Network Blog

The Extravaganza planning crew has been busily going through the evaluation forms.  Over 120 of you (a 33% return rate!) turned in evaluations.  Thanks!  It's giving us lots of great data.

We take evaluations seriously.  As we read them we try and discover what we can learn and then we integrate that information into our future planning process. Sometimes we see or hear strong themes that we want to pay attention, be proactive about, and even to respond to publically if that is helpful.

Several themes popped up in this year’s evaluations that we thought would be helpful to discuss publically. 

Several of the evals asked questions or comments like these:

• The expense of the hotel
• Local food options
• The venue selection process

We want folks to know that we take these concerns very seriously.  We know that the Extravaganza is not inexpensive.  We know that congregations and individuals invest a lot in being at the event, and the E-Team works extremely hard to keep costs low and to make sure that being at the "E" has as much value as possible. 

The cost of food:

Yes, we know that the Westin had very expensive hotel food.  My jaw dropped a bit too when I ate in the restaurant for the first time.  There actually were a lot of other local food options available:  The food court at the Epicenter 3 blocks away with a bunch of restaurants, the pizza place kitty-corner from the hotel... a map we got from the hotel indicated that there were over 40 restaurants ranging from a deli ($6) to a Rock Bottom Brewery ($12-15) within a 6 block walk.  So there were local food options available.  We erred by not having this information readily available for our constituents.  Participants needed to rely on their own research methods to discover the local optionsIn hindsight (always 20/20) we should have put a list and a map in the program book.    We will make that change for future events.

The Westin Hotel:

Yes, the Westin was a very "nice" hotel. Just to be clear, it is not a 5-star hotel.  It is a 4-star hotel.  We know, that isn't the point, and it is still very nice...but I think it's probably important that we at least are accurate in our language. 

We work extremely hard with the hotel to provide the best possible value for the participants.  The price our participants pay to stay at the hotels we choose is probably 25%-33% of the hotel's normal "rack rate."  Sometimes they run discounts and you can go cheaper, but for us to book rooms 12-36 months out, we get the cheapest deal we possibly can at the time.  We know that your resources are scarce and we hope that you trust that we do our best to make the event affordable.

Why we do hotels at all?  Why not a retreat center?

This is a great question.  The Extravaganza is a unique event, because of the goals (Renew, Educate and Connect) and the size.  There are only a half-dozen retreat centers around the country that could host an Extravaganza.  (None of them are Lutheran, but that's not one of the factors.) 

Many factors come into play when talking about cost:

• Housing
• Food
• Transportation into airports...being near major airport hubs for the cheapest possible flights
• Transportation to and from the airport
• The sleeping accommodations
• The factor of having our constituency feel cared for and as much as possible "pampered."
• Lots of "hang out" space (couches, lounges, etc...) for people to network and talk.

Here's what we know:

We contacted a few of these half-dozen retreat centers so we would have a point of comparison.  When we calculated things out we found that the real costs would be:

• Housing and food for 4 days and 3 nights:  $210.  The housing would be quad occupancy in bunks.  Bathrooms down the hallway.
• Our program costs (these don't go away, though they might be slightly reduced): $200
• Transportation to and from the airport.  The nearest one of these to an airport is an hour away.  Some of the six were 2-3 hours away.  At least 2 of them were in the snow belt, making transportation a little iffy depending on the weather.  So you'd have to rent cars (but the retreat center doesn't have enough parking for that many cars) or we'd have to run shuttle buses.  Because people come and go at different times, we'd have to have shuttles run over multiple days, multiple times.  We'd have to cover all of these costs.  This means that the airport to retreat center transportation could be between $100 and $150 per person (or more) depending on which retreat center we're talking about. 
• Airfare (only one of these retreat centers is near a major hub. So you can expect to pay around 30% more to fly into one of the smaller, regional airports...i.e. Greensboro, Little Rock, etc...)
• The event program would have higher costs because we'd also need to transport the speakers/resource people/musicians/equipment/sound/lights to this spot.  This is a hard number to calculate. 

So conservatively, we're talking about a $510 event plus air travel (at a higher rate because you'd be flying into a smaller, regional airport) plus whatever we need to add in to cover the program costs of being in a more remote location. 

When we start piecing these things together, we realize that the cost of being in a retreat center is not that much cheaper than being in a hotel.  Plus, one of the things we have heard on evals and in the regional caucuses when we asked the question was that a significant number of people like to be in a hotel...to sleep on a nice bed...to feel well-taken care of.  One person said “we sleep at camps and on the floors all the time…once a year, I get to do this.”

Why then not a cheaper hotel?  We explore all options available, and if we could find a Hampton Inn with 15,000 square feet of ballroom space, 7,000 square feet of exhibit space, the capacity to do meals and up to 12 breakout rooms for workshops, prayer chapels, etc, we'd book it.  Less expensive hotels that meet our needs don’t exist.  Our mission, values, goals and care of the constituents steer us to look for particular locations.  These are typically convention style hotels.

Why not smaller, regional events?  We're exploring this option.  Keep in mind that there are still costs in terms of doing this too. It might be cheaper, but it would not necessarily be the same level of program as we can do in a single national event.  Evaluations indicate that people like the level of the program. 

