<VV> Buffalo Responds

[Jeff Clark]

Like Hank, I was going to wait before I made any
replies, but a certain recent post forces me to do
otherwise.  PLEASE NOTE:  The following paragraph will
appear this one time, and then I'm going to put it
behind me.  Everyone tells me I should stop beating
myself up over the problems we experienced, so PLEASE
don't force me into having to repeat it.

If you attended the banquet, then you're well aware
that the entire organizing committee stood on the dais
with me as I apologized to anyone that didn't have a
good time in Buffalo.  Although some have expressed
here that they felt this was "the most messed-up
convention in a long time," it certainly was not the
only one with flaws.  And I don't recall ANY previous
convention EVER apologizing to all the CORSA members
for the errors that they had made.  At least give us
credit for having the courage and forthright to say
what we said on Saturday night.

Gary Swiatowy perfectly expressed why we chose the
Adam's Mark, so there's nothing I can add except that
the physical condition of the hotel seems to have
deteriorated since we signed the contract with them
approx. 2 years ago.  If anyone here has a solution to
a situation like that, I'd be happy to hear it.  I
will personally be in contact with the Adam's Mark
headquarters to discuss the problems with the
building.  On the plus side, I found their staff to be
outstanding: friendly, welcoming, professional, and
eager to please.  I've stayed at much more expensive
hotels with far less congenial employees.  I've also
found that the old "you catch more flies with honey
than vinegar" saying goes a LONG way in obtaining good
customer service.  Try it the next time you want a
situation resolved, instead of immediately getting in
someone's face, or posting obscene notes on a bulletin
board, as one convention-goer did.  Like Gary said, we
shouldn't have to tolerate rudeness, and that
so-and-so was one of the rudest persons I've ever had
the displeasure of meeting.

Trailer parking: we were told by CORSA to expect 25-30
trailers, which would have been no problem if we had
the parking lot next to the hotel that we were
promised some time ago.  That lot was yanked from us
about 3 weeks before the convention.  We scrambled,
and found a lot about 4 blocks from the hotel that
could easily hold 50 trailers.  Because of the
distance, we decided for security reasons to keep the
lot locked (along with 24-hour video-tape monitoring,
and an off-duty police officer hired to watch the lot
every night).  At its peak, we had 60+ trailers in
this lot, which, when you do the math, is slightly
more than what we were told to expect.  No one knows
better than I that the trailer-parking situation was a
hassle for all involved, but we dealt with it as best
we could.

I'll be happy to reply to anyone's comments with my
factual statements.  I will NOT engage in any
arguments, and any attempt at baiting me will prove
worthless.  

Jeff Clark

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