I wonder how long in advance and how much of a deposit it takes to secure a major facility for a District convention? If it is a large deposit, and you have to wait a year for donations...that could pose a problem........hummm
How big a fee does the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society get for booking Jehovah's Witnesses into Convention Hotels?
by Balaamsass 34 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Diest
Blocking rooms is common place for almost any convention. The WTS is not booking any conference space, so I doubt they get more than free rooms for bethalites. The convetion food and beverage is a huge money maker, so the WTS is not makeing as much money for the hotel as a rooms only group.
Before the internet a room block was the only way to get really cheap rooms. Now sites like hotels.com do they same thing.
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Balaamsass
Embassy Suites
Each hotel will pay up to 10 percent commission on all general public and other commissionable rates for the first 7 nights of a stay.
Interesting- Embassy suites, my Favorite Hotel on a budget. 2 rooms, 2 free breakfasts, mini- burger and a couple of beers after the assembly for about $110 per night. Even though it is only a couple of miles (all back roads!) from our Convention site it was never on the "Approved List" and they were offering a 10% booking fee. - WOW 10% was not enough to get on the WTBTS list!!!!!!!
A poor single mom in my bookstudy had to pay $100 over the AAA rate to stay at a "S...Hole" place 25 miles away for 3 nights, risk having the car stripped, and fight traffic. I didn't have the heart back then to tell her she got ripped off by rooming. Gosh I want to puke over some of the stuff I shut up about years ago.
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JakeM2012
WT went in to the rooming business because the community did not have enough motel/hotel rooms for the large crowds from out of town. The conventions were much larger. It used to be that they would arrange for families to stay with people in the community and they even set up tent cities.
It was in the late 70's early 80's that they started to have the approved rooming list. At first it was in very nice hotels and the prices were way below what you could get personally. I know that wt did get comp rooms for the co and do's.
However, the quality of the rooms has deteriorated over the years. The nice hotels are not offered any longer. One year the KM mentioned that someone set up a hibachi in the room and created a real problems. It was about this time that the KM's had a 45 minute part on the do's and don't of staying at a hotel.
The Motel 6's and 8's offered are there at the same price you can get nice Hotels over the internet. I thought that wt would/should get out of the hotel business years ago after the internet came about.
I don't think that they are making much money off the hotels, and with the cheap places now on the list I have never seen or heard of a CO or DO stay there. The traveling boys stay at the wealthy elder's houses and drink.
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Balaamsass
Yes Jake, I grew up near enough to an assembly city to have a lot of involvement in pre-assembly work, set up, and friends served in rooming for many years.
In the 90s and 2000s after food service was disbanded the tone of Rooming changed and WTBTS became adament about WHERE friends stayed. Only after moving and being involved in assiting poor JW friends make it to assemblies did I become aware of the descrepancies.
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notjustyet
So at this point no one has offered actual proof that the WTBTS has recieved any compensation ( other than free rooms) from the Hotels for securing rooms for the JWs to use during CA or DC.
I would love to know for a fact that Hotels have written a check to the WTBTS of local fund etc for securing these rooms. Anyone connected to a manager of one of these hotels that can make a phone call and see if there were payments actually made?
If not it is speculation.
NJY
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Balaamsass
Interesting update on other threads regarding Conventions. Entire towns paying Watchtower $$ to come to town.
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RubaDub
Entire towns paying Watchtower $$ to come to town.
Yes, Balaamsass .... very true.
Just remember, in many if not most cases, the money and free rooms that the Society gets is simply a business matter with the local Chamber of Commerce or similar government or quasi-govermental agency.
If you have a $1,000,000 to spend to increase business activity and tourism in your city, you can use those dollars to advertise, subsidize or in other wasy encourage people to come and spend their dollars in your community. Paying the Society to come to town is no different than running TV or magazine ads in other states to come and visit or start a business.
The Society is not getting anything "free" in the sense of anything illegal or kickbacks or anything of that nature. The cities are simply doing what is in their best interest. There is less risk having JW's for one or more weekends in town than spending the same money on an advertising campaign that may or may not be successful.
The main issue many here have it that the Society does not disclose these things publicly and mention how a stadium or arena may essentially be "free" but still seeks additional donations as if they were paying rent on the facility. It is just constantly mentioned from the platform that "Brothers, we are in a deficit."
Rub a Dub
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Balaamsass
Well with the new list of conventions for 2013 it will interesting to see if there will be more transparency regarding the colection of fees and REAL costs involved in holding conventions.
Will donations from local governments and booking fees be disclosed? Time will tell.
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Balaamsass
BTT