General Consultant Discussion

Minds of the Future Symposium - July 20th- 21st, ALoft Hotel (next to the Gaylord) Ron Baker and John Shaver will conduct a 2-day symposium on Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21, 2013 for the members of 90Minds. ? The content of the symposium will ? Target both the theoretical and practical aspects of how to implement a business model based on value. ? Be weighted towards the practical aspects of the new business model. ? Custom-tailored for this group. Attached is a sample agenda from a SAGE sponsored Firm of the Future. The content will be similar but be customized for our group. In order for us to customize it, we need to hear from YOU!!!!!! Please post below what outcomes and objectives you are expecting from this conference. The more you post, the more the agenda will be customized. We are hoping the attendees will be very engaged in the topics presented and that every day REAL LIFE experences will be shared. The topics are certainly provocative and COULD change the way you conduct business in the future! PLEASE share your thoughts below!!!!! For those of you that have not signed up, there is still time AND room in the conference room. Please consider attending. CPE credit will be offered. This WILL be the best event you will attend at Summit!!!!

Thanks @JeffSchwenk What I would like to get out of the conference is - Dealing with your current customers, how do you move them from your current business model to a new /changed business model.

@DianeRuth has an excellent suggestion - this is a very often asked question about how to introduce change in pricing/terms without fear of losing customers (presumably ones you'd like to keep). My contribution to the conversation would be -- the option of ""stay the same"" can't be on the table or the vast majority of customers will select it. Have a clear plan and stick to it. Never go into a meeting and be backed into a corner of offering an option that is in conflict with how you do business (for example if you are determined to fixed fee -- don't back down and agree to hourly). I think that if your consulting is now on an hourly basis and you are looking to go fixed pricing that you should consider a way to also incorporate the annual upgrade into your customer plan. Most consultants reaction to this is ""oh we could never do that"" -- but I have never heard a good reason why not. Yeah - you never could do it if you aren't pricing it realistically ... And including the upgrade can just be an option -- but in my opinion it's something that we should be working very hard to include or at some point the SaaS options are going to start looking attractive to customers if only because they don't have to deal with the headache of a big quote for the annual upgrade.

And for those pursuing fixed pricing the only answer to ""what is your rate?"" is ""we don't have rates, timesheets or any mechanism to track time"". Has worked each time I've used it (and it's true). I've been using Freshbooks.com for three or four years for all my billing. About $250 per year and we send 100% of our invoices online via email. It's simply amazing the amount of paper and postage that we cut. Easily have paid for the price of online billing just in terms of saved postage alone. I also like that there's an online estimate system where you can send out a quote and have the customer approve it online then turn it into an invoice.

@JeffSchwenk is correct. It is highly unlikely that anything else you attend at Summit has the potential to impact your business as much as this will. Having just attended my second FoF symposium this week in Toronto(I'm a slow learner) I am extremely re-energized. If there is anyone even remotely ""on the fence"" about whether or not to attend I would recommend that you do.

@BrettLyder - Any chance of attending your third FotF???

As much as i'd like to hear @JohnShaver and his insights, i don' t think I can convince my partner that we need to go to another one quite that soon. How many are committed at this point?

Oh come on, @BrettLyder - we need your enthusisasm to help re-energize us other slow learners!! The third time's the charm!

19 are committed. Waiting on a check to arrive before calling it 20.

I'm lobbying but fighting an uphill battle....

@alanniergarth - Tell them how excited we all are about it and that, at some point, THEY better get excited about it as well. One cannot live by maintenance/margins alone...

It is hard trying to be a trail blazer....

We are interested in any experiences relating to: - Using price lists. I know Wayne uses them. How and when? do they relate to pricing of larger projects? What are others experiences, pro and con with price lists? - 3-option proposals. We use these only in quoting work. Chuck will share the details of how we structure these, but we are interested in the variables that others use to build theirs out. - Knowledge Access Agreements. We are tardy in building these out. We've studied Wayne's agreement to death (thank you!!). We'd like to hear how others have experimented with them, especially the details you consider as you flesh them out. I know that this is primarily a session to help 90Minders who are still T&M wrap their heads around the whole FOTF concept; sort of an Intro level. But where we can, we hope to be able to get some dialog about the details of making these 3 elements work.

