Convention 2012 Survey Results

Being the Director of Convention is a great job. I really enjoy planning one of the most anticipated events on the PA DeMolay calendar. I wouldn’t do the job if I didn’t get some satisfaction out of it. However, there are many times that being Director isn't fun at all. One of those times is when we ask for the yearly survey after Convention. It can be tough to take honest criticism, but I sincerely believe that it makes for a better Convention program. So, as I have done in the past, I am endeavoring to be as open and honest about the Convention program as I can be. I felt like this year’s Convention went pretty well. It appears that many of you felt it was okay, but there were some problems that I wasn’t aware of. Let’s review!


In total, we received 30 responses to our survey. Of those, five were from active DeMolays and 25 were from adults. This equates to just under one fifth of the attendees. This is an acceptable sample size for surveys, so I feel okay drawing some conclusions about the program (although the results are skewed to the adult perspective.) As with last year, I asked the attendees to rate the different parts of the event on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “terrible” and 5 being “outstanding.” In my eyes, a score of a 3 is average and acceptable. I would like to be above a 3, but I am willing to accept a 3 as decent score. Let’s start by looking at the graph.

You can click this graph to make it bigger.

So, what do I see when I look at this graph? Looking at the first number, I immediately think we had a slightly better than average Convention. This bar corresponds to the question “How would you rate your overall Convention experience?” The average was just under  3.79 out of 5. For comparison, last year we received a 3.75. That tells me that overall we did a decent job. There is still room for improvement, but people were mostly happy. The other score that I will draw your attention to is the last one on the chart, labeled “Composite.” The Composite score takes the scores given in all of the other categories and averages them for each person. In this case, the Composite score was just 3.70. I put more faith in the Composite score than I do in the Overall score. Why? People are generally more forgiving of the event as a whole. It’s easier to rate individual things poorly than the entire event. This helps provide insight as to how honest people were about their scores (meaning did they pad the first score a little bit so it didn’t seem like they hated the event, or did they rate the whole event low based on only one bad experience?) This year, the scores are almost equal, telling me that people were quite honest. The "Composite" average also gives me a baseline to work from when deciding if a particular event was scored above or below average.

The first score was for paintball at Ski-Rountop. This event averaged a 4.14 out of 5, which is much higher than we've received on similar events in the past. I only received one "complaint" about paintball, so I'm fairly happy with the event. After last year, we contemplated removing paintball from the Convention program, but this proves to me that it does remain a viable option.
Next up we have the Harley Factory tour. It received a 3 out of 5, which was generous on the behalf of the respondents. Their were some communications issues at the factory, resulting in some people having their tour delayed, or not being able to go at all. This was compounded with the rudeness of the staff at the factory. Thankfully, we worked out method to get everyone through, but I understand the reason for this score being low.

Speedway 94 turned out much better than I expected. With the rain in the area, I was quite worried that we wouldn't be able to do much. Their staff came through and got all but one track opened up, which was great. Also, I can honestly say that NASCAR driver Tony Stewart saved this event. His presence distracted people while the tracks were readied, making the down time easier to manage. With an average of 3.91, I feel comfortable looking for similar venues in the future - meaning places with go-karts and games, all in one.

The hotel party was a real gamble for us. With the increase in cost of amusement parks, we had to find another way to work some fun into the program. We've never "brought the party to the hotel," but I was quite pleased with the result. The inflatable attractions worked great, providing entertainment to both the young men and the adults. The game trucks were a smash hit! I've gotten several good comments on them. With a score of 4.04 out of 5, I would entertain doing this kind of event again if we are having trouble securing affordable entertainment.

Now we come to the low scores. I am very frustrated with the score the hotel received. It seems that no matter how many times I ask attendees to let me know of issues, I always hear about the problems after the event. This ties our hands in negotiating a discount, or trying to fix the problem. The score, a 3.32 out of 5, is deceiving. A large number of respondents complained that they found their rooms dirty or with mildew present. Several asked that we never return to this property again. With a response like that, I'm afraid that the Holiday Inn in York has been removed from our potential properties list for our next Central swing. We won't entertain returning for at least 6 years.

