You’d think, at this time of the year, I’d be busy planning for Christmas and New Year’s events. Luckily, we’re planning a low key holiday season, and most of our celebration will not require any more thought than what restaurant to chose.
So what am I planning? is hosting a one day conference next fall. Another member and I have been chasing down a venue and keynote speaker. You’d be surprised at how hard it is to pull information from hotels. You’d think they’d have all the information on their websites, as transparent as glass. But no. Like a salesman, they want personal contact. Emails have been flying in and out of my yahoo account, and I’m still missing information from some of them (really? You can’t tell me how much a buffet breakfast costs?) And don’t think I don’t know about the 20-22% “service fee” and the sales tax that you’ll add to the cost of conference rooms. Your banquet room costs how much? But your competitor is giving it to us for free.
Of course, price is only a part of what makes up a great writing conference. Does it have an inviting lobby? Clean rooms? An ambiance that matches our group? And, most importantly, what’s the bar like?
We’ll have a decision soon, after we run it by the rest of the committee. In the meantime, think about visiting West Michigan in mid-October. We can’t wait to meet you.
I’ll have more announcements soon.
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