@DianeRuth and @JerryNorman, both of those are great suggestions. Everyone approaches these issues a little differently based on what they want to accomplish and what feels comfortable to them. @ThereseLogeais is exactly right. I would add living by break/fix to that list. KTAs are the key to generating recurring revenue and pulling your firm out of the traditional quicksand. I'd be interested in hearing about (and, of course, will be sharing) how other folks are building their accelerant curve (http://www.contrarianconsulting.com/million-dollar-consulting-accelerant-curve/). I don't mean building it by adding new products, that may be part of it, but what are folks doing that is more in the realm of true knowledge work.

And let's keep the suggestions coming!

Just.Do.It.

On an actuarial basis, you still make good money despite the occasional 'loss.'"" @JerryNorman 's statement from the following stream exemplifies the fear I believe we have about value pricing projects - ""I'm going to get my butt kicked if I don't do it perfectly."" https://90minds-com.socialcast.com/messages/16595064?ref=stream Thanks Jerry, for reminding us to look at the long haul.

Another ethical advantage of Pricing on Purpose over T&M is that it lets the risk of such a cock up be born where it should be: the consultant. The consultant now has every incentive to make the work go as smoothly as possible. But risk should always be appropriately insured, so ... it really does all work so that both parties are happy.

The downside (which is really an upside) is that the consultant has to take time understanding and preparing the proposal which in turn will mean you cannot accept all the prospects who land on your doorstep. Reason? Every single one of them will let you keep working for free. The moment you deliver that proposal that took you a day to work up is the moment you never hear from 95% of the prospects. I wish I were wrong but you really also have to get good at pre-screening. New implementations is the worst unless you're still doing free demos upon which you generally defer the ""radio silence"" until after the demo and analysis (all free) is delivered. Then the prospect cannot be reached and goes into that meeting which never ends.

You are completely correct! I treat new prospects quite differently from current customers. You must assume that all new prospects will take whatever you give them and use it/pass it along. We'll risk more for most current customers, and your annual KAA with a customer should address how you'll deal with larger project quote dev (ours doesn't yet ...). In this vein: The beauty of PoP approach is that you really do separate your break/fix work from the time it takes to do it. At the same time, you can price the options to encourage or discourage an approach. For example, a lot of data cleanup can be done by a customer. You don't want to do it? Fine. Quote the $75 (or more) to diagnose the problem and layout the options. Define Option 2 to train them on how to fix the data, and Option 3 (much more expensive) for you to do the data cleanup yourself. When the customer self-selects they generally don't get mad at high costs. and a high #3 makes the middle option more appealing (don't under price it) AND if customer really doesn't want to do it, you can make a pretty penny doing scut work!

Well, I'm sure @JohnShaver will be able to articulate the same thoughts but it sure would be nice if you were attending @JerryNorman and @WayneSchulz .

Honing your pre-screening process is essential. Your approach has to be simple and crystal clear for the prospect to understand. The paid part of the project needs to start very early on. @JerryNorman, price framing is such a powerful concept. Paint the picture for them and put a frame around it.

Thanks @WayneSchulz , @JerryNorman and @DianeRuth for your input. I hope others will continue to post their thoughts here so that @johnshaver and Ron can make it a one-of-a-kind session. I seriously cannot wait for this Minds of the Future symposium!! I am looking forward to coming back ala @BrettLyder, re-energized and ready to roll!!

It seems like most of you are already well educated on the FOTF concepts. Although I have read and heard these arguments (suggestions) before I don't have enough information to initiate any changes in my quoting and billing. I am going to try my best to keep an open mind at this seminar and at a minimum I expect to come away with points of view I have never considered. As of today, my biggest hang up is the issue of fairness. How does one determine a fixed price? What is fair? Is it possible the fair value of a project is not an acceptable compensation for the work? I have several unanswered questions that I hope these 2 days will help me clarify.

