[PAO] National Board

Sun Jul 20 10:24:05 CDT 2014

Thank you Lt. Col. Copenhaver for bringing this subject up. 

The fact of the matter is, that even if these rates are not "terribly out of
line" for a conference this size, it is still unaffordable for many of our
members, me included. If we pay for the meeting hall and any peripheral
rooms needed for the breakout sessions, or whatever we are calling them this
conference and the hotel knows it has "X" amount of rooms guaranteed,
concessions should be able to be reached on the room rate for members. If
the facility will not make such concessions because it is Las Vegas and they
will get that rate from someone then let them get it from someone else. We
do not have to conference in Las Vegas.

First of all, it has been my experience that if you have time to go to the
activities that are available outside of the conference, you are not
attending the conference. My answer that would be take a vacation. While
other cities may not have the outside venues, they could handle the size of
our event and perhaps for a lesser price. I have concerns about meeting
somewhere like Vegas anyway. As concerned as we are about the image of Civil
Air Patrol and the image that casts on the Air Force, is this really a good
idea. 

If we save on the price of the hall and classrooms, then maybe our fee could
at least cover the banquet and everyone could attend. A Spaatz cadet from
our Wing is National Cadet of the Year and most of our Wing members will not
see him receive the award because we cannot afford the conference let alone
an additional fee for a banquet that should be included. 

I did not intend this to sound like a gripe session, but sometimes I think
in an effort to look like an organization of high prestige, we forget that
our members are volunteers, mostly of middle America. We need to get back to
servicing the needs of the members who service the needs of our country.

With respect,

Curtis "Wayne" Hooks 1st Lt.
Civil Air Patrol
FLWG Online Newsfeed Manager
Group 1 Public Affairs Officer
Group 1 Recruitment and Retention Officer
Tallahassee Composite Squadron
Ser FL-432
Public Affairs Officer
Recruitment and Retention Officer

-----Original Message-----
From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org
[mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Wm and
Kandyce Lewis
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 1:31 PM
To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers'
Subject: Re: [PAO] National Board

I have done conferences for our wing and I don't have prices like that.  You
can get hotels to not charge for the the rooms if you agree to so many rooms
being rented by members, and guaranteeing so much in other costs.  I know as
I have done that in the past.  You just keep telling them you need a less
amount.  I didn't check the cost of the dinner but I thought $70 last year
was out of line for our members.  And having gone many others must have felt
so as well as there were lots of members eating at other places during the
banquet as I saw them out and about.  I realize we have more guest we may
pay for national conferences but it can't be that much more.  I suspect less
and less members are going to national boards. 

And yes as members get closer to retirement they are looking at those costs.

Kandyce Lewis, Lt Col. 
WA Wing Staff

-----Original Message-----
From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org
[mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Doug Barth
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 8:50 AM
To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers'
Subject: Re: [PAO] National Board

I totally agree with Lt Col Copenhaver, 

In particular, as I move toward retirement and have more time to commit to
my volunteer activities, I also am very cost sensitive.  

While I understand and encourage the value of face-to-face conferences, I
think we should look more extensively into webinar/webex events, both to
reduce cost to the membership and to increase the availability of these
types of topics across CAP.  Or perhaps video tape the presentations and
post them to CAP website.  I am not aware that we do that.

Major Doug Barth, CAP
Group II
MDWG

-----Original Message-----
From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org
[mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Karen
Copenhaver
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 9:44 AM
To: cap-pao at lists.sempervigilans.org
Subject: [PAO] National Board

Dear Fellow PAOs,

As we continue our volunteer commitment to an outstanding organization, we
gladly donate our resources to train and participate.  Across the years, we
have attended conferences for our wing, region and our national board, and
the cost has slowly increased, mainly because of the economic posture of the
time. However, after reviewing the current cost associated with our national
board, personally I am voicing a concern of how many members can afford this
astronomical cost.  Registration - $205 per person plus room of more than
$100+ per night (don't forget tax and tax); (plus the extra days lodging for
a total of 5 nights if you stay for the entire event) then if you plan on
attending our PAO Academy it is $45,  and if you want to attend the FEMA
course it is $20, then Incorporating the Medal of Honor Character
Development Program into Character Development for $20 and Grant Writing for
$10.  We can easily add these costs to be exorbitant for many.  I've
attended many National Board Conferences, but never experienced such fees,
and would like to know what the "registration" is suppose to cover, if not
the work labs, and associated hand-outs.

I would like to see a more reasonable cost for our National Board
Conferences in the future.  We do not necessarily need a place like Las
Vegas, Washington or Atlanta, or the like, as we do not have the numbers  of
attendees to support that type of location as we once did 
with totals of upward of 2,000+ attendees.    We have some locations 
that could support the size of our event, with less expense to our members,
such as Charlotte, NC,  and communities of that size across our country.
Our overall cost has escalated to a level whereby one must truly set aside
additional funds up to more than $1,000 to attend, and that does not include
airline tickets, which are escalating too.  I don't know how many of you
join me in these sentiments, but we need a more economical platform for our
national board conferences.

One other comment, wouldn't it be nice to have a non-military speaker like
Bill Cosby to entertain and inspire us to continue our service?  As a
volunteer organization, who gladly gives and gives so much to our
communities and nation, I would hope that an individual like this would not
charge, but to have airfare and other related costs (room and meals) to be
covered to get him/her to be our speaker.

Realizing our organizational funds are somewhat limited and reduced greatly
across the board, we could certainly reduce our cost by holding our national
conference in a less costly location, and it would increase the numbers who
can afford to attend.  It indeed is a great experience that everyone should
have the opportunity to attend.  The labs, breakout sessions, or
workshops... what ever they are called, are always phenomenal.  The
opportunity to network with your fellow members and national staff  is
something that you will always remember as you also establish a contact and
many times lasting friendships.  If you can..... 
please attend as it is an experience that you'll want again and again.

Thank you for your commitment and dedication to one of the best
organizations of which you could ever be a part.

Respectfully,
Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CAP
Deputy Director, Public Affairs
MER

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