We want to let you know that we’ve now completed working through all room space allocations.  We’re announcing that we have sold out in both the Hilton and our overflow hotel, the Crowne Plaza.

We have now contacted everyone who has been allocated spaces in the main and overflow hotel.  If you have not yet been contacted to tell you that you have a room space, then you remain on our waiting list.

While certain circumstances could arise in which room spaces become available for allocation to those on that waiting list, this is now extremely unlikely.

You can still register ‘attending only’ for the convention.  If you now wish to make private arrangements for alternative accommodation in the area, this is the reg type to choose.  If you have already registered, and now wish to switch to attending only, just contact registration@confuzzled.org.uk.  Day tickets will open 4th January 2020

Our team has been in negotiations with other nearby venues to try and get more rooms for the 2020 convention.  Whilst some of these discussions seemed fruitful, because of the short notice the rates on offer were very high.  Regrettably, this means we are unable to offer any further overflow option.

We know that there are many of you who will be extremely disappointed not to receive a room space.  We are already working with our hotels to increase available room space for 2021 onwards.

We also know that there have been many complaints this year from those who felt our room allocation policy was not transparent, or that it was not fair.  We also know that those of you who had to fill out a longer registration form (such as Dealers) suffered particular problems. We have heard this, and just as we apologised in our previous statements on this topic here and here, we want to state it again: We really are truly sorry for the confusion and frustration caused.

On the good news front however, we are overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to attend ConFuzzled!  So far, we’ve got 1,715 attendees, of which 1,571 are residential, allocated room spaces across 851 hotel rooms (combining both Hilton & Crowne Plaza).

In the meantime, we’ve got a Q&A below with more information:

What’s happened today?

We’re announcing that we have finished allocating room spaces across both our main hotel venues.  If you have not yet received a room space, we’re recommending switching to ‘attending only’ (to do so, email registration@confuzzled.org.uk), and seeking alternative accommodation in the area.

Why can’t you release more room blocks like other conventions do?

Conventions of a smaller size will often negotiate a certain number of rooms initially, with the option to take more if they sell out.  ConFuzzled is already large enough to have contracted the maximum possible number of rooms from the Hilton right from the start. We’ve also got as many rooms as currently possible from the Crowne Plaza.  There are no ‘reserve’ room blocks available.

Negotiations with other hotels on site have been undertaken in response to the increased demand, but the rates offered at such short notice have been excessive which leaves us currently unable to offer any further overflow rooms.

Why have I not been contacted directly?

At this time, there are a number of people on our registration database who have not been allocated a room.  The ‘sold-out’ announcement we are making today primarily affects those of you who have not been allocated a room space.

Whilst there are still some final stragglers that we might be able to allocate a room, for most of you, this will be highly unlikely.  Once the final wash-up of room allocations finalises, we will email everyone who remains to firm up the position.

Why did you change your room allocation policy this year?

In fact, we did not.  We have taken the same approach this year as we did in previous years.  What did change, is that we had even more people registering on opening night than ever before.  In previous years, we often had a lot of ‘slack’ for certain room types, and thus were often able to switch people from room types that sold out, into alternatives.  So, most people got a room, even if it wasn’t their first-choice.

We were unable to do this this year, because all room types were snapped-up very rapidly on opening night.  The failure on our part is not anticipating this increased demand, and again, we apologise for this.

We do plan to switch our approach next year to make it fairer for all.

Why were some people made to go through a longer registration process, thus missing out on rooms?

This mostly impacted dealers, but also some other people too.  The decision was made a few years ago to integrate dealer registration into main registration.  Whilst this largely functioned well in the past, because filling in the form takes longer, it compounded the issue mentioned in the previous question.

Again, we sincerely apologise for this frustration, and will be taking this into account when we redesign our Registration process for 2021.

Will you move to a larger venue?

The Hilton Birmingham Metropole is actually the largest Convention & Hotel Combination venue in the country.  This means it’s incredibly difficult to move to an alternative venue without compromise on some front. However, we are currently in the final stages of securing additional overflow rooms which will significantly increase our available room spaces, and have other positive leads for 2021 onwards.

We at ConFuzzled constantly review our venue requirements, however moving is not a quick or simple thing, and many considerations would first have to be made.

So, is registration closed?

No.  Registration remains open for ‘attending only’ registration types.  Day-tickets will also open on 4th January 2020.

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.