[CAUT] (no subject)

[Donald McKechnie]

Israel,

I certainly agree with your observations but not necessarily for all  
schools. Here at IC once the dean signs off on any conference he and  
most of the staff in the school of music (except me and Michelle :-)  
really do not have much more to do. There is a department here called  
Conference and Events that handles all the details much like a hotel  
would. Their job is to bring in such events and they do a pretty good  
at assisting. This past summer we had the annual Double Reed Society  
Convention here at the college. Nearly 1000 snake charmers in one  
location! :-) The problems for us getting a PTG event here are  
similar to what I mentioned about Cornell (except for the hotel  
school at Cornell) and the only good time for a PTG event at IC is in  
the summer. That won't work for obvious reasons.

Paul,

Hey, if your school has something like our Conference and Events you  
should be good to go if the director signs off. Good Luck and I hope  
you can pull it off some day!

Don

Don McKechnie
Piano Technician
Ithaca College
dmckech at ithaca.edu
607.274.3908

> From: custos3 at comcast.net (Israel Stein )
> Precedence: list
> To: caut at ptg.org
> Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:03:54 +0000
> Reply-To: College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>
> Message-ID:  
> <101620071803.4671.4714FD0A0003A2B50000123F2200734840CC9C019B9C9A0C at co 
> mcast.net>
> Subject: [CAUT] University based conventions
> Message: 1
>
> 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





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