[PAO] CAP-PAO Digest, Vol 64, Issue 4

[Lt Col Annette Carlson]

Hi Steven,
I'm truly not trying to be argumentative... just additional discussion
here...

National conference 650 / 60,000 members = 0.011 response rate.

our Wing conference designed - held locally, and at a venue that allowed
 lower cost for both the conference and lodging -
attracted 256 / 2,075 = 0.12 response rate

My point here is:

   - *Travel* is central to the mass population
   - *Registration* cost is low ($50) for both conf and banquet
   - *Lodging* cost is low ($55) /night (university housing on campus)
   - venue and program is standard to CAP conferences

the key is accessibility - the bottom line is cost to the volunteer - the
$$ flying out of our own pockets -  in all areas:  registration, lodging
and travel.

Perhaps the local wing conference will always attract a higher rate over
the National conference, simply because it's closer to home for our
volunteers.


Thanks,
Annette

Thank YOU for all YOU do in CAP!

Annette Carlson, Lt Col, CAP
Wing Public Affairs & Information Officer (PAO/PIO)
Civil Air Patrol Pennsylvania Wing
P: 412-731-4547
C: 215-262-9888
E: pao at pawg.cap.gov

www.pawg.cap.gov  <https://www.pawg.cap.gov/frontpage>
<http://www.pawg.cap.gov/>
www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com <http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/>


*CIVIL AIR PATROL Pennsylvania -- Mission 4: Excellence in the Spirit of
Service! *


>
> Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 13:54:42 -0700
> From: Steven Solomon <ssolomon at cap.gov>
> To: "cap-pao at lists.sempervigilans.org"
>         <cap-pao at lists.sempervigilans.org>
> Subject: [PAO] Annual Conference comments
> Message-ID:
>         <
> CAFVMVuQTvK4-YXC7Ux1RK_O4TKENM91UKy5BPAe1Ti6kHnimhQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hello,
>
> There has been much discussion the last few days on this list-serv about
> the cost, location and even the necessity of CAP's annual conference. Some
> of my PAO colleagues have even gone so far as to question renewing their
> CAP membership. I'd like to share a few of my thoughts.
>
> Although many of you said you wouldn't be attending this year's conference
> due to the cost, the latest stats (three weeks prior) show that more than
> 650 people are registered at this point and we expect to have between
> 700-800 by the time registration closes. This means that this conference
> will be one of the largest (if not the largest) national conferences CAP
> has had in the past 10 years. That's a success by any measure.
>
>
> But this doesn't mean that concerns about cost fall on deaf ears. I know
> personally that the National Staff takes the input of all our members very
> seriously. Past conference survey comments have indicated that reducing the
> cost of the conference hotel is very important to our members and the
> National Staff is doing its best to do that.
>
>
> For example, this year?s hotel rates were the lowest we know of in recent
> history: $75 for Mon-Thurs and $110 for Fri-Sat. This includes free parking
> and free Internet in guest rooms. The hotel waived its normal
> conference/resort fee of $19.99. The hotel sold out of the CAP room block
> before the cutoff date because so many CAP members took advantage of the
> low room rates. The hotel provided many additional rooms to CAP members at
> the same low contracted price even though they were not obligated to do so.
>
>
> Also, food and beverages are expensive at hotels. On top of food costs most
> hotels charge a 22% service fee plus taxes. This is true whether you go to
> a smaller city or a larger one. The total is usually 30-32% above the cost
> of the F&B. (CAP is not tax exempt in many states when purchasing F&B). To
> reduce the cost of meals for our members, like the prayer breakfast ($15)
> or the banquet (early bird registration was $60), CAP subsidized the cost
> of these events. The actual cost of these meals is much higher.
>
>
> The early bird registration fee was $99. This is the same it has been for
> many years. Most other non-CAP conferences that provide similar
> professional development opportunities charge $400 or more for their
> conference fees. Check it.
>
>
> The banquet speaker, Air Force Maj Gen Kevin McLaughlin, and special guest
> speaker, famous aviation fiction author Dale Brown, are not being
> compensated for speaking. Both have special ties to CAP. Gen McLaughlin and
> his wife are very active in CAP as are their three sons. Gen McLaughlin is
> also commander of AF Cyber Command so this is another tie to CAP?s
> important cyber role. Capt Dale Brown is a CAP squadron commander in NV.
>
>
> In general, holding conferences at smaller cities could help reduce the
> cost of hotel rooms but it is usually more expensive to fly into cities
> like that, so the out-of-pocket expenses might offset each other unless you
> are driving.
>
> NHQ plans on National Conference attendance being between 500-800.  These
> numbers and the fact that we require a lot of breakout rooms to hold
> between 50-60 Learning Labs during the conference limits the hotels we can
> use to only larger ones. Using conference centers is usually more expensive
> overall than using larger hotels that can accommodate CAP.
>
> NHQ tries to move the conference around the country each year so it will be
> close to a large population of CAP members who could drive in to attend. In
> 2015 CAP is planning to have it nearer the eastern part of the United
> States, because it has been farther west in 2013 and 2014.
>
>
> Finally, at the upcoming conference we are delighted that we will be
> conducting limited testing on the ability for our members to virtually
> attend key professional development sessions via webinars. If the tests go
> well this year, and we expect they will, CAP will increase the number of
> Professional Development sessions that will be broadcast via webinars in
> 2015. This will allow more CAP members to participate in specific events
> even if they can?t attend the conference in person.
>
>
> I hope my input helps answer some of the questions you've had. But because
> NHQ doesn't monitor this list-serv, I suggest using the chain of command if
> you'd like official feedback. And as always, you may call me at any time.
>
>
> Regards,
> Steven
>
>
> STEVEN SOLOMON, Lt Col, CAP
> National Public Affairs Officer
> Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters
> 105 South Hansell St., Building 714
> Maxwell AFB AL 36112-5937
> s <ssolomon at cap.gov>solomon at cap.gov <ssolomon at cap.gov>
> Cell: 240-505-6279
>
>
>
> End of CAP-PAO Digest, Vol 64, Issue 4
> **************************************
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sempervigilans.org/pipermail/cap-pao/attachments/20140722/c932b96b/attachment.html>