2017 Conference Registration

[FW]

Not that it interests me any longer, but does the Command Council, CSAG, and BoG all meet during the annual Conference?  Maybe the travel budget can be justified because they are all open meetings and, at least the BoG deals with governance/policy issues. 
BTW; when you consider national staff members/employees who may get a travel allowance too, I believe the cash expenditures go significantly above $100k.  It's why we ask sponsors to help defray the cost to the membership.  Those "goody bags" we get aren't cheep...

[A.Member]

If we took a step back and did a cost/benefit analysis on National or Region conferences, it'd quickly become apparent that the value just isn't there.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Not that it interests me any longer, but does the Command Council, CSAG, and BoG all meet during the annual Conference?  Maybe the travel budget can be justified because they are all open meetings and, at least the BoG deals with governance/policy issues. 
BTW; when you consider national staff members/employees who may get a travel allowance too, I believe the cash expenditures go significantly above $100k.  It's why we ask sponsors to help defray the cost to the membership.  Those "goody bags" we get aren't cheep...

My 100K is a low bar for JUST the internal group of 70 or so people. It's easily over $1000 per each person to do the event, at least on average.

[Майор Хаткевич]

If we took a step back and did a cost/benefit analysis on National or Region conferences, it be pretty apparent the value just isn't there.

Unless it's in your backyard, and you can just drive in for the event, and sleep at home.

[A.Member]

If we took a step back and did a cost/benefit analysis on National or Region conferences, it be pretty apparent the value just isn't there.

Unless it's in your backyard, and you can just drive in for the event, and sleep at home.

Even then.  What is really gained from them?  Consider how our "conferences" operate as opposed to actual professional conferences.  I'd never pay or take time from my real job to attend a National or Region conference.  Even Wing level conferences are generally of marginal value.

[THRAWN]

If we took a step back and did a cost/benefit analysis on National or Region conferences, it be pretty apparent the value just isn't there.

Unless it's in your backyard, and you can just drive in for the event, and sleep at home.

Even then.  What is really gained from them?  Consider how our "conferences" operate as opposed to actual professional conferences.  I'd never pay or take time from my real job to attend a National or Region conference.  Even Wing level conferences are generally of marginal value.

Then bring something to the table. What is it that you want to have done at a wing conference that isn't being done? Write something up, run it up the chain, and make it happen.

[EMT-83]

I've never been to a national conference, but have been to a couple of regional conferences that were outstanding. Great venues, good seminars, cadet activities, good social events and opportunities for networking. Worth every penny.  YMMV

[Eclipse]

Then bring something to the table. What is it that you want to have done at a wing conference that isn't being done? Write something up, run it up the chain, and make it happen.

Nothing, that's the problem.

It's not a venue conducive to wrench-turning-levels of training, and the internet assures that any "news" is weeks to months old.
Most cadets who are there are part of the "road show" of active cadets and just saw each other yesterday / last week / last month,
and many of the adult participants are there because that's all they actually do, is conferences and social.

In most cases, the people doing the actual work of CAP have to stop that to go to a conference, or make a "mission or chicken" choice.

They need to accept that the ship has sailed, times and tech have changed, and look for better ways to accomplish whatever
mission is actually here.

[A.Member]

If we took a step back and did a cost/benefit analysis on National or Region conferences, it be pretty apparent the value just isn't there.

Unless it's in your backyard, and you can just drive in for the event, and sleep at home.

Even then.  What is really gained from them?  Consider how our "conferences" operate as opposed to actual professional conferences.  I'd never pay or take time from my real job to attend a National or Region conference.  Even Wing level conferences are generally of marginal value.

Then bring something to the table. What is it that you want to have done at a wing conference that isn't being done? Write something up, run it up the chain, and make it happen.

Ah, the old why don't you suggest/do something argument...   

A fundamental problem is what we (CAP) view a conference to be.  A conference is not and should not be a giant training session. Not even close.  I've never been to a professional conference where the outcome was a certification, etc.  That's not the purpose.

A conference should be an opportunity for us share ideas/discuss best practices, not just among ourselves but with every potential partner agency and customer.  Make ourselves and our capabilities known.  That's what conferences do. 

How does that viewpoint compare to the CAP conferences you've attended?!   

[Ned]

Sorry to be late to the thread, but I might be able to clear up some misunderstandings.