Doug, I do understand. I came from the same place. Here is, I think, the secret: sales. You can't sell something if the buyer doesn't see that the value to him is less than the price you ask. The part that makes this PoP approach so very hard is that YOU must take the time and effort to understand how the work you have in mind will turn into value for the customer. Then you have to discuss his situation with the customer to see if he sees the same value. As you'll see in the course, you essentially split the difference between your cost to produce the value and the value that the customer experiences. Do you see anything unfair about that concept? This is NOT easy, and the devil is in the details. (Frankly, I'm skeptical about how many VAR's can really do this.) Also, the concept doesn't work so cleanly on the break/fix issues. But it does apply, you just have to approach it differently. Look, if the customer ends up feeling like you're being unfair, he/she will leave. Experience so far among the many who've implemented this method is that it just doesn't happen. The money back guarantee is also part of this. Press John & Co how this really works and why it's not as risky as it sounds. I think it's fair to say that nobody jumps into this whole hog. You will start by apply the no-time-billing concept to modest projects and expand up (larger projects) and down (break fix) from there.

Got @JeffSchwenk email directing comments and questions to this thread. I'd really appreciate it if @JohnShaver we go over data conversions, their pricing/estimates, and dealing with clients that give you crap data on a Thursday, ask that you send them an exhaustive list of issues by Friday, then leave for out of town the weekend the conversion is occuring to remote location wihout cell service.

Aren't those the ones you fire? :)

@MoiraGoggin, I can't be there for this, but Chuck will. We found a way around that problem by defining the process and response times in the project agreement. Working in the context of 3 levels of agreement, - the lowest level. The customer doing all the data cleanup until you deem it ""acceptable."" You would flag the problems but they must clean it up. You get 3 days to respond to data, and they must reply within 3 days; if they take longer, its $XX per incident. If they want faster response from you, they must upgrade to a higher level. They only get 2 rounds fix data: the initial submission to you, and the next rev; if they can't get it right by then, it's $YY/additional cycle. - the highest level specifies 1-day (or faster) turn around by you. You do all the data cleanup, relying on them to approve the data you end with. If they want to take 2 weeks to get back to you fine, you'll still respond in 1 day, unless they give you reprieve. If they want to go 7 rounds of data cleanup, fine, you'll do that. We've found that approach of specifying the response and process rules helps a lot in these projects that rely on customer help in design. Report design is particularly appropriate here. Make the lowest level competitive, so they won't go shopping because of it, but if the other 2 levels obviously make their lives easier, they'll go for it. It's not unreasonable to make the highest level 3x the price of the base level.

What @JerryNorman said. I've been burned by the: a. Customer who is all gung ho - can you start Monday? Hold that day because we are ready ready ready. Then changes their mind the following Wednesday. They're not out any money because -- oops -- you didn't take a deposit...(or better yet the whole fee). Usually you will only find out that they changed their mind because they didn't pay your deposit yet you still held the day and set aside a few weeks to work the project. Worst case? You turn down other work thinking you have this ""big project""... b. Customer says no problem ""our people will check the data and we can give you plenty of notice""... 5pm on Friday you get the email that they finally think they checked the data and are ready to go live Monday at 8am. Hey they're busy and after all if there's a problem you can fix it after go live, right? Did I mention that originally they were going to give you a week's notice. But they're so nice you didn't bother to put that in your contract.. c. Wheeeee - customer doesn't have time to check data. No sweat they'll check it in 4 months and call you back to work your magic and retroactively fix the mess. Tip: Once you leave one stage 1. Setup 2. Test 3. Go Live 4 Post Go Live It costs money to re-enter it. Customer cannot ok one level and go to the next and then come back to an early phase. Well yes they can but you would have to price it that way and the option to do that might be 500% more than your lower option. d. If you don't setup a damn good way to quickly quote these projects then shame on you. The words ""starts at"" will get you out of almost any jam. If you want to go mind meld with the customer and sprinkle holy water then go for it. For me a price list usually gets the job done and keeps me from wasting my time with tire kickers. What I'm referring to above are the casual quotes that you give to customers you might see once a year - which are the toughest to quote because you're probably not doing work with them through the year. There's also a HUGE problem with quotes -- mostly that so long as they're free customers are delighted for you to take as long as you want on that free diagnosis and recommendation.... then some shop it shamelessly to another consultant who is usually dumber than you (both financially and technically) and who cuts 40 % off the price and may have a good shot at the work you spec'd.

