Don’t Delay, Today’s the Day…

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Leslie

Today is the last day for the regular registration rate of $495. Registration will increase by $100 tomorrow (May 1st) so if you are planning to attend INANE 2014, register today! Remember, there will be no on-site registration. You must pre-register to attend INANE 2014 in Portland, Maine.

The Casco Bay Cruise and Lobster Bake is not sold out but is getting close: 87 people have registered for an evening of fun on Casco Bay and Peaks Island. This event is limited to 100 so if you want to join in the fun, don’t delay!

Seats for the Closing Luncheon with Richard Blanco are also available but again, if you want to attend, I would suggest getting your registration in so you are not disappointed. This will be a small, elegant affair with a maximum of 50 participants–right now 32 seats are booked.

For Monday, August 4th and Tuesday, August 5th the following room types are still available at the Regency Hotel and Spa. Everything else is booked at this moment.

Two Governor Suites ($499/night). These suites include a king bed and queen pull out couch to accommodate four guests. The Governor Suites are on the fourth floor with a double deck.
Two Studio Suites ($399/night). Like the Governor suites, these suites include a king bed and queen pull out couch and will accommodate four.
One Regency Suite ($399/night). Historic and unique, the Regency Suite is in the turret of the old Armory Building on the front of the hotel. High ceilings, a beautiful view of the Old Port, and a king bed to accommodate two.
One Junior Suite ($279/night). With a king bed to accommodate two, this suite has undergone a total renovation, just finished last week! Brand new fixtures in the bathroom, new carpeting, and new furniture make this an elegant retreat.

If you are not able to make the remaining rooms at the Regency work for you, I have negotiated a block of rooms at the Portland Harbor Hotel for INANE attendees. They are offering single king rooms, single queen, and double queen for $259/night (same price as the rooms at the Regency). Contact the hotel directly at 207-775-9090 or 888-798-9090. Tell them you are with INANE 2014 to receive the group rate. It’s about a 3 block walk to the Regency (past lots of fun shops in the Old Port–it’s a nice walk!).

Other nearby hotels (walking distance) include the Hampton Inn, the Residence Inn (Marriott) and the Hilton Garden Inn.

Questions about any of this? Send me a message! I am here to help!

Leslie

for the Planning Committee: Peggy Chinn, Margaret Freda, Shawn Kennedy, Lisa Marshall and Jean Proehl.

Full House at the Regency

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Leslie

Happy April my friends!

As I have mentioned before, our conference hotel, the Regency, is a small, intimate property with 95 rooms that range from deluxe doubles to swanky suites. When we scheduled INANE we took a gamble to contract all 95 rooms for Monday Aug 4 and Tuesday Aug 5. We’re getting close to filling the place up–a Full House as I call it. As of today, 83 rooms have been booked for those two days. Sunday is also booking up, with 73 rooms reserved.

The idea of filling the entire hotel with INANE colleagues just makes me happy! The thought of taking over the whole joint for our conference makes me feel like it’s giant slumber party or summer camp. Maybe I’ll have to go buy myself some footy pajamas and bunny slippers to really add to the slumber party ambiance. LOL.

If you haven’t made your room reservation yet, it is getting to the point where you should not procrastinate any longer. Staff at the Regency will work with us to secure overflow bookings at adjacent hotels in the (likely) event that our groups fills the Regency to capacity. The nearby hotels are nice but trust me, it will be more fun to be at INANE Conference Central. The best way to reserve a room is by phone: call 1-800-727-3436 or 1-207-774-4200. Tell them you are attending INANE. If you have any problems at all, send me a message using this link and I will work with my contacts to have the issue quickly resolved.

Another reminder: our regular registration rate is in effect for just 29 more days. On May 1st, registration will increase by $100. If you are planning to attend INANE don’t wait any longer to register–do it now while it is on your mind. It only takes a minute or two. Click here to be taken to our secure registration site.

The next deadline that is quickly approaching: April 15 which is the last day to submit nominations for the Margaret Comerford Leadership Award. The online application can be found here. While it will probably take more than 2 minutes to complete, the award committee strove to make the application straightforward and concise. Thanks again to the members of this year’s committee: Shawn Kennedy, Chair and members: Grif Alspach, Joy Don Baker, Kathy Baker, Sean Clarke, Vicki Conn, Margaret Freda, Jan Fulton, Jackie Owens.

