2009 Annual Yorkie Talk Meet-up Location Poll

[Gingergirlsmom]

Originally Posted by Sukoshi's Mom

There were 3 of us on the committee for the 2008 meet-up (the only 3 willing to put forth the time and effort to plan the initial meet-up), and we added 2 new members to the committee for the 2009 meet-up, in order to add a fresh perspective, as you suggested. The 2 new members both attended the 2008 meet-up, so they’ve proven their commitment to the cause, and they were the first 2 to volunteer to help out in the future. Additionally, we receive comments and suggestions from EVERYONE through PMs and e-mail, and we use those to make the meet-up even better. For instance, the get to know you game we played at the last meet-up was the idea of someone not on the committee, but she sent a PM with the suggestion. It was also someone else's idea for the pajama party, which I think most of us can agree was the most fun of the whole weekend! We try to hear everyone's suggestions to make the meet-up the best it can be, so everyone has a voice . And we have an odd number on the committee so we can vote on everything without worrying about resulting in a tie.

From what I've seen you 3 did a WONDERFUL job!!!

[diggy4]

Originally Posted by Izzy Princess

Forgive me everyone I just don't understand..yes I do know things can change in a year (times are rough now and probably going to get rougher as time goes on), but if it's a hardship now to deposit $20 for a meet-up that will be used towards your registration fee (and if you don't go for some unforseen reason that your $20 would go towards a Yorkie Rescue) then how can those not able to pay the $20 now pay for a trip like this later on?

I know that I am going no matter where the meet-up is held as it was an amazing experince in KC for me and Izzy. And if something happens that I can't go next year then I know my $$$ will go towards the Yorkie Rescue...win..win in my book.

And, yes, Jen, I'm amazed too how political this thread got and something that is supposed to be so much fun and exciting to look forward too has now gotten not so fun.

Couldn't agree more about political!! Well this re-vote struck home in 2 ways....My daughter voted and has less than 10 posts and planned on attending the meet up if its on the east coast she is a real voter and very much a part of Yt even tho her post count doesnt reflect that. I cannot afford 2 plane tickets to the west coast at this moment but the gas would be less that 100 for the both of us if on the east coast big difference. I will not pay to vote. Yes the money goes to a rescue, but many rescue are scams funding puppy mills. Most on here know me pretty well to know I give WAY above a beyond what the average person gives to rescues and I want to pick and choose where my money goes. For me and Avery to vote its 40 dollars. Thats probably what it would cost me to drive to VA from here. Im over this whole thing. Its turn into a fight and a whole lot of questioning. I guess you step back and trust the committee to make the right choice and whatever it is, it is. Being it's turned to votes and revotes and pay to vote....Either way I am stepping back and out of this. I wont attend either way anymore It just doesnt have that fun meet up feel. Maybe as time passes it will but for right now Im over it. Im not angry with anyone and I hear what everyone is saying and there is no way to make everyone happy. This isnt worth fighting over or losing friendships. I care about too many involved to be a part of that! Good luck with whatever decision is made.

[diggy4]

Originally Posted by Gingergirlsmom

From what I've seen you 3 did a WONDERFUL job!!!

I agree. the pics looked great!

[bchgirl]

I didn't vote when the poll was FREE simply because I am unable to commit a year away and quite honestly location would be a determining factor.

I can think of several issues with charging 20 bucks. Whose account is holding these funds...not to mention access? No offense or implication to whomever that may be...but if it's someone else's money...they are entitled to know this. Another point...just how are you going to keep non payers from voting? Keep a running tally...then realize you need to X out this person's vote or that person's vote due to lack of payment? Further...if someone chose to mail payment...when are they allowed to vote? When the funds are received and cashed? How would you stop them from voting prior? What happens if you never receive their payment?

