Quote:
Originally posted by Peaches@Jan 13 2003, 10:30 AM
Florida has recently passed even stricter non-smoking laws. I really didn't pay attention to them since I don't live in FL and I don't smoke  , but I doubt ANYONE has any ability to allow smoking within a venue. 
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Very true - this is a problem that I had when I was doing scheduling for the AWE locations (in another life - lol). And it wasn't always just the state or local laws - sometimes it was hotel policy. What are you gonna do? I mean - even within the same hotel chain, each individual hotel had it's own rules/restrictions re: smoking, the types of banners that could be hung, the types of AV equipment that could be used - it was a mess.
Unfortunately - webmasters seem to be the biggest group of smokers so perhaps the convention planners need to look more at what areas/chains are smoker-friendly and plan the shows around that. I know a LOT of people said they missed out on much of the AWE info in the first year that was given out in the workshops because they had to take smoke breaks. By the 2nd full year we did smoke breaks between workshops/seminars, but you really can't do that with an expo/exhibit hall.
It's very frustrating indeed - ahhhh for the good old days when wearing a seatbelt wasn't enforced by law and smokers weren't treated like 2nd class citizens - or leppers. Freedom of choice man. Now those were the days...