Planning Blog, just to keep track of what I did Options

[McMark]

I'm going to keep this thread as a blog style thread so that I can remember what I did to make this event happen. This will help me help other members plan successful events in the future.

[McMark]

My first and most important step was to locate a hotel that would suit our event. My requirements were:

* A nice large parking lot. A large portion of the 914Club event hang out time is in the parking lot, looking at the cars. So having a parking lot that will allow everyone to park close together, and still be away from the hotel building. Our group can get loud, so being away from the building will keep us from disturbing the other guests and keeps us in the good graces of the hotels so we can keep coming back. This is also a good will gesture that makes the 914Club look good to the public.

* Room rates. Our members need to be able to afford to stay at the hotel. There is definitely a need to find affordable room rates. Donations from sponsors can possibly help to subsidize the cost of the rooms.

* Location. We need to be able to have things to do that are easy to reach. Moving 40 cars from one place to another is a huge task, let alone if we have 90 cars. The more complicated driving directions are, the more people are going to get lost. When looking at the entire event, the hotel should be located as conveniently as is possible.

* Conference Rooms. The hotel needs to have a conference room that can support our group and cater a meal. If the hotel cannot provide this service, an alternate location needs to be located. Finding a place to house this many people is a challenge, and hotels/conference centers are more and more going to become our best bet.

Using Google Maps, I was able to prescreen local hotels based on parking lot size/layout. I was able to find two hotels that were good possibilities. The Inn Of Marin is located on HWY 101. So it was easy to get cars on and off. The parking lot was fairly large, but the shape was a big odd and there would definitely be cars that would be separated from the others. The hotel only had 185 rooms, which is sufficient, but is a large portion of their establishment. The Inn Of Marin is also a favorite hotel for Infineon groups, so there was a large possibility of conflicts with race weekends in the summer. I decided to keep this hotel as a backup options and pursue other venues.

The second hotel I looked into was the Petaluma Sheraton. This hotel looked very promising as I walked around in person. The parking lot is huge and can easily support the number of cars we have and still be a good distance from the hotel proper. There is a full conference center that is prefect for the tech sessions as well as the end of event awards ceremony. Catering is an option as well. I'm now waiting for pricing information from this hotel. Room rates are my first concern. Without an affordable place to sleep, the event doesn't happen.

[McMark]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) The Petaluma Sheraton is too expensive. It's around $125 per night. Back to the drawing board.

[McMark]

I think the Rohnert Park Double Tree is going to be the hotel of choice. It has a large parking lot, a lot of rooms, restaurants nearby, and a nearby Good Nights Inn for those who want cheaper room rates. It's close to highway 101 which will be our route up to the Santa Rosa Airport on Monday morning.