Q:
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Where will the conference sessions be held? |
A:
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All conference educational sessions, keynote and award sessions, the Clinical Pharmacy Challenge, and all poster sessions will be held at
the Phoenix Convention Center in the North Building.
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Q:
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Where do I pick up my conference name badge? |
A:
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You can pick up your name badge at the ACCP registration desk located at the Phoenix Convention Center on the first floor in the North Ballroom Foyer.
Registration will be open on Saturday, October 12, 6:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Sunday, October 13, 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Monday, October 14, 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.;
Tuesday, October 15, 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
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Q:
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How far is the Phoenix Convention Center from the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown? |
A:
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It is approximately 0.2 miles from the lobby of the Sheraton to the entrance of the North Building of the Phoenix Convention Center. That’s about 400-450 steps or a 5-minute walk.
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Q:
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What will the weather be like in Phoenix? |
A:
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October in downtown Phoenix typically brings perfect weather with higher temperatures during the day (around 90°F or 32°C) and cooler
nights (dropping to 62°F or 17°C).
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Q:
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How Does ACCP Determine Meeting Locations? |
A:
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Convention planning is a complicated endeavor. ACCP’s Annual Meeting is typically held in October. Situated in the fall academic semester, this date also avoids overlap with many other national pharmacy conferences. October is also one of the most popular months for conventions in general. This makes securing a location/venue for the ACCP Annual Meeting even more challenging. Here are some of the factors that influence the selection process:
- ACCP’s annual meetings require a large amount of meeting space. Finding a large hotel that has all the space needed is rare and finding one that is
willing to rent that space to one group is even rarer. The amount of meeting space offered is directly tied to the number of sleeping rooms an
organization can guarantee.
- ACCP signs hotel contracts with substantial financial obligations that guarantee the hotel a certain amount of revenue generated from sleeping
rooms reserved and food and beverage minimum requirements. If a hotel does not think an organization brings enough sleeping rooms or provides
enough catering events for the requested meeting space, they will decline booking the convention to bring in a better revenue-producing organization.
- If a hotel that can house all ACCP events under one roof is not obtainable, then a convention center with a headquarters hotel package must be
considered. Most convention centers are owned and/or managed by the city in which the venue is located. The city’s goal is to use their
convention center to bring in large conventions, better known as city wide conventions, that fill up all the hotels in the area surrounding
the convention center. Therefore, most cities have a booking window for smaller groups (like ACCP) where they must wait until eighteen months
before the convention to rent space at their convention center. This drastically reduces the number of locations that ACCP can consider and
shortens the planning time for staff, speakers, etc.
- ACCP needs a city that offers a decent sized international airport with a variety of economical daily flights in and out to all areas of the
country on all airlines.
- ACCP attendees come from all over the United States. Moving the conference around to different zones of the country allows everyone the
opportunity to benefit when the event is held in their area of the country.
- The majority of ACCP Annual Meeting attendees fly in and do not rent a car. Therefore, having dining and entertainment options within
walking distance of the meeting venue is also a determining factor.
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Q:
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How Does Your Hotel Reservation Affect the ACCP Annual Meeting? (Booking within the ACCP Block) |
A:
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- ACCP has contracted hotel rooms at discounted rates on your behalf. If contracted housing obligations are not met, ACCP must pay
substantial penalty fees to the hotel. This could require ACCP to increase registration rates in the future to cover such penalties.
- ACCP can monitor attendance through the room block. When attendees stay within the block it enables ACCP to be better prepared to
host a successful event and helps with cost containment.
- ACCP's business value to a city is measured by the total number of sleeping rooms booked inside the contracted room block and
money spent on other hotel services. Booking within the block helps ACCP to maintain strong business value, which is critical
to negotiations with future cities and cost-containment efforts.
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