Mar 18
maureen-pickellMember News, Trade Shows meeting education, meeting experiences
Again sticking close to home, your traveling ConventionPlanit.com Blogger headed down the mountain from Breckenridge on 3/16 to attend the Meetings Industry Council of Colorado Educational Conference and Trade Show in Denver.
Instead of getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day, an enthusiastic audience of over 700 planners and suppliers convened to find new and innovative ways to get the business of meetings done.
The Denver Convention Center did a great job of welcoming the group with a tasty continental breakfast and a perfect climate controlled environment…not too hot or too cold. Other Centers with break out rooms approaching the temperature necessary to cure meat could take a lesson!
Educational sessions covered topics such as the Meetings Industry: State of the Economy, The Power of Service – How to Provide Customer Service that Rocks! and Mastering Magical Persuasion. (Check out a future e-Alert for more on this subject.)
ConventionPlanit.com Colorado members Denver CVB, Colorado Springs CVB, Lowes Denver Hotel, and the Keystone Resort & Conference Center exhibited while the Anchorage CVB sponsored a Massage Therapist to help ease the strain of viewing over 120 booths on the trade show floor.
All in all, the one day event was an enervating mix of education and networking that had everyone departing on a “Rocky Mountain High!”
Mar 17
Ashley ChalmersContests, News meeting industry, meeting planner feedback, social media, technology
Want the inside scoop on how our music video came to be? You’re in the right place!
ConventionPlanit.com Co-Founder and Principal Katherine Markham, CHME is the mastermind behind the concept and idea of the video.
She was inspired when she learned about a talented singing group called Buffalo Stance, who are based in her hometown of New York City.
The totally awesome Buffalo Stance
The group is named after the “Buffalo Stance” song from the 1980s…and appropriately, the all female vocal group sings a lot of 80s music!
“We thought it would be fun to rewrite the lyrics to a popular song and sing it in the video,” Markham said. “We chose ‘Flashdance,’ which has a strong, dramatic style that really captured the excitement we wanted to convey.”
She then got to work writing the script for the video and lining up the production team.
Markham asked meetings industry veteran Roman Holton, who runs a video and filmmaking company called Ascension Media, to shoot and produce the video.
“When she called with the idea I said, ‘It may not be as easy as you think,’” Holton recalled. “But she persevered, so we got the crew together that would do the job for her.”
Some familiar faces from the meetings industry were sprinkled into the video. Can you spot them?
- Bob Gilbert, President & CEO of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), offered the association’s offices to shoot the video. Gilbert also appears in several scenes in the video.
- Windy Christner, CMP, Senior Director, Meetings & Expositions for the American Pharmacists Association, played the role of a “new age” fortuneteller
- Association Vision President Al Rickard, CAE, played the office receptionist
- Association professional Sallie Hyman appeared as an office visitor and as an office employee
“The whole video conveyed the idea of how much easier it is today for meeting planners than it was 25 years ago, thanks to technology such as ConventionPlanit.com,” Markham explained.
Have you been involved in a video production? What was your favorite part?
Don’t forget to check out the music video and submit your own predictions for what you think the future of meeting planning will be like.
The predictions will be put to the vote by your peers, and the grand prize winner will receive a trip for two to Cancun, courtesy of the JW Marriott Cancun and Continental Airlines!
Feb 17
Ashley ChalmersNews economy, Face to Face Meetings, Keep America Meeting, meeting industry
Meetings Mean Business, along with the Convention Industry Council and PwC US, has just released a study:
The Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy
The study reveals that the meetings industry directly supports:
- 1.7 million jobs
- $263 billion in spending
- a $106 billion contribution to GDP
- $60 billion in labor revenue
- $14.3 billion in federal tax revenue
- $11.3 billion in state and local tax revenue
This is the first study ever to truly measure the economic impact of meetings to help the industry tell the story about the value of meetings to policymakers, the business community, and the public.
Katherine Markham, CHME, our Co-Founder and Principal, attended the press conference today on the study.
She says:
“The best thing about the study is that it shows how critical meetings are at a time when our recovery depends on steadily increasing business activity.
