Dateline: 02-16-2004

Hotel Update

It has been announced that effective Mar. 16, 2004 the Radisson South and Plaza Tower will become known as the Sheraton Bloomington. This follows in the change in flags for our beloved hotel.

To recap, the building known as the Radisson South and Plaza Tower will begin flying a new flag and be under the auspices of the Sheraton hotel chain. As a result, the new Sheraton Bloomington will undergo a $10 million "face lift," a redecorating of some of the internal spaces including the cabana/pool area and the Plaza Tower. Currently, we do not believe that there will be any conflicts between redecorating and the convention dates.

As a result of the change, there will be a delay in the processing of hotel requests. As can be expected, the Sheraton Bloomington will have a new computer system installed. Consultation with their Reservations manager (still our long-running Reservations manager, by the way) netted the result that it will just be easier to enter the room requests one time once the changeover is done than it will be to enter them now, then re-enter them later. The CONvergence hotel team, reachable at hotel@convergence-con.org, will maintain as up to date a list of requests received as possible. Please feel free to contact us at this email address to check on the receipt of your room request.

As always, room requests are forwarded first to the CONvergence hotel team, and then to the hotel. We currently are prepared to assign 180 of our 425-romm block at the hotel. With PR2 scheduled out in the next few weeks, rooms are likely to go quickly. If you plan to stay in the hotel during the convention and you have not already done so, please submit a request form at your earliest convenience. it is much easier to meet specific requests for rooms when requests are made earlier in the year.

We look forward to our old-new association with the Sheraton Bloomington.