Planning for the Autumn Federal Conference this year has been fraught with difficulties. First, there was a real worry that it would coincide with an intensive General Election campaign, and arrangements were made for a shorter version of the event. Then, when the July election was announced, planning was put on hold until after polling day.
It is now back to normal and running for its full length from 14th to 17th September in Brighton.
Registration finally opened last Friday. Since then members have been complaining about the short period for the Early Bird rates, ending on 23rd July, some noting that it did not cover a payday. It was also causing problems for people who were on holiday this month. So we are pleased to learn that the Early Bird deadline has now been extended to 31st July.
You can see all the rates and deadlines here. In summary, the Early Bird full rate is £90 (concessions £20), with a weekend pass at £60 (concessions £15). Concessions include full-time students, plus people on a range of benefits and allowances. Day passes are also available but do not give you the right to speak or vote in debates. Register here.
Anyone can watch the proceedings in the Main Auditorium on the party’s YouTube channel for free. But there is also the option of online voting (pass costs £20) which I used last time and found worked well.
When registration was finally opened last week technical problems emerged, which is why it only really got underway last Friday. Members were still reporting errors when they tried to register over the weekend, and we have been given this advice: when you are asked for your address select Great Britain NOT United Kingdom. Apparently Northern Ireland is not included because of the presence of our sister party, Alliance. (I’m not quite sure what any Lib Dem members in Northern Ireland have to do – maybe contact HQ).
In my case I kept getting error messages after trying to pay, but with no indication of what the issue was. It eventually resolved itself when I changed my photo – I was trying to sneak in one with a darker background. If you do have a problem with registration contact [email protected], preferably with a screen shot of the issue.
See you all in Brighton!
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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3 Comments
I would go, but hotel prices in Brighton are extortionate – and I notice that many of them are cheaper at other times. Why are hotels in this country so expensive?
@David Blake; The answer to that is simply supply and demand. Hotels (just like other businesses), will as far as possible try to set their prices so that they can just sell all their rooms. If you know that you can charge £100/day and people will still pay for all your rooms, then it’d be silly to only charge – say – £70 because then you’d make less money AND with prices lower more people would try to book so you’d end up with loads of frustrated people who want to book but can’t because you’re sold out. That’s why prices are higher in times of peak demand, and lower in times of low demand.
If you want hotel prices to be cheaper in general, then you have to build lots more hotels, so that there are sufficient rooms for everyone who would book if prices were lower. It’s likely that the large number of hotel rooms that the Government has block-booked to house the backlog of asylum seeker is having an impact too.
That’s possibly not of any immediate help if you’re sitting wishing prices were lower so you could get to conference, but it’s the reason prices are what they are.
@Simon R . I know what you mean and you’re probably right. I find it amazing that people can afford some of the prices being demanded. For the price of 3 nights in a hotel you can buy a week’s holiday in decent accomodation in a nice part of Greece, including, flight, transfer, accommodation and car hire.