Last, we have had a surge of donations to the Suzanne Smith Development Fund in the past few weeks. Encouraged by Suzanne’s family, many of her friends and colleagues have donated to the fund. Yesterday, I received a group of donations from the Manatee County Ladies Golf Association! With funds received, we will be able to continue the Mentoring Editors Awards program going forward for several years to come. It makes me happy to be able to keep Suzanne’s memory alive in INANE with this program. All donors are listed at the bottom of every page on this website. We are still gratefully accepting donations–click here to be taken to our secure donation site and thank you in advance for your generosity.

Until the next update,

Leslie

for the planning committee: Peggy Chinn, Margaret Freda, Shawn Kennedy, Lisa Marshall and Jean Proehl.

March 1st Update!

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Leslie

Happy March, INANE Colleagues,

Lots of information for this first-of-the month update. Our biggest news is the announcement of the winners of the Suzanne Smith Mentoring Editors Awards. This is a new initiative for INANE and I am very pleased with the way the program is evolving. Brief bios and pictures are posted here; consider leaving a comment or word of encouragement to the award winners in the comments!

Carol A. “Pat” Patsdaugher

One idea that came to me after the awardees were selected was to pair each winner with and mentor-editor. Pat Patsdaughter had planned to attend the conference with her student and protégé, Suha Ballout. Pat’s untimely death on January 26 made that an impossibility so I asked Lucy Bradley-Springer to step in in the role. With that in place I thought, “Why not do the same for the others?” Thank you to the mentors who enthusiastically accepted my invitation and congratulations to the winners!

The Mentoring Editors Awards are funded by donations to the Suzanne Smith Development Fund. As of today we have raised $2510 and expended $1980 on this year’s awards, leaving a balance of $530. That’s a start for next year! I believe this is a valuable program that honors a very special colleague and I hope we are able to

Suzanne Smith

continue it for years to come. If you have been planning on making a donation but haven’t quite gotten around to it, don’t dilly-dally any longer! The average donation is ~$80–a modest amount but looking at the winners you can see it is a worthwhile investment. As a point of information, there were a total of nine applications for the Mentoring Editors Awards this year. The Planning Committee was challenged to select four as all of the applications were of extremely high quality. If you believe in INANE and the value of mentorship to nurture those who will follow in our footsteps, please make a donation today.

Margaret Comerford Freda

While I’m on the subject of awards, a reminder that applications for the Margaret Comerford Freda Award for Editorial Leadership in Nursing are now being accepted. Established in 2012, this award recognizes excellence, innovation, and sustained contributions to knowledge dissemination through nursing publication. Previous winners are Margaret Freda, Joyce Fitzpatrick, and Shirley Smoyak. We are looking forward to adding a new name to the list at INANE 2014. Please consider nominating a colleague who you believe exemplifies excellence and is worthy of this award. Applications are due by April 15, 2014. By the way, the winner will not be publicly announced until the presentation of the award on August 5th which is different from last year. Personally, I think this heightens the anticipation and adds to the prestige of the award.

Publisher meetings are being scheduled! Monday, August 4 from 9 am to 1 pm was set aside as dedicated time for Publisher and Editor Meetings. As of today, three publishers: Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins, Elsevier, and Wiley have taken advantage of this opportunity and scheduled a meeting. Details regarding rooms and exact times will be posted when I have this information. I am sure that the publishers will be contacting their editors directly with meeting agendas and so on. Still, I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of these scheduled events so they can keep this in mind when planning travel. Remember, the Regency is offering the discounted room rate to INANE attendees on Sunday August 3rd. Monday will be a full day with meetings, the Discover Portland Trolley Tour, and our Opening Gala and Speaker. Arrive on Sunday, give yourself the evening to unwind, and then plan on diving into a very busy and exciting INANE conference first thing Monday morning. Or–if you arrive early enough, consider booking a tour with Maine Day Trip, another INANE partner!

I have been asked if there are other hotels near the Regency. Yes, there are but word is out that the Regency is “offline” for the days of our conference. As a result, neighboring hotels are raising their prices knowing they can get reservations from guests who would normally select the Regency as their first choice. In doing some informal checking, I have been quoted rates of over $400/night for an average king room at other locations. While the Regency might seem a little spendy, believe me when I say it is best bargain in town for the week of August 3rd. I encourage everyone to make their reservations now to guarantee price and your preferred room selection. Remember, there is no financial penalty to make an advance reservation. You will not be charged until you arrive at the hotel and can cancel anytime up to 48 hours in advance.

