Re: Hotels At COMMON

>> I saved our company about 60% on the hotel rate there versus using the
COMMON housing bureau.

>> Though this might help those of you needed to save pennies :)

I fully understand why some people need to minimize their costs in order to
attend COMMON. But I thought I'd take a moment to explain there are some long
term impacts if too many people stay outside COMMON housing. When we book a
conference, we negotiate the best possible deal with the conference center and
the hotels, as a package. In most cities, the hotels and the conference center
work together, and you get a better rate on the conference center facilities if
you also include a substantial hotel room block. If the hotel room block is not
filled, COMMON incurs substantial financial penalties. These financial
penalties, in turn, raise our expenses substantially.

Next year, we may have to substantially raise the conference registration fees
to compensate for the losses; we haven't decided yet whether we should spread
the higher costs across all the conference attendees, or provide a discount to
those who use COMMON's housing. Either way, the pennies people are saving this
year will not translate to long term savings...

Janet Krueger
IT Director
COMMON