[Lnc-business] convention duration and costs

Tue Sep 2 12:00:58 EDT 2014

Nick,

I understand that every weekend is a campaign weekend, having been in this
game for many years as a profession, but not all weekends are created equal.

A holiday weekend with parades, BBQs, media attention and all the
handshakes and photos that go along with it is of a higher priority.

You are cannibalizing your candidates' support network when highly active
campaigns for statewide or federal office loose people over an important
weekend to attend the national convention.

Virtually all the attendees at the past two LNC conventions from Ohio,
Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky (I'm sure there were other states) were
higly involved in campaigns around their state. We can't pull these people
off the campaign trail during an important campaign weekend. Period.

In Liberty,

Evan McMahon
At-Large Representative
Libertarian National Committee

evan.mcmahon at lp.org
On Sep 2, 2014 11:49 AM, "Nicholas Sarwark" <chair at lp.org> wrote:

> Evan,
> As a threshold matter, I agree with you on the importance of
> Libertarian candidates, campaigns, and supporting those candidates in
> their races for public office.  I believe that our candidates are way
> more important than the Libertarian National Committee or our national
> convention.  However, under the current bylaws, there still needs to
> be an LNC and that LNC still needs to hold national conventions every
> two years.
>
> In fairness, every weekend prior to the election is an important
> campaign weekend.  Many of our Colorado Libertarian candidates did not
> attend the convention in Columbus, held at the end of June on a
> non-holiday weekend for exactly that reason.  That said, Memorial Day
> comes early enough in the election calendar that it's prior to the
> primary election in most states, so most of the media is not paying
> attention to Libertarian candidates, as their old party opponents
> aren't selected yet.
>
> Unless we shift to conventions in odd years or conventions in
> late-Winter/early-Spring, the choice between attending the national
> convention and supporting candidates will always be present.
> Recognizing that such a choice will necessarily have to be made, it
> makes sense to me to optimize for (a) greater attendance and (b)
> minimal impact on candidates, in that order.
>
> -Nick
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 9:27 AM, Evan McMahon <indyliberty at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Wes,
> >
> > Holding the convention over Memorial Day weekend is a major issue for me.
> >
> > It's not just about candidates campaigning. The volunteers, party
> members,
> > county and state party leaders should be out supporting their
> candidates. In
> > many states that is exactly what they have been doing.
> >
> > Making them choose between supporting their candidates on an important
> > campaign weekend or attending the national convention is just wrong and
> > flies in the face of our number one objective (as a political party)...
> > getting Libertarians elected to office.
> >
> > I will vote No one any convention that is scheduled during an important
> > campaign weekend.
> >
> > In Liberty,
> >
> > Evan McMahon
> > At-Large Representative
> > Libertarian National Committee
> >
> > evan.mcmahon at lp.org
> >
> > On Sep 2, 2014 11:15 AM, "Wes Benedict" <wes.benedict at lp.org> wrote:
> >>
> >> Dan, I'll just list several areas where I see large savings potential
> >> without looking up all the details and writing up a formal report. I
> believe
> >> a formal request would have to come from the chair, the LNC, or a
> convention
> >> committee.
> >>
> >> 1. Choose a hotel that offers reasonably low pricing and terms. For
> >> example, in 2014 and 2012, staff recommended lower cost hotels than were
> >> chosen. There was a much lower cost hotel in Las Vegas (but still good
> >> quality). But still convenient to fly to for most of the U.S.
> >> 2. Memorial Day weekend conventions typically cost less than other
> >> weekends. If candidates are too busy campaigning, that's fine. I think
> the
> >> extra attendance at Memorial Weekend conventions is higher than the
> loss of
> >> candidates who prefer campaigning.
> >> 3. Shorten the convention a little (as Mr. Olsen suggested).
> >> 4. Those lunches and dinners cost like $40 to $80 per person at the
> hotels
> >> we've been choosing. Yet, we don't usually have a food and beverage
> minimum
> >> that requires us to buy as much as we do, and could choose hotels that
> >> minimize that.
> >> 5. A/V costs could be cut significantly.  $10k+. Use the screens in some
> >> of the breakout rooms that LPHQ has. Use a single screen at the front
> of the
> >> convention hall.
> >> 6. Those vertical state delegation signs used in Columbus cost about
> >> $2,500 but we already had a set we could have re-used. Now we have two
> sets.
> >> 7. Let staff make the convention website--which doesn't take long (we
> did
> >> that this year), but not in prior years.
> >> 8. Cut back on the speaker travel, meal and hotel expenses. You can get
> >> decent speakers for free or at lower cost. And you can have fewer meals
> and
