Convention Hotel

The Convention Hotel

Special rules to consider when you are at the JEA/NSPA convention hotel:

1. Be polite on the elevator. Use it only when necessary. Do not do “cute” things such as shriek, jump or push more buttons than you need to. And try not to douse yourself with too much cologne before getting into this cramped space.

2. No hotel has enough elevators. When other conventions fill most of the rooms, they do not pack in as many visitors as the JEA/NSPA conventions do. For that reason, elevators may be crowded, and students should plan ahead. For instance, a trip back to the room right before Write-offs is not a good idea because being in the contest room promptly is vital.

3. Do not run up and down the halls yelling or talking obnoxiously. Walk.

4. Quiet is the key word. When groups of teens think they are quiet, most adults think they are loud. Be more quiet than usual. What would be the impact if people mistake you for a 20-something sponsor rather than a 14-year-old tag-along?

5. Help the housekeeper with your room by doing the following:

   • Leave all of your towels in one big pile in the bathtub.

   • Gather the trash into one pile (preferably in the wastebasket).

   • Most housekeepers earn only minimum wage and have a lot of work to do when there is only one, neat business traveler in the room, let alone a hoard of messy teens. Leave a tip and identify it as a tip.

6. While you are in the room, lock the extra locks. Do not rely simply on the automatic lock, which can be opened if someone gets a master key.

7. Never open the door for someone unless you know who he or she is. If the person says they are with the hotel, call the front desk and ask.

8. Do not leave valuables in the room when you are gone.

9. In case of fire or another emergency, find the stairs and count the doors from your room to the stair exit door. Keep a key near the door to grab on the way out in case you find you are safer in the room than out in the hall or stairway. Read other directions typically found on the back of your hotel room door.

10. There will be a curfew time. Honor it.