Having trouble booking a room at ALA Midwinter in Seattle (or spent far more time than was reasonable to do so)? Join the very, very, very large club. However, this message from Mary Ghikas, found on the ALA Council list, describes some of the challenges faced by ALA. (My core question: is Seattle big enough–hotel-venue-wise–to host an association conference? I thought it was treading water with PLA; I wonder if regional library politics–which also playing a role in forcing ALA out of San Francisco and into boring SoCal–didn’t trump common sense.)
I like Mary’s twin observations that on the one hand, “Anything that makes coming to conference seem too difficult or too complex poses a threat to conference attendance” and on the other, overbooking will cost the Association. I’m appalled that ALA could mess up my profile so badly–and I still haven’t heard back from Membership, almost 24 hours later (though I got a personal email from an ALA staffer reading my blog)–but as annoying as the rooming problem is at conferences, I’m aware that there are many complex forces in play, not the least of which is negotiating all those meeting rooms we need because we still do so much “work” face to face.
If you’re looking, I know of three decent hotels with rooms available (not on the ALA bloc, of course). One doesn’t have wifi in the rooms but does in the lobby, and is close to the Market; one is near the CC and has free Internet; a third–well, I forget, but it’s reasonable and decent.
Posted on this day, other years:
- ALA's virtual members and their real obstacles - 2007
- Williamsburg Regional Library Staff Day Presentation - 2007
- Automated LCSH - 2004
- Open This, Open That, Drink Me: Get Real! - 2004
7 responses so far ↓
1 Peter Bromberg // Oct 19, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Sigh…
For what it’s worth, when I used to do weekend trips from Spokane I’d stay at the wonderfully inexpensive Moore Hotel ; very cheap and convenient to downtown shopping / Pikes Place, and less than a mile from the convention center.
I seem to remember a nice greasy spoon in the lobby, and you’re a short walk from one of the best breakfasts in Seattle at the The Crocodile Cafe (also a good place to hear some tunes at night.)
See you in Seattle!
2 kgs // Oct 20, 2006 at 1:53 pm
Thanks, Pete! I wrote them to ask about ‘net access in the rooms or lobby.
3 kgs // Oct 20, 2006 at 2:58 pm
The Moore has wifi in the lobby. That’s not bad, if you are like me and will collapse in bed drooling on your TV remote, jump in the shower at o’dark-thirty and race out the door, with maybe a quick email fix on the way out.
4 Melinda Baumann // Oct 20, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Thank you both for the hotel info. I just made a reservation at the Moore for about $90/night! Color me thrilled.
5 Amanda Robertson // Oct 20, 2006 at 3:15 pm
I hope it isn’t the case that Seattle’s too small for a conference; SLA’s going there in 2008, and for the big, more widely attended annual instead of the midwinter business meeting. Maybe I should start prepping myself for the headache now.
6 Kaijsa // Oct 20, 2006 at 3:45 pm
I’m from Seattle, so I’m biased in favor of holding conferences there. That said, Seattle has plenty of hotels in the vicinity of the convention center. The problem is that it’s an expensive city, so many people will be unable or unwilling to pay the going rate once the conference blocks are gone. The topography of the city is also an issue and people who aren’t familiar with the area may not realize how close to the conference site hotels in city neighborhoods really are.
7 kgs // Oct 20, 2006 at 5:11 pm
Hey, cool on the room! I’m eyeing that hotel myself, though I have decent accomodations set up.
SLA has very modest conference requirements compared to ALA. SLA had about 6,000 attendees this year. For Midwinter, ALA can get from 17,000-20,000 attendees, and since it’s traditionally a “business” meeting, it’s very meeting-intensive, which means lots of rooms.
Not too many cities can accomodate ALA. It’s not just the hotel rooms within reasonable distance of the convention center; it’s also the meeting room capacity of these hotels. It’s one thing to suggest that members trudge in to meetings from across the city… but multiply that by members attempting to attend meetings back-to-back, and if the hotels aren’t close enough together, you can’t get to your meetings in time. That was the “Miami syndrome.”
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