The food was our lowest score of all, coming in at a 2.96 out of 3. After reviewing the issues mentioned, I realized that the lowered score revolved around two problems - breakfast on Saturday and lunch on Saturday. It's often said that a Convention lives and dies on the food, so this is a major blow for me. The pancakes were not well received, with many people citing quality as an issue. The lunch was a different problem, with some folks not liking the lemon caper chicken. Banquet food is a major frustration, as you have to try to find something that both adults and kids want. We've tried going really plain, which causes the adults to complain that the food is bland. Every time we go the other direction, and add flavor, we get complaints that it's not kid friendly. We are in the process of selecting the food for 2013, so I'll keep this in mind. Another concern were those with special dietary needs. We will have an area on the registration form for 2013 to make a note of these. This DOES NOT mean that you can ask for a different meal just because you "don't like" what is being served. We will only honor changes that are vegetarian / vegan or medically necessary.

With a 4.29 out of 5, the workshop as presented by Bro. Chad Reichard worked out very well. Chad did a great job and this is one the highest workshop scores we've ever received. Hopefully we can continue to provide a workshop that both educates and entertains. Next year we are thinking of getting some players from the local AA baseball team to speak.

The ritual workshop was also well received, coming in just shy of 4.2 out of 5. "Dad" Brian Shaffer can take all the credit here, as he and his team put together a program that was both informative and entertaining. With ritual taking on a bigger focus here in Pennsylvania, I'm sure you'll see more of these types of workshops.

Last, but not least, we come to the luncheon and business meeting. This score rates how well these events were run and how smoothly everything flowed. Scoring a 3.79 perplexed me a bit. We've generally gotten very high marks on the speed with which we do the business of the organization. However, after a bit of thought, I realized the reason for the low scores - it was all the extras! This year we had a lot more special presentations, including collars, medals, and speakers. This made the session run a bit longer than usual. In general, it was still a good score, so I'm not going to fret too much.

The only other issue that came up in the comments was cost. Apparently there was some concern over the cost compared to the value. While I can't go into the detailed accounting of the event, I can tell you we broke just about even. PA DeMolay doesn't make any money off of Convention. Furthermore, a couple respondents asked about getting discounts on the cost through Grand Lodge or other means. The DeMopoly program will help with this by granting Chapters credit for completing Monopolies on their game board. Also, there are some other programs that haven't been announced yet, so stay tuned.

Whew - that was a lot! Where do we go from here? Well, next year is Erie, with the headquarters hotel being the Bayfront Sheraton. This is a fabulous facility that I think everyone will enjoy. As I have announced, this will be my last Convention as Director. Beginning in 2014, "Dad" David Labagh will take over as Director of Convention. He is looking at sites in Reading and Allentown for that year, as well as Gettysburg for 2015. As we lock in sites, we'll keep you updated.

Until next year...

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Convening for Convention

Around mid-July of every year, my attention turns to the annual PA DeMolay Convention. Besides being employed by PMYF, I also volunteer to help with this event by serving as its Director. I'm going into my fourth year with this program, having chaired Conventions in Harrisburg, Cranberry, White Haven, and now York. Next year we are going to my home town, Erie, PA, and I look forward to sharing what the "Gem City" has to offer with all of our members. But, for the time being, my attention is on Convention 2012 in York.

We have a great program planned, with some new innovations that we hope the members like. While going to a theme park used to be a hallmark of the Convention experience, the costs have just proven too great. With the average park ticket coming in around the $60 mark, plus busing (which costs about $15 more per person) we just don't feel that it adds that much value to the program for that kind of cost. So, this year we have decided to bring the theme park to us.

On Saturday night we will be having a huge party at the Holiday Inn where we are staying. We have a DJ, two "Game Trucks" (which will allow 32 guys at a time to play video games), inflatable amusement attractions, and full use of the pool at the hotel. One of the things we've consistently heard from our attendees is that they wanted more free time to enjoy the hotel and to just "hang out" with their friends. We hope that this kind of event will be a good compromise for everyone.

