GENERAL INFORMATION QUESTIONS If you have any questions regarding this on-line registration process, please contact: Connie Johnson Home Office, ext. 7321 E-mail: connie.johnson@modern-woodmen.org HOST HOTEL San Diego Marriott Marquis and Marina 333 West Harbor Drive San Diego, California 92101 Phone: 619-234-1500 Web: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sandt-marriott-marquis-san-diego-marina/ AUTHORIZED ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE DATES ARRIVAL* DEPARTURE* President s Cabinet and Club Monday 04/25/2016 Saturday 04/30/2016 Managing Partner Inner Circle/Round Table Monday 04/25/2016 Saturday 04/30/2016 Trip Qualifying MP s and FR s Tuesday 04/26/2016 Saturday 04/30/2016 Board of Directors Monday 04/25/2016 Saturday 04/30/2016 Home Office Staff Assigned Saturday 04/30/2016 * Arrivals on Monday, 04/25/2016 may arrive anytime as we do not have a planned evening event. * Arrivals on Tuesday, 04/26/2016 should plan to arrive by 3:00pm as we will depart for a President s Reception Harbor Cruise at 6:00pm. * Home Office Staff arrival dates and times are provided in the e-mail you received with this conference registration link. * Departures on Saturday, April 30, 2016 can be at any time. Hotel check out is 12:00pm.
APPROVED FAMILY MEMBER (AFM) If you are single, in lieu of a spouse, you may request a parent or child attend the conference as an approved family member (AFM) at Modern Woodmen's expense. If you are in this category, before you complete the registration, your family member must be approved by George Worley, Chief Distribution and Marketing Officer. Please e-mail your request to Mark.Turner@modernwoodmen.org and he will review your request with George Worley. Please wait for a response from Mark Turner before you proceed with the registration process. Note: Siblings, other relatives or friends are not eligible for the approved family member (AFM) exception. Board of Directors and Home Office Staff are not eligible for the approved family member exception. AIR ARRANGEMENTS Air arrangements will be processed through our travel agency, The Travel Business, Inc. Your requested airline registration information will be forwarded to The Travel Business, Inc. and they will contact you via e-mail with a proposed flight itinerary. We will work very closely with the travel agency to place you on your preferred carrier, but please understand we are not always able to accommodate your requests due to airline fares and flight schedules. If The Travel Business, Inc. is unable to reach you by e mail, they will attempt to contact you by telephone. When you receive your proposed flight itinerary, it is very important to review and approve it by responding by e mail or phone to The Travel Business, Inc. within 24 hours. A tentative reservation can only be held for 24 hours. The Travel Business, Inc. business hours are 8:30am 5:00pm CST. Please be certain the names, gender and date of birth match your travel identification. Also, please be certain the flight itinerary you approve coincides with your authorized arrival and departure dates and times. Changes to an issued ticket will incur a service fee and possibly the purchase of a more expensive new ticket. The additional costs for ticket changes will be your personal expense. If you wish to purchase a ticket class that is upgradeable, please indicate this during registration. Additional costs for upgradeable tickets, traveling outside your authorized dates or special arrangements will be the attendee's personal expense. For upgrades, you will be responsible to contact the airline to secure the upgrade. If you have any questions once you receive your itinerary, please contact The Travel Business, Inc.'s Operations Manager, Barbi Ragan at 1 800 747-0070 or 1 309 762-9625. Their business hours are 8:30am 5:00pm CST. Please identify yourself as part of the Modern Woodmen group attending the National Sales Conference. If you have any issues that cannot be resolved directly with The Travel Business, Inc., please contact the Home Office and speak with Connie Johnson, ext. 7321 or Mark Turner, ext. 5682.
