[Nfbmo] Convention Follow-up

Tue Apr 11 05:26:28 UTC 2017

Friends,

For the record, nobody has said anything disparaging or critical of me.  In
fact, it has been quite the opposite.  I have felt nothing but love and
understanding from my federation family, which is truly an awesome thing
but isn't that what the federation is about, at least in part.  That is
what we do, we encourage each other, we have patients for each other and of
course we love each other.  Oh, wow, now I realize #WhyIAmAFederationist.

I want you all to know that even though we sometimes get mixed up in the
politics of the moment, some disagreements and petty bickering at times I
do care deeply for my entire federation family.

I do truly appreciate all of the kind words and patients that everyone has
shown with my efforts.  Thank you so very much.

Very Sincerely,
Randy Carmack
NFBMO.org Website Administrator
randycarmack at gmail.com

On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 11:35 PM, Bryan Schulz via Nfbmo <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I didn't slam Randy, just typed a comment!
> No need for you to try to stir the pot!
> Bryan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Horchem Gary
> via
> Nfbmo
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2017 10:57 PM
> To: 'NFB of Missouri Mailing List'
> Cc: Horchem Gary
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Convention Follow-up
>
> I went the Minnesota State Convention in 2015 and 2016 yeah the room were
> expensive at $100 a night the food was pricey and in 2015 the hotel was
> crap
> and the hospitality suite we used in 2015 was big enough to fit 15 people
> (I
> counted about 40 in the room by the end of the night) and the stream didn't
> work on 2015 but did in 2016 and they used my setup but I didn't hear any
> complaints from people they came to enjoy other company and to support the
> work on the National Federation of the Blind. We should all get used to the
> fact of the days of the $69 a night hotel rooms are long gone (unless you
> want the state convention held at a Motel 6) hotel costs keep going up you
> can keep the status quo. Or suck it up and be ready to pay more to go to
> the
> state convention and remember when someone new comes in to take over a job
> such as streaming the convention cut them some slack. Yeah the video feed
> sounded like a good idea until you get to the hotel and find out they block
> a port you need. Bottom line when you go to the state convention your
> trying
> to make a good first impression on possible new members and the city where
> the convention is being held.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Gene Coulter
> via
> Nfbmo
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2017 9:43 PM
> To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
> Cc: Gene Coulter
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Convention Follow-up
>
> Actually we tried to plug-in to the Google Fire at the hotel but their I T
> professional  allegedly told the banquet manager that if we did that it
> would take down the wi-fi for the entire meeting room area. It did not
> sound
> right to  Randy, Gary, or me. So, you see only part of what Randy was
> dealing with.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bryan Schulz via Nfbmo
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2017 9:05 PM
> To: 'NFB of Missouri Mailing List'
> Cc: Bryan Schulz
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Convention Follow-up
>
> Hi,
>
> To be clear I was not one of the three without a ticket!
> My major issues with the joint were;
> The bed was extra uncomfortable and my back was really hurting thru Sunday
> and I heard others at breakfast who were irritated as well, No matter how
> many times I pressed the down arrow, the room temperature never lowered
> below about 75, The market/snack shop closed at 12:00 when people were
> seeking other lunch options and were forced to visit the restaurant which
> seemed under staffed and unprepared to serve people.
> The host chapters did a great job and we have had problems with the
> streaming since 2008.
> Basically it comes down to do we want to pay the fee to plug in the cable
> or
> bang our head against the wall every year?
> Bryan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Gene Coulter
> via
> Nfbmo
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2017 7:39 PM
> To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
> Cc: Gene Coulter
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Convention Follow-up
>
> I hadn't intended on commenting on the problem with meal shortages on both
> Saturday meals,  but after the feedback  I will let folks know what
> happened.
> Per our contract we are to let the hotel know on Monday or Tuesday of
> convention week how to set up meeting rooms and our final meal counts.
> This
>
> is true of every single hotel I've dealt with. This is the first time there
> has been any trouble. None of the changes I notified them on Monday were
> made. For example, the door prize table was not in general session nor was
> the  extra table for the parent's seminar. With the contract I had given
> the
>
> hotel guarantees of 75 meals for Saturday and 100 meals for banquet, again
> normal numbers. On Monday I updated these numbers to my best estimate of 88
> for lunch and 120 for banquet. We limited Saturday lunch sales to 90  and
> sold 89, so there should have been no shortage. and on Saturday nightI
> limited us to 124 and we sold 121.
> My best guess is that the sales manager never gave the  Monday count to the
> catering and banquet department; again a first ever occurance. The sales
> manager was very unprofessional and I would never book anything through him
> again.
>   I suspect our troubles with the hotel are not finished as we have not
> received the bill and may not as I tried to change our address on at least
> 4
>
> occasions but all the paperwork shows our address from 5 years ago!
> In the past we have taken tickets at the door and this will have to resume
> next year as we are  aware that some folks in the room did not have
> tickets.
>
> Long standing policy is that without a ticket you could not enter a meal. I
> intend to propose to our President and the board that next year we take
> tickets at the door and rip them in half giving you back half the ticket so
> you can re-enter if you need to leave the room.
> I hope this answers some of the concerns.
> Gene
> -----Original Message-----
> From: robynwallen--- via Nfbmo
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2017 3:49 PM
> To: nfbmo at nfbnet.org
> Cc: robynwallen at juno.com
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Convention Follow-up
>
>
>
> I see nothing wrong with raising the prices a little bit.  My feeling is
> that people afford that which they wish to afford.   Honestly even $37 to
> $40 for a banquet meal once a year is a fair and decent price.   The only
> thing I will tell you Gene is we did overhear the staff saying that they
> were concerned because the count given to the hotel was less than the meals
> ordered and they were not sure about having enough food.  In fact we heard
> them tell servers to quickly take the salads and place settings off any
> tables that were not seated yet to make sure they had enough.  They were
> actually doing this and this is an embarrassment when you have guests at
> your banquets and something you should never see happen.  I am not sure how
> there ended up being more meals ordered than what the hotel had been given
> so I won't comment on that but typically hotels do prepare at least 10
> extra
>
> plates that are not charged to a group in case of last minute guests.    I
> really think this was the biggest issue and I NEVER like to see a hotel
> staff picking up settings after they have set the tables because they do
> not
>
> think there is enough.  One person at our table had been at the bar and her
> salad was taken twice before she got back.  She finally had her salad and
> had someone not asked she would have never gotten her meal.   This was a
> serious problem you should be aware of.  I hesitate to speak up because I
> do
>
> not want you  to think I am being critical or trying to change things but
> you need to know what was overheard and seen to plan for the future. Robyn
>
> ____________________________________________________________
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