Staying at the Conference Hotel

 

The 2005 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSC) will be held in Columbus, Ohio, March 10 – 12, 2005.  The conference hotel is the Hyatt Regency Columbus at the Convention Center.  The exhibits and all of the sessions will be contained within this hotel.

 

·        Why should I book at the conference hotel?

The hotel rates that CSC has negotiated include many benefits for you and for CSC.  Based on the number of rooms in CSC’s block of hotel rooms, the hotel provides complimentary meeting room space, exhibit space, staff accommodations, and reduced food and beverage charges.  These savings are passed on to attendees through CSC’s inexpensive registration rates.  If CSC is unable to meet its room-block commitment because attendees are making reservations at other hotels, the hotel charges CSC an attrition fee to make up the hotel’s lost revenue.   If this were to become a trend, CSC would be forced to increase the registration fee and cut services.

 

·        Is it important for me to let the reservations agent know that I’m associated with the CSC convention?

Yes.  It is only by registrants telling the hotel they are attending the Central States Conference that CSC receives credit for the individual.  Please ensure that whoever is making your reservation tells the agent that you are attending CSC.

 

·        Why does CSC reserve a large block of rooms?

If CSC didn’t reserve a block of rooms, attendees might not be able to find a hotel room.  In popular cities it can be very difficult to find an affordable hotel room.  By reserving a block of rooms, CSC knows its attendees will be able to have a hotel room. In addition, if CSC didn’t reserve a block of rooms it would be subject to room rental fees and full food and beverage costs that would greatly increase the cost of holding the convention.

 

·        What other benefits are there to reserving a room at a CSC hotel?

CSC picks hotels that are usually self-contained conference facilities.  By staying at the conference hotel, you don’t have to worry about cab fares, bad weather or forgetting something in your room.  Once you factor in these considerations, you may find that the great rate you found at another hotel isn’t all that great.

 

·        What is CSC doing to reduce these attrition fees and still keep the conference affordable?

CSC tracks sleeping room reservations and cancellations at each conference so that it can more accurately block a number of rooms that will be filled by attendees.  However, every discount we receive at a hotel is based on the number of room nights we block, so as we reduce our block, we are consequently paying more for other services at the hotel.  Reducing the block means that attendees will either have to pay a higher registration fee or services will have to be cut.

 

Please stay at the Central States Conference hotel!