For better or worse, we don't have Wayne's problem of too many tire kickers. For an existing Sage 100 user, we won't get detailed on anything until they have already ROR'd. It takes some of the risk out, and makes sure both sides do appropriate due diligence on the relationship besides the price. But making this work for new orphans is not something I've been terribly successful at. That said, any 90 Minds member who wants to take this approach (Pricing on Purpose) really needs to first work on converting its existing customers so that any project (small >> large) is fixed-price. Even there, all projects are AT LEAST 50% to start, prepaid. We also include terms that say, ""if we receive no response to this <deliverable> within <n> days, both parties agree that the customer has accepted it as complete."" It gets around the problem of non-responsive customers never really signing off the project end to trigger that last 10% payment.

@JerryNorman thank you for the response. I really like the idea of date and turn around limitations. I agree with @WayneSchulz too as I've been burned by setting aside a particular day and then the client kicks it out a day or two. I guess the best way to handle that is with a failure penalty to the client for project delay equal to a full day of work.

We build several variables into the levels. One is time flexibility. So at the basic level, we schedule work on during normal business hours, with x days notice on something like an upgrade, with a penalty (not full day though -- we don't charge for days!) (We prefer working evenings and weekends, BUT customers generally see off-hours downtime as valuable, so we charge more to get it.) At the premium level, we will do work off hours and weekends, and on short notice without penalty. How do you price for that flexibility in the Premium? It's an art. However, because it's so intangible, the answer really comes down to how talk about it with the customer and what place markers he/she has to compare. I know that Ron and John will help you with ways to thing about it in July.

@WayneSchulz and @JerryNorman, I'm not sure that I follow. Are these customers on KTAs?

@JohnShaver , we have been very slow to add KTA's to our customer base. Shame on me. However, my comments on structuring projects apply to our current customers; I think I'd treat them the same whether on KTA or not ... although if they were on a Gold/Platinum level, probably not. That's a really good point, though. If customers do a KTA, then they also get some added flex in project operations.

Well, there's another great topic of conversation for the symposium: how does having KTAs in place change your relationship with the customer?

Our agreements do not include upgrades which in the coming year we will work hard to upgrade many of our customers so that the agreements do include an annual upgrade.

Ok this might be a dumb question but what is KTA's

Knowledge Transfer Agreement. It's like a SLA but with different press.

Thanks @RobertWood ! I hope we will see a sample of one at MOTF.

I hope to see several samples....

@DianeRuth thanks for asking about KTA - I wondered too.

@MoiraGoggin glad someone else didn't know what it was ! LOL

There is a difference between KTA and SLA besides the name. It get to the heart of your value in the FOTF concept. I won't tell you what that is now --- I'm just adding some suspense for your training.

I put together a Suggestions Recap in a Google Doc. Please look over it and let me know what else you would like to add. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xnR-GFzPCUHxnazJ5hYoNtU62AQw7v5krbC_0HCOrHI/edit?usp=sharing

Very nice.

@JohnShaver Thanks this looks like it will be a interestIng symposium . @WayneSchulz thanks for sharing your documents!

It's a little over 3 weeks before MOTF. Does anyone want to add some more suggestions for symposium topics? https://docs.google.com/a/ariestech.com/document/d/1xnR-GFzPCUHxnazJ5hYoNtU62AQw7v5krbC_0HCOrHI/edit

One topic I did not see on the list that is getting big play at both Microsoft and SAP is fixed price and rapid deployment through packaging. It was also discussed at the ITA conference and is definitely trending. Staying at the Aloft... If I get in before you break up I'll peak my head in!

@GaryFeldman can you elaborate on the ""rapid deployment through packaging"" concept?

Here's SAPs idea of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8JuM0zUGFw Seems like Sage product implementations meet much of this already - we just need to use this glossy new slogan.

