[Lnc-business] convention duration and costs

Thu Sep 4 07:01:55 EDT 2014

Wes,

Regarding your suggestions for keeping convention costs down, I agree with
some of it, disagree with some of it, and in other instances would need
more info to have an opinion.

Overall, while I'm sure we could find some areas to trim, I am very
skeptical that we could get costs down to $40k - $60k without seriously
impacting the quality of the event.  I don't so much care about the raw
cost of the event, so much as I care about the cost relative to the
revenues.  If our costs were $200,000, I'd be happy as long as our revenues
were at least $200,000 as well.

Sure we can cut food costs by offering fewer organized meals with
speakers...but keep in mind that if we're not going to charge a
registration fee to delegates, we depend completely on those meal events to
foot the bills of the general business session.  Eliminating too many
revenue-generating items can quickly leave us in a financial hole.

Regarding item #1 in the itemized list of suggestions, you stated regarding
the 2012 site selection process, "There was a much lower cost hotel in Las
Vegas (but still good quality)."  Would you remind me which hotel you're
referring to?

I had much earlier (before I was even on the convention committee) gotten
2012 proposals from some mid-strip Vegas hotels with room-night pricing in
the $159 - $189 range, which was too far off the mark to even make the
starting list.  I was thinking that Vegas just wasn't a feasible option
until another local suggested I try the Red Rock.  We had a proposal from
the Hilton (off-strip, though you could walk to the north end or take the
monorail to the middle/south for about $5) with room-night pricing of $129
(with up to a 6% increase allowed by the hotel), with various pricey union
a/v requirements, and we'd have to rent vendor space by the sq-ft.  We did
have a proposal from the South Point, which is well off-strip, and their
room-night rates were $89-$99, but they required $100,000 of food and
beverage spending.  Our average F&B spending over the most recent 3
conventions for which I have data has been $70,000.  Cheaper on the room
rate doesn't mean cheaper on the LNC's wallet.

As a side note, during and after the 2012 convention I've heard several
people who have never been involved in our convention processes allege that
we picked the "most expensive place in Vegas" for 2012.  Baloney!  All
factors considered, they were the best overall deal we got in Vegas.  Just
because you can go to the internet and get an inventory-clearance room or
two for $59 does NOT mean you can easily get a block of 400 rooms at that
rate.  Strip hotels tend to charge premiums for their convention space, and
their union requirements tend to substantially inflate a/v costs, which are
a significant part of our convention budgets.  Most of the strip hotels are
looking for those MASSIVE conventions, and we are just minnows in their
pond.

I do agree there are ways to save on A/V.  I don't think we can go to just
one screen in the convention hall, though.  In landscape orientation,
delegates on the edges of the room would have difficulty reading the screen
in the center.  In portrait orientation, the delegates in the back won't be
able to read the one screen at the front.  But I do think we should look
into buying our own convention hall projectors.  The projector that staff
has already is fine for small settings like LNC/committee meetings, but it
is nowhere near bright enough for convention hall use.  The high-end ones
needed for the convention hall are expensive to buy, but we can probably
buy them for less than the outrageous rental rates for them in hotels.  And
we could re-use them at future conventions.  I think they would pay for
themselves quickly, even with the extra fee we'd have to pay for the a/v
staff to hook up something other than their own equipment.

The last point I'll make here is that I completely disagree with and am
confused by the assertion that, "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."

I'm familiar with the process used for 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016.  In none
of those cases did we just pick the state/city we wanted and then go
searching for bids in only those locations.  Cost (not just room cost for
delegates, but overall cost to both delegate and LNC, including
food/beverage requirements, average airfare, proximity to cheap restaurants
for delegates, etc.) was a primary factor that narrowed down the bids to
the finalists.  We didn't eliminate cities/states.  We eliminated bids
based on their specs.  We started with at least 33 bids from 21 cities for
the 2016 search.  We started with 40 bids from 18 cities for the 2014
search.

-Alicia

On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 8:15 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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