Receptions outside the hotel (Was: W91 USENIX in retrospect)

[Ed Gould]

>>For Example, I have heard the suggestion that the USENIX
>>"get-together" should be held outside the conference hotel.

>The reception should only be held outside the Hotel, when there is a
>real interesting or nifty place near by, that makes it worth while to
>move 2,000 people several miles and spend the $$$. ...

>I can have two really good restaurant meals for what Hotels charge for
>a single reception.

My own view of the reception is that it is an integral part of the
Conference.  It is a primary venue for making and renewing contacts
in the community.  To that end, I generally prefer to have the
reception in the hotel, except when, as was the case with the
Exploratorium in San Francisco, the site is particularly conducive
to interesting or relevent social interaction.  The place we went
in Phoenix was neutral in this regard (but otherwise had its
problems); a place like Disneyland would be too spread out and
distracting for my taste.  (I enjoy visiting Disneyland, and I
would certainly like a tour or presentation about their technology.
But it doesn't serve the needs I want in a USENIX reception.)

Another point to consider, relating back to Brad Templeton's original
comments, is that the relationship between what the hotel charges
for various parts of the package is complex.  The (over-) simplified
version is, essentially, that the hotel will get a certain amount
of money from the conference.  If they don't get it from things
like hospitality suites and receptions, they'll get it from increased
room rates.  Judy DesHarnais does a great job of minimizing both
the total *and* the room rates.  Sometimes, the way to do that is
to have the hotel cater the reception and suites.

(speaking for myself)
-- 
Ed Gould                    mt Xinu, 2560 Ninth St., Berkeley, CA  94710  USA
ed at mtxinu.COM		    +1 415 644 0146

"I'll fight them as a woman, not a lady.  I'll fight them as an engineer."