Why Stay at the Conference Hotel?

By Antoinette WinklerPrins, AAG Council Treasurer

This is the third in a short series of perspectives by 2024-2026 Council Treasurer Antoinette WinklerPrins, a series designed to help illuminate some of the financial challenges a professional organization such as the AAG faces.

As we plan for the next Annual Meeting in Detroit in March 2025, many of us are deciding where to lodge. There are many factors to consider in deciding where to stay, including cost, proximity to the meeting venue, and desired experience (e.g. access to a kitchen, neighborhood vs. downtown, ability to share accommodations). Different kinds of lodging offer different advantages: the conference hotel, nearby hotels, or an option such as AirBnB or VRBO.

AAG reserves discounted rooms in a nearby conference hotel at each annual meeting. How do you know whether it is the best choice for you? In this column, I explore some reasons you already know and maybe a few that you don’t.

Discounts, Convenience, and Collegiality

The AAG conference hotel is always chosen with proximity to the meeting in mind. That’s one important strength in its favor. Most years, events or receptions are even held in the conference hotel. Staying there also offers opportunities to network more intensely, with serendipitous encounters with new and old colleagues in the morning and evenings, opportunities to bring together groups to explore, have meals, or just talk shop.

While the cost of staying at a conference hotel can be higher than at a more modest facility, it is a better overall value at the discounted rate once you factor in this convenience and access to colleagues.

All for One and One for All

Staying at the conference hotel also benefits AAG as your host, and thus the broader community of participants in the meeting. It enables AAG to save on overhead and devote more resources to programming, keynote speakers, and amenities. Here’s how it works:

When AAG plans for and arranges specific annual meetings, we enter into a contract with at least one or several hotels many years in advance. The hotel sets aside conference room space for our meeting in exchange for us guaranteeing a minimum spent on lodging as well as food and beverage at the hotel.

Aside from giving us meeting space, we also lock in conference room rates. And, since the contracts are typically signed 7-8 years in advance, the savings for members can be quite high. And that is where you as members come in.

As we must commit to a specific number of nights that members book hotel rooms and consume food and beverages at the facility. If we fall short, AAG must pay the difference, which can be a substantial cost that then must be absorbed in our operating budget going forward.  At times of budget precarity, this is an expense we prefer to avoid.

Something similar is true for food and beverage obligations. As with lodging, we base this on estimated attendance. The hotel sets meeting rooms aside, and we pay for them through a minimum food and beverage spend. So, the food and drink you see at events is actually part of our “rent” for the rooms we all meet in. If we don’t spend the contractual minimum, AAG must pay the difference. So, if an event seems extravagant, remember that AAG is required to spend the funds and is seeking to maximize the benefit to participants.

We understand that every attendee will seek the best deal for lodging. However, if you are in a position to choose from among many options, we urge you to opt for the lodging that AAG has carefully chosen to suit the meeting location and capacity. Doing so will help us meet contractual obligations that help us host the most successful meeting possible, and it will help maximize opportunities to connect with our AAG worldwide community.

This is the last of my initial short series of Treasurer’s Columns. You might hear from me again in the future when there is a need to clarify financial issues around AAG’s operations.  I appreciate you taking the time to read these and think on the matters I have shared. Please send your comments and questions with the subject line “Treasurer’s Corner” to helloworld@aag.org.