Not everything we are doing is at the hotel though! Participants have the choice of a free tour of the Harley Davidson factory on Friday afternoon, or going to play paintball during that same time. Everyone will finish Friday off with a trip to Speedway 94, in Hanover, PA, with a giant figure 8 go-kart track which is sure to please. These activities should provide a nice balance and keep the program interesting for all.

As with previous years, we will be conducting a post Convention survey to see what everyone thought of the events. These surveys are where we look to find information for making the program better each year, so everyone needs to take the time to fill them out! This is your chance to impact Convention for years to come.

Alright - time for me to get back to my preparations (and my yearly nightmares over something going wrong!)

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Convention Feedback Thoughts

As many of you know, I moonlight as the Director of Convention for PA DeMolay, and we recently just finished up that event for 2010. In general, I feel like the event was a success, but I'm always open to constructive criticism, as well as hearing about ways to improve the program. I'm also all for transparency in what we do, so I'm going to share the results, along with my conclusions, so that you can see how the feedback we receive will impact future events.

After Convention this year, I created a survey that was posted on the PA DeMolay website, as well as sent via e-mail to all of the participants that provided one. You can see the survey here, but it basically asks about the major components of the program, and asks attendees to rate them on a 1 to 5 scale. Pretty simple!

Well, I've gotten 43 surveys back (which is just under 25% of the attendees) and I feel that I have a good representative sample. I received a good mix of active DeMolays (18 total) and adult Advisors (25 total), and the results were certainly enlightening! Below you'll find a graph that shows the average score for each event.


So, what conclusions am I making from this information? Let's first look at the average "Overall" score versus the "Composite" overall score. The average "Overall" score represents the average points given by each person when asked how he / she would rate their overall experience. The "Composite" score is an average of all the scores from each event. The "Overall" average score was 4.09, whereas the "Composite" score was a 3.69. That's a difference of .40 between the scores. This tells me that when asked about the event as a whole, people were more forgiving than when asked about individual events. This could also mean that other, non-rated, factors could be boosting their overall satisfaction (such as a quality hospitality suite, etc.) This is a pretty significant disconnect, and I put more faith in the "Composite" score because of this. Still, a 3.69 out of 5 isn't bad. I'm of the mind that a 3 out of 5 is average, so if we scored above that, it means that we were above average (even if just by a bit.)

The "Composite" average also gives me a baseline to work from when deciding if a particular event was scored above or below average. The first event score, Paintball, was a real shock to me. I heard nothing but good things about paintball at the event, so for it to score the lowest of all of the items was a real conundrum. I inquired a little further with some active DeMolays who I knew that took part and therein I found my answer. The two major complaints, which lowered that score, were the issue of "field paint" only and scheduling. As Convention staff there isn't much control we have about the rules of the facility. The fact that the paint had to be purchased at the field was in boldface letters on the registration, so I'm not sure how we could have made it clearer. I understand that it was a frustrating problem for those on-site, but rules are rules, and we have to comply with the facility. As for the scheduling, I understand that the safety briefing took far too long. When you couple that with the ritual team needing to leave early to practice, I can see why some weren't happy with the event. In my mind the score is low because of scheduling, not because it wasn't fun. If that's not the case, I encourage you to drop me a line and tell me, so that I can know whether or not to plan paintball as a Convention activity for the future.

Fun Fore All averaged a 4 out of 5, which is fantastic. It seems that everyone had an excellent time there, and that the unlimited package that we purchased was the right value for us. I'm going to keep an eye out for these kinds of facilities in the future.

