Monthly Archives: February 2020

SPIN Announces New Event for 2020

Inaugural AdventureCon in Anchorage, AK

SPIN’s first AdventureCon will be held at the Alyeska Hotel & Resort, June 1-4, 2020.  AdventureCon will deliver a combination of senior-level planner education, along with several opportunities to explore Anchorage and surrounding communities.

The event will offer a glacier cruise, a whale-watching cruise, dog sledding (with puppy cuddling), ‘flightseeing’ of Denali National Park, a visit to a wildlife conservation center, an iPhone photography workshop, hikes, outdoor yoga, and more. Education will include a senior planner round tables, and hands-on crisis drills.

“We created this new event in direct response to our members’ desire to explore destinations outside the lower 48 states. Unlike a familiarization trip, this event will include three hours of continuing education each day,” said SPIN founder Shawna Suckow, CSP, CMP.

“AdventureCon will be the first SPIN event to welcome members’ friends and family, because our members want time for both professional and personal pursuits. Why not combine them at an industry event?” said SPIN VP of Everything, Catherine Jensen.

AdventureCon is open to all planners with 10+ years of experience, along with their guests who are 18+.  Suppliers who are AdventureCon sponsors also are welcome to attend.  Registration and sponsorship spaces are very limited.  For complete information visit www.spinplanners.com/adventurecon-2020.html.

AdventureCon 2020 Hosts

Host CVB – Visit Anchorage Alaska is the official source for Anchorage, Alaska and Southcentral Alaska travel information on everything from outdoor adventures to metropolitan amenities.

Host Hotel – Alyeska Resort
Alyeska Resort is Alaska’s premier year-round destination featuring the 300-room Hotel Alyeska. Located just 40 miles from Anchorage and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Alyeska Resort is your base camp for summer and winter excursions.

Host DMC – Alaska Destination Specialists
Alaska’s premier DMC since 1994, Alaska Destination Specialists is the only company in the state of Alaska to be awarded both a SITE Crystal Award and an ILEA Gala Award for excellence in incentives. Alaska Destinations work statewide, as well as in Seattle, Vancouver BC and Banff.

Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre The First Venue In Malaysia To Collaborate With Food Aid Foundation!

The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre) recently became the first venue in Malaysia to partner with Food Aid Foundation to connect surplus with the world of needs. The foundation is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that rescues surplus food and groceries and distributes it to people in need. Under the partnership, the Centre will be providing its surplus food and raising awareness surrounding the importance of limiting food waste amongst its team members and the general public.

According to the Centre’s Deputy General Manager, John Burke, “As the ‘People’s Centre’ and Malaysia’s premier purpose-built venue, we are a socially responsible organisation that operates our business in a sustainable manner. Giving our surplus food to those in need is something we have wanted to undertake for a while, but it hasn’t been possible until now.”

He continued, “Thanks to the passing of the Food Donors Protection Bill 2019 in Parliament, we are delighted to be able to establish this great partnership with Food Aid Foundation to help them achieve their worthy mission of ending hunger and nourishing hope by connecting the world of surplus to the world of wants. We look forward to growing this partnership and in the process hopefully improving the nourishment and well-being of those supported by Food Aid Foundation.”

The Centre is supportive of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to transform the world, and its partnership with the Food Aid Foundation help contribute towards goals 1, 2 and 12, no poverty, zero hunger and responsible consumption and production respectively.

Thanking the Centre for their support, Food Aid Foundation Founder, Rick Chee, said, “We commend the efforts of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and we deeply appreciate the partnership. We also hope this collaboration will inspire other local venues and organisations to follow suit, as from our studies, we know that there is an abundance of surplus food in Kuala Lumpur that can most certainly be put to good use.”

“The greatest gratification coming out of our mission is to see the smiles on the recipients’ face when they receive food and the chance to taste many items which they have never tried before. Even a simple item like a Danish pastry can give them so much joy,” he added.

In addition to this campaign, the Centre also works with qualified contractors to turn its organic waste into useful products. For example, organic waste is processed into fish feed and used cooking oil is recycled into various by-products including soap stock.

Food Aid Foundation is an NGO which rescues ‘Halal’ edible but surplus food and groceries from manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, companies and people. This includes unused or unwanted food, as well as products that are out of specification, close to expiry, incorrect labelling, damaged packaging, discontinued promotional products, excess stock and customer returns. This is all collected and distributed to charitable/welfare homes, voluntary welfare organisations, refugee community, poor families, soup kitchens and more. For more information, visit www.foodaidfoundation.org/. For all the latest news and information on the Centre, visit www.klccconventioncentre.com.