International Convention Rooming Information

It is a pleasure to advise you that rooming departments in each 1978 international convention city are now open for handling room requests. The Society mailed out new Room Request forms to all congregations during February so that all who wish to write for rooms, whether hotel, motel or private home, may begin doing so. Elders should please discard all Room Request forms from previous years that may be left over at their Kingdom Halls, because the new form has been revised. A completely new system will be used in making rooming assignments.

You will note on the new forms that the congregation Secretary or the congregation’s “Convention Coordinator” is required to check each form turned in for accuracy, neatness and so forth, and sign it, showing his approval, before sending it in to the convention Rooming Department for the convention requested. Therefore, anyone filling out a Room Request form should not mail it to the convention city himself, but should turn it in to the designated elder in the congregation to verify the request. The elder can then send it in to the convention city along with any other Room Request forms he may have for that same city, using the rooming address for that city that is printed on the back of each Room Request form. Each congregation’s body of elders should determine immediately whether the Secretary or the “Convention Coordinator” will be used to verify the Room Request forms and then announce this to the congregation.

Rooming work for obtaining private home accommodations from publishers, interested ones and the public began in each convention city in February. Thus there will no doubt be enough rooms available for all who send in a Room Request form for whatever type of accommodations they desire, whether hotel, motel or private home. Those who choose to request private home accommodations should be prepared to pay a nominal amount for the accommodations, since the householder, whether a Witness or not, will be put to extra expense to care for such guests in the way of utilities, linens, and so forth. They should also have in mind that the householder is not required to provide food or transportation for such guests, nor is the householder required to let the guests stay in the rooms for more than the days of the assembly. It is up to the householder if he wishes to make any exceptions.

In most convention cities the Society, through the convention organization, already has reserved a number of hotel and motel rooms in order to obtain much lower rates than would have been available to individuals making their own arrangements. Therefore, it would be to your advantage in most cases to send in a Room Request form as outlined above to the Rooming Department in the city of your choice rather than obtaining the accommodations on your own.

This information will assist you in making your rooming arrangements in the near future. Other pertinent convention matters will be taken up in coming articles as convention time approaches.