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June 02, 2006
AP Reading - arrival
Sometimes I think my ultimate destiny is to be a meeting planner.
We arrived from Orlando in fine style. The thunderstorm had passed and there was sun over the beach when we arrived. But after standing in the predictable line for check-in, the young woman behind the counter excused hereself when I presented my name, and went to someone further down the counter, then picked up a list and walked out from behind the counter, none of which boded well. She returned to tell me that despite the little green paper in my hand, I was not, in fact, staying in the central hotel for the project, but I was staying at some hotel about 2 miles away. Hmmmmmm.
I was invited to move across the lobby to join a small but steadily growing group of people who were somewhat unsure what would happen next and were in varying degrees of unhappiness about that. I wasn't happy, but I wasn't too upset... yet.
Then the site coordinator for this event appeared. She said we needed to be patient and trust that it would work out, that she had only learned of "the problem" at 12:30 that very day and she was diligently working to get a contract cut so we could move on to the designated last minute new hotel.
hmmmm....
she didn't know about this until the day of arrival??? Our numbers were a surprise to her???? They bought us all plane tickets - so they were surprised that we showed up??
heyh?
Okay, so we wait. Some of us for three hours. Then we get on a bus to make the journey to the new hotel, who doesn't know who we are, so we have to check in one at a time (in a group of 50) with 1+ desk clerks. Hmmm.....
Then, when we want to get back to the conference site for the dinner, no one can tell us how that will happen.
Excuse me?
so later I learn that they have booked 800 rooms at the primary hotel. There at least 1400 of us here, and even with doubling up, since some folks are allowed to pay for the private room, and even though this isn't the Math AP reading, it seem obvious there was going to be a shortage. That it wasn't planned for is just unreasonable to me.
and so it goes.
We'll see what comes next.
Posted by cageyer at June 2, 2006 08:02 AM