Forwarded mail....

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

Some wise words from Charlene that sound in line with what we've been
talking about...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 08:42:37 -0500
From: Charlene Nash <ecn@tennis.org>
To: "'erik@thekrib.com'" <erik@thekrib.com>

Hi Erik, you can forward this to whatever committee: first thanks to you and
Kathy-no a.v. , no convention! It certainly was beyond the scope of the
Clarion to help out! (a lot was beyond their scope!) and Thanks to Karen for
coming early and helping with last minute details-missing a week with my
father in the hospital two weeks ago really threw me off as far as details.
I tried to do this very easy and simple to get a convention started, but
Chattanooga's layout and aquarium makes this easy. From now on we are going
to need a committee of AGA and the local worker committees. AGA members are
going to have to go in two or three days early if necessary and help out-as
Karen said, without Steve Michael and Kevin, she and I would still be out
there washing gravel today! The problem with volunteers is that they are
good and necessary but things come up and they can't show up, or get stuck
in traffic like Darlene and Tony,  or the gravel doesn't get washed far
enough ahead so dedicated members need to be ready to help. There are always
last minute things no matter how well planned. My reason for discussing
Houston was someone from there was interested (not committed yet, but
interested in talking) and has the time to be in charge! I know Boston is a
great place to do it but I wanted options just in case it couldn't work out.
We could also have things planned so that we not only know where it is in
2002, but also 2003! Some places may need the extra year to get ready so we
need to  open discussion with any city group that is interested. Like Karen
said, SF was hot then backed out so we need to be ready with backup. I don't
want to see our convention falter for lack of place. I think we need to wait
a year or two personally to plan any summit since our conference is for
hobbyists mainly and they are loving it-the summit might cut out a lot of
attendees. We also need to strive to keep costs as reasonable as possible.
One of the Texas people has a wife in a good position at a Texas hotel and
we have connections at Moody Gardens etc so we can probably eliminate the
possibility of one entity going out of business and leaving us high and
dry-I think I have those bases covered after discussing it with them. Like
we did last year, I asked for input (hotel costs, meals, transportation etc)
on a "bid" sheet from interested parties and only Christine Nye from Chicago
responded with numbers. It was very expensive and she thought too unworkable
from that point. SF never furnished numbers, but seemed to be same reason. I
suggest that Boston and Houston (IF they are serious) give us firm numbers,
locations, costs of catering, any transportation costs, etc , names of
committee members, duties, etc so we know what exactly we are facing in each
city, then we decide where to go. Hotels can be booked now and then released
in a couple of months with no charge so that can be nailed down and those
costs are fixed. That also helps that city know if their committees are
really going to follow through and WORK. I think Boston is easier for travel
and number of hobbyists in the area, but I don't want to overwork Karen
since I have seen that she does so much for AGA already! If she can get
enough serious help and they are willing, we do Boston and  get someone else
for the next year. If she finds out that it is too hard and not enough
people volunteer or hotels are unworkable, then we see if Houston will do
it. (or vice versa) If we want, I can send out the bid sheets I had last
year and the people at each city fill them out and then our AGA conference
committee can work with each one and make a decision. As Karen said, someone
may have to back out and THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION! It is good planning to
have backup! I will be glad to be chairman so I can at least warn them of
pitfalls and lay groundwork anyway I can but our convention is going to grow
and with more attendees, much more work and more committee volunteers will
be needed. We have serious people in both Boston and Houston and we need
their resources so let's not waste effort in discussing this to death, just
get details and booking info from both and let the chips fall where they
must for the smoothest convention, and hope one or the other or someone else
will do it for the next year. Thanks to all of you for coming and supporting
this effort! Charlene

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