Choosing the city for TFMU...

I’ve been researching cities for TFMU 2021 for last few months. I have found my passion in getting this group together. I have the time. I enjoy it. It’s worth all the stress I put myself through in my ridiculous quest to make things perfect.

I think it’s important for you all to understand the selection process for choosing the location of TFMU. I do a ton of research to find the best possible option. So many people have told me that it is not the location but the people that bring them to TFMU. I feel the same. The most important thing to me is that is as affordable as possible, and many factors must be taken into consideration for that to happen.

Sometimes the meeting room rental is waived if we reach a food and beverage minimum. Sometimes we just have to straight up pay a room rental fee. Sometimes it’s a combination of the two. Having to reach food and beverage minimums can be very scary. First, it’s important to note that the amount only covers the actual food and beverage. The tax and service fees (sometimes up to 35%) do not count towards it. The F&B minimums we need to reach are typically based on attendance. And at the point that the contract is being negotiated, attendance is completely unknown and is just a best guess. If I estimate that we’re going to, once again, get about 100 attendees and we only get 60... Yikes! Let’s say the F&B is $5000 and we only spend $4000 (remember the tax and service fee doesn’t count towards the 5k) then my credit card is charged for the $1000 we didn’t cover.

Other times, the F&B minimum is not based on attendance but instead because of the hotel, the city, the time of year and/or supply and demand. A couple years ago I had the not so bright idea that Portland, Maine would be a gorgeous location for TFMU. Well, a lot of other people also like to visit Maine in the summer. The best deal I found was a Holiday Inn asking for $10,000 F&B minimum! I’ve seen similar, and higher numbers in New Orleans, Seattle and Portland, OR. Also, at least two hotels I talked to in NOLA were requiring a police detail if alcohol was going to be served. That would cost us around $100 per hour and we’d have a cop in the room. Unless it’s Billy Burke in Charlie’s uniform, I don’t want any part of that!

The amount to charge in registration is also based on a reasonable guess of how many will attend. The lowest attended TFMUs had around 60 people, so I conservatively plan for 60. If the F&B is $10,000, the registration fee would have to be over $200 to cover food and name tags only. I’d have to charge even more to get some swag and fun extras. Remember, tax and service fees don’t count towards it. And yeah, we tend to booze it up, but I can’t count on spending that much on a cash bar, just in case. All of this assumes at least 60 people would even be willing to pay over $200 to register.

Finding a hotel with a reasonable group rate is also an important factor. I know some of you can spend $250-$300 per night on a room, but many cannot. I aim to keep it no higher than $169 per night. Most of the time, the group rate is contracted. Meaning if I ask for 45 rooms for 3 nights at the group rate, we must pay for 135 rooms (or at least 80-90% depending on the hotel policy) or I’m charged for the difference. I’d love to ask for an unlimited number of rooms, as many as we could possibly need, but that is not realistic. In St Louis, we had a courtesy group rate, the rooms were not contracted, no attrition. Bless them! That had not been the case anywhere else I’ve researched so far. Not even at other Hampton Inns I’ve spoken to. STL was one in a million! I’ve joked we should just go there every year! However...

I think it is important that we visit a different city each year. There are always locals who go just because it’s in a nearby city. And many attendees, once they experience the magic of TFMU, are willing to travel for the next one.

When researching cities, I take many things into consideration. Are there many locals in the area? Is it a place those who always go are able to travel to (yeah, I even check flights in cities I know some regulars are from to see if there are decent flight options)? Is it drivable for non-locals but those who don’t mind even long road trips? Are there attractions people might like to see and are they within walking distance?

In the end, it comes down to the overall cost and whether or not I feel comfortable signing the contract. I just can’t agree to pay $10- $15k F&B minimum (again, not including tax and service fee; this is important!) knowing I’d have to charge hefty registration fees and not knowing how many would really register at a significantly higher cost. For this reason, I’m also hesitant to leave it up to a poll to pick the city. Just because the city wins the poll doesn’t mean the voters are really going to register. I know how amazing it’d be to have the meetup in many of the cities that have been mentioned over the years. While I rule nothing out, I think it might be best to keep those cities for side trips or smaller meetups. I’d love to attend those! But for the TFMU group as a whole, I hope you’ll trust me to find places that can accommodate us, with a reasonable hotel room rate and TFMU registration cost. I realize it’s impossible to please everyone, but I promise, I do my very best to do right by you all.

If you have any questions or problems with anything I’ve said, I’d appreciate it if you’d address it with me personally and privately.

Addictedtofic@gmail.com

860-816-4021

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