First, both the volunteer and professional leadership shares a great many of your concerns, and also believes that conferences should be as inexpensive as possible and that all of us need to be careful guardians of both appropriated ("tax dollars") and non-appropriated (corporate) funds.  We also believe that members should be able to choose between "distance / on-line" and in-person training whenever possible.

Let me start by assuring you that the summer conference is entirely "self-funding" -- it does not use either appropriated or corporate monies.  Restated, neither the taxpayers nor the dues payers are subsidizing the conference.  We average between 650-700 paid attendees yearly, and between conference registration fees and our generous corporate sponsors we pay for the conference.

We do a couple of things to help minimize the cost to our members.  We know that travel is expensive, and we can see that a significant percentage of each year's attendees are "locals" who presumably have to spend less to get there, and may also not have to stay at the conference hotel.  So we deliberately rotate the conference location between regions every year to help make it "local" to a different subset of members yearly.  Baltimore, Louisville, San Antonio, Orlando, Las Vegas, etc..

The volunteers and corporate team members who plan the conferences work very aggressively to get the best possible prices for our members.  This year's hotel rate of $132 per night in the Riverwalk area of San Antonio is a very good deal. 

We also try to separate out things like the awards banquet when pricing the event, so that members can pick and choose according to their budget.

We encourage the local wing and region to "combine" their conferences with ours.  This year, SWR and Texas Wing are not holding separate conferences, but are holding events in conjunction with the national conference.

Each year, we actively survey attendees for their feedback on multiple items, including cost and value.  Our feedback from attendees is overwhelmingly positive.  Every member's feedback is important, and heard.

On a personal note, I have been attending these conferences for over 40 years, and have happily paid for a lot of flights, registrations, and hotel rooms out of my own pocket, just like thousands of other volunteers.  (Full disclosure, as a national staff guy, I receive free registration these days but also have to "sing for my supper" by conducting seminars and classes over several days.  I pay for my own meals (including the awards banquet) and expenses like everyone else).

I greatly enjoy the networking aspect and seeing friends I have known for decades.  I enjoy interacting with the members, and answering questions and addressing concerns.  Sometimes over a beer. 

I certainly understand that some members may not choose to spend the time and treasure to attend the national conference.  That is a personal choice for each of our members, and apparently hundreds of members each year find sufficient value and choose to attend.

Finally, any one of us is free to volunteer to serve on the various committees that plan and implement our wing, region, and national conferences.  It is difficult yet rewarding work.  If you don't have the extra time, please consider offering your feedback to your colleagues who work the planning process.

I hope to see and meet each of you in San Antonio!  (Or at least in Anaheim next year.)

Ned Lee
Col, CAP
National Staff Guy

[NCRblues]

Ned, I have a question.

How is the rotation for the National Conference come up with?

(I ask due to the fact that NCR has not hosted the "summer national conference" since 2005 in St. Louis IIRC)

[A.Member]

Each year, we actively survey attendees for their feedback on multiple items, including cost and value.  Our feedback from attendees is overwhelmingly positive.

Ned, these are not loaded questions; I'm genuinely interested in your responses...   

How do you (National) make the assessment above?  What is the survey response rate from attendees?   How many of those are the same core that always attend or are required to attend?  Keep in mind that even if 700 attend and all respond, that is .01% of the membership.

From a National perspective, what are the defined goals/objectives for a given conference?  How do you measure achievement of those goals?

[SarDragon]

Maybe. But after you've been to a couple, and keep seeing the same players, you begin to wonder about the value. There should be some legitimate training or education, something that will make attendance worthwhile. PD can be done at a conference. Communications training can be done at a conference. Training for your FM/SE/LMNOP can be done at a conference. Or CAP can continue with the same old.

Gee, we do all those things at our wing conferences except things like SLS and CLS. I've been to one National Conference, and the seminars there were geared more for general knowledge of new tech/procedures/policies than specific how-tos that you might see at a wing conference.

[Alaric]

Sorry to be late to the thread, but I might be able to clear up some misunderstandings.

First, both the volunteer and professional leadership shares a great many of your concerns, and also believes that conferences should be as inexpensive as possible and that all of us need to be careful guardians of both appropriated ("tax dollars") and non-appropriated (corporate) funds.  We also believe that members should be able to choose between "distance / on-line" and in-person training whenever possible.

Let me start by assuring you that the summer conference is entirely "self-funding" -- it does not use either appropriated or corporate monies.  Restated, neither the taxpayers nor the dues payers are subsidizing the conference.  We average between 650-700 paid attendees yearly, and between conference registration fees and our generous corporate sponsors we pay for the conference.