> >> meal speakers. That way delegates can mingle more, or go to training
> >> sessions. You could probably sell speaking slots in some cases.
> >> 9. Keep staff travel expenses to a minimum. That was done very well this
> >> year.
> >> 10. Printed material costs could be cut in half by printing earlier at
> low
> >> cost printers instead of at the last minute at FedEx-Kinkos.
> >> 11. Staff tends to not like spending lots of money because we have to
> >> raise most of it. Non-staff convention organizers have typically been
> given
> >> authority to spend without oversight on many expenditures. With more
> >> oversight, suggested savings can be proposed.
> >> 12. "Right-size" the space. Which means be open to reserving a slightly
> >> smaller space. If attendance starts shooting through the roof, then let
> half
> >> the states sit in "class-room" style seating (with tables in front of
> each
> >> row of chairs), and the other half of the states sit in "theatre-style"
> >> seating in the back third of the room (no table in front of them--you
> keep
> >> your papers on your lap or under your chair).
> >>
> >> It all adds up fast. If all of the above were done to a significant
> >> degree, perhaps a $40,000 convention could be done. But I'd keep the
> budget
> >> at $60k to leave plenty of wiggle room.
> >>
> >> If staff were formally requested to provide a convention proposal, I'd
> >> start by brainstorming with Robert Kraus about where a few good cities
> might
> >> be with potential for low cost venues (still nice national chain
> hotels--but
> >> ones with lower than average prices), then I'd pick a few good hotels
> from
> >> those cities. That's not been our process recently. It's more been about
> >> selecting a state or city. Then picking a hotel. Cost has been further
> down
> >> on the list of priorities.
> >>
> >> Yes I'm too busy, but hopefully this email has the potential so help
> save
> >> at least $10,000 to $20,000 in future savings.
> >> I'm fully expecting the LNC to steal all of my ideas above and not stick
> >> staff with putting on the convention. : )
> >>
> >>
> >> Wes Benedict, Executive Director
> >> Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
> >> New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
> >> (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.org
> >> facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
> >> Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership
> >>
> >> On 9/1/2014 9:16 PM, Daniel Hayes wrote:
> >>
> >> Wes,
> >>
> >> I am a little lost here..Not sure where Mr Olsen’s referenced email is.
> >> If there are blatant unneeded expenses then please share those here
> with us
> >> Wes. Consider this a formal request from the District 7 Regional
> Alternate
> >> for the information.
> >>
> >> Daniel Hayes
> >> On Aug 31, 2014, at 4:07 PM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org> wrote:
> >>
> >> I'm confident a survey of members would show people would prefer shorter
> >> conventions. (I think that's what Mr. Olsen is suggesting below.) I
> don't
> >> recall that question being asked in a survey in recent years. But I do
> hear
> >> the complaint quite often that the conventions are too long, too
> boring, too
> >> much parliamentary theatrics, and too expensive. Shorter would be less
> >> boring and less expensive. Training could more easily be fit in before
> the
> >> convention for those that enjoy hanging around for more days. And for
> those
> >> that try to squeeze in local sight-seeing, a shorter convention would
> make
> >> it easier for delegates to join their families. One less average hotel
> night
> >> per convention would be a great goal.
> >>
> >> LP Texas had over 300 attendees at its 2014 convention at a cheap
> venue. I
> >> don't know the total budget, but I'd like be interested in knowing. And
> I'll
> >> take a guess it cost $25,000.
> >>
> >> The 2014 national convention in Ohio cost over $120,000.
> >>
> >> I'm pretty confident Robert Kraus and I could design a pretty good 2018
> >> national convention for 400 to 700 delegates that cost $60,000. That's
> >> because he and I know of a lot of costs at the 2010, 2012, & 2014
> >> conventions that could have been reduced or avoided.
> >>
> >> $60,000 versus $120,000. Our services and advice are available upon
> >> request (but preferably not this coming week due to other priorities).
> >>
> >> Wes Benedict, Executive Director
> >> Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
> >> New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
> >> (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.org
> >> facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
> >> Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership
> >>
> >> On 8/31/2014 1:21 PM, Norm Olsen wrote:
> >>
> >> The schedule of official business of the 2018 national convention of the
> >> LNC shall consist of 2½ days, commencing on the morning of Saturday,
> May 26,
> >> 2018  and adjourning by 2PM on Monday, May 28, 2018.
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
> >> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >
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> >
>
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