Hi Ted: Thanks for your question. Finding meeting space for anywhere from 300 - 500 people in one place is difficult, at best. Most universities do not have sufficient meeting space to allow conferences that large to meet at their facilities (and of those that do there are few options for accommodations near the campus - even outside the academic year student residence halls often do not provide sufficient space as there are multiple other uses to which they are put). Thus our only options are to either pay for space at a convention center or barter for space in exchange for room occupancy at a hotel that has sufficient meeting space for a group the size of ours (which quite a bit narrows the number of hotels we can consider). The dues that are paid to AoIR are minimal compared to those of other organizations, and bring with them quite a few benefits (those have recently been enumerated by Jeremy Hunsinger or Nancy Baym, I believe). A good part of the income from dues goes toward subsidizing portions of the conference (that is why, for instance, the registration fee and the meal costs are lower for students). Thus far we have been able to keep operating expenses fairly low, thanks to support from several universities (though that may change and we may have to pay for a variety of things that have thus far been free or given at greatly reduced cost, such as servers, hosting, etc.). Indeed, I dare say that AoIR's operating expenses are but a fraction of those of most other scholarly associations. The conference registration fee is set such that we can be reasonably certain the conference will break even and not cause AoIR to take a loss, and that the fee not be so high as to be out of reach for most prospective participants. But it is also set with the thought that we will not have to pay for meeting space. Although I can only estimate the registration fee were we to pay for space, I would guess that we would probably need at a minimum to triple the registration fee. In short, the balance is a delicate one, between finding sufficient space, negotiating room rates, operating on a shoestring budget, keeping member and conference participant costs down, and keeping AoIR going. It certainly is dicey! I would not recommend to anyone that they start a scholarly association unless they are prepared to be unafraid of insolvency. :-) Sj On Jul 8, 2005, at 12:28 PM, Ted M Coopman wrote:
Hello All,
Different organizations have different approaches to conventions. Some link meeting space to room occupancy, others separate the two.
I was wondering, considering the tools available for easily finding alternative accommodations (especially for a group of internet researchers!) isn't linking occupancy and meeting room rates a bit dicey?
While I appreciate the call for attendees to book at the convention hotel to support the organization, the reality is that (at least) graduate students and junior faculty, especially those at institutions with scant/no travel funding, will choose the cheapest option. Besides, we do all pay membership and registration fees to support AoIR.
I assume the Council has discussed this strategy. I was wondering what the process was and what the decision was based on?
Just curious as a member/attendee as well as interested in behavior of organizations in the face of increased information access.
-TED
Ted M. Coopman Department of Communication University of Washington
On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, Steve Jones wrote:
Michela:
There are other options undoubtedly, but none that AoIR can officially sanction. We have a contract with the Marriott that provides us with meeting space and other amenities in exchange for having conference attendees stay at the hotel. (Should we not meet the minimum number of attendees, we will have to pay for the meeting space.)
I would encourage you to consider sharing a room if the cost is prohibitive. In all likelihood (barring the occasional good luck with Priceline or other such site) most hotels near the Marriott will be priced the same, or higher.
Thanks, Sj
On Jul 7, 2005, at 6:30 AM, Michela Drusian wrote:
Dear Steve, are there other possibilities for accomodation? Possibly cheaper accomodations.. thanks, michela At 19.03 06/07/2005 -0500, you wrote:
The AoIR room rate is $155 USD per night. Please use the url from the registration page if you book online. I do not think there is a way to get that rate directly from Marriott's own web site without using the link. Or, if you book via telephone or travel agent, please make sure to identify yourself as an AoIR conference attendee to get that rate. Thank you, Sj On Jul 6, 2005, at 9:25 AM, Sue Cranmer wrote:
Hi Any chance of getting the hotel rates ahead of submitting the registration to the conference. I need to cost out the whole thing before I can make a decision on this. Thanks Sue -----Original Message----- From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org]On Behalf Of Steve Jones Sent: 06 July 2005 15:09 To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] AoIR 6.0 Chicago 2005 Registration is now open Online registration is now open for the sixth annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers to be held in Chicago October 6 - 9, 2005 (with pre-conference workshops held on October 5, 2005) at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile hotel. To register for the conference and workshops go to: https://www.conted.vt.edu/ssl/aoir/index.lasso You will be able to pay the registration fees by credit card or by check. You can also at this time register for the conference banquet (taking place on Friday, October 7, at the Mid-America Club, on the 80th (top) floor of the Aon Center, Chicago's second tallest building, and the conference brunch (taking place on Sunday, October 9). [Vegetarian options will be available at both meals.] You may also register for a historical tour of Chicago's "L" elevated train (taking place on Saturday morning, October 8). Join others in an AoIR-only L car for a tour of some of the L system's oldest routes with the Chicago Transit Authority's historian. A link to online hotel registration is provided on the site after you have clicked the "submit" button and sent in your registration. We have negotiated the best possible rate from the hotel and encourage you to book a room early. As is the case with most all hotel-based conferences we have to meet the minimum occupancy with which we are able to use the hotel's meeting rooms and if we do not meet that occupancy rate then we'll have to increase the registration fees, to cover the additional meeting room cost. I appreciate everyone's support of the conference and of AoIR and look forward to seeing you in Chicago in October! Sj _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
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Michela Drusian, PhD Dipartimento di Sociologia Via S.Canziano, 8 I - 35122 Padova tel: +39-049-827 4314 cell: +39-340-2677379 email: michela.drusian@unipd.it web: http://www.sociologia.unipd.it/ ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
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