We do a couple of things to help minimize the cost to our members.  We know that travel is expensive, and we can see that a significant percentage of each year's attendees are "locals" who presumably have to spend less to get there, and may also not have to stay at the conference hotel.  So we deliberately rotate the conference location between regions every year to help make it "local" to a different subset of members yearly.  Baltimore, Louisville, San Antonio, Orlando, Las Vegas, etc..

The volunteers and corporate team members who plan the conferences work very aggressively to get the best possible prices for our members.  This year's hotel rate of $132 per night in the Riverwalk area of San Antonio is a very good deal. 

We also try to separate out things like the awards banquet when pricing the event, so that members can pick and choose according to their budget.

We encourage the local wing and region to "combine" their conferences with ours.  This year, SWR and Texas Wing are not holding separate conferences, but are holding events in conjunction with the national conference.

Each year, we actively survey attendees for their feedback on multiple items, including cost and value.  Our feedback from attendees is overwhelmingly positive.  Every member's feedback is important, and heard.

On a personal note, I have been attending these conferences for over 40 years, and have happily paid for a lot of flights, registrations, and hotel rooms out of my own pocket, just like thousands of other volunteers.  (Full disclosure, as a national staff guy, I receive free registration these days but also have to "sing for my supper" by conducting seminars and classes over several days.  I pay for my own meals (including the awards banquet) and expenses like everyone else).

I greatly enjoy the networking aspect and seeing friends I have known for decades.  I enjoy interacting with the members, and answering questions and addressing concerns.  Sometimes over a beer. 

I certainly understand that some members may not choose to spend the time and treasure to attend the national conference.  That is a personal choice for each of our members, and apparently hundreds of members each year find sufficient value and choose to attend.

Finally, any one of us is free to volunteer to serve on the various committees that plan and implement our wing, region, and national conferences.  It is difficult yet rewarding work.  If you don't have the extra time, please consider offering your feedback to your colleagues who work the planning process.

I hope to see and meet each of you in San Antonio!  (Or at least in Anaheim next year.)

Ned Lee
Col, CAP
National Staff Guy

I don't want to put words in your mouth so I want to make sure I understand your statement.  When you say member money is not being used to subsidize the conference are you implying that all National Region and Wing command staff are paying for their own hotel, registration and travel?  I know that travel is a budget item in my current wing and was when I was in MD Wing also (though that was 8 years ago).  Its nice that your registration is subsidized since you present, I know at local conferences (at least in my wing YMMV) everyone who presents pays to attend the conference.

Its nice you have had the wherewithal to attend 40 years of conferences and that you feel its a worthwhile investment, and as long as everyone is paying for themselves I've got no problem with how people spend their own money.  I do have issues on how an organization spends money it collects to accomplish the mission of that organization.

There is no reason to have conferences in fancy hotels, I've attended plenty of conference in Best Westerns, Hilton Garden Inns, etc. If national were actually concerned about costs they would enter the 20th century and embrace the teleconference. There is no reason for a yearly boondoggle. I've been to a couple of the conferences and they were nothing to write home about, certainly not worth the money. Don't get me wrong, if that's what people want to spend their money on, great, but if the people attending are not paying I think thats a problem.  You mention hundreds of members that find sufficient value however even if you have 1000 senior members attend the conference then the conference is only serving approximately 3 percent of the senior membership hardly a ringing endorsement.  Didn't NCC get revamped because it was serving a similarly low percentage of the cadet membership while taking up a great deal of resources?

[Eclipse]

There is no reason to have conferences in fancy hotels,

This - they should be working sessions, not vacations.

And if the response is "A lot of people wouldn't' come if they couldn't' bring their spouse or turn it into a min-vacation..."

The the answer as to their actual value to the general membership is right there.

[SarDragon]

The venues you call "fancy hotels" are usually the only ones capable of hosting an event that large. I belong to another organization that has a similar annual event, with an attendance in the neighborhood of 2000. For instance, there are only four hotels in San Diego capable of hosting that many people in a single venue. One of them was the site for the 2010 National Board Meeting. Other cities have similar problems.

As for the teleconferencing thing, I still maintain that face-to-face networking is worth the effort and expense. At all the conferences I have attended, I have had the opportunity to put faces with names, and get into discussions that might not otherwise be available. In addition, it is an opportunity to recognize members for their accomplishments in front of their peers.

