Help Wanted
Help wanted. 1000-strong non-profit
veterans’ organization requires work-
ing bees. Salary non-existent. Bene-
fits limited to self-satisfaction. No
401K. Volunteers honored to accept
but loathe to work need not apply.
Needed: (1) computer geek for part
time assistant; knowledge of com-
puter and Internet a plus; (2) mem-
bership clerk; honest; computer;
printer. Must be willing to follow di-
rections. Submit application to
manleydd940.org.
The Reunion Dilemma: Wants, Needs, Costs
By Joe Dennison
Phoenix? Las Vegas? Boston? Hil-
ton? Radisson? Courtyard? Buffet
or plated? Winter? Spring? Summer?
Fall? Monday to Thursday? Thursday
to Monday?
Want may oppose need. Cost may
oppose both. And when a reunion
planner wakens to the reality that he
is responsible for all of it, including
and not limited to the payment of all
bills and the fulfillment of all contrac-
tual guarantees, the exercise can
become challenging and overwhelm-
ing.
A scattered mix of minute pieces re-
quire assembling when planning a
military reunion -- much different from
a school or family meeting. And
where is it best to start?
At my urging, the Manley Association
joined the Reunion Network, an or-
ganization of military reunion plan-
ners and hotel and tour operators, in
2000. My wife and I have partici-
pated in four ConFams, seminars
devoted to 16 hours of classroom
instruction on the subject of reunion
planning with exposure to the hospi-
tality industry representatives.
The reunion planner who thinks he
can walk into the city and a hotel with
a list of his group’s wants may sadly
leave with the group’s needs unful-
filled after writing a big check. With-
out a hotel that is willing to deliver on
the group’s needs, no city will be ac-
ceptable. And not every city can pro-
duce the right hotel.
Once the decision is made on the city,
I make contact with the CVB, conven-
tion and visitor’s bureau. With its
assistance, the list of local hotels is
narrowed to those meeting a criteria
that fits our Association. Then an on-
site inspection is setup. No city and
no hotel is selected by me without my
personal visit. And, frankly, cities are
often scratched from my list for a
myriad of reasons.
The absence of appropriate banquet
space, high daily parking fees, poor
location, excessive room rates are
just some of the items on my list.
When attractions in the city are barely
visible or when tours are expensive,
that city may go on the delete list.
Because most attendees are going to
spend most of their time there, the
hotel is very high on my list of need
versus cost. One thing learned in all
of those seminars is that the hotel,
one way or another, is going to
achieve their desired revenue stream
from a reunion group. To get the
group in the front door, the reunion
planner is going to sign a contract
guaranteeing that revenue stream.
The hotel may offer a basket of
“freebies” but the reunion planner
must be alert to those hidden fees
that quickly add up to make for an
unplanned expensive trip.
You can bet that the contract signed
by the planner and the hotel manager
will include specific guarantees that
are linked to a specific dollar reve-
nue. “Free” banquet and hospitality
space does not come without cost,
indirect or direct. Complimentary
rooms are not given away. Deeply
discounted room rates are offset
somewhere else.
In his initial meeting with the hotel
sales manager, the reunion planner
will be cornered into predicting, a
better word is “guessing,” the number
of rooms and catered meals to be
sold to the group. Either a too high or
too low number can be dangerous to
one’s financial health because the
contract guarantee clause will some-
where be followed by a penalty
clause. Set aside 100 rooms and sell
only 20 may be cause for the planner
to buy the remaining 80 or a pre-
agreed percentage. Go low and there
may be no rooms available when the
crowd shows up.
Hospitality rooms are the subject of
contention, legislature, and oversight.
The Manley Association does not per-
mit hard liquor in its hospitality room
due to the severe liability laws. There
is no insurance to protect the Asso-
ciation officers. Legally, a hotel takes
a risk when assigning a non-sleeping
room as the group’s hospitality room.
When the group needs a room larger
than a standard sleeping room, the
hotel will usually set up a bar in the
hospitality room, but that can prove
costly.
Attendees from other than the local
area have to be encouraged, if not
required, to take their lodging in the
host hotel. The Manley Association
has never been required to pay penal-
ties for not meeting its guarantees
because planning has been quite
precise.
The membership, though, will be the
last in decision making as it chooses
what it wants, what it needs, and
what it is willing to pay.
The upcoming reunion in Norfolk
promises to be the most successful
by attendance than any in the past.
We have grown in numbers, from less
than a hundred in our data base in
1999 to nearly 1,000 today; from six
in attendance in Philadelphia in 1990
to a predicted record in 2007. That’s
not bad for a little -- but great --
organization of our size.
Manley Notes
Reach Out And Feel The Pride
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