Philly Rally - VALLEY FORGE

[slantedview]

The site of the Ron Paul rally scheduled for Saturday, November 10 has had to be moved from Independence Mall to the Valley Forge Convention Center.

Numerous requirements have forced us to make the move; including an $80,000 to $140,000 price tag. This information was slow in coming, but it has arrived from the city, the unions, and the audio/visual rental companies of Philadelphia. In contrast, all previous rallies we’ve held, regardless of city, have cost between $5,000 and $9,000.

The Valley Forge Convention Center is located 30 minutes from the Philadelphia International Airport and is easily accessible from the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The rally will begin at 12 noon in the Philadelphia Room of the Valley Forge Convention Center. The convention center is located at 1160 1st Avenue, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406. For directions call (610) 337-4000 or visit www.vfconventioncenter.com.

Join us in historic Valley Forge on November 10!


http://ronpaul2008.typepad.com/ron_paul_2008/2007/11/philadelphia-ra.html

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

 

[slantedview]

So we were right. It was cost.

Not acceptable.

 

[KewlRonduderules]

There were other factors too. How come they did not mention them?

 

[Primbs]

What are the other factors?

 

[slantedview]

http://www.vfconventioncenter.com/capacity_charts.htm

This, to me, is a travesty. It reflects the small thinking of the campaign. This was to be a HUGE rally, not something supporting a mere few thousand people and held 30 minutes away from the city, where the people and media would be.

 

[walt]

BOOOOOOOOOO

They need to move the time back and run shuttle buses.

 

[Nefertiti]

Quick facts I have ascertained about the location:

It is a privately owned facility.
There is no such "Philadelphia" room. They must mean the Pennsylvania room-capacity 2200.
The site is specific about not using union labor

 

[slantedview]

I'm going to use my deductive skills and guess that the whole indoor/outdoor thing was a contributing factor, which would be a lousy excuse. Several thousand people standing outdoors in bad weather, rain or snow even, would have been a strong image to the media.

 

[Spirit of '76]

This sucks.

 

[LibertyEagle]

$140,000 is a lot of money. From what I was told it could end up being more than that too. Like if the grass was damaged, etc.

We definitely need to get confirmation about what they plan to do about all the people showing up at the mall. I think they plan to transport them, but they need to make that clear.

 

[American]

So we were right. It was cost.

Not acceptable.

you aint going anyways.

I wish I could go, sounds like it should be fun. How far away is this from the planned area?

 

[Spirit of '76]

What are they going to do about the hundreds or thousands of people who don't get the word and show up at Independence Mall expecting to see Ron Paul?

Worse, what are they going to do about the media and camera crews there to film those people's reactions?

 

[slantedview]

$140,000 is a lot of money. From what I was told it could end up being more than that too. Like if the grass was damaged, etc.

I'm sure that was more of a high end cost. If countless other groups can hold rallies at Independance mall, and "get it done" out of pocket, so could Ron Paul.

 

[walt]

$140,000 is a lot of money. From what I was told it could end up being more than that too. Like if the grass was damaged, etc.

We definitely need to get confirmation about what they plan to do about all the people showing up at the mall. I think they plan to transport them, but they need to make that clear.

you have to move the time of the event back to move the people to the new location. there is no other alternative.

 

[Sematary]

$140,000 is a lot of money. From what I was told it could end up being more than that too. Like if the grass was damaged, etc.

We definitely need to get confirmation about what they plan to do about all the people showing up at the mall. I think they plan to transport them, but they need to make that clear.

No, the barebones for a really nice setup was like 50k

 

[Sematary]

STFU, you aint going anyways.

I wish I could go, sounds like it should be fun. How far away is this from the planned area?

20-25 miles.

 

[LibertyEagle]

What are they going to do about the hundreds or thousands of people who don't get the word and show up at Independence Mall expecting to see Ron Paul?

Worse, what are they going to do about the media and camera crews there to film those people's reactions?

I think this is all being handled, Spirit. I wish they would have spoken to this in the announcement.

 

[Nefertiti]

Here in Chicago the campaign asked us for suggestions on locations for our rally. We proposed a number of locations, most outdoor but a few indoor. They went with an indoor one I think no one had suggested, although it was centrally located-a Hyatt Hotel. They seem to like these indoor convention rooms.

I'd be more impressed if it were outdoors at Valley Forge itself rather than indoors at a private convention center. Three hours for an indoor rally? I think the energy will be hard to maintain in that environment. Yes it may be a bit cold but even 5 degree weather didn't stop Obama from announcing his candidacy at a historically significant location in Springfield. Dr. Paul wouldn't need to give a long speech if that is a concern. Take the historical element out of the location and you lose a lot of the message I hoped we would convey with this rally.

 

[walt]

I think this is all being handled, Spirit. I wish they would have spoken to this in the announcement.

THE HQ IS CLUELESS LIBERTY EAGLE - DON'T YOU GET IT YET?

This is step one, missing ballots in states is the next mess up on the horizion.

 

[LibertyEagle]

No, the barebones for a really nice setup was like 50k

Bob, my understanding is that you didn't have all the information on the costs. They didn't have them either, until recently. They took forever to come in. Do you know that we were going to be massively charged if the grass was damaged?