American Academy of Neurology
Judy Larson, Assistant Director
jlarson@ann.com
651-695-2762

Ms. Larson’s annual meeting is 3,500 peak and has a total attendance of 8,000-9,000 people. Of these, approximately 33-36% are international attendees. Her sub groups (international and exhibitors) use about 1,400 of the 3,500 peak rooms.

The biggest change Ms. Larson has made recently is to add to her contract that an audit is required, and that AAN receives credit for the rooms, regardless of how the reservation came in. In 2003, an audit was done before arrival and 1,611 room nights were found in one hotel alone.

AAN has partnered with CMR who handles convention housing. They in turn rely on the hotel reservation managers to be their partners. They are constantly monitoring the pick up and five weeks out are watching it daily, and cleaning up duplicates, etc. At 90 days out, if a hotel is not picking up, Ms. Larson asks if they can reduce their block by a certain percentage without penalty. She feels it is critical for the planner to be honest and upfront with the hotel.

To keep her sub groups (10 rooms or more) in line, they sign individual contracts with AAN that have an earlier cut off, are required to pay a first and last nights deposit, and their payment is non-refundable seven days out. If an exhibitor signs outside of the block, it can hurt their position on the show floor.

Ms. Larson has a tremendous amount of historical data, and is very diligent about watching the pace of room pick up versus attendee registration. She keeps all of her partners informed so there are no surprises. At the end of the meeting, she knows that she must have an accurate picture of her hotel pick up, realizing that it will affect her ability to block convention center space if she does not meet certain peak night numbers.