Browsing articles tagged with " Meeting Planners"
RoundTableHQ® Showcases The Latest Technology to Veteran Planners
An unprecedented, comprehensive planning and collaboration application for the event industry, RoundTableHQ‘s getplanning was the main topic of discussion during Cendyn’s 2013 Technology Roundtable, May 2–4 at Boca Raton Resort Club. Bringing together six -highly respected event planners, Cendyn and RoundTableHQ presented getplanning and other Cendyn solutions facilitating lively feedback and recommendations on how these tools could best impact the planner’s needs.
The planning professionals, representing Experient®, as well as the corporate, incentive and association sectors, enjoyed product demos and discussion led by Cendyn Founder/Executive Vice President Robin Deyo, RoundTableHQ President Jon Summersfield, and RoundTableHQ CTO Daniel Beattie.
“As the first tool of its kind in the entire industry, it is very important to us that we continually receive feedback from not only our hotel colleagues but also the meeting planning community,” said RoundTableHQ President Jon Summersfield. “We have prided ourselves on the fact that getplanning is a tool designed by – and for – all stakeholders involved in planning an event. The feedback we elicit and receive helps getplanning continually grow and we’re excited for what the future holds.”
RoundTableHQ recently announced the upcoming release of the latest version of getplanning – a solution which streamlines the event planning process and combines organization and security with the ease of email. Attendees were given a preview of the new UI (user interface), which is slated to launch with limited release in June/July 2013. The new getplanning will provide:
- Significant branding opportunities, including extraordinary imagery, for both the corporate and property level customization
- Unparalleled usability for multiple properties under one brand umbrella, as well as independent properties
- Clear, concise, step-by-step process, making it easy to manage single or multiple events across one or more properties
- Enhanced real-time notifications of recent activity
- Best usability practices for optimal productivity and organization
“Two of the biggest challenges I deal with are that there are never enough hours in the day and the struggle with work/life balance… While there are many web-based applications floating around that pretend to help meeting planners, getplanning is the real deal,” said meeting and event manager attendee Joann Chmura, CMP, CMM, with Viridian Energy. “This application is easy to work with and it makes sense in my world because it’s designed by a veteran meeting planner. There is hope and light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Our 2013 Technology Roundtable was a great success,” said Cendyn Founder/Executive Vice President Robin Deyo. “To communicate with and receive overwhelming positive feedback from this powerhouse of meeting and event planners about getplanning and other Cendyn solutions was an outstanding opportunity.”
Engineered to optimize customer communications as well as inter-departmental and vendor messaging, getplanning allows everyone who “touches” events to find everything they need in three clicks. Used from the point of signed agreement or as on-site replacement to pre-con binders or folders, getplanning has immediate impact on hotel expenses. It offers an ROI conservatively estimated to save $8,000 in paper and labor per year for mid-sized hotels that host 350 – 400 events annually.
Planners touch Cendyn’s eProposal, eMenus and eBrochure tools every day and the hosted group provided excellent insights on how each tool can be used by the hotels to enhance the planner experience.
Cendyn and RoundTableHQ benefitted greatly from the sessions and are committed to incorporating feedback from all perspectives of event planning into their user applications.
Established in 1996, Cendyn is a full service agency specializing in turnkey solutions that drive bottom line results for the travel and hospitality industries. Founded by hoteliers and marketing professionals, Cendyn’s proven strategies and innovative Marketing, Sales, Reservations and CRM solutions raise online visibility, revenue and ROI for more than 14,000 hotels and travel destinations worldwide. Clients include: Starwood Hotels Resorts, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Worldwide, Marriott, and other chains and independent properties and hotel companies such as Trump Hotel Collection, The Breakers, The Broadmoor and Denihan Hospitality. For more information, please call 866-625-4518 or visit www.cendyn.com.
RoundTableHQ, an affiliate of Cendyn, designs and builds innovative products for the meetings and events industry using the latest technologies to deliver incredibly powerful applications. For more information, please call 561-314-1277 or visit http://roundtablehq.com.
Going to HITEC 2013 in Minneapolis, MN on June 25th – 27th? Visit booth 1143 to meet with Cendyn’s team and RoundTableHQ to learn how we can increase your revenue with award-winning online solutions and strategies.
Products and Services
By Matt Alderton
May 21, 2013
Meetings technology company Cvent will hold its second annual Corporate Meetings Summit June 5-7 in Orlando, it announced today.
Created for corporate meeting and travel executives, the three-day event will feature speakers from meeting executives who work at some of the world’s leading companies, including Craig Marciniak, senior business leader for corporate events at Visa; Issah Jouaneh, vice president and general manager at American Express; and Amy Harris, vice president of strategic meetings management at SunTrust.
“We’re excited to have the opportunity to, yet again, gather some of the world’s most elite corporate meeting and event planners,” Cvent Vice President of Marketing Eric Eden said in a statement. “We have three times more attendees registered for the conference compared to last year. This increase in attendance is a testament to the success and efficacy of an event of this type that gives attendees the chance to focus on networking and sharing best practices with other planners.”
According to Cvent, the Corporate Meetings Summit is the only event of its kind to offer CMP credits for every session at the event: Attendees who take part in every session can earn 5.25 credit hours. Educational topics include event management best practices, the value of mobile apps at events, how to implement online surveys to achieve ROI and successful SMM strategies.
For more information about the event, visit Cvent’s website.