“Fortunately, we are seeing a steady recovery in the meetings industry. The fact that this study measured data for 2009 – one of the toughest years for the meetings industry – shows that meetings are an even greater force in the economy than most people realize. The data for 2010 and beyond are no doubt even stronger.
“As meeting professionals move into the future, they are also depending even more on technology to help them plan meetings, and that’s where ConventionPlanit.com helps them with our online search directory. By connecting meeting planners to hotels and meeting venues as rapidly as possible, we hope we are doing our part to help speed the recovery and book more meetings for the future.”
To learn more, read the full study. What do you think the survey means for our industry?
Feb 14
maureen-pickellNews generation y, meeting industry, pcma, technology
One of the most enlightening breakout sessions during the PCMA Convening Leaders 2011 Conference in January was presented by a panel of global hospitality and events students.
Developed and presented by this year’s PCMA Education Foundation Student Planner of the Year, Jascha Bergmann (a second year events management student at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh), the program introduced the professional planners and suppliers of tomorrow as they discussed where our industry is headed and how they plan to contribute to its future success.
The students shared some of the beliefs and values that will inevitably shape our industry as they enter the profession:
- Due to a distrust of marketers, Gen Y will not respond to traditional advertising methods, but will go online when they want to conduct business.
- Face-to-face meetings are more memorable. Gen Y will interact with attendees; they believe out of sight, out of mind.
- Technology will enhance the face-to-face experience by supporting pre and post-event collaboration.
- Online education will be used to extend the life of the meeting – not replace it.
- Gen Y will be “totally” tuned in to corporate responsibility and sustainability when it comes to planning/attending an event. This is non-negotiable!
The panel was also queried on what kind of event would attract their attention and what factors would impact their decision to attend. Issues discussed were:
- What’s in it for me? Who am I going to meet?
- Relevance of social activities connected to the event
- With regard to my profession, which meeting will give me the best ROI in terms of education and networking opportunities?
- Will it be fun and affordable?
For current meeting professionals looking to hire the Gen Y graduates, here is what will motivate and inspire them as they take their first job:
- Appreciation of a workplace where they will be part of a family
- Ability to obtain a high level of job satisfaction
- Opportunity to work their way up through the organization to reach career goals
- Prospect of acquiring work experience by doing different jobs
Oh, and be careful if you are sitting next to a Gen Y attendee during a presentation and are tempted to check your e-mails or text messages.
According to the student panel, personal communication devices should not be used during a meeting as they are considered to be a distraction…unless you are taking notes on the program!
Do you agree or disagree with these views, and how so? Share your comments below!
Jan 31
Ashley ChalmersNews technology, Tips for Meeting Planners
Loyal readers, stay tuned for a very exciting announcement coming mid-February!
It is something we hope all of you enjoy very much, and we are quite proud of it.
So…get excited! More info to come. Thank you so much for reading our blog and for using ConventionPlanit.com!
Dec 22
Ashley ChalmersMember News Awards, Hilton, Marriott, meeting experiences
Congratulations to ConventionPlanit.com members The Hilton Anatole and the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront for receiving this year’s Meetings & Conventions magazine Gold Key Award!
These hotels strive for perfection in hosting events or conferences. These properties’ efforts deserve industry recognition for their professionalism, and meeting planners have answered the call by voting them Gold Key recipients.
What hotels would receive your vote this year?
Dec 08
Ashley ChalmersNews charity, MPI
This year, in lieu of purchasing holiday gifts for one another, our staff decided to make donations to the Children’s Inn at NIH…
…a private, nonprofit, family-centered residence established to keep children with their families while the children participate in ground-breaking medical research for serious illnesses at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The Children’s Inn at NIH is the Potomac Meeting Professionals International (PMPI) 2010 Charity of the Year.
Since opening in June of 1990, The Inn has hosted more than 10,000 families from all 50 states and 74 countries. The Inn has the capacity to house up to 74 families per night. In fiscal year 2008, 1,400 children and their families called The Inn home.
There is no charge for a family to stay at The Inn.
