[Lnc-business] Informal Poll LNC December Meeting

Ron Windeler rowindeler at aol.com
Sun Aug 3 06:14:14 EDT 2014


     I'm sorry, Dan.  Maybe because I am old and slow (not quite 95) I missed the connection between your diaper references and my comments.  What are you talking about?  
     My comments were about the revealed complexities of the Helms Briscoe debate that had seemed so simple at first glance.  Is this Mr. Vittner you mentioned, an associate of HB or a competitor?  Do the hookers he procures change diapers cheaper than those found by HB?
 
Ron Windeler
rowindeler at aol.com

 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Hayes <danielehayes at icloud.com>
To: lnc-business <lnc-business at hq.lp.org>
Sent: Sat, Aug 2, 2014 4:52 am
Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Informal Poll LNC December Meeting


Ron,


if you were a Republican candidate for governor that espoused family values you could get your diaper changed as well your mind…by a hooker. Now if this was true..if Mr Vitter were a Libertarian…he could at least not be called a hypocrite..though I’d still call him DAMN weird…assuming all these very pervasive rumors are true. What kinda freak messes himself in a diaper and has a woman change him like a baby that isn’t 95 years old? To each their own…I guess.




http://www.politicususa.com/2014/01/21/prostitute-loving-gop-senator-david-vitter-run-governor-louisiana.html






On Aug 2, 2014, at 6:42 AM, Ron Windeler <rowindeler at aol.com> wrote:



I love this email discussion group because I can change my opinion with each post.  Now I think we should introduce Helms Briscoe to the Republican National Committee and use our own in-house event planner.  Watch this space next week, when I may change my mind again.
 
Ron Windeler
rowindeler at aol.com

 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Hayes <danielehayes at icloud.com>
To: lnc-business <lnc-business at hq.lp.org>
Sent: Fri, Aug 1, 2014 9:16 am
Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Informal Poll LNC December Meeting


So there aint no such thing as a free lunch but there is such thing as a free commission? Its a basic that the cost is ultimately born by US the consumer, even if the hotel pays it to the contracted out event planner.  Frankly, that whole, 2 representatives there getting further concession to the last second thing strikes me as a bit of Theater. That cost is a 15% commission. I don’t care who pays it to Helms-briscoe, ultimately WE pay it..it only has value if its something we can’t do for ourselves effectively.   if we had an event planner of our own on staff..to negotiate things for us..that wasn’t getting a kickback from the hotel, there is more margin left there for them to give us concessions, its just basic economics.  And guess what..we got one… Here’s an excerpt from an email sent to me this morning from Robert Kraus our director of operations.


Speaking about himself:
"I am a member of the Association of Meeting Professionals (AMP) and will continue to offer my professional meeting planning services free of charge to the LNC as I’ve done for the past 9.5 years. I make zero commission from the hotels and my #1 goal is to get the best deal possible and the very lowest room rate possible – usually about $10 less than the AAA rate on line. Several folks on the LNC want us to use a “meeting professional with connections” well you already have one on staff! I go to happy hours and events at least once a month and have contacts at the corporate level with most major brands. I drink with these people and know them by name. HB hardly ever attends (and they have heavy turnover of their DC rep) these events and thus they do not have the connections I do. They work with their “preferred partners” (who are willing to pay above average commissions vs. most venues who only pay 10%). This actual limits what they can offer and what they do offer it is overpriced.”





Here’s Robert on Helms- Briscoe:


"In terms of 2016 – HB “negotiated” a room rate that was (no surprise) about 15% higher than what Rosen Centre already gave us for 2014/16. Their previous offer no longer was valid because our chair at the time gave HB the exclusive rights to bid on our 2016 convention. Other concessions were also not as good. Stewart Flood who was involved in both the 2014 and 2016 site selection process (& Mark Hinkle & Geoff Neale) can all tell you the issues with HB in general and the problematic process with 2016.”


"They do not like nor do they do a good job with small conventions (under 1k attendance) nor do they like to plan small meetings.  They will of course – anything for an above market commission. Finally, last term we did have them bid for us on 2-3 meetings (while I did the same – we pretty much slit things up by brand) and all the times their prices were about $10-20 HIGHER per night than the AAA rate while mine was consistently $10 lower. If members of the LNC (and our delegates for conventions) are willing to pay an average of $20-30 MORE per night for their “professional services” than sure, go ahead and use them!”




