reserve too few, and you lose potential
attendees. Conference planners work with previous conference
data to develop averages on how many attendees to expect. These
estimates allow a more precise count of how many rooms are
needed for sleeping arrangements. Also, these estimates allow the
hotel to offer discounted rates as an incentive for attendees to stay
in the conference venue. Just think, after a long day of sitting in
workshops and seminars, or spending time walking around the
exhibition hall; wouldn’t it be nice to know that if you want to take
a break or rest, it’s only an elevator ride away?
When reserving a room block for a conference, the hotel will
also request a guarantee that all the rooms in the room block be
reserved by a certain date. If reservations are not “sold out” by the
cut-off date, the association hosting the conference agrees to pay a
penalty. This usually involves an agreed upon percentage of the
total cost of the unreserved room rates. Of course there is also the
possibility that the number of rooms in the reservation block needs
to be increased if attendee numbers are higher than estimated. In
both of these cases the hotel will allow for an attrition clause giving
the conference host the ability to increase or decrease the number
of rooms blocked out for reservations without penalty on the
unused rooms or increase in the cost on additional rooms.
For travel accommodations, the goal of any conference planner is
to find the best ways to reach the conference location in a manner
that is the most direct, easy and as inexpensive as possible for the
conference attendee. From airlines that fly into a hosting city’s
local airport to rental car service, shuttle bus and pick-up services
to the airport and hotel, the ongoing service provider relationship
Current Pedorthics
March/April 2013
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