At the most basic level rapid deployment packages are partially pre-configured solutions tailored to a specific target market Gary Feldman President I-Business Network,LLC www.I-BN.com

re: ""Rapid Deployment"" - I can 100% guarantee this is all about scope. If you don't spend time locking down the scope you are going to lose your shirt. I'm just trying to finalize selling a C/D level Sage 100 customers a canned Crystal Report. I think I've had to log in 6-8 times because they truly had little idea what they wanted and I was too dumb and didn't just walk away (price of report $750 which sounds good until you have the customer requesting changes because they don't know what they want). This is another reason I'm a strong advocate for minimum pricing. There's ALWAYS discovery, scope and project management overhead involved in all projects. It's all discovery, scope and project management - three things that are often tougher to manage than the underlying technology...

I've concluded that the discovery, scope and project mgt together consumes at least half of a project's time. My reality is that actual technical execution is typically ~1/3 of the total. Maybe 1/2 with a ""good"" customer.

Like painting: 60% prep, 30% paint, 10% cleanup.

@JerryNorman which is why I'm increasingly reluctant to ""just give us a quote"" for anyone stumbling in from the web. Even telling them that they've got a bigger problem than they thought is a value that I want to charge for. Most won't pay for any diagnosis whatsoever which leads me to believe that they also would be poor long term customers.

No argument, Wayne. But is really hard with this model to get a customer comfortable with the likely cost of switching to an operation like yours or ours. I still struggle with how to do that, even assuming that the prospect would not be a D/F customer.

What's a D/F customer?

There are definite pre-requisites for a rapid deployment program which clearly includes the definition of scope and acceptance of the concept that you implement first and tailor second. Key to the sales process is that companies like Sage and SAP have tons of industry experience and have built best practices into the standard work flows of their product which are embedded in the rapid deployment approach. We are doing 3-6 per year over the past 3 years across all product lines and we see the concept spreading.

Jerry is referring to A customers as your best, B are good, C are marginal and D/F should be coached or fired.

You also further need to categorize by source: a. Raw Google Lead - don't waste much time b. Existing customer - all the time needed c. Referral from good source - qualify for $$ then decide d. New users - see above. I've had very poor results trying to turn a new deal into a paid analysis however I am able to turn many orphans into paid analysis

The orphan category interests me. As you say, some are definitely worth dealing with. Can you elaborate a bit on how you guide them to the paid analysis? And, is that before or after their agreeing to your annual plan?

It depends on who is inquiring and what they're asking about. a. ""Found you on Google"" or ""Looking for a quote"" as the first topic of conversation = rarely close. b. Found you via a solution posted online which solved a real painful problem or is a member of my newsletter = high likelihood of closing. c. Not the owner/CEO/CFO = much lower level of closing but they still can close but tend to be fairly disloyal (stay with you 1-3 years). I pretty much tell people outright that since I was not involved in setting up their initial system that I need to review it first and we get paid for that. I'm comfortable walking away which is why I think probably 50-70% of qualified prospects will pay for the review. I also make clear before starting the conversation that I don't work hourly or per call. That lets people pre-qualify themselves. I'll also send a copy of our support agreement via email. I want them to be very informed about how I work (fees, support) by the time we start talking. People who call vs email also seem to be less likely to close and more likely to be looking to just get someone on the phone to answer a quick question. I dislike dealing with people via incoming calls because I find it harder to steer them to the information on fees, etc. Most who call initially want to launch into ""hey one quick question"".

I agree with your assessment of lead quality. Being willing to walk away when prospect starts acting in a way that generally doesn't bode well, is absolutely necessary, too. I recall that you generally charge $1k min to remotely assess and review the system? You supply a brief written analysis, too? Your support agreement starts at ~$3k/yr, so am I correct in deducing that you pretty much prepare the prospect for $4k + the charge to fix the problem(s) indicated? I don't think that's wrong at all; just curious to understand the details of what works for you.

Yes - existing users generally pay an initial fee starting around $4,000. IN order to pay those types of prices they usually have some pain that they're looking for immediate relief from and/or are moving from an unresponsive partner. There's also a fair share of lunatic orphans but the fee tends to keep those away.

That makes sense to me. Thank you for these important details!

Attendance is now at 24. Still room for more!

Bumping this back up to see if anyone has some more topics to add. https://docs.google.com/a/ariestech.com/document/d/1xnR-GFzPCUHxnazJ5hYoNtU62AQw7v5krbC_0HCOrHI/edit

Thanks @BobPfahnl for adding some more questions to the list!

