As the other commenter said, it would actually be pretty dumb to cancel a conference that's already bought and paid for, unless it's for pure CYA PR reasons. I

As the other commenter said, it would actually be pretty dumb to cancel a conference that's already bought and paid for, unless it's for pure CYA PR reasons. I used to work in the meetings and events industry and I can confidently say that the organizers of the AIG conference at the St Regis probably never imagined that it would turn into a PR debacle, because that kind of event is absolutely ordinary. They would not have considered it extravagant at all. Consider this: you're having a conference for multimillionaire corporate executives and top performers. People who usually work in different locations are coming in to meet together and perhaps bring their spouses for some hobnobbing, strategy talks, and teambuilding exercises. Where do you think they're going to stay? The Motel 6? When you're paying someone a high six figure salary plus bonuses, is it really a scandal to pay $300 for a hotel room? And by the way, if the rooms "can cost $1000 per night" and you rent out two hundred rooms for your event, if you ended up paying more than $300 per room, you should fire your meeting planner.