Thursday, October 19, 2006
Breaking News: Hyatt Regency Denver has become the first.................the first hotel in Colorado to be classified a "union hotel" by Unite Here.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Conference is going perfectly. Well, almost. There are a few glitches here and there but nothing Earth-shattering or show-stopping. However, there have been some pretty funny moments in Nashville!
Here is a taste of them (excuse the pun.....you will understand after you read the post!):Sitting in the staff/volunteer lounge on Friday, enjoying the Tuscan White Bean Soup (VERY GOOD!) and there were 8 or 9 volunteers sitting at the table directly behind me and the third party planner (let's call her Nic). Lunch that day was pizza, soup, salad, and assorted ice cream bars. One volunteer commented to another, just as she was getting ready to bite into her Cherry Garcia bar, "You know, the ice cream is a little soft now and bacteria--E. Coli--- grows in ice cream. If you go to the store and the ice cream is soft, they have to replace all of it in the store. You can DIE from it!" Oh gee, thanks for letting us know right before our first bite!!!! This conversation went on for 15 minutes. At NO time did any of the volunteers sitting all around Nic and I tap us on the shoulder and ask for us to get the ice cream replaced; a practice they knew we could handle for them. At some point, Nic decided enough was enough of that conversation and called Catering for new ice cream. However, NONE of the us (Nic, me, the catering manager we were working with) could get over the "Toxic Ice Cream Debacale of 2006"!
Meanwhile, down in the Exhibit Hall, the Boxed Lunch was going on. Well, there were 1100 people in there lining up for their sandwiches and chips. Due to space constraints, we couldnt provide seats for everyone but it was better than last year so we were okay......we thought. Tray Jacks were set up around the Hall for the dirty dishes. One attendee decided that was the PERFECT location for him to eat. When the wait staff came over to use the tray for its purpose---dirty dishes---at the end of this "gentleman's" (I use the term loosely!) meal, the attendee freaked out. Screaming, yelling, waving his arms all over the place, and demanded every email address available in the hotel. Once I got over to the "situation", I was trying to explain why the waitor did what he did (it was his JOB!), the man got mad and started yelling that I was insulting his intelligence, etc, etc, etc. And so, he has written a letter to the hotel management describing how unacceptable it all was. The next day, he saw Nic (she also insulted his intelligence!) and gave her a hug. Yes, a hug in the middle of General Session.
UPDATE ON OCTOBER 8: There are a ton of funny stories and stories that make me cringe. Overall, the conference was a great success! I wore a pedometer the entire week and my grand total of steps is 63,296, equivalent to 30-something miles. Yes, my feet hurt and my back hurts. But I should feel ALL better after the Hot Stone Massage scheduled right before I get on the plane to take me from Nashville to HOME!!!!!!!
Monday, September 25, 2006
In 6 days, I will be in Nashville, TN.
I will be there with all my co-workers and 1200 attendees at the conference I planned. The conference that is the sole responsibility of my job. In fact, I have another performance review in January based mostly on the onsite management of this conference.
Stressed? Yep.
Just the last few days it has hit me. Square in the face. I am down to the wire and there is still a long to do list that must be completed before boarding the plane next weekend. This is the biggest conference I have ever planned; more attendees, more sessions, more volunteers and staff, and more weight in terms of my job performance (I used to have several meetings to talk about in my review; now just 1). The binders are organized and detailed, my volunteers will be trained on site, and the staff assignments are done. I know that I am prepared information-wise but I am all of the sudden terrified to arrive in Nashville.
Luckily, I am getting there a day early and leaving later in the day after the conference ends. I have downtime. What I am going to do with it....no idea. But I know that I need the time. Maybe I will see an old friend who lives in TN now. Maybe not. Maybe I will go downtown Nashville and hang out in the famous country bars. Probably not but maybe!
Not sure but I am starting feel the stress and so I just want to get there. Once I am there, the stress will change; change to "Well, its not done now so it wont get done". I like that state much better than this one!!!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
The fall issue of Midwest Meetings Magazine has been published and is on its way to your mailbox now. The best part of that statement is this: My first article has been pusblished!
