Quote:
Originally Posted by Rolex addict
I've stayed out of this because of how heated the discussion became. I share Bob's feelings. This was my fourth time coming to the Vegas GTG and always had an incredible time. And, it is true the dinners never work out smoothly. Trying to get people to pay after a bill has been dropped on a large table is like herding cats. Especially when a large bill isn't expected. I do want to focus on one specific comment from Bob. Complaining to the watch brands isn't good for anyone. It only hurts. AP was the co-sponsor for dinner. Not Rolex. Not Cartier. Not Breitling. You get the point. This only hurts future GTG's. Personally, I've made a lot of good friends here that I meet up with throughout the year. I WILL be in Vegas next year to hang out with all my watch buddies. I am positive this will get resolved. Emotions are high right now and I get it. I would like to ask those who are extremely upset to not bring in parties like Rolex, etc that had nothing to do with the dinner. That is where the anger is focused. Every other event was fabulous.
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This is a great post and the points are right on.
I've posted a handful of times in this thread - never with anger or high emotions; only with a continued suggestion of how to make things better in the future.
1. To me, it's simple: the NRD should simply be to cover the event and have nothing to do with dinner. State that from the beginning. Putting the event together isn't free for Gerardo and he shouldn't be out of pocket to do it. His travel and expenses should be covered (he spent a good part of the weekend working and was quite busy at the events). I'm sure that most of us would be happy to pay the NRD for the experience alone.
2. Make sure that there are enough swag bags to ensure that every paying member has one. Apparently, we missed out on two this year. I'm bummed about that. I'm not angry, complaining or carrying a grudge - I'm simply disappointed. Stuff happens and it's cool, but, best to be avoided if possible.
3. Dinner, if each individual attendee wants, is an extra charge that includes tax and tip and there is a cash bar. I've put together several of these events for nonprofits on whose boards I've served. It's time consuming, but there are concierge services that will coordinate them for free as they get their payment from the venues.
I think those would successfully resolve all concerns for the future.
In the end, it's not of consequence to me since I won't be attending in the future. But, WISCon is a great concept and I hate to see something that could be nominally tweaked to improve go into this kind of bickering and back and forth.