New York NFFC Update

[Tom Kessenich]

Everyone, I wanted to give you an update on the New York event since things have changed since the site went live in February. First, our host hotel will not be The Stewart Hotel this year. They will be renovating their ballrooms starting in July and will not be able to accommodate us for our event in September. They told us this just a few weeks ago and that came as a surprise since we were expecting to return there. Needless to say, I've been scrambling to find a new host hotel ever since then.

The problem is nearly every hotel in the city is either booked for the Labor Day weekend or their prices are far greater than we can afford. That's forced me to expand the search outside the city. The good news is I think I've found a place that will suit us for this year and hopefully this year only. It's the William Vale hotel in Brooklyn.

https://www.thewilliamvale.com/?utm_sou ... =local_gmb

It's a very nice luxury hotel with the space we're looking for and most importantly they're willing to work with our budget. One downside is their room prices are quite lofty. So those of you attending may need to look for hotels close by. But there are some very affordable ones near by with good prices so I don't believe that will be a problem.

Given the space at the William Vale, we'd likely be looking at one draft per time slot for the two days of our event. So, for example, there would be one Primetime on Saturday at 1 ET. We would then offer another at 3 ET and possibly another at 5 ET. I realize those are quick turnarounds but with only one draft per time slot that's the best way to try and get multiple drafts that day. If signups pick up I'll definitely look to see if there's more space available but at this time that would be the plan.

Again, this would be a one-year only deal for New York. We anticipate returning to the Stewart in 2022 for the NFBC and NFFC. But we gotta play the hand we're dealt for this September. We'd love to remain in the city, believe me, but the fact of the matter is places like the Sheraton and Hilton and honestly the nearly 20 other hotels I've contacted are simply too expensive given the number of people who now come to NY for the NFFC. That's simply the reality we're dealing with at this time. So a place like the William Vale meets nearly every criteria we're looking for at this particular time.

I'd be interested in any feedback about this hotel and the new plan. Feel free to post here or contact me directly.

[76erfan]

Any restaurants in the city that could host? Some have 2nd floors. I have a prepaid Stewart reservation so not sure I can get a refund.

[Tom Kessenich]

Any restaurants in the city that could host? Some have 2nd floors. I have a prepaid Stewart reservation so not sure I can get a refund.

We need a place with at least 1,500 square feet Andy with WiFi and the ability to accommodate our projectors and a screen they would need to provide or we would need to rent somehow. I have looked everywhere. I have contacted over 20 hotels and venues. If you know of a place with space that size please let me know. I'm open to suggestions. The Stewart caught us completely by surprise. We were expecting to be there in September because they had told us we had the space reserved and everything was a go. This has not been easy trying to find a replacement location. But like I said, I'm open to suggestions if people know of a place that can accommodate us.

[Don Draper]

Hi Tom – Since u asked for feedback, I certainly understand the situation the nffc is in regarding NYC. prices for everything are outta control

Unfortunately, for me, I don't have interest in attending an event outside the city.

I’ll pivot to other events (online etc)

[Tom Kessenich]

As far as your reservation at the Stewart, I would tell them it was reserved because you were planning on attending our event and that has been cancelled because they no longer will be hosting due to their renovations. That's on them for making that decision. If you'd like to loop me in I'll do what I can to help in any way possible. It's not right they make you pay for something their hotel has backed out of now.

[Tom Kessenich]

OK nobody start dropping out of anything yet. Nothing is official as far as the William Vale is concerned. If you signed up for a NY event please keep that signup in NY. Don't change anything now. Let us discuss everything internally. Sound good? Thanks for the feedback we've been getting. Much appreciated.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Any restaurants in the city that could host? Some have 2nd floors. I have a prepaid Stewart reservation so not sure I can get a refund.

Andy, we can help you with this reservation if the Stewart can't come through for us. We will reach out to our contact person for you because there's no reason to hold you to this when they are backing out on space we thought we had.

For perspective, when we were at the Stewart Hotel in April for the NFBC live events, our sales rep told us they had space for September and we were going to finish up the contract when we got back from the baseball live events. This sales rep was the nicest sales rep I've ever worked with and we were happy to lock down space for September at that time.

She was slow with the contract when we got back and we soon learned that management told her not to book anything yet for July and August. They are renovating all of the ballrooms and she has yet to give us a finish date for the renovation. We were hopeful that it would be done in time for Labor Day Weekend and we just haven't been able to get an answer from her. As a result, Tom began looking around.

