Usdsc

[jump'n'jive]

well its just a few months away and dealines are approaching. i have a quick question. this will be my first year attending with students and i had a question on the packages for this. is the a al a carte comp? meaning you have to source your own hotel and just buy the pass to all events for the week? just trying to put it together to present to my students. thanks

 

[Laura]

Did you check the competition web site at www.usdsc.com? There's info there on how to contact the organizers. However, looking at the web site, it does not seem that there are any packages, especially since the hotel page specifically says:

Each Individual is responsible for making their own hotel accommodations directly with the hotel, the cut off date is Monday, August 11th, 2008 (6pm EST)

 

[fascination]

the hotel is a lowes hotel...royal palm I believe...and you need to book it separately if you choose to stay there..otherwise, orlando is chock full of places to stay and at this juncture you may need to look into that...not sure...the organizer is very responsive...you might want to email them

 

[jump'n'jive]

sorry i was just reading the packet sent to me. i actually spent time reading the website. had all the info lol. guess i should have taken the time to check it out. anyway answered my questioned and got it all squared away now. thanks

 

[Laura]

Glad you got the info you need and I hope you & your students have a great time at the comp!

 

[syncopationator]

its all a la carte. no packages

 

[Easy]

For being the comp of comps, this one has always bugged me. It's so much easier to price a comp when it's packaged. In this one, you must book your hotel, meals, everything separately.....don't forget the $20-$30 for a program...they aren't included either

 

[samina]

FWIW, I have never comped on a package...always handled everything separately. I find it easy...Easy.

 

[Laura]

For being the comp of comps, this one has always bugged me. It's so much easier to price a comp when it's packaged. In this one, you must book your hotel, meals, everything separately.....don't forget the $20-$30 for a program...they aren't included either

I feel completely the opposite. I would much rather know what the price of each item is and decide what I want rather than having to pay for tickets or meals or even programs that I don't particularly want. I always compare a la carte to the package and go with whichever gives me the better value. There are a few comps where it is better for me to go on package, so of course I do it for those, but the vast majority of the time I do things a la carte.

 

[reb]

The Easy way to go might be to have samina and Laura as students . . .

 

[ChaChaMama]

I agree with Laura and Samina. I almost never get the package. And by almost never, I think I mean that I only have twice, for Philly Festival in 2005 and 2006, as it is the only comp I've been to where the package priced out.

Generally speaking, if you add up hotel, tickets, and a reasonable estimate of the meals (say $15ish for a hotel breakfast and around $35 for a hotel dinner), most ballroom comp packages do NOT price out. Yes, package holders get first dibs for seats in most cases, and that is *definitely* worth something, but when the package is WAAAAAY pricier than the a la carte price, I can't justify it.

On top of that, I don't necessarily want to eat all meals at the hotel nor will the scheduled times necessarily work with my schedule (e.g., I can't eat anything too substantive right before I compete, but I may want a pretty decent size meal after. It's a little annoying to squander a meal voucher you've already paid for and buy a meal two hours later.)

I *LOVE* it when comps allow you to buy front row/table seats separate from packages. MAC, NJ Dancesport Classics, and USA Dance Nationals do, and so do some NDCA comps, like Yankee. Worth the extra cash to me!

 

[Easy]

I definitely can see the advantage of a la carte...you get to choose your own hotels and exactly what and when you want to eat. You do get to pay for your individual experience.

Trying to give a student the bottom-line price...a la carte makes it a little difficult. In the past, I've usually told my student my expenses, and they take care of all of the rest. I'm safe if I just charge my fees, but some of my students in the past didn't realize they had to pay for everything extra even though I explained it clearly...."no I'm not having breakfast, lunch, or dinner with you if you're not paying for it...I'll choose where I want"..would be one example. Then you have the student that did pay for the meals, etc, and the others want to join you...really a tough thing to handle tactfully. Not a biggy most of the time, but for students used to being with their teacher for all of the meals and activities, this is a big change.

This, as I said before, is the only event I've ever experienced in almost 25 years of dancing where everything is a la carte. If you think about it, when people take the risk to organize a competition, the hotels demand a certain number of rooms, meals, etc. At most comps, I know people are trying to save as much money as possible, but the people who always do the minimum package and don't really support the comp are usually somewhat frowned upon. Yes, they can just pay for their minor expenses, but they always seem to be there for the last 2 nights when the formal dinners and expensive shows are happening. And you wonder why most organizers need the students pictured in the programs as sponsors in order to pull off the event...and the same people who paid a minimal amount are looking at these sponsors like they're suckers.

