The Conference on College Composition and Communication is the major national conference for my profession and I was heartened today to receive this message that they will be changing venues in San Francisco to honor the ongoing labor dispute between hotel workers and the major San Francisco hotel chains (including the Hilton where the conference was originally scheduled). This is not an isolated strike--so be aware of the conditions of the hotels you stay at... Of course I booked at a hotel that wasn't being picketed b/c I won't cross lines. SUPPORT LABOR!
On another note--anyone going to be in San Francisco March 15-19?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colleagues:
The e-mail memo that follows was sent to all CCCC members recently. It explains our move from the Hilton to the Moscone Convention Center North and changes you might wish to make in your hotel reservations in light of the continuing labor conflict between a hotel workers’ union and an association of hotels in San Francisco. The memo provides details about hotels near the convention center that are unaffected by the dispute and a map.
The good news is that we will still have all the convention sessions under one roof, albeit the convention center instead of the hotel, and we will have the internet access and LCDs for those who’ve requested them. You will be able to see your room assignment as soon as we are able to reassign rooms and update the convention program files.
One of the advantages of being in the convention center is that the sessions will be closer together and access to the session rooms will be easier. There should be more activity in the hallways and gathering areas since we won’t have sessions separated by three floors accessed primarily by a few elevators.
We are doing our best to keep the disruption minimal, and the program itself should be unaffected.
I’m anticipating a wonderful program, thanks to your participation.
Jay Wootten
2005 CCCC Program Chair
Dear CCCC Member,
CCCC has a solid history of progressive action in support of students, teachers, and the American citizenry. In keeping with that tradition, and in light of an ongoing labor dispute involving the San Francisco Hilton, we announce today that all sessions at the 2005 convention in San Francisco will be moved to the Moscone Center. We are confident that the new site will ably accommodate us, with minimal disruptions to people attending the conference. Specifically, we will be meeting in the same area of the same city, on the same dates, with the same program. People with reservations at the Hilton will have the option of retaining or changing them, as they wish.
Since this past December, the CCCC leaders and CCCC/NCTE staff have shared information about possible changes with the San Francisco meeting. Those who have carefully followed these developments will recall that in fall 2004, fourteen San Francisco hotels, including the Hilton where our convention had been sited, locked out workers involved in labor actions. During its regular meeting in November 2004, the CCCC Executive Committee agreed with the Officers that many members would be unlikely to attend meetings in a hotel that was being picketed. After considering a wide range of options, the Officers directed CCCC/NCTE staff to negotiate an alternative plan with the Hilton management. To their credit, the Hilton management agreed to an equitable solution that preserves CCCC’s historical values.
The agreement stipulated that if the labor dispute were unresolved as of January 31, 2005, CCCC would move its convention to the Moscone Center. The decision day has come, and the dispute is not resolved.
CCCC/NCTE staff have been working quietly and diligently to compile information about the changes and their implications for convention registrants. Their information follows our letter. Together with Jay, they had devised a second set of meeting plans. You can be assured that all of us—CCCC Executive Committee, NCTE Staff, San Francisco Local Arrangements Committee—will continue to make this convention the high quality professional experience you have come to expect—and that the splendid program deserves.
Will the transition be entirely seamless? Probably not. To a large extent, it would surely have been simpler to keep the meeting where scheduled. But the chance that members would have had to make difficult decisions at a picket line seemed not only unfair but also at odds with CCCC’s principles. Fortunately, we were able to devise a good alternative.
We want to thank a number of people for their tireless efforts. In addition to the specific people named above, we thank the CCCC Executive Committee, the other CCCC Officers, past and present (Duku Anokye, Carol Rutz, Marilyn Cooper, Shirley Wilson Logan, Deborah Holdstein, and, surely, Kathleen Blake Yancey). Above all, we thank the many CCCC members who have written or telephoned with information, advice, and encouragement. Let’s make our gathering in San Francisco beside the Golden Gate, one that we, our CCCC ancestors, our current colleagues, and our students can all regard with pride.
Sincerely,
Doug Hesse
CCCC Chair
Jay Wootten
CCCC Associate Chair
2005 Program Chair
No comments:
Post a Comment