May -
· Convention Committee Meeting held on 5/8:
· Handoff from previous committee & Kickoff meeting held
· Committee Members identified (needed approval during EC meeting)
· Google Drive created and shared for LPF CON 2025
· Discord created and shared for Convention Committee
· Active and on-going discussions around potential dates, ideal areas, guest speakers, etc.
· Spreadsheet created and shared in Google Drive
· Tracking potential venues, communications, budget, speakers - basically any ideas
· Will make available to future convention committees
June -
· Physically toured 4 locations in central Florida:
· Holiday Inn Daytona Beach
· El Caribe
· Central Florida Zoo (quickly ruled out)
· The Daytona
· Videos/photos/brochures shared in Google Drive
· Zoom meeting with Chozen Resort as a discovery call on 6/21 (quickly ruled out)
· Identified potential top venue candidates as The Daytona (location/pricing) and Holiday Inn (pricing)
· Determined Holiday Inn Daytona Beach was not large enough, but put out an RFP via IHG website for other potential Holiday Inn locations
July -
· Received proposals from 12 venues (9 from IHG online requests)
· All proposals and catering brochures saved in Google Drive
· Follow-up Zoom meeting with Gainesville Holiday Inn on 7/12
· On-going communications with The Daytona around availability and estimates.
· Impromptu meeting held on 7/24
· Convention Committee Meeting held on 7/25:
· Convention committee voted to narrow it down to top 3-5
· Ruled some venues out due to cost, renovations/inability to tour, lack of space/rooms, unavailable dates, specifics in proposal, etc.
· Voted to move forward with The Daytona Hotel as top choice for 2025, scheduled meeting.
· Voted to reach out to Gainesville Holiday Inn as top choice for 2026 stating due to renovations it's not a good option for 2025, but we will reach back out soon for reviewing dates for 2026.
August -
· Follow-up Zoom meeting with Event Coordinator at The Daytona to revise estimate and get additional questions answered on 8/6
· Contact working to confirm another party doesn't have the ballroom booked for Friday night the weekend of June 6-8 and will then send formal proposal.
