[19749] in APO-L
2000 National Convention
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Gerald A. Schroeder)
Thu Dec 10 20:40:45 1998
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 20:40:55 -0500
Reply-To: "Gerald A. Schroeder" <gschroed@CAPACCESS.ORG>
From: "Gerald A. Schroeder" <gschroed@CAPACCESS.ORG>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
I have been reading with some enjoyment the apo-l "competition" between
cities seeking the 2000 National Convention bid. Most, if not all, of
the discussion has centered on tourist and other city attractions, points
that are, and should be, very valid topics of discussion as you, the
students, decide where you want to meet in 2000 at the Minneapolis
Convention.
Let me say, in the spirit of full disclosure, that I live in the
Washington, DC, area -- but what I am about to say is not meant to favor
any bidding city. It is designed to focus your discussion on another
very important aspect of your debate that you must consider, albeit not
to the exclusion of other valid topics.
You must put yourselves in the position of meeting planners. You must
look at available hotels. Can they handle a group of our size? How many
meeting rooms are available? Can the banquet rooms handle us or must we
move to some other site? How many sleeping rooms are available; how many
double/doubles? How many elevators do they have? Can they move large
groups of guests easily at one time? Will we be in one hotel or
several? A meeting planner looks at these and other issues because he or
she realizes that the answers to these questions are important to the
ultimate success of the meeting, which is, after all, the primary reason
why we are getting together.
I put forth these comment not to influence your discussion one way or the
other in terms of our ultimate destination in 2000 but only to focus you
on another important issue in addition to the one that has been the
subject of recent posts to apo-l. All three cities have outstanding
hotels -- and tourist attractions -- but, as part of the selection
process, we must explore the physical plants of those hotels, what they
are willing to provide us, and how they can handle a convention of our
size.
I look forward to seeing all of you in Minneapolis, and I know we're
going to have a great 1998 National Convention!!
Jerry Schroeder
Immediate Past National President
Alpha Phi Omega
