ASPA conference

[pmacduff]

Didn't know where else to put this...everyone has been providing great info from the 2002 ASPA conference that I know is greatly appreciated...but what about the fun stuff? How was the conference in general and what about the new digs? Tom? Anybody? Please share with those of us who couldn't attend this year !

[AndyH]

The lack of responses to your question may say something about people's reactions. No disrespect to the speakers who were excellent as usual or to ASPA personnel and volunteers, who no doubt worked very hard, but the facilities were two thumbs down.

[Mike Preston]

Oh, I thought the facilities were ok. Rooms are rooms (sleeping, that is). Maybe not quite up to the standards of the Hyatt, but pretty close.

I thought the traffic patterns were much better than I expected. A single escalator for climbing two floors seemed to me to be a recipe for disaster, but I didn't see too many backups either entering or leaving.

The exhibitors hall was much, much better than the Hyatt.

And, last but not least, the actual session rooms were miles better than in past years. Having each and every one of the sessions set up classroom style, instead of theater style, is a vast improvement.

OK, maybe the last paragraph wasn't the last comment, becuase my pet peeve was the Gala on Tuesday night. Two subcomments, actually... 1) The sponsor's did not get the mileage out of paying for the food because it wasn't advertised in advance as having chinese, italian, crabcakes, etc. The food was very, very good and many more people would have attended had they known about it. Maybe that was a mechanism for holding down costs? I doubt it. Again, to compare against the Hyatt, the food was miles better here. 2) The entertainment was absolutely horrible this year. Supposedly it was the same group as last year, but they must have all gone through some life-changing event because all they did was play obnoxious solo's (playing for themeselves and not their audience) and play songs that emptied the dance floor more frequently than not. You would think they would take a look at how many people exited the dance floor everytime they played a certain genre, get a clue, and change to more of the old time classics. Nope. They couldn't even get the beat to When a Man Loves a Woman right, and their rendition of Shout! at the end was pathetic.

As far as the Gala goes, the only comment that comes to mind is: "But, other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

But the rest of the conference, including the continental breakfasts, which were better stocked and more easily accessible (I forgot that comment earlier) was just fantastic.

[david rigby]

So, we can conclude that you liked the food.

[Mike Preston]

Yes, indeed. I didn't even mention that the box lunches were very good, as was the sit-down lunch on Tuesday. Again, much better than the Hyatt.

[Mike Preston]

One more thing. It was very nice not having a handful of sessions at a hotel that you had to walk outside to get to. It was miserable outside this year and had we still been at the Hyatt, the walk over to the Marriott would have been dreadful.

[Tom Poje]

I would agree with Mike -

Rooms are rooms (sleeping, that is)

Hey, I can't speak for others, but I don't need anything fancy. Especially after running here and there all day.Yes, not quite as nice as the Hyatt, but that was unimportant to me.

Mike didn't describe 'classroom' style. You sat at a table. That's right, you could actually write notes on a solid surface instead of on your lap (with your arms half folded up because you were packed in like sardines like at the Hyatt)

As Mike mentioned, you didn't have to run across the street to attend a session you were interested in. (Or end up skipping it instead because you didn't want to go out in the rain)

Mike said the exhibitors was better - he didn't mention that everything was in one room as well, another big plus.

I cannot make a comment on the gala - we left Tuesday night - but then I never have hit the gala in prior years - I prefer the quiet chat room.

Mike's comments are all positive, and you have to remember, his beloved Wolverines lost their football game that weekend, so think how much more positive he would have been if they had won!

Oh, and if you were into it... we arrived Saturday.

The Italians had a big party that night. No, huge party. All dressed to the max. Maybe you couldn't attend it, but you could certainly go down and watch. Let me think who you could have seen

Have you heard of Robert Deniro, Sophia Loren, Tony Bennet...?

[AndyH]

I agree with many of the positives that Mike cites. The food was good. The Exhibitor section was improved. Elevator service was arguably better.

The rooms were a beef for my group. They were very small, and the AC/heat was lousy and the setup made no sense (the vents were behind the curtains-you either had AC/heat or you closed your curtains, not both). The bathroom was way too small. I could go on about that but I won't.

My roomate and I experienced 6 unauthorized room entries in two days. The "maid" would knock so lightly that nobody could possibly hear her, then barge in. Another time my roomate cracked the door open (yes a mistake) and a maintenance man pushed his way in. It turns out he says he was responding to a problem in another room. He entered the wrong room. And the "maid" entry times did not make sense for cleaning times.

We were not alone with unauthorized entries. There was a guy at the desk venting because he said that someone twice entered his roon while he had a do not disturb sign posted.

Regarding the sessions, yes, there was a table in front of you but most the rooms were way overcrowded. Chairs were right on top of each other. Sessions on Sunday had enough room, as did the general session. There was a "freezer room" adjacent to the main hall that was big enough for the sessions, but there were others that were 100% full, just like the old days.

At one of the lunches someone asked people what they thought of the new facility. The response was not positive. About 1/3 of the people gave a "golf gallery" type of polite response.

And another thing that Tom and Mike probably did not experience. My group arrived around 12:00 or so and the rooms were not ready until 3:00, which I guess is tolerable, but people arriving just after us had to wait until after 5:00. A Hotel rep said it was beacause there was a large conference the previous day.???

Anyway, most people I talked to much preferred the Hyatt.

I guess this is what makes horse racing.

[pmacduff]

Whew! Thanks for the responses. I guess I was just curious because ASPA has touted this move for 3 or 4 years... It appears that most of the complaints are not things related to first year "growing pains" either. I find the comments on the hotel disheartening because one would think that with all of the hotels in Washington and the post 9/11 decreases in travel & tourism ASPA could find a grand place for the conference. I suppose that Tom P. is right, though, the main reason for most going to the conference is the content, the learning & the credits so as long as you can get your monies worth of those......right?!

[AndyH]

Right. And the speakers, the organization, and the helpfulness of the ASPA staff were all outstanding, as usual.

[Mike Preston]

I'm hopeful that the negatives can indeed be attributed to growing pains vis-a-vis the hotel's expectations of the ASPA Conference. Certainly adjusting room temperatures and hiring more staff for the checkin crunch (be it cleaning staff or front desk staff) are issues that can be improved.

Keep in mind that the lead times on selecting hotels for events of this magnitude are quite long. I forget exactly, but I think it is at least 3 years. Hence, 9/11 had no impact. Also, there are very few hotels that have the conference facilities ASPA needs, so it isn't like we can get into a bidding war. Maybe that will change once the new DC Convention Center is built, but I'm not a fan of holding an ASPA Conference at a convention center. By definition, that means people will have much further to walk from their hotel rooms, and most likely have to go outside when walking between their rooms and the conference.

Did I mention the entertainment was REALLY, REALLY bad on Tuesday night?

FWIW