How to Propose Your City for a Future
ISA+21 Conference
We all love getting together in cities near and far and catching up with our ISA sisters while exploring the sights and experiences on offer. The Board is looking for places to go in 2023, 2024 and beyond!
ISA+21 Member Liz Jenning Clark has organized several successful ISA+21 Conferences and offers some insight:
The best locations have been ones where a local member has enthusiastically “sold” her domicile or home town or even favourite layover location as a convention/conference site. When you know and love a city you are well placed to help the ISA Events director as Local Liaison and do some ground work researching hotels, fun restaurants, day trip/side trip options etc, etc.
Those of you who are long term members probably know the itinerary off by heart, but for our newer members I’ll run through the standard schedule.
The conference has now been moved to September – with to main conference days on: Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday.
- Accomodations: We prefer a 4 or 5 star hotel. ISA+21 blocks the hotel rooms usually from Monday through Friday at i.e. 30/50/50/30 – use these numbers to help you get basic quotes and provisional contracts from a few hotels.
- Registration Space – this has been held in a Hospitality Suite, foyer, or business room space on the first day, generally Tuesday
- Board of Directors Meeting Room – Conference style seating for our BOD meeting
- Welcome Reception on Tuesday Evening – Cocktail Reception Room for up to 180 people. Appetizers, entertainment, and space for silent auction.
- General Business Meeting Wednesday Morning – Room to seat up to 120 people. Preferably classroom set up. Audio/Visual Equipment available.
- Luncheon – Held after the General Business Meeting, we need a room for up to 180 people. Banquet style table setup. Audio/Visual Equipment available.
- Group Photo – ISA+21 members in their uniforms will take an annual group photo. Professional photographer required.
- Additional Requirements
- Wednesday Evening a group dinner is usually arranged – past venues include river/canal cruises, celebrity sports bar, comedy clubs – whatever your town has to offer!
- Thursday there is a full day tour – usually kept relatively nearby, city highlights, local cuisine, vineyard, castle or even an Olympic Park to shoot miniscule targets while lying on your belly, zip line along the ski jump, or trying out luge on a wheeled tray!
- Optional Friday to Sunday Side Trip – this can be to another city nearby, usually on a chartered coach but has also been by train (Paris from Amsterdam, Prague from Budapest). Or even cruises – Alaska from Seattle and the Greek islands from Cyprus. Liz: My very first conference we all flew non rev from Fort Worth to Houston (for an amazing visit to NASA)!
- City Selection: the city being proposed should be easy to reach – direct international flight connections are always a plus, or at least only 2 sectors from other continents. If your airline can offer non-rev or reduced fare travel for members so much the better.
- Local Information: Often you can get promotional info from your city’s Tourist Board/Conference centre or similar.
- Timeline: The Board of Directors would like to approve venues at least 18 months in advance. Please submit 2025 Venue proposals by the Winter 2024 Board Meeting: February 26, 2024 so the Board can review options at the January 2024 Board Meeting.
Questions: If you would like more detail on requirements or have questions on a proposal, contact the Events Director at events@isa21.org or lizjc81@gmail.com.
Hoping to see you all in wonderful places in the next few years! Liz J C