[Tnyorkiemom]

Originally Posted by Sukoshi's Mom

Regarding the poll, the committee just got off the phone via conference call, and through much debate, reviewing people’s desires about additional “run-off” polls or not, and looking at the statistics for votes that came in for the poll during the last few minutes, we have decided their WILL BE a run-off poll to determine the location of the 2009 meet-up. We see that 167 people voted, and while we’d absolutely LOVE to have each and every one of those people in attendance at the 2009 meet-up, we noted that several votes came in during the last few minutes of the poll from people who had less than 50 posts (some with less than 10), and we feel it brings a question of validity to our poll to have so many people with less than 50 posts votes casting their vote at the last minute. We noted 1 person had 0 posts, and we feel obligated to question if each of those voters are serious about attending.

Therefore, in order to be most fair to those who are serious about attending the 2009 meet-up, we are going to take chattiesmom’s suggestion from the original 2009 venue thread to charge people for their vote. We feel this will be the most efficient way to ensure the counted votes are from those serious about attending and not those who are simply trying to sway a city (thanks for the suggestion Cindy ). Furthermore, if you remove the top 2 scoring cities, there are 68 people who cast their vote for other cities, and their voice is no longer being heard once we remove those cities from the options. This will give those people an opportunity to state where they’d like to go.

We will be charging $20 per vote, and while this may seem steep, we are hoping this will not be a burden to anyone who is serious about attending the meet-up. The $20 will go toward your registration fee when you register, and for those who ultimately choose not to register, your $20 will go to a Yorkie rescue. You can vote for either ALEXANDRIA, VA or SAN DIEGO, CA by PayPaling your $20 to yorkietalkmeetup@yahoo.com. For those who wish to pay by check or money order, please send me an e-mail to yorkietalkmeetup@yahoo.com. We will tally the votes, and we will post a count at the end of the poll regarding how many votes each location received and who voted for each location, so you can ensure your vote is properly counted. You can begin PayPaling your money and casting your vote now, and we will continue accepting votes through NEXT MONDAY, July 14th, 10:00 PST. Please note the winner of this poll WILL BE the location of the 2009 meet-up. There will be no additional polls offered.

i dont see a NEW POLL...so am i understanding that if you dont pay to vote you cant even see the poll or am i missing it...i cant find anything and it has been 9 hours now since people could start ""voting"" again....even if i dont get to vote...i still would like to be able to follow it...if the whole Yt family cant see the poll it should be done...that is crappy and sounds a little fishy to me.....sorry but im ery of hidden things in today's world......I guess maybe we should have 2 different Meets...cause hidden polls are def. not the answer

[Reese1]

Originally Posted by Tnyorkiemom

i dont see a NEW POLL...so am i understanding that if you dont pay to vote you cant even see the poll or am i missing it...i cant find anything and it has been 9 hours now since people could start ""voting"" again....even if i dont get to vote...i still would like to be able to follow it...if the whole Yt family cant see the poll it should be done...that is crappy and sounds a little fishy to me.....sorry but im ery of hidden things in today's world......I guess maybe we should have 2 different Meets...cause hidden polls are def. not the answer

Unless I'm reading it wrong, we won't see a poll. You vote when you make your payment and they will keep a running total and the results will be posted when it's over.

[Gingergirlsmom]

I cast my vote...because, in principal, I intend to go. I paid my twenty.

I'm concerned, however, that at this point, a pay to vote poll may give us a different kind of a "skewed" result. Those who are willing to risk throwing $20 away (I really can't but am hoping I get to apply it towards the registration) against those who aren't.

I have one question, if the meetup gets cancelled because of all this bickering, will we get our money back?

[Tnyorkiemom]

All things being FAIR...if there is gonna be a Poll there should be a Poll thread that shows the tally of votes as they happen.....if not then at the very least there needs to be a thread that updates a tally of votes every hour at the very least.....not just at the end....JMO

[2blkcatsmom]

if there is no meetup i think they may give the money to rescue but im not sure

[ryorkies]

Originally Posted by Reese1

Unless I'm reading it wrong, we won't see a poll. You vote when you make your payment and they will keep a running total and the results will be posted when it's over.

Are you kidding me......?
If this is true then it is becoming quite obvious to me that my vote will not count one way, or the other.
Why even bother.....?