We are also looking at some new ways of keeping the costs affordable for you. 

• By signing a multi-year deal with a single chain/brand, we can get lower costs/rates. 
• By booking in smaller hub cities, we can get lower room rates.

We value your feedback and we are grateful for your asking these questions.  Please know that we take them very, very seriously.  We will continue to work hard to be good stewards of your membership and registration dollars and to ensure an affordable event.  If you have questions or comments, please either post them in the "comment" section below, or e-mail them to me at todd@elcaymnet.org.

Blessings,

Todd.

Note:  Be sure to click on the "Comments" link below.  More ideas on how to save money at the "E" have been posted there!

Yes, we know that the Extravaganza is an expensive proposition, once you add the registration, the Network membership, hotel, transportation and oh yeah...you probably want to eat, too, right?

Yes, it adds up.  And we know that things are tight this year.  (Which is, of course, one of the reasons we need to get together this year...how do we do ministry...how do we support each other...in a world with an economy that's struggling?  We've got to talk about this stuff.

But that's a different topic.

We know that the event comes at a financial cost.  But please believe us when we tell you that we do everything we possibly can to keep the cost affordable.  Really.

So we've been collecting ideas for how you can save some money to help keep the cost affordable.  These are just a few ideas.  If you have more, please e-mail them to info@elcaymnet.org and we'll be glad to publish them.  Here we go:

1.  If you are flying to Charlotte, be sure to check out our travel discount page.  We've negotiated a discount from Northwest/Delta airlines.  If you book using our code, and the cost of the ticket is over $300, you will receive a discount between 5% and 15%, depending on the city you're flying from and the dates of your trip.  More info is available at our travel discounts page. 

2.  Check an alternative airport.  Prices at your closest airport might look high.  But sometimes being willing to drive a bit to another airport can save you SIGNIFICANT dollars.  We just heard about folks in the Omaha area that were finding $400 tickets.  But they discovered that if they drive a couple of hours to Kansas City, the tickets prices are $200 cheaper.  Not bad!

3.  Check airlines prices often.  2 weeks ago, flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Charlotte were something like $220.  Last week they were up to $330.  This week the prices were bac down to $240.  We don't begin to understand ticket prices...they go up and down, seemingly at random.  (We're sure there is a rhyme and a reason...but who knows what it is!)  So check back and check often!

4.  You might want to think about sharing a ride.  Driving will save you money!  Connect with some local colleagues and split the costs of the drive.  You could save significant dollars!  There is a group from the Des Moines area who are all driving together and are stopping on the way to visit and observe some congregation's youth ministries, and to do some service.  How cool is that?  Looking to connect with someone for a ride?  Post your info and find a ride-mate!

5.  Get a roommate!  We can't connect people with roommates, but we have created a roommate board to post requests if you need a roommate.  Go to the board and post your info, or search for a roommate.

6.  Check with your local Thrivent chapter.  Sometimes they can apply some funding towards helping you get to the event.

We're sure there are more ideas out there!  Send them to info@elcaymnet.org and we'll post them!  Or, post a comment below.

See you in Charlotte!

Networked in Christ,
tb

Normally things in the Network planning cycle are relatively calm at this time of year.  The timing works well...it allows the Network leadership to focus on their congregational stuff coming into summer.  This year, however, we're in the midst of a sort of a 'perfect storm' of busyness. 

First, we're doing some fundraising.  Our goal is to have all of the Network leadership folks (about 113 people) to participate.  There's a fair amount of communication going on.  It's kind of a fun thing...

Second, the E-Team is moving ahead quickly on Extravaganza stuff.  Great stuff is coming together around the ICC courses, speakers and musicians.  I'll let you in on a secret:  The first speaker we've locked down is Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Ministries.  He's going to be amazing.  More info is coming to the web site soon.

Finally, we're working frantically on the Academy at the ELCA Youth Gathering.  At the Academy, we will provide networking and support opportunities for the adults who are bringing young people to the Youth Gathering.  There will be comfy decompression rooms, places to connect with peers and colleagues, opportunities to talk about processing the Gathering experience with groups, ministry resources, a computer lab to catch up on e-mail, and more.

So it's a busy time.  But the people who work this stuf...they are second to none.  Committed, dedicated, passionate people who care about youth ministers and youth ministry. 

So to the E-Team...to the Development Team...to the Academy Team...on behalf of all of us who work with young people in congregations, thank you for giving more...for being busy,..for working on our behalf.

tb

We've been living in the 'afterglow' of Extravaganza 2009 now for a few weeks.  There have been lots of positive comments...lots of words or thanks...lots of fun photos to look at...great evaluation forms to look at...

Then we got the hotel bill, and $78k later we're back to normal.

Well, not really.  Because the E is a transforming experience...so while we're back to 'normal', there is no way that 'normal' looks like it did prior to the E.

And we're heavily into E2010 already.  Right now, we're pretty confident that we're going to be in Charlotte, NC for the event.  But we haven't signed any contracts yet.  The hotel contract is still not quite where we'd like it to be at and we have a couple of other cities vying for our presence...so we'll see what happens.

Much has been going on since my last entry.  Most of it has been Extravaganza related...figuring out transportation...New Orleans tours...etc...