DRIVING ARRANGEMENTS If you are driving, Modern Woodmen will reimburse your round trip mileage from your home town to the Marriott - or - the cost of two round trip airline tickets whichever is less. If you are a single traveler, the reimbursement is round trip mileage - or - the cost of one round trip airline ticket, whichever is less. Mileage reimbursement is determined by the Home Office and is currently.54 per mile (subject to change). Self-parking at the Marriott is approximately $30.00 per day and we will take this into account in determining the amount of your driving reimbursement. You will be required to pay your parking fees on site. Modern Woodmen will not reimburse for valet parking expenses. AIRPORT TRANSFERS Modern Woodmen will provide airport arrival transfers on Monday, April 25 and Tuesday, April 26. Departure transfers will be provided on Saturday, April 30. If you choose to arrive early or extend your stay outside of these dates, you will be on your own to arrange transfers at your personal expense. Taxi cab fare from the San Diego Airport (SAN) to the Marriott Marquis is approximately $15.00 to $20.00. Taxi cabs are readily available at the airport. The transfer time with light traffic is 15 minutes. Note: Expenses for travel to and from your home and departure airport and airport parking will not be reimbursed. DESTINATION MANAGEMENT COMPANY The company we will partner with is Access Destination Services. They will assist with airport transfers, tours, events and will staff a hospitality desk during our conference. They will be your personal concierge should you need general information, tour information, maps, restaurant recommendations and reservations. HOST EXPENSES / PERSONAL EXPENSES The hotel room expense and taxes for your authorized conference dates will be paid through Modern Woodmen s master account. All planned food and beverage events will also be direct billed to the master account. Other expenses covered for the authorized conference dates are airfare, airport transfers, airport portage gratuities, hotel portage gratuities and housekeeping gratuities. Charges and gratuities for extended room nights, extra rooms, guests, and other incidental charges will be your personal expense. You will be required to present a credit card during the on-line registration and at check in at the hotel to cover these expenses. About two weeks before you depart for San Diego, we will send you a per diem check to cover airline luggage fees if flying (one checked bag per trip qualifier and one checked bag per spouse or approved family member). If driving, a mileage reimbursement will be included. This per diem check includes a meal allowance for you and your spouse or approved family member. Please cash this check prior to leaving for San Diego as we have not made arrangements with the hotel to cash these checks.
PROGRAM EXTENSION / EXTRA ROOMS Modern Woodmen has negotiated a group room rate of $271. With taxes, this nightly rate is $305.08. If you wish to extend your stay, we have been offered the group rate both three days before and three days after our conference dates based upon availability. This group rate will also be extended for attendees needing an extra room, again based on availability. The Marriott allows a maximum of (4) people per guest room. Adults and children each count as (1) person regardless of age. If you have more than (4) in your party, you will have the opportunity to request an additional room at your expense during the registration process. If you wish to extend your stay or need an additional room, we urge you to complete this registration immediately so we can make your special arrangements. These extra rooms outside of our room block are not guaranteed by the hotel and they are subject to availability. NOTE: The Marriott Marquis has advised us they are showing close to 100% capacity on April 25, 2016. If you request an early arrival or extra room for that night, we may not be able to accommodate your request. GUESTS A guest is defined as an adult or child who is not a spouse or approved family member. Guests and children may attend this conference at your personal expense. They may also attend specific Modern Woodmen functions for a stated fee. Please see the Guest Information tab for additional information. CREDIT CARD CHARGES Charges for your guest s air travel or special arrangement air travel through our travel agent will be two transactions on your credit card as the name of the airline and then the appropriate agent fee charged by The Travel Business, Inc. The agent fee for a normal booking is $29.00. If you elect to have your guests attend any Modern Woodmen sponsored events or transfer from the airport on Modern Woodmen vehicles, the charges for these will be collected by Modern Woodmen. We will ask for your credit card information as part of the registration process. Charges for extended stay room nights and extra rooms will be collected directly by the Marriott hotel. Also, any charges for portage or housekeeping gratuity for your guests will be collected directly by the Marriott. GRATUITIES Portage Airport: If you arrive / depart on your authorized dates and transfer on Modern Woodmen arranged vehicles, the portage for yourself, spouse or approved family member are taken care of by Modern Woodmen. Guest transfer costs include the airport portage gratuity. If you arrive early or stay late, the normal airport portage gratuity is $2.00 for large bags and $1.50 for small bags.