Since there's an annual board meeting scheduled, some folks are going to travel, anyway, so why not make it a big event?

Bottom line, if you don't like the concept, don't go.

[Alaric]

The venues you call "fancy hotels" are usually the only ones capable of hosting an event that large. I belong to another organization that has a similar annual event, with an attendance in the neighborhood of 2000. For instance, there are only four hotels in San Diego capable of hosting that many people in a single venue. One of them was the site for the 2010 National Board Meeting. Other cities have similar problems.

As for the teleconferencing thing, I still maintain that face-to-face networking is worth the effort and expense. At all the conferences I have attended, I have had the opportunity to put faces with names, and get into discussions that might not otherwise be available. In addition, it is an opportunity to recognize members for their accomplishments in front of their peers.

Since there's an annual board meeting scheduled, some folks are going to travel, anyway, so why not make it a big event?

Bottom line, if you don't like the concept, don't go.

My only point is that anyone attending the conference should pay their own way.  If everyone is already doing that great, if not, then I have a problem with the organizations money being spent so people can attend a conference that serves less than 3% of the membership (if you only count senior members)

[SarDragon]

 The fundamental purpose of the event is company business. The people required to attend get the free ride. Everyone else pays their own way. Both companies I worked for after leaving the Navy, and both of the companies my wife worked for had similar policies.

[Ned]

Let me see how my cut and paste skills hold out.

[A]re you implying that all National Region and Wing command staff are paying for their own hotel, registration and travel?

Of course not.  We have enough trouble finding qualified members to serve as region and wing commanders.  Imagine what would happen if they had to pay several thousand dollars a year out of their own pocket to attend mandatory meetings, commanders calls, and conferences.  Only rich folks need apply.  Average members, like you and me, could never aspire to serve as wing or region commanders.  Wing and region commanders receive a modest travel budget in order to perform their duties.  As it is, most wing and region commanders spend thousands of dollars a year for the "privilege" of command.  We need to lessen that burden to allow average members to serve; not increase it.

There is no reason to have conferences in fancy hotels.

Well, I suppose it comes down to what you mean by a "fancy hotel."  I don't think there are any Motel 6's that can accommodate a conference with roughly 1,000 folks.  Same for military bases. (Plus add access problems for non-members like vendors, stakeholders, relatives of members receiving awards, etc.)  Obviously it needs to be a large enough venue to accommodate the members who choose to attend.  And I don't know about your personal definitions, but $132 a night for our hotel in San Antonio doesn't sound like a particularly "fancy" hotel.  Again, feel free to volunteer to serve on one of the committees that plan and put on one of our any terrific wing, region, and national conferences and share your views about what constitutes a "fancy hotel."

There is no reason for a yearly boondoggle.

Strong statement of personal opinion noted.  Obviously, hundreds of members every year disagree with you and invest the time and treasure for the conference.  It appears to work for them.  If you don't want to go, you certainly don't have to.  Is there some reason that the 650-700 members that choose to participate each year should be deprived of their ability to attend?

How do you (National) make the assessment above? 

I dunno exactly, but I think each attendee is sent a link to a survey instrument.

What is the survey response rate from attendees?   How many of those are the same core that always attend or are required to attend?

There is certainly a certain level of folks like me that show up every year, please others who come somewhat less often.  I don't know what percentage of the attendees respond to the survey, but I am told it is comparable to most surveys and is statistically significant.

Keep in mind that even if 700 attend and all respond, that is .01% of the membership.

God knows I am certainly not a math guy, but I think your assertion is off by a factor of 100 or so.   The last time I looked, we had something like 57,000 members.  1% of that would be something like 570.  (Which is less than the % that voluntarily pay to attend the conference.) .01% of the members is something like 6 members. But I'm a lawyer.  If I was any good at math, I'd be something else.

How is the rotation for the National Conference come up with?

I don't know exactly.  I know they have a long list of factors that includes having a hotel large enough to serve the need (and preferably several so we can obtain a competative bid), a local medium-to-large airport that has reasonable airfares from most of the country, and a "family-friendly" environment that has other attractions to allow families that attend to do something besides sit around while the member goes to CAP stuff.  This all happens in a hard-working committee that I am not on.  And I don't want to be on.  But you certainly could be.

Did I get everyone?

Ned Lee
Col, CAP
National Staff Guy

[SarDragon]

 :clap: