Figuring Out Conference Costs: What to Consider

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

This thread explores the various costs associated with attending a conference for Pampered Chef consultants, including registration, accommodation, transportation, and meals. Participants share their budgeting strategies and experiences regarding expenses and roommate arrangements.

Discussion Character

  • Anecdotal, Opinion-based

Main Points Raised

  • One participant mentions budgeting around $1000 for the entire conference experience, including airfare and hotels, but reflects that they may be overestimating based on a previous experience of spending $700.
  • Another participant outlines specific costs, noting that registration is $175 (early bird) or $200, and that sharing a hotel room can significantly reduce costs.
  • One consultant shares a budget of about $600, emphasizing that they do not include food costs since they would eat at home otherwise and that Pampered Chef provides many meals during the conference.
  • Several participants agree that a budget of $500-$600 seems reasonable, with some noting that they drive to the conference and share transportation costs.
  • One participant expresses concerns about finding roommates and the potential for snoring, while others share their experiences of how they found compatible roommates through their clusters or the Home Office.
  • Another participant recounts a positive experience from their first conference, highlighting how they were matched with a roommate who turned out to be a good fit, despite initial concerns.
  • Some participants mention that expenses for vendor shopping are often considered part of their business expenses, and they may wait until the conference to make purchases to take advantage of new products.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

General agreement exists among participants regarding the estimated costs for attending the conference, with many suggesting budgets in the range of $500-$600. However, there are differing opinions on how to account for food and vendor expenses.

Contextual Notes

Participants share personal experiences and budgeting strategies based on their individual circumstances and past conference attendance. The discussion reflects a range of perspectives on managing costs and finding accommodations.

Who May Find This Useful

Consultants considering attending the conference may find this discussion helpful for understanding potential costs and experiences related to budgeting and roommate arrangements.

K
klsnyder
Messages
459
I need to figure out how much going to conference will cost me....Any help????
 
I am figuring $1000 TOTAL for everything. Airfare, hotels but I'm probably OVER budgeting. I think the only year I went I spent $700 with everything.
 
Registration itself is $175 (early bird) or $200 (might be $225)
Official hotels are typically $200 a night after taxes. If you share a room with 3 others, it will greatly reduce your share of the cost. :) (PJ party!)
You will need to purchase meals for day 1 and day 3 (breakfast on day 3 is included, however). Unless you're a Director, then the Director event on Day 1 includes a hot lunch.
You'll need to get to Chicago. Those costs vary greatly - check with other consultants from your area to see how much they've spent on transportation in the past.
If you get a Home Office tour, that's $20. It includes a box lunch.
Plus, you'll "need" money to shop at the vendors (VIP, Merrill, Nancy's, whatever outside speaker is there), for surprise boxes (if they do them this year, since they've been selling that stuff through the outlet) or just to get postcards and souvenirs. And they usually have some supplies for sale there (recipe cards, mini catalogs), but you can use your PC debit card for those.
 
I budget about $600. The value of the experience... PRICELESS!!

$175 registration
$200 hotel (4 to a room for 4 nights -with the change in the director event it will probably be just 3 nights this year)
$225 transportation

I do not include food because I would be eating at home anyway and PC provides more than half of the meals (counting the Exec. dinner).

You do not have to spend money at the vendor booths and I consider anything that I might spend there part of my business expense that I would otherwise have done on line.
 
I generally figure $500 - $600 total--room, food, registration, vendor stuff, and incidentals. However, I don't have to include airfair.
 
BethCooks4U said:
You do not have to spend money at the vendor booths and I consider anything that I might spend there part of my business expense that I would otherwise have done on line.
Click to expand...
That's why I put "need" in quotes for that item above. Those are expenses that you may have had anyway. And I know that I sometimes purposely wait until conference, in case there's anything new from the vendors.
 
I agree with Rae! Seems $500-$600 is a good estimate. We drive 3-4 in a car and split the cost of gas/parking/hotel.

Make sure you have spending $ for the vendors. VIP's sizing is so wacky that I usually wait till conference to buy from them. That way, I can try it on there and make sure it fits me!!
 
How do you know who you sleep with? I am scared...LOL.
I don't even know if I can go yet....I found out I have an audit the day before the trip..I am bummed...trying to figure it all out....but either way...how do you find roommates....what if I snore...HAHAHA?
 
I count on spending $600 for everything.
As far as roommates, we decide in our cluster who is going and sleeping with who.
 
Jilleysue said:
How do you know who you sleep with? I am scared...LOL.
I don't even know if I can go yet....I found out I have an audit the day before the trip..I am bummed...trying to figure it all out....but either way...how do you find roommates....what if I snore...HAHAHA?
Click to expand...