Portage Hotel: The group hotel portage for both check-in and check-out service is $10.00 per person. Modern Woodmen covers this expense for the trip qualifier, spouse or approved family member. You will be required to cover the $10.00 hotel portage charge for each additional guest age 12 and over. Housekeeping Hotel: The housekeeping gratuities are covered for your authorized nights for trip qualifier, spouse and approved family member. If you extend your stay, or have extra rooms, the gratuity charge of $5.00 per day will be added to your hotel bill. Taxi Fare: Appropriate gratuity is 10% to 15% of the fare. 15% if the driver assists with luggage. Concierge: If you use the hotel concierge to assist with time consuming restaurant reservations or tour arrangements, the normal gratuity is $5.00 to $10.00. Tipping of smaller amounts is optional for quick questions or advice. If you use the Modern Woodmen Hospitality Desk, tipping is not necessary as we are taking care of this. Waiter or Waitress: Normal range is 15% to 20% for meals and 10% to 15% for beverages only. Please tip accordingly as this reflects well on Modern Woodmen attendees. CHECK IN / CHECK OUT Hotel check in time is 4:00pm. Check out time is 12:00pm. SMOKING / NON-SMOKING The Marriott is a non-smoking facility. Smoking is prohibited in all guest rooms, restaurants and indoor spaces. Smoking is allowed outdoors in designated areas. TAXABLE INCOME If your spouse or approved family member attends this event, his/her expenses for airfare, meals, gratuities and some planned events will be considered taxable income to you for 2016. IN-ROOM INTERNET We have secured a 50% discount on normal internet charges. The normal charges for basic high speed for checking e-mail, general web-browsing is $12.95 per room per day. Our rate is $6.48. If you want enhanced high speed for video chatting, streaming video like Netflix or downloading large files, the normal cost is $15.95 per day. Our rate is $7.98.
BABYSITTING SERVICE The Marriott Marquis does not offer baby-sitting services; however, child care for San Diego area hotels is available through Marion s Childcare. For more detailed information, please visit their website, http://hotelchildcare.com/. San Diego is a wonderful family-friendly town with many activities to keep everyone busy! When the kids are tired or you need some grown-up time, Marion s Childcare is known for the highest-quality childcare providers, just when and where you need them. WEATHER, TIME AND WHAT TO WEAR The average daytime temperature in San Diego in April is 69 F. The average evening low is around 59 F. The sun will rise around 6:08am and set around 7:28pm. Dress attire information is included in the Program tab accessed from the home page. SPECIAL EVENING EVENTS President s Reception Tuesday, April 26, 2016 6:00pm to 10:00pm. For the President s Welcome Reception, we are planning a short walking transfer from the Marriott to the Marina. At the Marina we will board our private chartered boat, the Hornblower Inspiration, for an exquisite evening bay cruise. This grand vessel will offer 3 levels of great food and fun and don t worry about a rough boat ride as the San Diego Bay is protected from the ocean and it is very calm. On level 1 try your skill at darts, corn hole, double shot basketball or classic arcade games like Pac Man and Frogger. Enjoy the pub like atmosphere as you and your friends hit the punching bag to see who can punch like a pro. Or just sit back and enjoy the musical entertainment provided by Tim Moyer. Snacks and beverages will be available. A few steps up to level 2, the mid-deck, you will find a scrumptious buffet dinner. Here you will be entertained by Ralee Nikole. This twenty year old acoustic pop and soul singer is going places and her talent will amaze. You might want to get a selfie with her so you can say I knew her back when. Enjoy the outdoors and a beautiful view of the San Diego skyline from the sky deck on level 3. Bring your dancing shoes as Modern Woodmen s Disco Deck will include a DJ accompanied by a live saxophonist. Desserts and beverages will be available. Farewell Evening Event Friday, April 29, 2016 6:00pm to 10:00pm For our farewell event, we will find ourselves at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. This base is not open to the general public and very few civilians have the opportunity to visit this top notch military facility, let alone have dinner in one of the hangars. We will take over one of the base hangars and our hosts for the evening will be some of Miramar s finest pilots. I don t know if we will see Tom Cruise, but had he actually been a Top Gun pilot, this is where he would have trained.
During the evening you will have the opportunity to visit with the pilots and get up close to many different types of aircraft. If we are lucky maybe they will be running evening drills and we will experience seeing and hearing the sounds of our country s most powerful fighter jets as they practice take offs and touch and go landings. In addition to a great meal and hosted bar, we will have a few more surprises. Before attending you might want to watch some old movies where the USO girls sing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and other favorites. If you do this you will get the lyrics correct when you sing along. Following the short USO show we will transport back to 2016 and end the night with a popular dance band. Other hints for the evening s entertainment include, think slow motion, military games, and written words of encouragement to our military overseas. This will be a patriotic evening to salute. NOTE A photo ID will be needed to enter the base. Personal vehicles are not allowed. Between now and the trip you will see this reminder message numerous times! QUESTIONS If you have any questions about the conference, please contact Connie Johnson, ext. 7321 or Mark Turner, ext. 5682. We will see you soon in beautiful San Diego! Mark Turner Manager, Agency Services