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Chicago Seminar DO October 16th and 17th 2010

Chicago Seminar DO October 16th and 17th 2010

Old Oct 22, 2010, 11:41 am
  #1501  
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Originally Posted by El_Chiflero
they went well with Jameson!
Seriously - have I taught you nothing? Jameson & caviar do not mix. Heck, Jameson & fruit don't mix. Jameson should be drank straight up neat. Geesh. Of course what do I know. I only drink champagne, wine, vodka & occasionally beer.

Cheers.
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Old Oct 22, 2010, 11:55 am
  #1502  
 
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Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
Seriously - have I taught you nothing? Jameson & caviar do not mix. Heck, Jameson & fruit don't mix. Jameson should be drank straight up neat. Geesh. Of course what do I know. I only drink champagne, wine, vodka & occasionally beer.

Cheers.
On the contrary, Jameson is the personal "escort", she mingles well with everything
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Old Oct 22, 2010, 1:12 pm
  #1503  
 
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CafePress discount code

Good for 48 hours only; worth 15% off your order. Not sure if it can be stacked with the Groupons or not. If you didn't get a shirt and wanted one, use promo code FAVES when checking out.

http://www.cafepress.com/Flyertalk
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Old Oct 22, 2010, 3:25 pm
  #1504  
 
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Thanks to the organizers!

A very belated thank you, and kudos to the tireless organizers of this event. :-: :-:
I had a great time, and as others have stated, think the $20 fee was an absolute steal, for the vast amount of knowledge the speakers were willing to share with us.
As for the food complaints, I thought the food was just fine. I agree that it would have been nice to have some fruit, but that was certainly not a dealbreaker.
The meals were included in the room rate, and given the opportunity, I'd leap at the chance to attend something similar again.

I know people just loooooove to complain about every little thing here on FT, but, really? FlyerTalk tips, techniques & secrets for $20?! :-:
A decent room rate, that included meals & shuttles back and forth between the other hotels as well as the airport, and a open-bar reception?
AND, got to earn points/stay credits too?
Plus, the chance to mingle with a large group of like-minded travel fanatics? To me, that is priceless! ^

There is nothing wrong with constructive comments, so that the next event can be even better.
But to hear the whining and complaining about some small things gone amiss, when the overall event was so well organized, useful, and fun, to me is just sad.
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Old Oct 22, 2010, 5:16 pm
  #1505  
 
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Originally Posted by noneemac
Since mommafrica asked, I will answer:

Mr. Pickles, challett, LLM, and I spent a fair amount of time brainstorming ideas for a food-and-wine-related DO in San Diego, tentatively for next March or early April. (I trust there will be some FTers from chilly northern climes who would be down for a trip to sunny San Diego in late winter?)

I will start a thread about it and post a link to it here in this thread.

Get excited!
Loved my week in Chicago and the opportunity to meet so many enthusiastic travelers. I love our passion.

San Diego - now that is in driving distance so I am in.

If workshops are happening then give me a two session slot and I'll do a hotel programs overview for beginners and the heavy hitting comparisons of programs for a second session.

And if you want the seminars before then I am in the market to present hotel loyalty programs to frequent guests and wannabe frequent guests.
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 2:33 am
  #1506  
 
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+1

Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
Again, many thanks to the organizers for doing a fab job! Learned lots, met some new folk, chatted w/ folk I knew, had great volunteers for the charity raffle!

Re: the person who PM'd toomanybooks re: the youtube, my opinion is the PM & 'outing' (even if not by name) by toomanybooks was unnecessary, & thus caused some of the subsequent negative core dump on the individual & sidetracking of this thread when the focus should have been on what was a great seminar weekend.

The matter could have been handled privately & changes to verbiage, postings, waivers in the future, could just have been done, without fanfare or snarkiness, and no one to the wiser if changes were made to forms other than the organizers, due to a PM this year.

I also think that that since so much had been made about a 'no video' clause that someone attending, unless the organizers said otherwise at the beginning of the Do, would have the expectation that there would not be any videos & thus if someone needed advance permission from employers, then they didn't know in advance to get it. So I think harping on someone after the fact is a bit not cool.

And anyone who's ever attended a conference knows what large seminar rooms look like, and the dividing buffer walls. While the 21 seconds of poor quality & whatever else description used by toomanybooks might be fun for some to see, I doubt if our worlds will fall apart if we can't see them on youtube

FWIW - I am not the person who PM'd and since I'm in a lot of FT videos & pics at Dos, etc, obviously I don't care if I'm shown, but fair is fair.

Right now I think our organizers should be focusing on more serious things, such as getting to some warm, exotic beach & sipping drinks w/ umbrellas on them, having gotten there on tickets purchased w/ bump vouchers & using hotel points

Cheers.
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 4:05 am
  #1507  
 
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Originally Posted by ingy
You paid $20 for thousands of dollars of information. Thousands of dollars. The hotel forget fruit. The hottub did not work. My hot water didn't work I was so far from the lobby in the last room. So what? It is very discouraging for us, after all our hard work to hear people complain about a banana, non functioning hot tub or a few missing PC points. Some of you seem to be forgetting that the hotel provided coffee and drinks for our local attendees that were not charged anything for those services.