Yes, at usdsc, it's cool that you can just buy the tickets for the sessions you want to attend, but my above writing is actually in reference to the 90-something percent of the rest of the comps held in the United States.

 

[ChaChaMama]

At most comps, I know people are trying to save as much money as possible, but the people who always do the minimum package and don't really support the comp are usually somewhat frowned upon. Yes, they can just pay for their minor expenses, but they always seem to be there for the last 2 nights when the formal dinners and expensive shows are happening. And you wonder why most organizers need the students pictured in the programs as sponsors in order to pull off the event...and the same people who paid a minimal amount are looking at these sponsors like they're suckers.

I'm going to have to dissent from one or two of the premises above, even though I'm sure you have much more experience than I do, Easy, and I very much respect that experience.

If I am paying a comp $35 for each 1- or 2-dance event, which takes 1.5-3 minutes, AND am paying another $25-35 for admission to the ballroom for my own session (in most cases), AND am buying $50-60 seats for each evening event, AND am paying for a hotel room in the comp block, AND buying a $15-25 program (I always buy the program), AND perhaps buying an item or two from the vendors...I don't think my contribution is SO minimal. My cash is still green, and I don't expect to see a lot of frowning in my direction!

The comp organizers apparently appreciate the a la carte folks to some degree, because they could make buying a package a criteria for entering the comp! They don't. Apparently the a la carters' little contributions help the bottom line significantly enough that they don't want to alienate this constituency.

I in NO WAY think the sponsors of events are suckers! In fact, I would love to be an event sponsor someday. But if I do it, I will probably sponsor a USA Dance event. USA Dance comps are non-profit and the organization NEEDS the money to be able to offer scholarships for the ams. NDCA comps run to profit the owners of those comps. Some of them do very well, some barely limp by...I get that. But I still would rather help out the non-profit event, and put money directly into the scholarship pot for young, up-and-coming dancers. I feel like I could make more of a difference there.

I'm not trying to be a cheapskate when I don't buy the NDCA comp package. But if the only way the comp prices out is if I assume that the comp chicken dinner at a Marriott/Hilton with no drinks included is an $85-90 meal...I'm not there. That's just not a good value...plus it locks me in to eating at the hotel, at a particular time, and means I can't eat with local friends, etc.

 

[mamboqueen]

The comp organizers apparently appreciate the a la carte folks to some degree, because they could make buying a package a criteria for entering the comp! They don't. Apparently the a la carters' little contributions help the bottom line significantly enough that they don't want to alienate this constituency.

I in NO WAY think the sponsors of events are suckers! In fact, I would love to be an event sponsor someday. But if I do it, I will probably sponsor a USA Dance event. USA Dance comps are non-profit and the organization NEEDS the money to be able to offer scholarships for the ams. NDCA comps run to profit the owners of those comps. Some of them do very well, some barely limp by...I get that. But I still would rather help out the non-profit event, and put money directly into the scholarship pot for young, up-and-coming dancers. I feel like I could make more of a difference there.

I'm not trying to be a cheapskate when I don't buy the NDCA comp package. But if the only way the comp prices out is if I assume that the comp chicken dinner at a Marriott/Hilton with no drinks included is an $85-90 meal...I'm not there. That's just not a good value...plus it locks me in to eating at the hotel, at a particular time, and means I can't eat with local friends, etc.

Do you think people would be more discriminating about what comps they do if they were only given the option of a package? I know it would reduce the ones I do. There are some comps that I can drive to - why would I want to pay a hotel and extra meals if I don't have to?

I agree with you, CCM. I am supporting the comp with my entry fees, the entrance into the ballroom, buying stuff from vendors. I'm also supporting, if I'm traveling, the local economy by eating out, supporting the airlines and the hotel..and supporting my teacher. That's quite a bit of supporting! I don't really know any competitor who goes to a comp and says "let's see how much money I can spend here". Most of us are trying to cut the costs. To me, a good organizer will figure out how to keep most everyone happy and still make a few bucks.

 

[fascination]

for me...a very fortunate woman...it really is only partly about the money...I dance alot ...I do not want to go back into the ballroom in the evening if I am not dancing...i want to go back to my room...and I probably don't want mass produced hotel food either...those just aren't my preferences...BOT re: usdsc...particularly not in orlando when the choices are so fabulous