A few questions for the group: 1. Would it make sense to start the day on Saturday by breaking into 2 groups: one for folks who have been to a FOTF symposium and one for those who haven't? I'm thinking maybe for the first hour of the conference. The idea is to let the first-time attendees catch up on some of the concepts that Baker introduces. 2. Is anyone using annual performance appraisals? Baker has content on killing them but we may not want to cover it if no one is interested. 3. Would anyone be willing to talk about the details of a project or proposed project they are working on and let the group serve as a value council to price the project?

1. Sure. 2. I'd skip it. 3. I have one.

Here's a decent article about having the value conversation. It made the rounds on the VeraSage FB page. What's really ironic is that every point the article makes is incongruous with the Freshbooks website. As @PeterWolf says, it's like a pizza chain publishing a book on how to grill a great steak.

Anyone interested in Saturday night Dodgers @ Nationals?

@JohnShaver : 1. sure 2.Not so much annual appraisals, but the challenge of keeping remote consultants working steadily changes a lot when they're no longer claiming time. That problem warrants some discussion. 3. we might have one.

1. Only if there are attendees that have no previous exposure. Find out how many there are first. I don't see doing that if it's a minimal number. 2. Since I need to do those when I get back, I'm at least interested in the alternatives to those. 3. I have a project.

Everyone should have received a survey request last night. As soon as the results are in, I'll send them to John.

Less than two weeks to go and we are still holding at 25 attendees. It is NOT to late to sign up. Just let me know and I'll get an invoice out to you. I am checking to see what the room availability at the Aloft is. Will revise this post when I receive and update. If you have NOT sent me an e-mail regarding your status as FOTF attendee (Newbie or Alum), please let me know so John Shaver can continue to refine the agenda. See everyone soon!!!!! This just in from the Aloft. There are still rooms available!!!!!!!!

I didn't get the survey.

Did you get a list of attendees? If so, there was a single line requesting some information. If you didn't get the attendee list, then you didn't get the survey. LMK.

Did not get the list.

Check your e-mail. Just resent.

@JerryNorman, are you going to the symposium? I didn't see your name on the list. Based on the number of newbies attending, I don't think we will need to split the groups.

No, I can't make it. Bad timing. Chuck will be waving our flag.

Interesting - Just received a call from the Aloft letting me know that the ENTIRE National Harbor area around the Gaylord is being affected by a water main issue. Service is supposed to be back on line by Friday. Our meeting is NOT in jeopardy, but the hotel showers are...... Hate to be staying there tonight. I wonder if that is even allowed.....

Just got off the phone with the Gaylord and they are canceling everything up to the 21st. The whole area is being canceled based on what she said. @JeffSchwenk Did the Aloft say you could stay at the hotel?

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2013/07/national-harbor-to-be-impacted-by.html

Interesting!! Bring wipes!

National Harbor is being shut down till Friday or Sat. I think we need a back up plan. Should we see if around the BWI can handle the FOTM? By then the harbor should have it's act together. @JeffSchwenk

There are several hotels just across the Potomac in Old Town Alexandria that are way cheaper and would probably love to have the business.

Aloft assured me that our conference will go on as planned. They did indicate that they would have bathroom attendants on hand for assisting the patrons...... More of my concern is whether the hotels will be open Friday night for lodging. Isn't lack of water a fire hazard???

Food will not be an issue as it is being catered in. Will keep all posted. Just spoke with the Hampton inn. They are expecting to stay open for business but are making plans to relocate guests checking in on Friday.

@DianeRuth Are you saying you don't have a room?

Yeah the Gaylord is shut down till Sunday they hope. They are saying all of the Harbor is shutting down . So I'm not sure if the Aloft is going to be open either.

@JeffSchwenk I think you need to call your contact at the hotel and find out what they are really doing. If Gaylord is closing till Sunday I would think they all are but just haven't said so yet.

I changed my Hampton Inn arrival date to Sunday and booked a room at the Embassy Suites in Old Town for Friday and Saturday nights. Having a hotel ""relocate"" me doesn't sound promising.

