[CAUT] University based conventions

[Israel Stein]

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:09:14 -0500 Paul Williams wrote:

>Ed and Israel,

>We at UNL are blessed with the perfect situation.  Our music building is 
directly across the street from a new 
>Embassy Suites that loves to have conventions.  We have plenty of classrooms 
including a smaller recital hall 
>within the building.  The hotel has large rooms for gatherings,dinners,booths, 
etc. As far as timing goes, we were 
>thinking of having ours during Spring Break and have been asked to host for 
2010.  The hardest part is getting the 
>director of the school of music to respond to our request!  

Perfect illustration of what the problem is. You see, Paul, this is probably 
about at the bottom of the Director's priorities list. And if and when you get a 
response - and permission - from him, it will be near the bottom of the 
priorities list of every other University administrator or staff person with 
whom you will have to deal. Which means that making the specific arrangements, 
dealing with the specific people in charge of the facilities and the equipment, working out the schedule - and 
getting the University staff to actually pay attention to your schedule - will 
be a challenge. They have a school to run - and you are just an inconvenience as 
far as they are concerned. Nobody is going to get fired or even reprimanded if 
you don't get what you need when you need it. Unlike at a hotel where your needs 
are the top and only priority... 

>Once that is acheived, I don't forsee any problems, since 
>staff is all still here for the most part during that week anyway and we can 
hire a building monitor for the evenings 
>as the school does during regular semesters. 

Don't be surprised if maintenance is scheduled in a part of the building that 
you were supposed to be using, or some professor preempts a room for their own 
needs, or some organization had something else scheduled in the same place that 
you did - and nobody noticed, or nobody tells you that the particular staffer 
you need on Sunday morning at 8:30 AM doesn't come in until 10.  This goes on at schools all the time... They are typically 
understaffed and things fall through the cracks all the time. I had that happen 
to me at the convention Sac State - and I see that happen all the time to 
outside users here at SF State. And even a small convention is complex enough 
that snafus like this are bound to happen. 

And if you need rooms with specific equipment - like tables, extension wires, 
power strips, other stuff that hotels provide routinely - I suggest you bring 
your own. And be ready to do a lot of last-minute improvising. Just because the 
staff is there, does not necessarily mean that they are available to open rooms 
and get furniture for you - you are not at the top of their priority list. They 
do maintenance and other work during breaks that they can't do when the students 
are there. They aren't necessarily going to drop what they are doing and come 
running when you need something. And you will never find them during their 
breaks - no matter how big an emergency you have...

>Being a smaller region, we also won't be dealing with several 
>hundred people...more like 100 at the most.

Well, then you might just be able to bring it off in spite of the difficulties - 
but expect the unexpected. 

>The selling point I am trying to get across to the director is that this would 
promote the university in a positive light, 
>the pianos will come out in better shape and the downtown section here will get 
economic aid during a time that 
>25,000 students leave town. The airport is 10 minutes away and you can walk to 
the train depot! Are there any 
>downsides to this? 

Yes. They are way too busy running a department - and this is just extra work 
for people who are already overworked, as state university employees invariably 
are. Remember, a break is merely the time they catch up on all the things they 
can't do while dealing with students and faculty...  And even if you sell the 
Director on this - I guarantee you, his enthusiasm will not filter down to the 
people that you will actually have to work with. To them, you are just an unwelcome 
extra headache - not their reason for being there, as with hotel employees... 

Good luck anyway - hope it works. Just be ready for some of the above...  

Israel Stein