I also agree that this is becoming very heated and unfriendly.
I am not willing to lose my friendships over this and I will bow out completely of the voting aspect, as it is becoming quite obvious that some of our votes are inconsequential , as reflected in the initial vote.

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[marcerella02]

I agree. Is this poll public??? will ALL of us be able to see how it is going? You are going to lose MANY votes because of the cost. And you are putting way too much importance on people who were "Committed" enough last year.. many of us were comiitted to go and life got in the way. you seem to be putting these people in a very high catagory above the rest of us.

[Tnyorkiemom]

Originally Posted by marcerella02

I agree. Is this poll public??? will ALL of us be able to see how it is going? You are going to lose MANY votes because of the cost. And you are putting way too much importance on people who were "Committed" enough last year.. many of us were comiitted to go and life got in the way. you seem to be putting these people in a very high catagory above the rest of us.

bravo....very well said....and no from our understanding this poll is not public....doesnt sound FAIR if you ask me JMO...

[Sukoshi's Mom]

Originally Posted by Jenn218

I think there is confusion about where the $20 is going...
When Lisa posted, she clearly states that it is going to "a Yorkie rescue". It doesn't state which one, etc.
Then when Jodie posted, she states that they have thought about the $20 going into a "layaway" for future registration fees.

So, I think if we can get clarity on where this fee will go...I think that will help a lot of people.

I for one, would be more apt to "donate" $20 if I KNEW that that would be taken off my registration fee, etc.

Maybe we should just do away w/ San Diego and VA altogether...and start fresh Oh boy...wouldn't that be something.....OR maybe it just might be better!

Morning Jenn! If you re-read my original post, it clearly states "The $20 will go toward your registration fee when you register, and for those who ultimately choose not to register, your $20 will go to a Yorkie rescue." I think this clearly states that your fee WILL go toward your registration fee (which we're considering a downpayment/layaway toward your registration fees, which will actually help spread the costs out for everyone, which should mean LESS of a burden on them later).

How we determined which rescue to donate the "profits" to this year was to ask that question on the evaluation forms we passed out at the 2008 meet-up. Since it was those people's money (from raffle ticket sales mostly) that made the donation possible, we asked THEM where they wanted THEIR money to go. Myself or the committee would never presume to make that decision for them, as we know money is very hard to come by, and for those so generous as to participate in the raffle and meet-up, we wanted each of them to have a say. The overwhelming majority suggested the proceeds go to the OK Yorkie Rescue - the new rescue some of our very own YTers have begun. We are able to make a $500 donation from the 2008 meet-up, and I think that's wonderful! Luckily the hotel didn't hold us to our minimum food and beverage charges that were originally in our contract, or it would have been a very different story though. That's why we're so concerned with making sure we have an idea of who's serious about attending - because we need to know that before we begin approaching hotels to negotiate rates and details.

For anyone who pays to vote and doesn't ultimately register, their money will be set aside, and that will be added to the donation we make to the Yorkie rescue using the 2009 meet-up "profits" (again, mostly from raffle ticket sales since the registration fee we have to charge is simply to cover hotel fees). I presume we would again ask people at the 2009 meet-up which rescue they want the money to go to.

[bchgirl]

Originally Posted by Reese1

Unless I'm reading it wrong, we won't see a poll. You vote when you make your payment and they will keep a running total and the results will be posted when it's over.

Oh...well that answers some of my questions.

I don't think the secret aspect will go over too well...

[erino77]

I personally think this is ridiculas. I HONESTLY believe this wouldn't be happening if CA won in the poll. To many people were already set on CA and now things are not going as they wanted them to, so we have to repoll
Alexandria won fair and square. AND not to mention what Cindy tallied up that East coast won with OVERALL votes over West coast.
I don't have a problem with paying $20 to vote, BUT this should have been done to begin with. Why the heck did we even have the first week long poll anyways? To just get people riled up? I'm not seeing any other reason?????.......
This is just turning into a big disaster and losing the fun due to inconsistantcy on decisions.