I'll be sharing a room with my director and two other women. (Depending on how many go from our cluster, those women could easily be from another cluster.) I'll most likely share a bed with my director. (Yeah, that's right, sleeping with the boss.)

I believe the HO can help you find a roommate if you need one. Others would probably know more about that.

If you snore you'll be like the vast majority of human beings over the age of 12. Just be sure you let your roommates know how to handle it if you get too loud. I usually tell people to feel free to wake me, roll me over, or slap a pillow over my head--whatever works.
 
Jilleysue said:
How do you know who you sleep with? I am scared...LOL.
I don't even know if I can go yet....I found out I have an audit the day before the trip..I am bummed...trying to figure it all out....but either way...how do you find roommates....what if I snore...HAHAHA?
Click to expand...


I room with my Director no matter who else is going. We only get to see each other at Conference so we "need" to be together. This year my newest recruit is going and she will be rooming with us as well. Oh and they all know that if I am tired and I have a few drinks...I snore! LOL!!!
 
Last year was my first Conference, and I had all the concerns you have. The
Lord took right over, and would you believe, my Director who is from Texas, arranged for me to room with a person from California, she thought would be
a comfortable match for me. Her roommates backed out, and she hooked up
with Beth on #4 post, so she and I who had been posting on CS, ended up being roommates!!! What a wonderful comfort for me! Our room had one person from NC,TX, and CA w me. We were a very compatible group, and I
would not hesitate to do it again. We were blessed to have a double room with two baths and two queen size beds. Two were Directors and went to a special evening just for them, so I buddied with the other Consultant. I learned so much from them by not feeling that I had to be with my area friends who had 4 to a room, before I decided to attend. I actually benefited more from branching out and meeting new folks.

The HO tour cost $25 in 2006, and was well worth it for me. It was the highlight of the Conference cause I had wanted to see the inner workings of PC, up close. It gave me a greater appreciation of the magnitude of this Company, and what Shipping has to deal with. I swear the warehouse ceilings seemed like they were seven stories high, with all kinds of roller coaster like frames for the cartons to ride along. One of the gals (Rhonda) who I knew from here, and I met up one day at lunch and she WON the HO shopping spree worth around $4,000 as I recall.

Our Conference fee covered at least two breakfasts, two lunchs, and one dinner which is known as the Director's dinner which they do for their down line. There is also a Breakfast of Caring for those who qualify, and some kind of luncheon for others who are Future Directors and above. If you don't qualify for the specials, you still have general buffet dining in the Convention Center with plenty of healthy choices. Gorgeous fruit selections, cereals, bagels and muffins, juices and beverages of your choice. I did not go hungry.
I did not even need or want all the Health bars I brought along to "tide me over". We arrived on Sun. night. and stayed over Wed. night. That meant we were on our own for dinner those nights. The Pub next to the Palmer House was so good we returned the second night, and the prices were so modest I was shocked. Under $10 the first night. NOTE: I had ice water with lemon. I have no clue how much legal beverages were. The one lunch
was on Wed. and at the airport when the planes were delayed. Again, under $10 was possible.

I have not totalled my expenses but am quite sure it is under $600, including the Conference fee, and 4 to a room at Palmer House for 4 nights.
 
chefann said:
That's why I put "need" in quotes for that item above. Those are expenses that you may have had anyway. And I know that I sometimes purposely wait until conference, in case there's anything new from the vendors.
Click to expand...
Oh, I never buy anything from the vendors before going to conferences because they always have new things and some kind of special. But like you said, these are expenses I would have had anyway so I don't count them as a "Conference" expense.

As far as who you will sleep with, don't worry! It always seems to work out. As Grandmarita said, we didn't even know the people who would be in our room last year before arriving other than email introductions (well, one was my recruit who lives in Texas so I did know her). Anyway, we were blessed that our personalities all meshed and we had a great time together but if that wouldn't have been the case there are plenty of people to mingle with all day that you could just be with the roommates at night if you wanted to.

I went to a leadership totally alone and roomed with people that I didn't know at all one year and they were all good friends. They were very nice but I still felt like a fifth wheel and really had nothing in common with them (except that we were all PC) but I found people to hang out with during the day and all was great. Don't worry!
 
Not knowing who you're sleeping with at conference...My first conference I had to share a bed with my Executive, OMG!!! I think i slept on 2 inches of bed and didn't move all night long :) I was so afraid I'd sprawl all over her and that so wasn't the kind of impression I wanted to leave, lol!!! Thankfully it was only for 1 night :)
 
Is it only me who finds it creepy sharing a bed with a stranger? Or even a clustermate? I wouldn't mind sharing a room, but a bed? I went two years ago (my first PC year) and paid big bucks I didn't have LOL to have my own room for the two nights there. Everyone else thought I was wierd!! :D

I didn't go last year and I'm considering going this year but can't get over that 'share a bed' thing :o
 
My director always pays for her own bed. She gets a double queen room and two others share the 2nd bed, but she gets her own.

