Post edited 2:43 pm – October 30, 2010 by Kellic

OK here is the deal with the Halloween event.  I told Yarrick about this at the last meet.  Normally I don't go into the details about hotel searches, but because there was such a mass interest in this I will in this case.

We started the search for an event location aprox 2 months ago.  Actually I started about 2.5 months ago, but yah.  We narrowed down our list of possible sites to about 5-6.  The first issue we faced was price: the simple fact is if you hand me a grand or so….yah.  I can get whatever you guys want.  However with our budget our choices and frankly our negotiating strength is limited.  As such our choices around the metro are limited.

Beyond price one of the other issues that we faced time and again pertains to an industry term called corkage fee.  Traditionally in an event space the hotel charges a premium for ANY food or drink brought in from outside.  Keep in mind this is event space.  NOT a hotel room.  Usually with a person with the right negotiating skills this can be waved through various means.  Now when I say they would charge us.  You can't just say you won't bring food in and then do it anyways with a can of pop or something.  These people aren't idiots.  The MOD or banquet manager usually shows up at some point and if they see food that is a breach of contract.  They could kick us out, or more likely tack that charge onto the bill.  Several locations weren't willing to wave this fee, but some where willing to work with us.  However I consider not waving corkage to be a deal killer for us.

Next up is availability.  Simply put there are other Halloween parties out there with many more people, people willing to pay a premium, and frankly people willing to drop some serious bank on catering of the party.  The locations we wanted, simply put, were booked well in advance.  In some cases well before we talked about a Halloween event.

Finally there is simply a lack of response to our inquiries. Several of the hotels simply didn't answer our request.  Our best chance for a cheap, flexable location was the Thunderbird.  We contacted them.  Our rep there sent our request to sales.  Then nothing.  It fell into a black hole.  We have tried several times to contact them, but nothing.  Short of going over there and holding a gun to their head, if they don't respond there is nothing I can do to change this.  However as of last week they did respond.  However a week out from the event.  I'm not willing to put $600+ on my credit card for that gamble that we are going to get enough people to show at the last minute.

Which brings me to my next point.  Cash.  Hotels are not going to accept an upfront cash deposit and leave it at that.  I would have had to hold the room with my card. (Say anywhere from 600-$800 with a possible room charge for anything else such as shampooing the carpet, etc.)  So any "incidents" in the space.  Guess who gets shafted?  I'm willing to do that for the group.  As long as this even is planned out months in advance.

Trust me when I say I'm fucking steamed about this.    Several people contacted me and I had to do my best to bite my tongue and tell them I damn well know this is not working out.  I had several activities planned along with a pumpkin carving contest where I was going to bring in 6 pumpkins and we break up into teams.  Don't tell me you are annoyed.  I lost money on this already.  Tried returning the pumpkins…not so much.

Now that said.  We have a cash reserve of about $630 right now.  We can do a winter event, or start planning on a Halloween party next year on Sat the 29th.

PS- AND I WILL CONTINUE TO SAY THIS.  I _WILL NOT_ USE THE FORUMS AS A PRIMARY MEANS OF COMMUNICATION.  SOMETHING GETS POSTED HERE SOMEONE NEEDS TO ACTIVLY VISIT THE SITE TO KNOW ABOUT IT.  And I'll be blunt:  I don't have the time to visit sites to find out if I have an interal IM.

PPS-  No one talked to me about any alternate locations other then Jade.  He was going to look into renting out his …*shrugs*  clubhouse or whatever it was called.  By the time he got back to me on Thurs of last week.  Its too late.