The complete, final conference program has been available for a month. I have gotten some great feedback on the variety of sessions and presenters. If you have been waiting for the final program to register, wait no more! Also, just a reminder: all presenters must register to attend INANE 2014. Our modest budget does not allow us to pay honoraria or offer complimentary registrations to the conference. If you are scheduled to present a breakout or poster session and haven’t registered, please do so at your earliest convenience. Thank you!

Last but not least, INANE 2014 has gone mobile! We have partnered with Guidebook to create a mobile app for the conference and believe me, it is terrific. This is a benefit to all INANE attendees. When you register, I will send the code to download the INANE guide. Wondering what Guidebook is, or what our INANE guide looks like? Click here for more information.

I think that sums up all the information I wanted to share today. As always, if you have questions or comments, use the Feedback form to get in touch with me directly. I will do my very best to get you the information you need as quickly as I possibly can!

Looking forward to welcoming my colleagues to Maine in August,

Leslie

For the Planning Committee: Peggy Chinn, Margaret Freda, Shawn Kennedy, Lisa Marshall, Jean Proehl

The Regency, Room Blocks, and Reservations

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Leslie

or…Hotel Reservations 101

When I selected the Regency Hotel for INANE 2014, I had to contract for a specific number of sleeping rooms that would be booked from August 3rd to 6th. This is standard for conference planning–it’s how the hotel makes money after all! But it is a balancing act to “guess-timate” the number of rooms. If I contract for too many and then we don’t fill them, I am stuck with paying the bill for the unused rooms. On the other hand, if I don’t contract enough, when someone calls to make a reservation, they may be told that the hotel is “sold out.” Technically, the hotel is not sold out, but our room block is. Certainly I want everyone to be able to stay at the hotel and enjoy the conference room rate for the duration of their stay.

Fortunately, it is not all a big gamble. The Regency is willing to provide some flexibility around the number of rooms in a block, especially when people are making reservations well in advance of the conference. For example, if our contracted estimate turns out to be too low for one of the nights, I can contact the sales staff to add extra rooms. But this flexibility is limited and we’ll get to a point when this is no longer possible. Just as we can sell out our block of rooms, if the hotel is holding a block for us, they have turn down reservations from other potential customers–because those rooms are reserved for us. When summer tourism season gets closer, Regency staff will be less willing to hold rooms and potentially lose customers. That’s why it is important to have reservations for our attendees confirmed early, before we bump up against summer planning. See what I mean about a balancing act?

I have modified our room block three times–the most recent was today. Reservations for Wednesday, August 6th have been running well ahead of my estimate. We originally booked 5 rooms, then 10. Now it’s up to 40. For the other nights:

Sunday Aug 3rd: originally 20; now 35
Monday Aug 4th: originally 70; now 95 (“run of the house”–we are hoping to fill the entire hotel)
Tuesday Aug 5th: originally 70; now 95
Wednesday Aug 6th: originally 5, then 10; now 40

What does this mean for attendees (and why I am going into such excruciating detail)? For purposes of planning and budgeting, it is very helpful to know if we are on target with our room reservations. I also don’t want anyone to be disappointed with their reservation by not being able to book the nights they want at the conference rate.

The good news is, you can make reservations without worrying about a financial penalty if you need to cancel or your plans change. They will ask you for a credit card to guarantee your reservation, but nothing will be charged until you actually set foot in the hotel. You will not be charged for one (or two) nights at the time of your reservation, as is often the case with booking agencies or using services such as Expedia. The cancellation policy is to call and notify them 48 hours prior to your arrival. You can also modify your reservation without penalty. So if you think you might stay three nights, make that reservation. Then if it ends up being two, you can easily cancel one night–as along as you do it more than 48 hours in advance. It helps me enormously in handling the “on-the-ground” details of rooms blocks and so on if you reserve early.

It’s easy to make a reservation: just call the hotel at 1-800-727-3436 or 207-774-4200. The staff at the hotel prefers if you call so you can discuss room types and availability. If calling is impossible (due to time zones or whatever) you can email the reservations manager, Shari Cole at scole@theregency.com.

And–if you have any problems at all please let me know immediately! Use the contact form to send me a message and I will respond as quickly as possible. I became aware of the need for the room block on Aug 6th to be increased because Elaine Miller ran into a spot of trouble but all is well now. I can work to fix things quickly but only if I know there is a problem!

Even if you are not ready to register for the conference, you can reserve your hotel room (many have done this). Like I said, booking early ensures that you will not be disappointed. I look forward to welcoming everyone to Maine next summer!

Leslie