At Leadership, she and I got our own room with two beds--it was AWESOME. We could have shared, but chose not to. I think I'll be doing that at Conference this year as well. Last year I shared and, well, it didn't exactly work out the way I would have liked. I consider Conference a big party and stayed out late each night drinking Pamper-me-tinis with my new friends while my roommates stuck together went to bed early. One of the things I LOVE about conference is meeting consultants from all over the country. It's the only chance we get! Hey, if you run into a top seller or recruiter, you better stop and pick their brain while you have them, you know???

The way I see it, my 3 yo still ends up in my bed every night and I get little feet jabbing into my ribs and never sleep through the night. So if I can sleep BY MYSELF for three days, I am ALL OVER IT, no matter what it costs me!
 
Last edited:
Jilleysue said:
How do you know who you sleep with? I am scared...LOL.
........how do you find roommates....what if I snore...HAHAHA?
Click to expand...

Worried about snoring? Here is something else to think about...



What if they serve beans and everyone gets a little gassy..

if you catch my drift :eek: :eek:
 
I second that kcjodih! I went to this years Leadership for the first time and shared the room with 3 other gals... but I slept on the floor. I asked for extra blankets to lay on the floor and I slept like a baby. I refuse to sleep with anyone else besides my husband.
 
I would say about $500-$600 dollars total..... as for sharing a bed generaly my cluster decides what we are doing before we leave.. we all fly to Chicago together...We had a blast!!! I can't wait to go back this year!!!
 
Yeah I have shared rooms with coworkers I didn't know well but never a bed. Maybe if we go we should room together!

No offense to any of y'all, I guess it's just a personal preference thing. Plus DH says I'm a covers stealer. And I hate to make a stranger suffer!
 
Deb, sounds like my kind of conference! Need a roomie ;)
 
lisacb77 said:
Yeah I have shared rooms with coworkers I didn't know well but never a bed. Maybe if we go we should room together!
Click to expand...


I'd love to Lisa. Are you coming to our Canadian one or am I coming to yours? ;) :D

lisacb77 said:
No offense to any of y'all, I guess it's just a personal preference thing. Plus DH says I'm a covers stealer. And I hate to make a stranger suffer!
Click to expand...

Cover stealer here too! :D
 
raebates said:
I'll be sharing a room with my director and two other women. (Depending on how many go from our cluster, those women could easily be from another cluster.) I'll most likely share a bed with my director. (Yeah, that's right, sleeping with the boss.)
Click to expand...
That's the joke in my cluster - we're taking turns sleeping our way to the top.



It would be funnier if any of us under my Director had actually promoted to Director yet. :)
 
kcjodih said:
I'd love to Lisa. Are you coming to our Canadian one or am I coming to yours? ;) :D
Click to expand...

Oh sorry, I forgot there is a separate one for y'all up there! I think I'll have enough of a time getting to Chicago let alone Canada.

I'll have to hope Deb has room in her party palace ;)
 
Last year I took my Mom and we shared a room.
 
PChef_ang said:
My first conference I had to share a bed with my Executive, OMG!!! I think i slept on 2 inches of bed and didn't move all night long :) I was so afraid I'd sprawl all over her and that so wasn't the kind of impression I wanted to leave, lol!!! Thankfully it was only for 1 night :)
Click to expand...
ROFL. That reminds me of a conference a friend went to. She shared the room/bed with her Exec...................Well the Exec. spooned her ALL night:eek: Everybody knew from then on don't room with her:eek:
 
genburk said:
What if they serve beans and everyone gets a little gassy..

if you catch my drift :eek: :eek:
Click to expand...


I do warn people that I snore from both ends. :o
 
PChef_ang said:
My first conference I had to share a bed with my Executive, OMG!!! I think i slept on 2 inches of bed and didn't move all night long :) I was so afraid I'd sprawl all over her and that so wasn't the kind of impression I wanted to leave, lol!!! Thankfully it was only for 1 night :)
Click to expand...


and I thought sharing a room with mine was nerve wracking! (wasn't the original plan)
 
Can I ask what it is that makes you so nervous about sharing a room with your Executive Director? I mean, I know these are people who have been very successful in their business... but why be nervous around them.... just another person, IMO :)

I met my SED a few months ago and she is the sweetest thing!!!! When I put my hand out to shake hands with her, she gave me a hug instead. Too sweet! (I'm a hugger, so it was cool with me...) And that was on our FIRST meeting! I think I would learn alot and have a great time sharing a room with her!

Sharing beds wouldn't bother me, either.... it just isn't that big a deal to me, I guess because I figure everyone has SOME little quirk about them, so I don't worry about my own, ya know?
 
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