Food would not be allowed with theater seating under any conditions. I picked up enough discarded coke cans and coffee cups. Somebody actually brought a bottle of booze into the seminar area. Another no no, showing complere disrespect to the speakers and other attendees.

This was a volunteer sponsored event. We could not and will not think of everything. We can not and will not please everybody.

We are looking for constructive meaningful suggestions to improve the seminar. If you did not get a sufficient value because there was no fruit, put it on the survey or skip the event next year.

The survey should be out today to most.

Meaningful thoughtful responses please. And as my daddy always said to me:

"Winners laugh and tell jokes while losers piss and moan"

Stepping down off soapbox now.
Respectfully, ingy, I did not mean to come off as a pisser and moaner. If I did, I apologize. I think I mentioned that my quibbles were minor, and if I failed to be constructive, I'll accept that criticism.

Not only do I think the DO was a great value, I also went out of the way to praise you and Kathleen for your efforts, both in person and here in this thread.

Not having fresh fruit at the breakfasts was a bummer, but not a deal breaker. But seriously, are people really seeing this as "pissing and moaning" to merely question why the caterer couldn't have popped 20 bananas and 20 oranges onto the delivery truck?

People should not be conflating the seminars and the catering. It's neither inconsistent nor petulant to simultaneously praise the event organizers while critiquing the catering.

As a volunteer who put in several hours on behalf of the DO, I feel it's not unbecoming to note a few minor areas in which we can enhance the experience. By doing so, I did not mean to denigrate anyone's efforts.




Originally Posted by El_Chiflero
I didn't fly to Chicago to eat lavish caviar at the seminar and neither did anybody else I imagine. We went to the seminar for information on getting more miles, points, free trips, awards. So what if the sandwiches for sunday's lunch sucked? You could've had a burger at Old Chicago for less then $10 if u wanted better food. The important thing is what we learned, the fun times we had and meeting everyone. Think of the voucher as standard equipment; you want better food, it's an optional extra.
I did order a burger at Old Chicago for Sunday lunch, then I gave Win my lunch voucher, which I was told would reduce the overall cost of the event. I hope everyone else with unused vouchers also gave them back to the event organizers.


Originally Posted by Blue Skye
i see that ingy has already addressed your complaints but i wanted to comment on a few of your points.

i have put together a catered event/seminar (on a much smaller scale) for 3 yrs in a row. the cost of everything that goes into even a small event is staggering.

the rooms for the event, every table and chair have a cost. sometimes you can negotiate items tossed in for free, sometimes not. the charge for waitstaff, bartenders, power cords, and the list goes on and on. the food amounts to a huge chunk of change. there is no way to make everyone happy given the budgetary limits. while i do agree the lack of fruit for breakfast and lunch is something i personally missed, it is not a deal breaker.

from my perspective based on my own event planning, i know the organizers did the best job they could given that this was the first ever DO of this size etc. if one has never done something like this, it is a huge eye opener to just how much it costs for an event and everything that goes with it. it is not simply a matter of getting food at exactly what it would cost at a restaurant, it is akin to paying for food, gratuity and the large group add on for each person. so your $15 breakfast/person ends up costing more like $25 or $30. (not real math just a general number)

again, kudos to the professional event planners as well as Rick and Win and their gang of awesome FTers.
Agreed.
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 5:42 am
  #1508  
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I suspect anyone complaining about the catering (and frankly, I didn't love the food) isn't giving much thought to what it costs to have food catered at a hotel or similar venue.

I give a huge ^^^ to the organizers for making the event accessible to all.

A room rate of $89++ that included breakfast, lunch, and a cocktail reception for one person? That's really quite incredible.

As a presenter I paid my own way to the conference because some folks thought that I had something to offer to my fellow FTers, and I've gotten much from the community so I was happy to.

Personally I'd have come out of pocket for a higher-end property and better, more expensive food offerings. But then the event would have been very different and not nearly as open to as many folks.

We're all in different positions and also willing to spend different amounts even given similar financial positions. The organizers made the decision to make the event as inexpensive as possible.

And I think we pretty much all knew, or reasonably should have known, what to expect: an airport Holiday Inn, and catering from an airport Holiday Inn.

And it was a perfectly decent airport Holiday Inn. Was there food from the previous guest on the floor of my bathroom when I checked in? Sure. but it was a piece of chocolate in the crack between the entryway and the bathroom, I can see how housekeeping might have missed it.

To folks who feel 'hosed' at this price point, I think there are unreasonable expectations. Everyone gave a tremendous amount to make this all happen. And facilities-wise and food-wise we got as much as can reasonably be expected at the price point.

Saying that food or facilities should have been better realistically means more expensive. That works for some, not for others.

I'd have loved better food. I'm not sure I want the event to be one where eveyrone has to pay more in order to get it...

