BookCrossing Bay Area

Update

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:17:36 GMT

Hi,

Sorry for the extended silence, everyone. This was partly due to some extreme business on my end, and partly due to the fact that I really didn't have any new information unlil last week. That's when my meeting planner, Kim, finally started getting some responses back from hotels in dribs and drabs. (Apparently everyone in hospitality goes on vacation in the month of August.)

I have to admit that I haven't been rushing to share any news with you also because the news has not been good. Or at least not what we were hoping it would be. Basically, SF gets a lot of transient business over the summer months--tourists. Hotels can make plenty of money off of them, and don't seem to be worried about filling up that time of the year. Consequently, they really don't seem very interested in courting our business.

Discussing this gets semi-complicated pretty quickly, and I don't feel like typing too much detail. But suffice it to say that to protect ourselves, we can't overestimate the size of the room block we can sell. I had Kim looking for a block of 50 rooms, which seemed reasonable given what I was seeing in the survey. (Now closed, BTW. It topped out at 409 respondents, and we were still getting very hot prospects up until the very end.) At first we were sort of looking for rooms and meeting space, and when that wasn't going well at all, I had her look for just a block of rooms alone. I thought we could figure out the best we could do for hotel rooms and work up from there.

Well, most properties don't seem to be too anxious to give us a quote at all. Seriously, it's very much like pulling teeth! But, the responses we have gotten have been very discouraging for a San Francisco proper location. I'm going to post some of my correspondence with Kim below:

Hi Susan:

Hope you had a great day! I am still waiting for quotes to come in from various places, but this is what we have found so far.

The Stanford Court Hotel- He can offer a rate of $189.00 single or double.

The Parc 55- I had them go back to the DOS and see what they can re offer. The first came in above $250.00

The Kimpton Properties we are still working on all of them. I went in and researched the rates offered online for the same pattern in July and August, and they have really gone up. The Diva is offering a king at $199.00 a studio Queen at $219.00 and a Studio King at $219.00. The Kensington Park is offering $245 for a Queen and the same for a king, and the Union Square property is offering a $199/219.00 rate. Keep in mind that these are for the July August dates of 2007. Rates for next year will be higher.

I have broadened our search, as I know that you want a lower rate. I really think that if you want to be in Union Square , you are going to be in the 190-250 range. I have also asked our properties in the Warf area to see what they can do, sometimes they are a tad cheaper.

I will keep plugging away to see what we can find. I thought this could get you started. Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon.

Kim

Hi Susan:

Hope you had a great weekend. I wanted to touch base with a few more rates that came in today.

Stanford Court              $189.00
Westin SFO                  $109.00   (August 21-24 only)
Marriott SFO                 $125.00   ( July 24-August 7, August 14, August 21)

The Kimpton Rep is hesitant at this point. But I am still trying to get you a rate.

The Parc 55 is also hesitant, he needed further discussion with his boss.

The downtown properties are really expensive, but I wanted you to be able to compare. I will be in touch. Have a great night.

Kim

Hi Susan:

I just received an email from the Parc 55, and they are quoting a range of 189-215 for August. He will not commit on a rate until I have exact dates. Let me know if you have any questions! Have a great day.

Kim

Hi Jill, [Note: Jill works for Kim.--ST]

I apologize for not getting back to you yesterday but I was waiting to heari back from my Director of Revenue Management to see the best rates that we can get for you at our hotels. So based upon your groups arrival and departure pattern(3 nights) I have come up with the following:

Hotel Monaco - $219.00 for all Thurs-Sund in July 2008 & August 2008 EXCEPT 7/17 & 8/28 rate would be $239.00

Serrano Hotel - $165.00 for all Thurs-Sund in July 2008 & August 2008 EXCEPT 7/17 & 8/28 rate would be $189.00

These rates for either hotel are for our Deluxe Room Types and are for single/double occupancy and all rates include:

Complimentary afternoon wine tasting.
Complimentary high speed internet access in all guestrooms.
Complimentary WiFi internet access in lobby and public areas
Fully stocked minibar
Dual-line cordless speakerphone
Private voicemail
In-room safe large enough for a laptop
Aveda bath amenities
Coffee makers featuring Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea
Bath robes in all rooms guestrooms
Hair dryer
Iron and ironing board
Complimentary "Strike a Pose" in-room yoga program
Pet-friendly accommodations

I apologize for the informal format but I am actually out of the office working from home and don't have access to our proposal program. Please let me know if you would like one upon my return to the office and I would be happy to provide them.

Jill, if there is anything else that I can do, please let me know and I would be happy to assist!

Take care and I look forward to hearing from you!

Bill Brantley
Sales Manager, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants - San Francisco

Okay, it's Susan writing again. Sorry for the long post, but figured you guys should see what I'm seeing. In a nutshell, the SF properties that will even give us a quote are quoting very high. The SFO properties are more reasonable, but of course, aren't in the city. I am completely horrified that the hotel I live in for about a month out of each year (Westin SFO) has offered the lowest quote yet. I think the Serrano (which I'm familiar with) has offered the best rate in the city.

At this point, I'd like to suggest we meet via conference call to discuss hotel options in more depth than I can relate here. If you're ammenable, we can choose a time and I'll set it up and post the dial-up info for the committee. I just don't see a good reason for us to have to meet in person, but others may disagree.

Best,

Susan

The survey results...