These young patients range in age from birth to young adulthood. They face medical challenges such as cancer, heart, lung, growth and blood diseases and mental disorders that lack successful treatment and are only researched and treated at NIH.
“Everyone who is in good health has much to be thankful for during this holiday season,” says ConventionPlanit.com Co-Founder and Principal Katherine Markham, CHME.
“We all decided that giving to this worthy cause was the right thing to do this year to help these children and their families. We pray that their treatments will succeed and that they recover.”
What are some of your favorite charities? Does your company or organization contribute to one in particular?
Nov 18
Ashley ChalmersMember News, Places to Stay hotels, Innovention Network, Marriott
ConventionPlanit.com now offers Marriott International’s 60 Innovention Network properties on ConventionPlanit.com.
The Innovention Network is a collection of world-class, integrated J.W. Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance, and Marriott hotels and resorts dedicated to providing the ultimate meeting experience. Together, these properties offer the largest collection of meeting space in any hotel chain (4.7 million square feet), employ more than 150 Certified Meeting Professionals, offer more efficient group billing options, and use standardized post-convention reporters to ensure the transfer of knowledge and best practices from one property to another.
“We created the Innovention Network to save customers time and money and give them the best meeting experience possible,” says Luis Lamar, Marriott’s vice president of convention and resort hotels in the Americas.
“Partnering with ConventionPlanit.com advances these goals, because their search engine is easy to use, charges no commissions, and is highly focused on service through its RFP Valet® program and other features that deliver results for meeting professionals.”
Each of the Innovention Network properties has a Sapphire listing on ConventionPlanit.com, which includes a property description, meeting room specifications, photographs, links to the property website, RFP template, and more.
“In the eight years since ConventionPlanit.com was designed by a group of visionary meeting professionals, we have continually reinvented ourselves with new and better ways to serve the meetings industry,” says ConventionPlanit.com Co-Founder and Principal Katherine Markham, CHME.
“We see Marriott doing the same thing through the Innovention Network. So we are just delighted to partner with them to give these properties the additional exposure they deserve.”
Each Innovention Network property will also be listed on VenueDirectory.com in Europe through a partnership that ConventionPlanit.com has with that online search directory.
For more information, visit ConventionPlanit.com!
Aug 31
Ashley ChalmersNews, Places to Stay economy, hotels, meeting industry, per diem rates
The new fiscal year per diem rates were announced yesterday by the General Services Administration (GSA):
Rates Start: October 1, 2010
Rates End: September 30, 2011
The standard Continental United States (CONUS) per diem rate increased to $77 per night.
GSA reported the average daily rate (ADR) for hotel rooms is down 5.73% from fiscal year 2010.
There are several non-standard area lodging rate changes that have been reduced, making them more affordable to visit:
• New York City (Manhattan) fall high season: reduced to $269 from FY2010 $340
• Colorado Springs: reduced to $84 from FY2010 $88
• Las Vegas: three seasons reduced to one, rates down from FY2010 high of $118 to $93
• Miami, Fla., for the Miami-Dade area mid-season: down to $151 from FY2010 $152
• Chicago, Ill., early summer area high season: reduced to $166 from FY2010 $211
• Charleston, SC: down to $132 from FY2010 $142
• Los Angeles, Calif.: reduced to $123 from FY10 $135
• Kansas City, Mo: down to $99 from FY2010 $107
• Cincinnati, Ohio: unchanged from FY2010 at $115
• Seattle, Wash: reduced to $139 from FY2010 $159
How these rate changes affect your planning this fall?
Aug 11
Ashley ChalmersMember News, Places to Stay guest-friendly hotel tips, hotels, Kimpton, unique activities
Here’s a fun summertime offer from our good friends at Kimpton:
Get uncorked at Kimpton Restaurants and byow (bring your own wine)!
There’s no doubt that you’re stashing some stellar bottles of wine at home. So now through Labor Day, feel free to bring a bottle of wine, or two, to share with friends at any Kimpton Restaurant. Corkage is complimentary all summer long.
Learn more about planing a meeting at a Kimpton hotel or restaurant.
Older Entries Newer Entries
Current Discussions