Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottsmrnyc
If it is going to be in NYC again, I think we should find a great hotel in Manhattan. Prices on hotels in Manhattan have dropped by as much as 40%. The hotel that was used in Queens is not good enough in my opinion to do a CanJam 2010 justice. The Hilton that was just used for Canjam 2009, the hotel that was used in Ft Lauderdale in 2008 and the hotel used San Jose in 2007 were all more than adequate. Let's face it, if our members could go out and spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on audio equipment; they should also be able to spend a little bit extra for a great hotel room in Manhattan. Scottsmrnyc
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I agree that when CanJam returns to New York (as invariably it will), it would be appropriate to move it to a larger venue that could be more accommodating for a group that--by then--will likely to be at least twice as large as our meet there was in 2006. It would also be appropriate to find a nicer hotel and (as you've suggested) in Manhattan if at all possible in terms of the cost factor.
But having said that, to be fair to the organizers of the FIRST ever CanJam (as it is now known), there were a lot of variables at play that led to the (I'd argue rather wise) decision to have it at a modest hotel in Queens. Here are a few that come to mind:
1) They had previously held meets at that hotel and had done so successfully and without many complaints from those who attended.
2) It was by far cheaper (as you say, prices of hotels in Manhattan have dropped significantly of late) and thus made it much more likely that they would be able to attract a more sizable crowd of out of state members.
3) It was much harder to predict demand at that time than it is now that we have four national meets under our belt (and probably more before it returns to NY) so going the conservative route limited the downside risk of having a financial disaster.
4) Aaron (immtbiker) was doing much of the footwork himself and happens to live nearby to that hotel in Queens and already had contacts within the hotel, which made it much easier for him to manage--given that he had/has a very busy work and family life.
I could go on, but the point is that many of us don't necessarily agree that the hotel that was selected wasn't the right one at that time, especially when considering that the decision had to be made upfront without the benefit of hindsight. In many ways, we were lucky at that meet because had it grown any larger we would have had to turn members away or limit the number of people who could be in the meet rooms at any one time.