Line | The expenses related to sponsoring a |
(2) | conference can be immense. An organization |
(3) | sponsoring a conference can recoup these |
(4) | expenses through registration fees and |
(5) | partnership with the host hotel. As part of the |
(6) | partnership, the host hotel sets aside a block |
(7) | of rooms for conference attendees, with rooms |
(8) | available at a slightly higher-than-normal rate. |
(9) | While most conference attendees prefer to |
(10) | stay in the host hotel, they often follow an |
(11) | alternate strategy to avoid the extra cost of |
(12) | reserving a room within the block at the host |
(13) | hotel. Some attendees reserve rooms outside |
(14) | the host hotel—the ROHH strategy. Others |
(15) | reserve rooms outside the block— the ROB |
(16) | strategy. |
(17) | Conference sponsors have succeeded in |
(18) | countering these strategies by increasing the |
(19) | conference registration fee by a fixed amount |
(20) | and then offering an equivalent registration fee |
(21) | discount to attendees who reserve rooms in the |
(22) | block. A study has shown that if this registration |
(23) | discount is equal to at least half the potential |
(24) | savings of an attendee's particular cost-saving |
(25) | strategy, the attendee is much more likely to |
(26) | reserve a room within the block. |