Preparing for convention

As we move into national convention mode, we are finalizing arrangements for our executive meeting (10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 28), followed by our annual business meeting at 11 a.m. Our awards luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati Hotel is Monday, Aug. 29, at 11:10 a.m. with a short report, taking of office and awards. 

Due to the number of officers with call-ins for the meetings, it has become unreasonable to continue these meetings on Saturdays. The survey I conducted with the Executive Committee resulted in a general consensus that moving the meetings to Friday afternoon was also not a good idea as people are traveling.

In regard to reservations for the luncheon, the hotel’s event coordinator said final guarantees must be in by Aug. 20; they have to order meals five business days before the weekend. Thus, we cannot do mitigation of luncheon tickets at the convention.

I mention this because last year on the reservation deadline we had 59 paying customers. On the day of the luncheon, we had 70 paying customers! I ordered an extra five meals and the vendor had place settings for an extra five.

Ergo, there have been problems in the past that we cannot continue to ignore in the future. If we tell the hotel 50 people and only have 29 paying attendees, NALPA is responsible for paying for those empty places. At $45 a plate, we can only order the number of meals that we have received by the cutoff date.