Hotel Chat with your Convention Director
Hi all!
Now that we are back from our most recent, successful convention in Kansas City, Missouri, I wanted to share a few things about hotels and reservations. The last few years we have had many members making hotel reservations in multiple numbers, and then canceling all but the one room they need, as we get closer to the convention. Many of the cancellations happen right before the convention and way after our "cutoff date." For those of you that don't understand cutoff dates, this is the date that is put into the contract by the hotel, as the time when all reservations must be in. After that date, if anyone cancels their reservation, their rooms will go back into the general hotel inventory. In the case of this year's convention in New York, the rate I negotiated of $199 will revert back to $499, which is the standard rate for the hotel rooms at the Marriott Marquis. Please understand that 1) members who book multiple rooms at $199 and then cancel are forcing their fellow members to pay an astonishing $499, and 2) multiple room cancellations means NFA may be liable for the cost of meeting and concert space for the convention. This can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and will certainly result in an increase in dues and fees to the entire membership. These cancellations also impact our room block, which I give to the hotel in our negotiated contract. For those of you that don't understand what a room block is, I negotiate a guaranteed room block as part of our getting the complimentary meeting space in the hotels for our convention. If we do not meet 80 to 85 percent of our block, the NFA has to pay attrition, which covers the cost of the rooms that were not used. The room block is done by looking at patterns from year to year, and figuring out how many rooms we usually use for each night of the convention. For example, due to multiple member-cancellations of double and triple-booked rooms, the NFA had to pay a costly attrition penalty to the Westin Hotel in Kansas City.
People are double booking rooms for friends or relatives, and then when our NFA members are trying to book, there are no rooms available at the NFA rate. This causes frustration and anger, and blocks flutists from being able to attend our national convention. What you must understand is that our own members are sabotaging their NFA association. People don't worry about double booking because they know that 24 to 48 hours before their reservation, they can cancel without their credit card being charged. This is why some hotels are asking groups if they want the option of charging everyone for one night, whether or not they show up. I have never wanted to do this to our membership, but with this double booking going on year after year, the board has been compelled to approve a policy change to charging the first-night's deposit for members making convention hotel reservations starting in Anaheim in 2010. This to avoid potential financial and other penalties levied against NFA due to members overbooking and abusing the system. If people think they will have to pay for rooms that they are not sure they are going to use, they might rethink their reservation. Also, for this year's convention in New York City, many members are asking relatives to join them and use the discounted NFA block. This will hurt our own members who want to come to the convention, but won't be able to come, because they are unable to pay the high prices in New York City. This is one year I will not be able to raise the room block because of the popularity of this hotel, so I am warning you up front! When the room block is gone, that is it, and you will have to find other accommodations. There is no way that I can find another hotel for $199 a night in New York City.
We have always kept our registration fees lower than industry average, so that people can afford to come to the convention. However, if we don't meet our attrition, we will have to raise fees to offset these room penalties.
It's important to look at the entire picture. The quality and value our meetings provide is made possible by the deals that NFA negotiates with the hotels. The problem belongs to all of us, because it affects our entire association. We need to work together to find a solution that provides the best overall value for our members. Please consider your fellow members and your future convention fees when you determine your true need for room reservation space.
Thank you!
Madeline Neumann, NFA Convention Director