Kennywood averaged a 3.75 total. Again, I think this is a fine score. I also want to remind everyone that Kennywood was chosen over Sand Castle by the participants at Spring Leadership weekend, so the choice was made by the young men. I understand that the buses that we used for transport were warm, and that school buses aren't the most comfortable rides available. Again, to provide transparency, I can tell you that those buses cost us around $11.50 a person. Some people asked why I didn't get coach buses instead. Had I gone with coaches the price would have doubled, and that would have been an added cost for each participant. I guess the question is: are you willing to pay $23.00 a person for an hour and half on a bus? That seems like a lot to me, and I am of the mind that the lower price is preferred to a little extra comfort. Amusement parks tend to do well with our group, and this year was no exception. I intend to keep this in mind in coming years.

A food score of 3.79 is fantastic. One of our biggest challenges each year is to find food options that are both affordable and filling, while maintaining taste (which is a real problem with banquet food.) I think the options this year were well received. Again, to pull back the curtain, the taco's on Friday evening were the most expensive meal. The base price was $18.00 a person, plus 6% tax and 18% gratuity. After factoring in those numbers, the meal suddenly cost us over $22.00 a person. Let it be known, hotel banquet food isn't cheap, but that's the cost of having the event at a nice facility. For upcoming events I am going to continue to try to find interesting and fun food options.

"Dad" Bean's workshop scored slightly below average at 2.92. This was the first time "Dad" Bean had done this sort of workshop, and that average probably reflects that a bit. I am, however, satisfied with this score. I went out on a limb with "Dad" Bean to try and bring in someone different to talk to the members, and it seems to have worked. I've already begun inquiring about other outside speakers for future Conventions.

Finally, we come to the Dinner / Lunch / Business session. A score of 4.07 is outstanding! This is an area where we traditionally struggle, but appears we've finally tapped into the right mix. Things kept moving, and the electronic balloting system once again proved to be a huge time saver. We will be tweaking this in coming years, but I anticipate that the setup we had this year will remain the model for the next few Conventions.

That was a lot to digest! But, we're not done yet. I also want to address some of the comments I received, so that I can explain some other ideas, and help dispel some myths about the Convention program. First, there is a lot of talk about the purpose of Convention (both inside and outside the PA DeMolay office.) There are generally two schools of thought. The first school believes that Convention should be focused on the election, learning more about DeMolay, and doing more fraternal things, like Induction ceremonies and such. The other view is that Convention should generally be a fun event, with the elections and other stuff thrown in for good measure.

I personally believe more in the second theory. We, as a jurisdiction, do very little that is purely fun. Sports tournaments are competitive, and Spring Leadership Weekend is for learning, but Convention is the only pure "fun" weekend we have, and I'm okay with that. I'm not opposed to adding in educational events, but I don't want to see that be the main component of the event. I also don't think it's a place for guys just to get together and "hang out." This is often referred to as "fellowship" time. However, I've learned that having this kind of time is a bad idea. I don't like having guys running around a hotel with nothing specific to do, as this often leads to behavior issues and damages, which we certainly don't want. Also, one of our biggest complaints has been Advisors not keeping track of their members, and this so-called "fellowship" time is where the lack of supervision tends to be the worst.

The topic I'll touch on is issues with the facilities that we use. Over the last few years I've had many people come to me after the events and complain about something. While I appreciate knowing about the issue, this is often much too late for me to try to get it fixed or have the hotel compensate us appropriately. If you have an issue, please let us know about it right away, and we'll do our best to fix it!

Whew! We're almost done! The final burning question is "where is Convention going to be for the next few years?" I'm leading an expedition to the Mt. Laurel hotel in the Poconos in late August. They've come through with a fabulous rate, and some great activities, and I have a good feeling that's where we will be next year. In September I am attending a gathering at the Eisenhower Inn in Gettysburg, at which time I hope to scout out that facility for use as a possible site for 2012. I'm very excited by the prospect of Gettysburg, as it's somewhere we haven't been in many years, so keep your fingers crossed! Lastly, I have a meeting today with a sales person from the Sheraton / Bay Front Convention Center in Erie. This is my home town, and I want to provide a great experience in 2013, and I think this new facility can do that!

There you have it! Convention in a (rather large) nutshell! As always, I'm available for comments and feedback via this blog or at scanthony@pademolay.org!

Frat!~"Dad" Seth Anthony