High Desert Holiday Questions

[C J Murray]

Jean and I are registered for the WCH and look forward to seeing some of our West Coast friends. I'm sure it will be nice.

My questions...
How many cars and how many people are signed up? I ask because it filled up in 3 days!
Why are participants being told that they will need to check out of the host hotel for a day or two during the event?
Why are some participants unable to have a seat at the banquet?

Of all the Holidays that we have attended this has never been the case so I wondered why it is the case this time.

[Steve Proctor]

Unprecedented demand. This holiday may very well be the fastest selling holiday ever, according to registration guru Felix Macaluso. 118 registrations and close to 200 people on day 1 alone. The event is full, with an event wait list. Re: your hotel reservation, the High Desert Holiday contracted for a block of rooms for stays from Weds - Sat, October 2-5. That contractual block of rooms, for those dates and for the event rate, was met early on. Though beyond the scope of their contractual requirement, at our request, Little America increased the number of rooms twice with the same days and the same rates until they would give us no more. At that point, reservations were beyond the scope of the High Desert Holiday contract with Little America.

[C J Murray]

Thanks for the reply.

[C J Murray]

Could the organizers of the WCH please update the situation regarding how many cancellations have occurred and how that plays into the "waiting list" for banquet seats?

If you are signed up and know that you need to cancel please do so before the last minute so that those waiting for a seat at the banquet can cancel if no banquet seat is available.

Maybe due to the very odd situation of entries taken in excess of the banquet capacity that there should be an option for the people with no banquet seat to notify the organizers that they wish to cancel unless other cancellations open a seat to the banquet? Then the organizers could make the last minute adjustment to the numbers required for contracts.

The situation as it is is not good.

[Steve Proctor]

Banquet Wait List???

* Only three cancellations overall since registration opened, banquet wait list remains at 20 seats.

Very Odd Situation???

* Many people that register for a Registry Holiday have absolutely no desire to attend the banquet and have so registered. Many others have registered for the event, are on the banquet wait list and and want to attend whether they get into the banquet. Using a banquet wait list allows us to keep the banquet full and allows wait listed registrants the possibility of getting into the banquet in the order they registered as vacancies occur. Early on, an email was sent to all on the banquet wait list with their position on the list, the number ahead of them on the list and suggesting that they could cancel their registrations or cancel their banquet options and receive a timely refund if so desired.

* People may cancel their High Desert Holiday registration at any time in keeping with the published cancellation policy as implemented at last year's East Coast Holiday. If positive confirmation of attendance at the banquet is a condition of attending the High Desert Holiday, people on the banquet wait may want to consider that option. See attached.

Cancel.JPG (73.71 KiB) Viewed 3177 times

[C J Murray]

Very Odd Situation???

This is a first for me having attended a number of Holidays since my first in 2003 and I don't usually register as promptly. Congratulation on the popularity of the event.

[Mike DeJonge]

I booked the 356 holiday promptly, but procrastinated in booking a hotel room, so no room at the hotel for us. I checked hotels down the street from the High Dessert, and there are plenty of rooms available, so we booked there. Distance can easily be walked to, so if you really want to come.....

[Mark Roth]

Steve,
If we arrive in a rented car can we tag along on the drives at the end of the line? I tried to rent a Boxster in Phoenix but the guy just sent them to auction as there was not enough demand. Offered me a Corvette or Mustang. No thanks.

[Steve Proctor]

Absolutely you can, Mark!! Approximately 20% of registrants are not bringing a 356.

STP

[Mark Sabbann]

Approximately 20% of registrants are not bringing a 356.
STP

With a sold-out 356 event as popular as this with a waiting list of folks, including those that may have a 356 to bring, would it be fair to make it a priority that attendees bring a 356? Maybe a consideration for future events of this type. The event exists because of the cars, right? Flack shield in place...

[C J Murray]

20% non-356 is a pretty big number.

[DonCichocki]

Good idea Mark.

[John Clarke]

Sounds dreadful
With everyone scrambling to be on the Captains table at the Banquet and people with 356's waiting on a waiting list, while those on and around the captains table arrive and depart in a rented Hyundai !
Mark Sabbann is correct, Anyone without the correct Car, don't bother coming! You know who You are.
Give me 'Vic's do' anytime
Mustn't grumble Jay

[C J Murray]

Yesterday Jean and I cancelled our WCH registration. Unfortunately we were unable to get a seat at the banquet as was also the case of our friends who also cancelled. Hotel accommodations were also a problem when we were told by the headquarters hotel that we needed to clear out for one night in the middle of our stay. I appreciate that members stick their necks out to take on the responsibility to put on a Holiday. If there are points brought up that would improve things I hope that people not take those personally. Clearly there were problems caused by allowing members to register when there was no room for them. Since registration was closed in 3 days we can be certain that the capacity of the venue is inadequate.

We and our friends were driving, not towing, our 356s around 2000 miles each way to attend the WCH. To give up our spots to members in modern cars is a bit sad and silly. A good idea would be to have a check box for 356 driving, 356 towing, and no 356 and let the priority for registration be in that order.

[Steve Proctor]

Want to know the fastest way to keep your peers from VOLUNTEERING MONTHS OF THEIR PERSONAL TIME to put on an event for YOU the members??? Sit back, let others do the work and nitpick. Ever notice that there have been years with no holiday? Word gets around...the people contemplating your next holiday are listening

1. 356s Only?? There is not now, nor has there ever been a policy of restricting registration at a 356 Registry holiday to people who are bringing 356s. Did you know that owning a 356 is not even a requirement for membership in the 356 Registry? Not only would such a restriction violate a basic premise of 356 Registry membership, but it would eliminate registrants from foreign countries and more.

2. Banquet seating?? Cliff, you registered too late to get into the banquet. It was full. Banquet seating is 350 people, the absolute maximum that the fire marshall will allow. FYI, for comparison purposes, the events manager at the Flanders, host hotel for the East Coast Holiday just told me that their absolute maximum seating capacity for their banquets is 300.

3. "Clearly there were problems caused by allowing members to register when there was no room for them??" For the record, yes some people are staying at other hotels in the immediate area because Little America was full, but many people opt to stay at AirBnB, hotels other than the host hotel, etc. By choice. It has always been that way. The number of rooms available has never had anything to do with the number of people that can register at a holiday. In your case, as I told you before, you registered too late to get in on the block of 190 rooms contracted for the entire duration of the event at Little America. Since the 190 room block was expended, the reservation you made was between you and the hotel and was beyond the scope and terms of the contract we have with Little America. We know of no one else at all that had this situation. FYI, for comparison purposes, the events manager at the Flanders, just told me that they offer only 105 rooms for such events.

Can we not just understand that events must be capacity limited, that there are rules and policies that govern such things and that everyone does not always get in?

STP