FWIW.
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 7:32 am
  #1509  
 
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I agree with Gleff. Not everyone can spring for a W Hotel and the catering that comes with such a location. It's a Holiday Inn with a actually cool restaurant in it. Be glad it wasn't say a Motel 6!
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 7:43 am
  #1510  
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Originally Posted by gleff
I suspect anyone complaining about the catering (and frankly, I didn't love the food) isn't giving much thought to what it costs to have food catered at a hotel or similar venue.

I give a huge ^^^ to the organizers for making the event accessible to all.

A room rate of $89++ that included breakfast, lunch, and a cocktail reception for one person? That's really quite incredible.

As a presenter I paid my own way to the conference because some folks thought that I had something to offer to my fellow FTers, and I've gotten much from the community so I was happy to.

Personally I'd have come out of pocket for a higher-end property and better, more expensive food offerings. But then the event would have been very different and not nearly as open to as many folks.

We're all in different positions and also willing to spend different amounts even given similar financial positions. The organizers made the decision to make the event as inexpensive as possible.

And I think we pretty much all knew, or reasonably should have known, what to expect: an airport Holiday Inn, and catering from an airport Holiday Inn.

And it was a perfectly decent airport Holiday Inn. Was there food from the previous guest on the floor of my bathroom when I checked in? Sure. but it was a piece of chocolate in the crack between the entryway and the bathroom, I can see how housekeeping might have missed it.

To folks who feel 'hosed' at this price point, I think there are unreasonable expectations. Everyone gave a tremendous amount to make this all happen. And facilities-wise and food-wise we got as much as can reasonably be expected at the price point.

Saying that food or facilities should have been better realistically means more expensive. That works for some, not for others.

I'd have loved better food. I'm not sure I want the event to be one where eveyrone has to pay more in order to get it...

FWIW.
^^^^^

I read this while in the midst of writing similar comments on my evaluation. You said it better! While I would have been willing to pay more, I usually choose fairly economical hotel options, in order to extend my travel $ as far as they will go. And I would hate for anyone to have missed this awesome event because it had been priced out of their comfort zone (or have their non-FT partner cringing at where they were blowing the family budget--lol). The organizers deserve huge thanks for managing an incredible balancing act in this dept! We received enormous value for what was in effect a +/-$300 weekend, plus air, but who's counting that
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 7:48 am
  #1511  
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Originally Posted by gleff
I suspect anyone complaining about the catering (and frankly, I didn't love the food) isn't giving much thought to what it costs to have food catered at a hotel or similar venue.
As a local it was not important to me however thank you for considering the concerns of many and expressing it so well.^
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 8:16 am
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The food was fine. No one came for the food.
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 9:57 am
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I thought the food was fine.

Agreed you can't please everyone. I have booked group hotel rooms for soccer tournaments for years - if you book a Courtyard by Marriott most will be pleased but some will piss and moan we didn't book a full service Marriott at $50 more a night while some will piss and moan about the room rate and how we should have booked Motel 6 for less.

In my long experience the people pissing and moaning *NEVER* step up and volunteer to organize the rooms for the next year's soccer tournament.

I agree you have to go a little downscale so as not to overly burden the people for whom money is a real issue. Those of us like me and gleff who would prefer more upscale can suck it up better than those who truly are burdened by a higher cost and in this economy that could be many.

For what I paid for two nights hotel and a couple of dinners in Old Chicago (a stromboli one night and fish and chips the other - both excellent) vs what I got in return - like ingy said literally THOUSANDS of $$$ in value and meeting some really great like minded people - like the Mastercard commercials - PRICELESS.
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 10:54 am
  #1514  
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Originally Posted by gardener
I thought the food was fine.

Agreed you can't please everyone. I have booked group hotel rooms for soccer tournaments for years - if you book a Courtyard by Marriott most will be pleased but some will piss and moan we didn't book a full service Marriott at $50 more a night while some will piss and moan about the room rate and how we should have booked Motel 6 for less.

In my long experience the people pissing and moaning *NEVER* step up and volunteer to organize the rooms for the next year's soccer tournament.

I agree you have to go a little downscale so as not to overly burden the people for whom money is a real issue. Those of us like me and gleff who would prefer more upscale can suck it up better than those who truly are burdened by a higher cost and in this economy that could be many.

For what I paid for two nights hotel and a couple of dinners in Old Chicago (a stromboli one night and fish and chips the other - both excellent) vs what I got in return - like ingy said literally THOUSANDS of $$$ in value and meeting some really great like minded people - like the Mastercard commercials - PRICELESS.
+1!^
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Old Oct 23, 2010, 12:10 pm
  #1515  
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I was able to attend most of the weekend events in spite of having to work all day Friday and arriving at ORD early Saturday morning. Forgive me if I was very tired on Saturday. Glad I was able to attend!

The hotel & breakfast/lunch were exceptionally priced. I would have been willing to pay more than $20 for the conference. The hotel was decent and I thank the event planners/volunteers for all their time & energy put into this event.

I used the last of my UA miles (saver award) for the return. 2 RJ's in coach (ORD-SLC-LAX) is not my idea of fun. I struck out on UA bumps but I got home on time.


In Chicago AA Admirals club doing the PIT DEQM run.
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