At ONA, we\u2019re often asked what\u00a0it’s like to plan one of the largest digital journalism conferences\u00a0in the world, hosting nearly 2,200 journalists, entrepreneurs, academics, technologists and\u00a0media innovators. The short answer is: amazing.\u00a0The more nuanced answer: amazing\u00a0…\u00a0with its\u00a0own set of logistical challenges.<\/p>\n
One of those challenges has been predicting — years in advance — how many hotel rooms to secure for the\u00a0conference.<\/p>\n
If we don\u2019t meet our contracted hotel\u00a0room block commitment, we face a stiff financial penalty. So reserving rooms is a delicate balance of making\u00a0sure we have enough supply\u00a0for attendees\u00a0without\u00a0overestimating.<\/p>\n
To get the best rates in desirable cities, this decision usually starts three years (or more) in\u00a0advance. With a host of data, strong institutional knowledge and gut instinct, we book the number of\u00a0hotel rooms we think our conference will need several years before that conference actually\u00a0happens. We continue to increase our room block year after year, only to be amazed by\u00a0continued growth, far beyond\u00a0the trends suggested by our original data.<\/p>\n
This is a good thing, but can also\u00a0throw us some surprises. Like this year.\u00a0So, how are Wednesday and Saturday nights already sold out? Our normal room pattern\u00a0traditionally has shown fewer attendees arrive earlier on Wednesday or\u00a0stay later through\u00a0Sunday. To account for that dip, we reserve fewer rooms on Wednesday and Saturday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s\u00a0apparent now that, as the conference has grown, so have the number of attendees wanting to\u00a0stay for the full duration of the conference. In the past, we\u2019ve simply contacted the hotel to increase the room block. But this year,\u00a0due to another, even larger conference in Denver at the same time, we aren\u2019t able to do that.<\/p>\n
If you like,\u00a0we still\u00a0have plenty of rooms available at our host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Denver<\/a>, both Thursday and\u00a0Friday nights. We hope you’ll book for those nights to help us reach our room block commitment. While not ideal, you can book at the host hotel on those nights and\u00a0secure another hotel for additional nights (see info below on alternate hotels).\u00a0We\u2019d recommend securing another hotel with a\u00a0refundable rate and checking with the Hyatt Regency Denver two weeks before the conference to see if there\u00a0have been any cancellations in our block, in which case you can end up with your reservation all in one place.<\/p>\n If you’d rather book a four\u00ad-night stay at one hotel, we\u2019ve secured smaller\u00a0room blocks at five additional hotels<\/a> near the Hyatt Regency. There are a limited number of discounted\u00a0rooms available and once those are gone, rooms will be available at each hotel\u2019s regular rate.<\/p>\n