So we had a LOWER negotiated room rate already with the Rosen Centre, but we turned things over to Helms Briscoe and ended up paying room rates 15% higher than we had already been offered previously.  HELLO? TANSTAAFL…right? folks like to go Heinlein…doesn’t that apply here? SO Helms Briscoe is able to offer us some miraculous savings that appear out of thin air?  Now if I am misrepresenting Robert, I assume he can correct me on any errors I make but, As I am cutting and pasting, I don’t think I am.


Bottom line I take away form that.  Using Helms-Briscoe cost us 15% more than it cost us with an in House negotiation by Robert. I am sure that this can all be demonstrated on paper as those previous bids should be available. We need to make use of the resources we have on hand. Imagine what we could have done with that 15% of a 2016 presidential year convention for ballot access etc. If we didn’t have a professional meeting planner on staff it would be one thing, but we do so lets use it.


Daniel Hayes






On Aug 1, 2014, at 5:52 AM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com> wrote:





Helms Briscoe helps scout out options for meeting sites within whatever parameters we give them.  They solicit the bids for us from the hotels.  We can tell them what data we want to know about each property, and they'll collect it for us.


The committee we appoint to oversee the process will narrow the field down based on data comparisons, and Helms Briscoe will further negotiate the offers with the finalists.


Helms Briscoe does not have any authority to commit us to anything on their own.  We have the final say.  In the end, after all the data assembly is done, if we don't like any of the offers on the table, we can walk away and can do it a different way if needed.


During the LNC meeting at which we were going to vote on the 2016 site, there were two Helms Briscoe agents on site.  While we were debating other business, they were in the hallway on the phones with the finalists leveraging the offers against each other to get additional last-minute concessions.  At the time of the vote, they came in and told us which items on our spreadsheets they had improved in the meantime - this one dropped their guest room rate by $10/night, that one lowered their food/beverage requirement, the other one is offering new perks, etc.



The LNC is billed nothing for this service.  If we accept one of the contracts Helms Briscoe negotiated for us, then they get paid by the hotel...kind of like how a realtor gets paid out of the seller's revenues.


Speaking as a person who did a lot of work for the 2012 and 2014 site scouting processes, using Helms Briscoe for 2016 saved me an incredible amount of time so I could do other projects instead.  

Their people have a lot of experience in event planning and negotiating these types of contracts.  We can have experts on our side even if the LNC members aren't experts in the subject.

If circumstances change and something goes sour with the contract after it is signed, Helms Briscoe agents will step back in to assist us while we navigate the problem with the hotel.

I was very pleased with the experience with them last time.


We should decide early on whether or not to use them for 2018, before we solicit any formal bids from hotels.  If we use them, Helms Briscoe should submit our RFP, collect the bids, and take the ball from there.



-Alicia










On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 2:52 AM, Daniel Hayes <danielehayes at icloud.com> wrote:


Members or Staff,


What did Helms Briscoe do for us exactly and what exactly did that cost us? How many times have we used them?


Daniel Hayes



On Jul 31, 2014, at 3:54 AM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com> wrote:



Helms Briscoe was the name of the company referenced by Norm.  We used them to help with the 2016 convention site scouting.


-Alicia





On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 1:45 PM, Norm Olsen <region1rep at donedad.com> wrote:

Four points with regard to this thread:

First, I prefer low cost for both LNC meetings and conventions. I am fortunate in that I live in a city which is the hub for three major airlines, so I have several choices in getting to most any city non-stop at a competitive airfare.  Others may not be so fortunate.

Second, in my humble opinion, conventions should be held on Memorial Day weekend.  I suggest that choosing this date will produce the largest attendance and the lowest cost.  Choosing this date, or allowing an alternative, should be the first decision the LNC should make with regard to the 2018 convention.

Third, I suggest that conventions are best run by a private entity (ala Denver 2008) and not by the LNC itself.  Doing so enables the producing organization to solicit sponsorships from private organizations and vastly reduces the burden on LNC staff among other advantages. Therefore, given a decision with regard to date as presented above, the first step in selecting a convention location should be to solicit bids from interested private groups for organizing and producing the convention.  The LNC should then choose to either accept one of the submitted bids or choose to run the convention itself.

