From
the Chairman of the 2012
Reunion
…..Please register early
A small
group of dedicated volunteers work hard all year to put together a memorable
Reunion
for our members, families and friends. This
small group has to commit to entertainment and hotel contracts months and
sometimes even years in advance without knowing how many people will attend a
particular
Reunion
. This creates financial risk for
the VHPA to the extent that in some years it is almost a "bet the
farm" type of situation.
There is
nothing more frustrating than having to re-negotiate tens of thousands of
dollars in hotel and vendor commitments at the last minute because we are unsure
of attendance. This not only has the
potential of affecting the quality of the Reunion but also takes away financial
advantages because we have to "give away" benefits (like lower drink
and food prices and free rooms for staff and entertainers that now we must pay
for) to lower financial risk. Believe
me, the hotel takes advantage of our vulnerability.
The Orlando
Reunion was a perfect example. A few
weeks before the
Reunion
, registrations were so light it looked like we were going to miss our hotel
room block commitment which would have created tens of thousands of dollars in
penalties. In other words, we were
going to have to pay for empty rooms. Because
of that, we re-negotiated the room block with the hotel and thus gave thousands
of dollars in benefits back to the hotel. We
had to minimize our loss. Everything
we saw said the Orlando Reunion was going to lose money.
Then at the last minute reservations picked up and we met the original
room block, so giving up the benefits turned into money lost to the VHPA.
The hotel was happy because they made more money.
We went
from a potential substantial loss to a slight "profit" thanks mainly
to Mike Law's excellent
Reunion
management. But if Reunion
Registrations and room reservations had been made earlier, we would not have had
to re-negotiate the hotel contract, we would have generated a nice reserve for
future Reunions and the Reunion Committeemen would not have gained a bunch of
gray hair.
For
Reunion
planning purposes, we really need people to register early and not wait till
the last minute. There are
significant financial ramifications to the VHPA if we get projected attendance
wrong so the earlier we know who’s coming, the lower the risk.
Experience indicates that opening registration in December is far better
than in January or February, so we have moved everything forward and on-line
registration for the New Orleans Reunion went on-line in mid-December.
But, having the
Reunion
planning complete by mid December meant that the schedule, pricing, contracts,
attendance numbers and the monetary commitment calculations also had to be
complete by then. And so the
“Guessing-Game” has begun; but unlike a lot of games, tens of thousands of
dollars are again at stake.
Please do
your part and register early for the
Reunion
. Some events are capacity limited
and the hotel room block is also limited. If
you wait to register for the
Reunion
, you might miss out on some events plus you might not get the special $119 a
night hotel room rate. Besides, this
Reunion
will be a lot of fun and one you don’t want to miss! Register
now.
Thanks for
registering early,
Gary Roush
E-Mail: webmaster@vhpa.org
National
Reunion
Committee Chairman
