On Aug 23, 2011, at 1:34 AM, John C Klensin wrote:
--On Monday, August 22, 2011 20:16 -0400 Ray Pelletier
<rpelletier(_at_)isoc(_dot_)org> wrote:
...
As for the rates, they are high. Taiwan is expensive,
particularly given that the hotels know what our options are
when we book the TICC. The Hyatt knew that foreign visitors
needed to use the Hyatt as headquarters and charged
accordingly. Since the time of our site visit, 2 new hotels
have been constructed in the vicinity of the TICC (Le Meridien
and W), which may provide more competition for Hyatt in these
circumstances. At the time we were working on this event,
there were no acceptable options.
Ray,
I know you want to find sponsors and go where the sponsors want
to go. I accept the explanation that you negotiated as hard as
you could for both room rates and cancellation policies. But I
have to wonder, especially in the light of Lixia's observation
about the US Govt rate (which, internationally, is often a
pretty good measure for the higher end of a reasonable rate in a
given city), whether there is a stopping rule. We were told in
Quebec that you had given up on one Southeast Asian city because
rooms would have cost over USD 300 a night. I don't remember
hearing about a sponsor there. What looks like USD 275 net is
not all that much less than USD 300, especially if the dollar
continues to sink.
So, if you had a sponsor for a future meeting at that other
location, would an estimated USD 300 be acceptable? USD 350?
I obviously don't have all of the information available to me
that you and the IAOC do, but it seems to be there is always
another alternative. If there are no local ones, that
alternative is usually described as "just say no and go
elsewhere". What I'm trying to understand, mostly for the
future and with the understanding that it is presumably much too
late for Taipei and the several following meetings, is whether
you would ever consider that an option for a meeting for which
you have a sponsor if you hold it in a particular place or if
you and the IAOC really believe there is no alternative under
those circumstances.
The IAOC has adopted a program of booking venues 3 years in advance.
This will open up more venue choices as we found that even 2 years out we were
shut out of places.
The other effect is that these venue decisions will be made for the most part
without
sponsors and sponsors driving meeting locations. Typically sponsors become
engaged 18 or fewer months before a meeting, probably for budgetary reasons.
Many places they just don't need our business, and don't budge from their
$300+USD
guest room rates, or their $350k + cost for meeting space. We turn elsewhere.
The meeting in Paris was going to be in another major European city for which
we were
actively engaged in a discussion with a Host. However, the venue was outside
the city
center, so the plug was pulled and moved to Paris - where we still do not have
a Host.
Sponsors welcome!
The points are that the IAOC is not going to select a poor venue because it may
have a
sponsor; nor a $300+ USD guest room rate for the headquarters hotel.
Ray
john
john
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