The hard truth is that the Sheraton and Hilton no longer want a small event like the NFFC live events and we have yet to find a venue in the City that can accommodate us or we can afford. It's that simple. Again, we will continue to get clarification from the Stewart on the possibility of Sept. 2-3, but outside of that we're struggling. We aren't giving up and will keep looking. In fact, if Mr. Chris Vaccaro or anyone else in the area has any suggestions we are open to them.

The New York City live events are VERY IMPORTANT to the NFFC and we want to host them over Labor Day Weekend. The Stewart Hotel makes it possible for us and we want to continue there; and I know they want us back. I'm finding it hard to believe that this renovation will take more than 2 months to finish, but as of now we just can't get an answer on that. So we need help if we all want to make this work.

The meeting room space in Brooklyn is perfect, but the guest hotel rates are insanely high and there isn't a subway that takes you right there. It's actually closer from LaGuardia to Brooklyn rather than the Stewart Hotel, but unless we can find a host hotel with better room rates it makes it tough. So give us a bit to keep our options open and if you can help we are all ears. We're scrambling with the news from the Stewart.

As Tom said, don't make a decision yet. We're still working and we wanted feedback on this first option. If it doesn't work for everyone, then we'll figure something else out. We don't have a signed contract; just a pending quote for space and it's workable. But if nobody comes, then it doesn't work. So help us out and hopefully we can still make it work in the City or nearby.

Thanks for any and all feedback and we'll keep working.

[76erfan]

Thanks. I booked through a third party so that may be a challenge. I'll do some research.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Thanks. I booked through a third party so that may be a challenge. I'll do some research.

Okay, hang tight. We'll reach out to the Stewart Hotel again tomorrow and there's another possible option nearby. Maybe this will still be our host hotel. Give us a little time on this before cancelling. Thanks.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Okay, so we have a new development today. Our sales contact at the Stewart Hotel is off until Tuesday, so we won't know for sure about their convention space until next week. Hang with us a bit on that, but I think we have another option that could be even better than the Stewart Hotel.

Yesterday I remembered visiting some space when I was in New York City for the FSTA Trade Conference. There was a restaurant chain that had reached out to me about possibly hosting some of our drafts there and I went to look at the space at the time. It wasn't big enough for multiple drafts at once, so I dismissed it at the time. But yesterday when talking with Tom and Darik, I went back to their web site and thought this might work.

There is a Dave & Buster's Restaurant on 42nd and 7th Avenue -- in the heart of Times Square -- that has a boardroom where it hosts corporate meetings. It's off from the arcade and in a quieter area of the restaurant. There are two rooms that we can use with screens on either end and enough seating for one and maybe two drafts. It's certainly big enough for everything we need on Friday and we are actively pursuing this location now.

You can see the boardroom here in the first frame. Click on the bottom right near the +/- sign in order to get a full 360 degree look at both rooms. You can see the HD projectors in the ceiling, the screens on either end and enough 6 foot tables for everyone to sit comfortably. We can also employ an open bar and have food right there between drafts/auctions at any time that we need. So far, so good:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dave+ ... -73.988634

Again, this is on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th avenue, which is an ideal location. Tom and Darik may still stay at the Stewart Hotel, which is just 7 blocks away, but stay where you want. Access to the subway is nearby and I think it will work for people flying into the area and for people who live in the area. Yes, it's Dave & Busters, but we have a big private draft room, access to food & drink for the drafts, and a few Irish bars right around the corner. What's not to like??

It also allows us to stay in New York City for a 19th season and keep the schedule intact. Right now we don't have any contests overlapping on Friday and we'll see if we can host two Primetime drafts at once on Saturday, but everything else on Saturday has just one draft per time period, so we're okay for now. We also hope to work with SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio again and have the NFFC New York Super League broadcast live on Friday night. This location allows that as well.

Okay, give us some thoughts on this location. We are again interested in your feedback. We have secured the space at Dave & Busters for all day Friday and Saturday and will try to finalize things after the holiday weekend. But right now we have the potential to stay in Manhattan and host 7-8 live events as planned, something we heard everyone wanted. Thoughts? Will this work? Are you okay with drafting in Times Square?!!! Let us know.