Originally Posted by Dovster
* $1,540 to rent 14 extension cords at $5 each per day for three weeks at the Wyndham Peaks Resort and Golden Door Spa in Telluride, Colo;
I can tell you this -- in private industry, anyone who authorized the rental of these extension cords would be fired. Presumably, Telluride has a hardware store where all 14 could have been bought for a total of about $60 and then kept for future conventions.
I agree that is one solution, but in some places it couldn't be implemented. The extension cords generally go to AV equipment (LCD projectors, sound mixers, laptop podiums, etc.), and many hotels won't allow anyone but their own staff to supply and set up the equipment. The resulting bill itemzes every piece of gear they use (I have even seen "gaffer's tape" listed, that being what they use to tape the cables down to the carpet so that people won't trip on them). The AV staff won't use your extension cords. They supply their own, or nothing doing. This goes double in a union town, where you can get into trouble with the union for moving a table ten feet.
For the conference that I mentioned previously, our AV costs have sometimes approached $20,000 for four days of presentations. This can always be negotiated with the hotel to make a complete conference package, but they're going to get their money, one way or another.
While I agree that $1540 is an unconscionable amount of money to spend to rent extension cords, hotels have no hesitation in charging it.