Let's say you're managing a major convention site and you are wooing the organizers of a major conference. Then you hear that the President himself might attend. Is this good or bad? What's involved in a presidential visit? Does it ultimately enhance your facility to say that you handled the visit, or might it crush you? Of course the answer depends on the focus of the conference, the president's purpose in coming, and the political sensitivity of the issue. But regardless of the reasons, presidential visits bring certain logisitical requirements that you can expect to have to meet with exactness. Let's take a look, starting with lodging.
If the President will be staying the night in your area, the presidential entourage will require about 500 rooms on that night, beginning with about 50 rooms needed 2 weeks in advance of the conference. The White House Communications Agency (WHCA - "Wáh-cah") team will arrive then to begin to re-configure a string of rooms into a mobile White House communications center. This means out with all the furniture, in with equipment and wires.
Secret Service advance agents will arrive soon after WHCA to establish a command post and begin to take control of rooms and room assignments closest to the eventual sleeping place of the President. They will eventually bring dogs and detectors. Finally, hotel employees will be screened and credentialed. (You better hope they all have clean police records.) On the night of the Stay, the Secret Service will be in complete control of the hotel, and the staff--including management--will get in only with their approval.
Of course you'll have to cancel many pre-existing reservations and meetings, doing your best to offer alternative arrangements so as not to lose long-standing clients.
About 200 of the rooms, including WHCA and the Secret Service, will have to be near the President's room, for convenience and for political stroking. After all, it just wouldn't do for the president's assistant protocol officer to have to stay even a few blocks away.
And there's always the chance that, due to any extraordinary event, the President's plans will change late in the game, and he won't come at all. You will be left with many empty rooms, which thankfully are likely to be filled by other conference-goers if he pulls out early. But you may find yourself in a heated negotiation with the White House over who pays for lost revenue, particularly if he pulls out late.
Rule of thumb: figure about 25% of the fuss for a visit by the Vice President.
Comment Preview