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 19:20:37 GMT

Hi,

As promised yesterday, I'm posting a link that will allow you to look at the results of our survey in detail, as well as filter the results as needed. (The filters I created to generate the reports I brought yesterday don't come through. I'm afraid you'll have to create your own.)

The good news is that we're up to 366 responses, and we've still got hot prospects being added to our numbers daily. Here's the link to the data:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=g_2fwKpttv2StMK_2f5w3ETaKUZ8LO_2bBNiGTLyP_2fEEmvfZo_3d

Best,

Susan

Quick update

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:26:31 GMT

Hello all,

I'm flying to New York tonight, so I wanted to give you a quick update of what I've been up to.

As most of you have no doubt seen by now, I created a survey form in Survey Monkey and solicited feedback on it from this group. There were some extremely helpful comments, and those suggestions got incorporated into the final survey. I haven't put the survey anyplace other than this LJ community, but even so, we've had 9 people complete the survey--which was actually quite helpful in giving me a feel for how well it would work, and whether it would suit our needs. And, actually, I think it'll do nicely.

If there are no further objections, I will probably put it out into the world sometime in the next few days. I'll start with the Bookcrossing Forums and the Yahoo Groups. Once we see how much feedback we're getting, we can consider other venues to get the survey out if neccessary.

I will also make a report of the results and bring copies with me to the meeting on July 29th. Even the first few answers are interesting. For instance, here are the answers to "What would you be willing to pay for accommodations in San Francisco?"

	Comment Text	Response Date
1.	$160.00	Sat, 7/7/07 2:41 PM
2.	$175	Thu, 7/5/07 6:28 PM
3.	$50	Thu, 7/5/07 5:26 PM
4.	$75.00 - $100 Can we get a discount for a block of rooms?	Tue, 7/3/07 5:10 PM
5.	see comment	Tue, 7/3/07 4:57 PM
6.	$0	Mon, 7/2/07 10:08 PM
7.	N/A	Mon, 7/2/07 8:59 PM
8.	200/night	Mon, 7/2/07 8:17 PM

Oh, cool, look at how that pasted right in. :-)

In other news, Amy (Bookczuk), the conference organizer from Charlston, helped me with BC names for the organizers of the previous Fort Worth and Toronto cons, and the organizer of the 2009 Kansas City con. I've PMed them all and invited them to participate in a conference call with us. Other than the supremely helpful Amy, I've heard back from none of them. Last week was a holiday week, so I will probably give it one more try this week and then drop it. (But we'll still gladly pick your brain, Amy!) If I can get some responses this week, I'll try to schedule something for before our meeting on the 29th.

I will have limited computer access until my return Monday night. My sfbx (San Francisco Bookcrossing) meeting is next Tuesday, and I plan to update my people and hopefully get some folks interested in getting more involved.

Thanks,

Susan

Proposed survey letter

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 02:57:54 GMT

Here is a letter that could be sent out to other Bookcrossing chapters with a link to the survey. Once again, all feedback, suggestions, and spelling corrections welcome. :-)

Susan

Hi,

My name is Susan Tunis and I’m the organizer of the San Francisco Bookcrossing Group. My group has teamed up with members of the Tri Valley Bookcrossing Group and others from the Bay Area to plan a Bookcrossing convention in San Francisco for July or August of 2008.

As you can imagine, this is a big endeavor. We don’t have a lot of previous experience to go on, so at this point we’re trying to do a little basic research to help us get started. Your assistance would be so greatly appreciated! If you’d click the link below, it will take you to a brief survey (less than 10 questions) that will take you moments to complete. Really, just moments—I wouldn’t lie. J

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=CvIoa2JBx4zerQQFJOnOgw_3d_3d

Thanks so much for your help. We hope to see you in San Francisco next summer!

Susan Tunis

for BXing Bay Area

Proposed survey to assess convention interest

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:24:38 GMT

Hello folks,

One of the things I said I'd do the other night was draft a proposed survey to help us try to get a handle on how many people might seriously come to a SF con, and what it is they want. Below is a brief survey I put together. You may think there are too many questions, or that the questions are poorly worded. I'm aware that there is some redundancy. I was sort of asking the same questions in a couple different ways in order to get the best possible picture of the potential attendee. I tried to make the questions as quick and easy to answer as possible. Any feedback you can offer, or suggestions for improvement would be welcome!

Oh, and for those who weren't at our meeting on Thursday, this survey would be sent out to BX chapters everywhere (and possibly posted to the forum or distributed in other ways) to help us get started venue hunting with a little more info than we have now.

Thanks!

Susan

On a scale of 1 to 10, my interest in attending a summer 2008 Bookcrossing convention in San Francisco, California is:
On a scale of 1 to 10, the likelihood of my attending a summer 2008 Bookcrossing convention in San Francisco, California is:
I ___ have ___ have not attended past Bookcrossing conventions. (Please check one.)
I ___ will ___ will not need hotel accomodations. (Please check one.)
I am willing to pay as much as $______ per night for accomodations.
My highest priority for a convention accomodations is ___ comfort ___ economy. (Please check one.)
I live in:

Thanks for your help! Please feel free to add any additional thoughts or suggestions about what you’d like in a Bookcrossing convention:

SF 2008 Committee

Welcome to BookCrossing Bay Area

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 06:22:07 GMT

This is the community page for the 2008 regional convention to be held in San Francisco. It is being planned by the Tri-Valley and San Francisco Chapters of BookCrossing.