MSHA Conference Q & A: From Your Evaluations

Dawn Kutney, B.A., Editor

Perhaps You Didn't Know...

At the 2016 MSHA Conference in Grand Rapids:

►Audio-VIsual costs were over $12,000.00. More than we pay at most other hotels that we use, but AV costs vary from $6000 - $8000 per conference.

►Our luncheons on Friday and Saturday are offered to you for $25 but in fact cost MSHA around $38 each so we do subsidize part of your lunch, but at that cost we cannot offer it for free.

►A gallon of coffee costs $42 dollars on average and tea costs the same. Think about that one.

►We pay between 26-28% service and gratuity charges on ALL food & beverages costs at hotels for the MSHA conference. So when planning we know we will pay almost a third more than what we are actually ordering.

►When we book hotels for MSHA Conferences, one of our challenges is that we must reserve a block of sleeping rooms - sometimes the whole hotel - for our attendees and if we don't fill this block, we will get charged additional meeting room charges. Which could be around $5000 per day. So that is just one reason why we encourage you to stay at our hotel - the room rates are reasonable and are negotiated with the deeply desired hope that we use them all, or else we will dearly pay.

►There aren't that many hotels in Michigan that fit our needs. We are not a small group, but we are not a large one either. Because our members work in diverse settings ranging from public schools to hospitals to universities - we require significant meeting room space to offer a variety of speakers. We don't all go to 1 class - we don't need a room that seats 700 people. We do need rooms that seat 100 or 60 or 200 maybe. Our Program Planning committee is made up of SLP volunteers - we do visit sites around the state - we do keep in mind all of your requests and needs and we strive to meet those needs while providing quality speakers in attractive and comfortable settings. We above all keep your finances in mind as we plan our conferences. They are our finances too!


MSHA Conference Q & A: From Your Evaluations Dawn Kutney, B.A., Editor Perhaps You Didn't Know... At the 2016 MSHA Conference in Grand Rapids: ►Audio-VIsual costs were over $12,000.00. More than we pay at most other hotels that we use, but AV costs vary from $6000 - $8000 per conference. ►Our luncheons on Friday and Saturday are offered to you for $25 but in fact cost MSHA around $38 each so we do subsidize part of your lunch, but at that cost we cannot offer it for free. ►A gallon of coffee costs $42 dollars on average and tea costs the same. Think about that one. ►We pay between 26-28% service and gratuity charges on ALL food & beverages costs at hotels for the MSHA conference. So when planning we know we will pay almost a third more than what we are actually ordering. ►When we book hotels for MSHA Conferences, one of our challenges is that we must reserve a block of sleeping rooms - sometimes the whole hotel - for our attendees and if we don't fill this block, we will get charged additional meeting room charges. Which could be around $5000 per day. So that is just one reason why we encourage you to stay at our hotel - the room rates are reasonable and are negotiated with the deeply desired hope that we use them all, or else we will dearly pay. ►There aren't that many hotels in Michigan that fit our needs. We are not a small group, but we are not a large one either. Because our members work in diverse settings ranging from public schools to hospitals to universities - we require significant meeting room space to offer a variety of speakers. We don't all go to 1 class - we don't need a room that seats 700 people. We do need rooms that seat 100 or 60 or 200 maybe. Our Program Planning committee is made up of SLP volunteers - we do visit sites around the state - we do keep in mind all of your requests and needs and we strive to meet those needs while providing quality speakers in attractive and comfortable settings. We above all keep your finances in mind as we plan our conferences. They are our finances too!
et cetera - Fall 2016