That is what I am saying and I am flying in on Friday to BWI and Diana is picking me up and we were staying at the Gaylord. Now I just need to know where the FOTM is really going to be held because I don't think it is going to be a the Aloft. If Gaylord is canceling everything till Sunday they must know something ...

Great! I flying into Reagan on Friday evening. If the meeting stays at ALoft will there be some transportation available from the alternate hotels?

http://recp.rm05.net/servlet/MailView?m=5579551&r=NDU5Mzc3OTI2NTES1&j=MzI1NjEyOTc5S0

I suggest that everyone make backup reservations across the river in Old Alexandria. We will figure out transportation from there.

Transportation is available. Free paddle boats and port-a-potties are included in the conference registration fee for all 90 Minds members.

We have made backup reservations in Alexandria.

Aloft just dropped the news that we MAY have to relocate the conference if the water isn't back by Saturday Morning. Their conference service manager is working with hotels in Old Alexandria to relocate the event. I suggested the Embassy Suites Alexandria - Old Town as many of us are rebooking hotel rooms in that area. She promised to get back with me tomorrow to let me know her progress. Stay tuned for news as it happens!!!! PLEASE MAKE BACK UP HOTEL reservations in the Old Town Alexandria Area.*****************

Thanks for bringing this to our attention @JeffSchwenk . I haven't seen anything on LinkedIn (although I may have missed it) so once again, 90 Minds has come through as the first to make this important announcement. The rooms are filling fast so please do as Jeff suggested and make reservations elsewhere.

The Embassy Suites showed nothing available just now, so I've booked at the Monaco - there is only a 24 hour cancellation policy.

@JohnShaver I'm not sure where Ron was staying but can you make sure he knows about this??

Backup ressie made at Hampton/Metro. What fun! I feel sorry for all of these planners and hotels for the mess this puts them in.

There is a Hampton Inn and a Hilton right across the street from the Embassy Suites. The ones near the King St Metro station. @ThereseLogeais, I booked a room for Ron. Thanks for reminding me!

Conference is being switched to the Embassy Suites. See address below. Unfortunately, we have to wrap up the Saturday session at 4 PM. To make up the lost two hours, we will work through lunch (eating at our keyboards). We may start at 7:30 AM to make up some more time. Sunday, we have the room for the entire day. More news as it happens! When you get your room booked, please send the new location to me via e-mail so I can keep track of everyone. The good news is that you can take the Metro from Reagan to the hotels. Save a little money to spend on beers Friday night!!!! Plus, as John indicated, the rooms are less expensive on this side.

We booked at the Hilton and there are rooms available. (Embassy Suites is full.) Now's the time, because I can imagine a lot of other Summit attendees scrambling for the Saturday night rooms.

The Sage annoucment @DianeRuth posted (thank you Diane) said they'd look for new rooms for those arriving early - booked at the Hilton too rather than leave it to chance.

Wow, what if this happened a few days later....

Our 90 Minds suite - Reserved for 7/21 - was just cancelled. This is going to be a big mess if all of the reservations were cancelled and we have to sit through re-booking. I'm just getting back from a Long Island conference and the Gaylord email arrived while I was driving home. We did not book through Sage so no email from them (yet).

Sage is saying repaired and back to normal on Saturday and conference starts Sunday. At this point I'm not sure if that's wishful thinking because I *JUST* received the Gaylord cancellation for a 7/21 suite for 90 Minds.

We were notified at 7:30pm about a Saturday 7/21 cancelled reservation.

Are the Gaylords jinxed? First too much water in Nashville in 2010, no water in 2013. If 1.8MM people are without water, you have to believe that someone is busting a hump to get the water back on line.......

@WayneSchulz Saturday is 7/20. Are they really cancelling rooms for 7/21??

I just booked at the Hilton across the street from Embassy Suites. I called ES and the reservation agent there booked the Hilton for me.

What if Sage held a Summit and no one arrived? What if no one paid their maintenance or reseller fees for a year (or more) in protest? What if Sage disappeared and no one cared? Fucus, John, fucus!

Way cool on the DCA news! I'm at the Hilton. I arrive at 5:30 or so and will try to catch up with everyone Friday now.

