I have been asked to document the New Orleans board meeting cost information presented at the July 2013 Thursday night informal board session. This first memo contains only the costs and calculations used to produce comparisons. Comments, questions, and and some suggestions are in a following message. *Background* The New Orleans ARRL board meeting appears to have cost the League $43,000 more than would have likely been expended had the meeting been held in Hartford. Three regular participants, one officer, one director, and one vice-director did not attend the New Orleans meeting. Had they attended, the additional cost would have been closer to $50,000. Hartford cost $51,520 in January 2012. New Orleans January 2013 is estimated to have cost $94,600. One participant had not submitted an 2013 expense report, and an estimate of those costs was made. These numbers do not include any consideration for loss in staff productivity while traveling or making travel arrangements and reimbursement calculations. The overrun has three major causes: 1) those due to meeting anywhere outside the Hartford area; 2) those due to meeting in downtown New Orleans rather than near the airport; and 3) those due to the choice of a particular New Orleans hotel. Each of these is discussed below. *1) Cost of Holding a Board Meeting in a Place Other Than Hartford* A rough estimate of the minimum expected additional cost, where the hotel is similarly priced, and there is minimal airport-hotel transportation cost, would be $7,000. Even using a hotel priced similarly to the Hartford-Windsor Marriott with minimal airport-hotel transportation cost, there are 7 participants (6 staff members plus the local New England Division Director) who have to travel, encountering airfare and hotel costs that they don't have in Hartford. In New Orleans, this group charged $9,983. The same group charged $2166 in January 2011 in Hartford. Therefore, $9983 - $2166 = $7817 additional costs were incurred in New Orleans. Note that a significant part of their Hartford expenses are meal costs of other meeting participants at group dinners. Three somewhat-local participants typically drive rather than fly and leave for home on Saturday evening, saving one night’s stay. Their automobile transportation costs are lower than airfare costs of the more distant participants. Using a similar calculation, the cost difference for these three was approximately $3889 - $1330 = $2589. The additional cost for the 10 local and somewhat-local meeting participants is therefore $7817 + $2589 = $10,406, before isolating the impact of using a specific hotel. Hotel rooms at the particular hotel used in New Orleans cost approximately $84 per night more than in Hartford, with taxes. With 10 participants staying 4 nights each, the hotel-particular room costs are approximately 10 x 84 x 4 = $3360. If a hotel had been used with similar room costs to Hartford, the additional cost would therefore have been approximately $10,406 - $3360 = $7046. This is rounded to the $7000 minimum figure discussed at the meeting. Note that Houston meeting in January 2008 cost approximately $11,000 more than the 2007 meeting in Hartford, so the order of magnitude appears reasonable. *2) Cost of Using a Hotel Not Near the Airport* Hotels near airports typically provide a free shuttle service. The hotel we used was not adjacent to the airport, and no hotel shuttle was provided. Participants took shared rides for $20 each way, or taxis for $35 each way, plus tips, to reach the hotel from the airport. This amounts to approximately $2500. *3) Cost of using the Pere Marquette Hotel* As previously mentioned, the Marriott Renaissance Hotel used for the meeting had a room rate, with taxes, of $191.97 per night. For the approximate 163 room-nights used by the group, the additional room cost over Hartford was $13,692. The hotel charged $36.96 per night per car for parking. Six participants utilized this for a cost of approximately $700. *a) Hotel Meeting Room Costs* The New Orleans Hotel charged $9727 for the room and audio setup for three days. The 2011 Hartford charge was $4284. Essentially the same meeting room set-up cost an additional $5443 more at the New Orleans facility. In New Orleans, ten microphones were rented for three days each, at $528 per microphone. The total was $5280. In Hartford, ten microphones were $134 each, for a total of $1340. The difference amounted to $3,940. In New Orleans, nine power strips were rented, at $53 each, for a total of $475. However, in Hartford, fourteen power strips were rented at $58 each, and fourteen extension cords were rented at $38 each. The total came to $1347, which was $872 more than paid in New Orleans. In New Orleans, the League was charged for twenty 3-day wi-fi Internet connections at $124 each, for a total of $2486. The service only worked in the meeting room area, not in the hotel rooms. In all, meeting room costs in New Orleans were higher by $10,997. *b) Hotel Food Costs* Food costs were substantial at both Marriott hotels, but higher in New Orleans, where the per person costs were: $27.18 was paid for "breaks" for the Thursday A&F and PSC meetings. This did not include lunch. $15.23 was paid for Thursday evening hors d'oeuvres $63.07 was the average paid for Thursday dinner $54.24 was for Friday breaks $53.43 was for Friday lunch $ 9.51 was for Friday evening hors d'oeuvres $71.22 was the average paid for Friday dinner $54.24 was for Saturday breaks $54.36 was for Saturday lunch -------------------------- $375.30 per person was spent for food at the New Orleans Marriott, not including breakfasts or the committee meeting costs. Hartford 2011, per person costs were: $59.39 was the average paid for Thursday dinner, including hors d'oeuvres $64.06 was the cost of Friday breaks and lunch $66.68 was the average paid for Friday dinner, including hors d'oeuvres $64.06 was the cost of Saturday breaks and lunch -------------------------------- $254.19 per person was spent for food at the Windsor Marriott, not including the committee meeting costs. For the approximately 50 people being fed, hotel group food costs were approximately $6000 higher in New Orleans not counting the fact that break food and drink at the A&F and PSC meetings held at ARRL cost only a few dollars per person. *c) Off-premises Dining* Only a few individual expense reports were surveyed, so this data is not necessarily complete. In both New Orleans and Hartford, group dinner charges included some instances where per person costs were above $80. The highest cost noticed was one in Hartford at over $90 per person. Note that, when adding two off-hotel dinners to the hotel food costs, dining costs for a board-meeting guest, such as a spouse, could come to over $500 in New Orleans and over $400 in Hartford. *d) Hotel Surcharges and Taxes* The New Orleans hotel had a "food and beverage service charge" of 24%. Since the photographer was apparently ordered through the hotel, this added $192 to the base $800 photographer charge. The copier rental base charge of $725 incurred a surcharge of $174. Another surcharge of 0.75% and sales tax of 9% were applied to the total, making the surcharge even more costly. Binders were also ordered through the hotel, adding several hundred dollars to their cost. In Hartford, the f&b surcharge was 21%. but it appears that the photographer and copier were rented without going through the hotel. *Summary* Approximately $7000 was the additional cost of holding the meeting away from Hartford. Approximately $2500 was the additional cost of holding it at a hotel not near the airport. Approximately $33,500 was the additional cost of using the particular New Orleans hotel, and ordering goods and services through the hotel that are procured directly in Hartford. Note that January 2011 component costs were used for the Hartford part of this comparison because they were already available. The only data available for January 2012 was the overall cost date. The conclusions reached should not be affected. See the following message for discussion.