It’s too expensive. There would be an extra monthly charge on top of what we already pay to have the ability to process charges. As economists, we cost-minimize.
That's the conference rate for the hotel? I paid a lot less at the ASSA meetings!
The hotel rates we are quoted depend on time of year and the number of rooms we say our participants will "book" over the course of the conference. The ASSA brings the hotels it uses something like 8000 bookings; we have more like 800. As a result of the different time of year (in Washington, D.C. for example the closer you are to cherry blossom time the higher the rates!) and the vastly different group size we pay higher rates.
Why can't you refer me to a cheaper hotel?
Our contracts with the hotels we use generally include a sliding scale on the cost of the meeting rooms we reserve for the conference sessions. The scale is based on how many room nights are booked by participants in our conference. The more participants who stay at the hotel the less the meeting space costs the Association. It would therefore be against the Association's interest to refer participants to stay elsewhere. Please know that we do try to negotiate the best rates we can for a conference our size, at the time of year, and in the locations that members seem to prefer.
Why do you insist that participants wear name badges? I was stopped by your security personnel who asked to see mine.
It's a matter of security. As you might expect, since 2001 hotels have stepped up their security. As an economist, one can also see it as a response to the free rider problem. As long as conference
revenues are what make the Journal and the annual conference possible we
must try to minimize that problem.