[PAO] National Board

Sun Jul 20 10:39:53 CDT 2014

A few years back, the National Conference was held in Louisville, Kentucky,
a smaller city.  Was also more centrally located so many members were able
to drive.

What did everyone think about that venue?

DAVID A. MILLER, Lt Col, CAP
Deputy Director of Public Affairs, MOWG
dtamnet at gmail.com

On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 10:24 AM, lockit3 <lockit3 at att.net> wrote:

> 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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