Fourth, in the event that the LNC chooses to produce the convention itself and having made the decision of the date of the convention, the LNC should choose a venue from a list produced by the organization which produced the list from which the 2010 convention venue was chosen.  (The name escapes me, but Briscoe & Somebody, something like that.)

Using LNC meetings to check out possible sites is OK, but let's keep in mind that our duty to the membership is to have a convention which the largest number of our membership will be able to attend with due consideration given to both scheduling and financial aspects.

Norm
--
Norman T Olsen
Regional Representative, Region I
Libertarian National Committee
7931 S Broadway, PMB 102
Littleton, Colorado  80122-2710
303-263-4995
Norman.Olsen at lp.org

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Gandhi



-----Original Message-----
From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Nicholas Sarwark
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2014 6:12 AM
To: lnc-business at hq.lp.org
Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Informal Poll LNC December Meeting

Thanks Daniel for sending these options out to the LNC.  My personal preference is the later weekend and the Hampton Inn, due to the significant savings to the members (on travel and room cost) and the LNC (on meeting space and breakfast).  I'm happy to do a tour of the Hilton Riverside as a potential convention venue while we're there.

If there is a strong preference for the earlier weekend or the more expensive hotel, I would defer to the rest of the LNC.

-Nick

On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 1:34 AM, Daniel Hayes <danielehayes at icloud.com> wrote:
> Members,
>
> I started to write another email trying to compare and contrast the two seeming top contenders for our December meeting and just decided to repost the Email I sent to staff, the chair and Guy. Dec 13/14 seems to be by far the cheaper weekend. In addition to the mail there is also a chart of the top 2 contenders Hilton Riverside and Hampton inn Convention Center included.
> Can we get an informal indication from members as to their thoughts on these 2 hotels before we put a motion back up?
> Do people seriously want to consider NOLA for an upcoming convention and do we think its worth the extra money to stay in the Riverside to better evaluate it or would you guys rather stay in the Hampton which is less expensive?
>
>
> "After having spoken to Robert, he seemed to indicate that typically there are about 6 or so people interested in taking tours, even when in the hotel proposed for the convention. The increased convenience might bump the participation by a person or 2. Most members of the LNC don't put much interest into the location of the NatCon and leave it to the LNC Convention Planning Committee.
> I of course am interested in promoting NOLA for a NatCon for various reasons.  Coming at it strictly as a member of the LNC.  I think a top destination city like NOLA will only enhance NatCon Participation. I feel this increase will be most pronounced in an off election year like 2018. Coming at it from a local standpoint, we of course would love the increased access for a Presidential year NatCon like 2020, but the destination city increases would probably be lower than the effect it has on an off year as there is already increased interest during a Presidential year.
>
> I think from the LPHQ standpoint, the dates for the 13/14 are significant as well as the concessions garnered for the individual rooms.  With those dates in mind for these 2 hotels.  The Hampton can save us $1800.  That said, the costs of the Riverside are in line with avg meeting costs for the LNC.
>
> Our State LP is looking at holding our Winter Peace Party the weekend that the LNC is in attendance.   One of our local members has gotten us a bead on a private room at the top of the Jax. It's a premium location located right on the river in the French Quarter. With drinks and appetizers included, we have gotten it for a rate of $35/person.  It's a great rate and we are hoping that some of our neighbors from surrounding states might be interested in coming in and socializing with us for the weekend.  This location is somewhat of a straight shot from both hotels with the Riverside being about a 5-10 minute walk from Jax and the Hampton being about 15-20 minute walk.  Overall the Riverside is right on the edge of the FQ, It's across the street from the Casino, etc.
>
> I am from the school of, let's save the money, but I have to realize that I am a lot different in my mindset from a lot of other people. So for me, staying at the cheaper venue would be a go.  However on top of that, I am not staying at any of the venues, I am sleeping at home with my dogs. So there may indeed be some value in staying at the likely NatCon contender so that most LNC members can get a feel for it even if they arent paying attention.”
>
> Daniel Hayes
>
> ave HQ $1800.
>
>
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