A few months ago, I was contacted by Serenity Banks, a writer on staff at Midwest Meetings, about my interest in being the subject of a story spotlighting my first 6 weeks as an association planner. Of course I was interested! Every few days, she and I talked about what was happening at the new office and what I saw as the differences in my new position and my previous positions as a government meeting planner.
The article is written to read like a personal journal. I hope that it will make you laugh, make you think, and, at the end of the article, I hope you enjoy it. I had a great time being interviewed and writing the article.
From this point forward, I will use this blog to continue my story of transition and to discuss trends in the meeting industry. And, of course, we will have some fun too!
Monday, September 11, 2006
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
International Association of Exhibition Management issued a new policy recently regarding "outboarding". The policy states:
Outboarding is defined by the International Association for Exhibition Management as the creation of a concurrent event that is related to an existing exhibition or event but that is not sanctioned by the organizer and that seeks to benefit from the audience the organizer attracts.
IAEM considers outboarding to be unethical business conduct and should not be condoned nor tolerated.
Exhibition and event sponsors invest significant financial and other precious resources in the planning and execution of their events. Their financial resources are at risk, as are the business reputation and good will that are vital elements of a sponsor's business success.
The predictable and inevitable consequences of outboarding diminish the size and diffuse the quality of the audience that event sponsors work very hard to gather. Outboarding reduces the value of an event for exhibitors and sponsors who likewise have significant resources invested in the event.
IAEM further believes that abundant opportunities exist through sanctioned means for those who wish to conduct their own marketing and/or selling events to do so in cooperation and coordination with the sponsoring organizers of exhibitions and similar events.
Let's discuss.
My association has several groups who we refer to as "affiliate groups". These smaller groups of professionals meet each year in the days just before or just after our conference. This year, one of the groups requested meeting space in the middle of our pre-conference trainings.
When I came on board earlier this year, one of the first things I did was re-write the affiliate event policy. While these events might attract a few additional attendees for my conference, they arent the attendee treasure chests that the association once thought they were/could be. In addition, the events are planned seperately from the conference and then when there are problems onsite, the hotel AND the affiliate planners come running to us to fix the issues. SO, my new policy was born: All affiliate events must be approved by the association and any affiliate events must be planned through the association meeting planner. There is also a 10% administrative charge (based on the total event cost) to cover the extra costs associated with the planning and management of these events, not to mention the additional staff time.
After reading the MeetingNews article about IAEM's new policy got me thinking. Should my association adopt their policy? Would the exhibitors prefer the new policy I wrote or would they like the IAEM policy better?
Resources about Outboarding: PCMA Article "Skirting the Rules", TSEA Position Statement, IAEM's
Friday, July 07, 2006
Nicky Hilton is opening her own hotel.
What?! Are you kidding? Guess it's better than Paris opening a hotel!
Nicky Hilton is getting into the hotel business, she told PEOPLE on Thursday.
"I've always wanted to do it," says the lodging heiress who plans to renovate two existing buildings to open the "Nicky O" on Miami's famed Ocean Boulevard in November. "I've been around hotels my whole life, and I know a good hotel when I see one."
Shortly after, her second Nicky O will open on Chicago's historic Printer’s Row. "Miami will definitely be a party destination, and Chicago will be a little more calm," she says.
The 94-room boutique/condo accommodation will include entertainment news tickers in the elevators, a signature scent and rooms deigned by friends – including $5,000-a-night penthouse by clothing designer Roberto Cavalli.
Although Hilton, 22, comes from a family with an expertise it hotels, she isn't partnering with the clan to fund her new project. "I'll go to my family for advice, but they’re not involved at all," she says of her parents, brothers, and sister Paris.
Still, she is a Hilton: Borrowing a phrase from sister Paris, Nicky says of the Miami hotel's lobby, which will include a giant chandelier at its center and lots of marble: "Its just so beautiful – and hot."
As for her private life, she says everything with her boyfriend, Entourage star Kevin Connolly, is "good" – but she's focusing on her career right now, including shooting ads for her bag line and feverishly working to get the hotels ready to open. "This is my summer," she says of her latest endeavor.
(article written by Mark Dagostino for People.com)
