³ Instructions for Obtaining Rooms: After the Service Meeting for the week of December 30, congregations should post on the information board the Recommended Lodging Locations list for the district convention to which the congregation is assigned. This list gives all the motels presently cooperating with the Society’s rooming arrangement. Your cooperation with these arrangements will assist the convention organization in its efforts to provide sufficient rooming accommodations for everyone at a reasonable price.

⁴ What You Should Do: After​—NOT before—​your congregation posts the Recommended Lodging Locations list containing the addresses, phone numbers, and agreed-​upon rates of the motels, you are free to phone the motel of your choice and make reservations. Identifying yourself as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses or as a delegate attending the Watchtower convention will qualify you for the rates listed, which in most cases are greatly reduced.

⁵ ONE NIGHT’S DEPOSIT IS REQUIRED to hold the room. Your deposit should be sent directly to the motel AS SOON AS you make reservations. If your deposit is not received by the motel, your reservations can be canceled at any time. MOTELS ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO HOLD THE ROOMS WITHOUT A DEPOSIT. If you must cancel your reservation, you should immediately notify the motel, making the room available for other delegates.

⁶ If the motel you call first is filled, call your next selection from the list and so on. Many call the motels closest to the convention, so you may find it beneficial to try some motels farther away, which often have quality rooms at lower rates. The convention Rooming Department will continue to provide the congregations with revised lists, deleting motels that have been filled and including additional motels until everyone has a room. Thus, if all the motels on the list are filled, please wait patiently for the next list, and you will be able to obtain a room.

⁷ Dormitories: A few conventions also use school dormitories in order to accommodate all of those attending. Usually, congregations will receive information on these a month or so after the first motel listing. Those needing accommodations of this type should follow the instructions on the list that is sent to the congregations by the convention.

⁸ Special Needs: This provision is only for exemplary publishers, including their well-​behaved children, who are approved by the Congregation Service Committee. Arrangements to care for persons with special needs should be made by the congregation where they attend. Elders and others who are aware of the individual circumstances can lovingly extend help. This often requires that publishers consider the needs of those in full-​time service, the elderly, the infirm, the deaf, and perhaps others. Publishers may extend help by taking such ones with them or caring for their needs in other ways.​—Jas. 2:15-17; 1 John 3:17, 18.

⁹ Of course, the Rooming Department will endeavor to provide suitable rooming accommodations for publishers with special needs if they cannot be assisted by those in the congregation. These publishers may discuss their situation with the congregation secretary. The secretary should consult with the Congregation Service Committee regarding what is needed so that they can work with these persons in securing their own rooming accommodations. If the congregation is unable to render the needed assistance, the secretary may give such persons a copy of the Special Needs Room Request form. Those with special needs are the only ones that should fill out this form. It is to be returned to the secretary and checked for completeness, accuracy, and verification of the circumstances that qualify them for such consideration. The circumstances are to be EXPLAINED IN DETAIL by the secretary in the space provided on the form. All of this should be done well ahead of the convention. The secretary will then forward the form to the Rooming Department. The individual making the request will be notified directly about the accommodations.

¹⁰ Those with special needs should NOT go to the convention and request a room when they arrive because the Rooming Department must have the verification of the Congregation Service Committee.

¹¹ Private-home accommodations are set aside for those who would experience real hardship if such accommodations were not available. They are not intended for those who can afford motel rooms but who want free or inexpensive rooms just to save money. Similarly, it is not proper to presume upon the hospitality of our brothers by expecting to be accommodated extra days. These rooms are for the convention period ONLY. Those receiving such accommodations should see that they and their children act respectfully toward the home of their host and do not damage anything, rummage through the host’s possessions, or enter private areas of the home. If householders experience any difficulties along this line, these should immediately be brought to the attention of the rooming overseer at the convention, and he will be happy to help.

¹² Delegates Attending From Outside the Assigned Area: In nearly every case, the location assigned for you to attend is the one nearest your congregation. Having adequate seating, literature, food, rooming accommodations, and so forth, is based on the premise that the majority of publishers will attend the convention to which their congregation is assigned. However, if for good reason you will be attending a convention other than the one assigned and need accommodations, the congregation secretary can give you the address for that convention headquarters from the list on the back of the Special Needs Room Request form. Then you can write and request a copy of the motel listing for that location, sending along a stamped, self-​addressed envelope. Upon receipt of this list, use it to make your reservation.

¹³ Your Cooperation Needed: The success of this rooming arrangement depends on the cooperation of all of those involved, including our Bible students. (Heb. 13:17) Thus, we are asking everyone to cooperate fully with the Society’s rooming arrangement and USE ONLY THE MOTELS ON THE CURRENT RECOMMENDED LODGING LOCATIONS LIST so that major difficulties we still experience in negotiating with the motels can be prevented. Most publishers are taking to heart the clear direction that has been given in past January Our Kingdom Ministry convention inserts, and many good results are being experienced. However, it is still necessary to request that everyone PLEASE OBSERVE THE GUIDELINES ON PAGE 6 FOR OBTAINING MOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS.

¹⁴ Violations in these areas make it difficult to negotiate good rates, and they bring reproach on Jehovah’s name and organization. (Col. 4:5) Therefore, the Society will be asking the Rooming Department to check with the motels to determine if any are experiencing such problems and who is involved. The convention organization is working hard to save our brothers as much expense as possible, so it is in the best interests of all to cooperate fully with the Society’s rooming arrangement so that this provision can continue. The listing gives a choice of good-​quality accommodations at motels that cooperate. With this arrangement our aim is to help delegates to be accommodated as comfortably and economically as possible so that they can enjoy the fine spiritual program at the convention.

Note to the Body of Elders

Please read the Society’s December 15, 1991, convention assignment letter and the first and last paragraphs of the Recommended Lodging Locations list for your congregation during the Service Meeting for the week of December 30. After that meeting, post the letter and the list on the information board. NO ONE, INCLUDING THE ELDERS, SHOULD MAKE ANY MOTEL RESERVATIONS BEFORE THIS SERVICE MEETING. In this way all the congregations will receive the information the same week. The congregation secretary should handle convention-​related material and announcements on future Service Meetings.

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Guidelines for Obtaining Motel Accommodations

A. Do not locate and call motels in the convention city and ask them if they are on the current list or have special rates for the convention.

B. Do not accept a higher price for a motel than what is quoted on the list.

C. Please do not make reservations at a motel you do not intend to use or at more than one motel with the idea of checking them, selecting the best, and canceling the others. (Matt. 5:37) This is unfair, as it prevents the motels from getting business they could have had and prevents other publishers from using those rooms, for which there is often a critical need.

D. Do not reserve rooms for yourself or others without giving names and sending the deposits for each room immediately.

E. Do not put more people in the room than the law and the management allow, which is normally no more than four or five persons, including children. Remember, you are paying a rate based upon the number of persons you AGREED would be in the room.