[Libs-Or] Angry with Corvallis conference hotels? Read on...

[Dale Vidmar]

Teresa,

I don't think you can totally fault the members for seeking out prices
that are available to the public--especially in times of limited
funding. Many people attend conferences without any institutional
support. If attendees can simply go to Yahoo Travel or say they are a
AAA member and find a better price for a room, then it seems that the
hotel needs to be held accountable. They are not supposed to scalp the
attendees from a conference. 

I personally found several resources that offered better rates at the
conference hotels than an OLA attendee would get. That is not right.
Asking OLA members to support this practice also seems to be not in the
best interest of OLA or it membership. Perhaps, the hotels can be held
accountable for the difference without penalizing the membership. After
all, the conference is filling the hotel. Therefore, let's not have the
tail wag the dog.

In my humble opinion.

Dale

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dale Vidmar
Library Instruction and Distance Education Coordinator/
Education and Communications Librarian
Southern Oregon University Library
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541-552-6842
vidmar at sou.edu 
www.sou.edu/library/dale

"Anything that I ever did that was ultimately worthwhile,      
initially scared me to death."
- Betty Bender
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>>> "Landers, Teresa" <Teresa.Landers at ci.corvallis.or.us> 04/07/03
02:57PM >>>
First I would like to thank all of you who have registered for the
conference and are staying at the conference designated hotels. We have
had
a very interesting and different sort of development that has
potentially
serious consequences for OLA. I would like to take a minute to explain
what
has happened and why. 

A number of you booked rooms at the Super 8 Motel or the Ramada Inn
and
discovered that by not saying you were with the conference, you got a
lower
rate. Some of you gave your name and they told you you would need to
pay the
conference rate, which is higher than some specials currently
available. 

Putting on a conference is very expensive and is also the major source
of
income for OLA. Part of many conference contracts is what is called a
rebate
contract. In return for assuring a certain number of room nights and a
certain level of catering, the group receives a highly discounted rate
on
the facilities. For this year's conference the facilities cost over
$10,000
unrebated. With the rebate, they will cost only $800. For every
unbooked
room under the minimum, OLA will pay $15.  For the catering, OLA must
make
up the difference if the minimum is not met. At the current rate of
hotel
bookings and catering, OLA could have to pay as much as $12,000.

This is a very difficult economic climate for all of us, personally
and
professionally. I know that everyone is struggling and in many cases,
coming
to conference means paying your own hotel bill. We recently learned
that
many of you are canceling your Super 8 reservations and finding less
expensive accommodations elsewhere. These less expensive accommodations
are
possible due to the growth in Internet discount bookings and major
discounts
provided by AAA and AARP. Discounts at such high levels did not exist
when
the Ramada and Super 8 set their prices for the Conference 2 years ago.
 The
difference between the conference rate and these deep discounts is
usually
less than $10.00. This type of situation is not unique to our
conference and
is forcing the convention and tourism industry to rethink how they do
business. This is, however, small consolation to us this year.

I am offering this explanation in the hopes that those of you who feel
mistreated by the Super 8, the Ramada (which do each have a list of
OLA
members) or by the Conference understand the reasons for this
unfortunate
situation. Also, I am hoping that some of you will understand the
importance
of these bookings to the Oregon Library Association and, if you are
able,
will be willing to pay the extra $10 so that the organization can
benefit.
Some of you may not realize that OLA is dependent on the annual
Conference
for the majority of its operating expenses throughout the year. 

I will also add that the overall registration for the conference is
lower
than in past years, which is directly related to the state of the
economy.
This will impact not only hotel bookings but catering as well. So, any
assistance individual members can provide will make a great difference
to
OLA. Despite all of this, we do have a wonderful conference planned and
no
matter what, we will all have a great time!

I look forward to seeing you soon in Corvallis!

Teresa Landers
2003 Conference Chair

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