Hey, @JohnHoyt , I've been waiting for a problem like this since the Nashville flood 2 years ago. It's the problem with limiting the places they hold the conference.

Aren't we all used to sudden changes/realignments? We will get through this and have SOOOO many memories about it, I'm sure. Such is life...

Isn't Summit always a surprise? At least this one is one we have a little control to work through.

@DougHiggs Sorry - yes the reservation was supposed to start Saturday 7/20. I'm unclear whether they just cancelled that day or the whole thing. I'm not looking forward to trying to rebook through Gaylord as I suspect it will be a bit hectic for the next several days.

Sage update: The hotel has moved attendees arriving early to another hotel and are notifying them via email and a phone call. We had a call with the hotel yesterday, and the Water division confirmed work would be completed by Saturday, thus allowing the Gaylord to re-open Saturday to hotel guests.

@WayneSchulz I am booked at the Gaylord Saturday night 7/20 - 7/25 and am a bit worried they may not be open 7/20. I also booked at the Hilton Saturday just in case. I haven't received any communication from the Gaylord or Sage re the water issue.

I think the communication that I received was for the 90 Minds suite. So far as I can tell by looking at one Sage email that was posted - it appears that only those booked on Friday and through the Sage Summit reservations were notified by Sage. Our 90 Minds suite was booked directly to the Gaylord which might be why we received a cancellation on that reservation yesterday at 7:30pm. I doubt the Gaylord would initiate communication on the reservations booked through Summit without conferring with Sage. As of now Sage is saying that there's no problem for those checking in to the Gaylord Saturday or later. The events team is arriving there today to begin the setup.

I was booked for Friday night at the Hampton thru Sage's web site and haven't received any notification yet.

@BethBowers I mentioned this to Sage

I have not heard anything either and the Sage Travel HQ number is busy...

It probably goes without saying, but don't drink any of the tap water. I'd go with bottled soda's etc as the soda fountain machines typically pull and filter from the tap but they probably will have a boil water advisory for 24 to 48 hours after the main is turned back on.

Sage's Facebook site now states that the Gaylord will have water and be open on Thursday the 18th. BREAKING NEWS! The Gaylord National will have water and will be open for ?#?SageSummit? attendees beginning tomorrow, Thursday, July 18th! Woohoo! https://www.facebook.com/SageSummit

So @JeffSchwenk are we still going ahead with the Embassy Suites location for FOTF? I'm sure many of us changed our reservations over to the Alexandria VA side.

I just spoke with Sage Summit central, and they told me only tonight's stay would be a problem. Based on that I am cancelling my Hilton Alexandria reservations, but now will I need to boat across to Alexandria Sat and Sun?

@JeffSchwenk is handling the MOTF conference but I believe he is on the road today. He has forwarded me the contact info so I will reach out and see what Aloft has to say.

I had just cancelled Friday & Saturday off the Gaylord...

Checking in,. Working on switching the meeting over to the Westin in Old Alexandria. Several blocks from the Embassy. Aloft is hesitating but I told them EVERYONE is on the Virginia side of the river for two nights and that we need to get moving to the Westin (a sister property to the Aloft). So as it stands, the meeting is at the Westin now. Will let everyone know when this is definite. But I am planning on it right now.

I'm with @JohnHoyt @ThereseLogeais let me know if you need any help.

Just spoke to Aloft. They are still under a limited usage restriction but they are waiting to hear an update within the next hour or so. She said the food is not a concern but it DOES affect the air-conditioning. ""We can't have you sitting here sweating in the heat we are expecting."" She is going to let me know as well as Jeff.

I am holding all reservations until I hear more. I have until the 18th at the Hilton and who knows at the Gaylord. I may be boating with John form the Gaylord.

Folks, calm down. Hold your reservation at both places!!!! Sage called me earlier today to mover me out of the Hampton. Confusion is reigning supreme. Since we DON""T know whether things will return to normal by Saturday or not, I am moving the conference to the Westin which is in walking distance to the hotels we are staying at in Old Alexandria. Yes, the water may come back on by Friday, but what if it doesn't. I am moving the conference over to the Westin so we have some certainty to the weekend plans. Amara and I have been in contact. I will keep everyone posted.