Conference Room Reservations: Why There is a Room Deposit Policy, and Why You Should Stay in a SIOP Conference Hotel
Donald Truxillo
Portland State University
Jeff McHenry
Microsoft Corporation
The 2003 SIOP Conference in Orlando was the first time in many years when attendees reserving a room in a conference hotel were required to make a forfeitable deposit on their room reservation. Weve had lots of questions about that policy during the past 12 months. Were writing this article to explain why we implemented this policy and also to ask you to support the Society by staying in a conference hotel.
Room Deposit
SIOP must book blocks of rooms for its annual conference years in advance. Our hotel contract guarantees that the hotel will hold a certain number of sleeping rooms for our members and also allows those attending the conference to receive a reduced room rate. In return, SIOP guarantees that our members will pay for a certain number of sleeping room nights at the hotel. If we fail to meet our room guarantee, then SIOP is liable for the unpaid rooms. This is standard practice in the convention business and the hotel industry.
We had a very bad experience with hotel rooms at the 2002 conference in Toronto. Our two primary hotelsthe Sheraton and the Hiltonwere sold out months in advance. To accommodate members who couldnt get rooms at the Sheraton and Hilton, we ended up having to guarantee rooms at two additional hotels which were 15-minute walks from the Sheraton. Then during the week prior to the 2002 conference in Toronto, almost one-third of the rooms that had been reserved by members were cancelled. This meant SIOP had to assume financial responsibility for the unused rooms, to the tune of many thousands of dollars. In other words, the cancelled rooms had to be subsidized by the membership. If members who cancelled at the last minute had stayed in the hotel, there would have been plenty of room at the Sheraton and Hilton to accommodate all of our members, and we would not have incurred any room guarantee penalties.
For this reason, SIOP began a policy of requiring a room deposit for reservationsa deposit that is forfeited if the reservation is cancelled less than 90 days prior to the conference. This is consistent with the way many other conferences operate, including APA. Our hope was that this policy would cause members to wait to book their rooms until they were sure they were attending the conference and would ensure that those booking at the last minute would still be able to secure rooms at a conference hotel. The change generally worked well for us in Orlando. We had significantly fewer last-minute cancellations. We had rooms available at our conference hotels right up to the conference. And we met our room guarantees at all four conference hotels.
There were a handful of people who booked hotel rooms in good faith, fully intending to attend the conference, then had health issues or family emergencies that required them to cancel their conference plans. We recognize that the new policy was difficult for these people. We created a message board on the SIOP Web site where these individuals could advertise the availability of their rooms. We announced this message board on the conference Web site. We understand that most people were able to find someone to take over their room reservation and thus avoided cancellation fees.
Why Stay at a Conference Hotel?
We realize you have a choice of many hotel options in most cities where SIOP holds its conference. Given the cancellation policy, some of you may be asking why you should stay at a conference hotel instead of a hotel that doesnt require a room deposit.
First, the conference hotels will be in the center of SIOP activity. Youll be in or right next door to the hotel where sessions are being held. Youll be able to meet up easily with friends in the lobby or hotel bar. It will be convenient for you to run up to your room to make phone calls or check e-mail quickly during the day.
Second, because we are guaranteeing a room block, we are able to negotiate very good rates with the conference hotels. Your rooms in the conference hotel will be cheaper than comparable rooms in comparable quality hotels nearby.
Finally, it is helpful to SIOP if you stay in one of the conference hotels. You help make it possible for us to continue guaranteeing a room block in the future, which our members have consistently told us they like. And you help us avoid the costs that we would incur if we fail to meet our room guarantee. You help us run a financially responsible conference that is responsive to member needs.
2004 SIOP Conference Hotels
This year, the conference hotels are:
Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers
301 East North Water Street
Chicago IL 60611
Tel: (312) 464-1000 or (877) 242-2558
Fax: (312) 464-9140
http://www.sheratonchicago.com/index2.html
Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago Downtown-Lakefront
511 North Columbus Drive
Chicago IL 60611-5591
Tel: (312) 836-5900 or (888) 903-8884 (reservations)
Fax: (312) 836-5901
http://www.chicagoembassy.com
If you havent already made reservations for the 2004 SIOP Conference, we hope youll stay in one of these hotels. And if youve made reservations at another nearby hotel, we hope youll consider switching to one of these two hotels.
See you in Chicago!
January 2004 Table
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