For a recap of last week’s top stories, check out MeetingNews Minute:
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SAN DIEGO, May 20, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The recently completed redesign and renovation of the Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island Hotel is creating buzz and excitement among meeting and event planners. “To ensure an opportunity to ‘test drive’ a meeting at the fabulous new facility, the hotel is offering its ‘HIP’ program (Harbor Island Perks) over select meeting dates in June, September and December of 2013,” said Susan Chung, Director of Sales Marketing. When you book a meeting or event during these months you can choose up to three special complimentary Harbor Island Perks based on the group’s size. Book 10 room nights and receive one Perk; book 20 room nights and receive two Perks; and book 30 or more room nights and receive three Perks.* Planners may select from any of the following Perks:
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Triple Hilton Honor Points for the meeting planner
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One complimentary room night for every 30 paid rooms
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One suite upgrade for every 30 paid rooms
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One complimentary upgrade to an awesome Harbor View Room
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Complimentary internet in the main general session room
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Complimentary LCD support package
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One Harbor Island Welcome Arrival Amenity
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50% off overnight parking per vehicle
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Complimentary turndown service for overnight guests
The Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island has over 8,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, including the 3,200 square foot Marina Ballroom, and indoor/outdoor venues that take advantage of the picturesque Harbor setting. For group and meeting reservations call: 619-532-5125 or contact Stephanie Tan at: stephanie.tan@hilton.com.
The Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island
The 211 guestroom Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island’s multi-million dollar renovation has created a resort style atmosphere at this picturesque hotel. Guests are welcomed into a new lobby, redesigned public spaces and the spectacular new Sierra Pacific Restaurant/Lounge. The completion of this latest phase of the renovation complements the recent redesign of all guestrooms that included new granite top desks, dressers, safes, flat screen HD TVs, and new balconies overlooking the Bay or Marina. Guests will enjoy the new and welcoming lobby that incorporates Hilton’s user friendly check-in pods complemented by modern decorative tiling, lighting and wall treatments, and relax in the newly redesigned lounge where club-style seating is arranged around a fireplace. Together all of these elements create a fresh and inviting environment. Additional upgrades to the hotel include the 24-hour Business Center with its private work stations, a new standard in Hilton’s “Stay Connected” program that provides complimentary wireless high-speed internet access via ATT. The property is pet friendly and parking is available on site for a fee.
Dining is a delight in the Sierra Pacific Restaurant/Lounge with its comfort seating, fresh décor and contemporary buffet station featuring The Breakfast at Hilton Buffet®, a healthy selection of hot and cold foods. In addition, the Sierra Pacific Restaurant serves California style fare throughout the day and evening. Additional enhancements to the hotel include a new pool patio with new furnishings, and upgraded carpeting and lighting.
This beautiful and upscale hotel is ideally situated five minutes from San Diego International Airport in the Harbor Island community and offers complimentary airport shuttle service. The hotel is only three miles from the San Diego Convention Center and in close proximity to area attractions including: the cruise ship terminal, Balboa Park, the Gaslamp Quarter, Legoland, SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, the USS Midway, Seaport Village Shopping Center, the PETCO Park Padres Games, as well as downtown San Diego.
The Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island is located at 1960 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego, California, 92101. For more information and reservations: www.sandiegoairport.hilton.com or call: 1-619-291-6700.
Susan Chung
Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island
619.291.6700
Event Production
By Alex Palmer
May 1, 2013
When the Destination Marketing Association
International (DMAI) held its annual conference in New Orleans,
the group worked closely with the local Convention and Visitors
Bureau as the event approached. The New Orleans CVB didn’t just
provide marketing and programming assistance, it also connected
with a partner destination marketing company to pull strings
and allow DMAI to add something really special to its event:
its very own parade through the city’s streets.
Instead of taking a bus from their hotel to the event, DMAI
attendees got a Mardi Gras party of floats and marching band,
leading them to a private reception at a highly regarded
antiques gallery. For a group of about 1,000 destination
marketers who had seen it all, the event offered them something
they would definitely remember after departing.
“Our aim is to expose them to all the attractions – the
museums, venues they may not know about, or what the locals
eat,” says Nikki Moon, vice president of convention sales for
the New Orleans CVB.
While DMAI knew to collaborate with the local convention and
visitors bureau (CVB) – after all, they are an association of
CVBs and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) – often,
meeting planners don’t even think to ask.
“Lots of times, planners think that CVBs are just about
brochures,” says Moon. “Newer planners, especially those from
the corporate side, may not know we provide so many
complementary services, and at no cost to them.”
Moon’s point is reflected in the recent “Global Planner 2013″
study by Successful Meetings’ sister publication Meetings
Conventions, which found that 48 percent of corporate
professionals use DMOs infrequently while an additional 16
percent say they do not use them at all. For association
planners, 34 percent use CVBs infrequently and 11 percent
saying they never use them.
In many cases, this is simply because planners are not aware of
how many services these marketing groups can provide – beyond
destination brochures and restaurant tips.”As planners, we know
they have experience and knowledge of the destination, but it
goes much deeper,” says Brad Weaber, executive vice president
of event services for meeting planning company SmithBucklin.
“They can really work as strategic advisors, not just offering
information on property rates, but sitting down with us to see
how to fulfill our own vision and mission.”
Here are just a few of the things that CVBs and DMOs can
provide that can have a major impact on your next meeting.
Tapping Into Digital Tools
Planners looking to get a bit more tech-savvy with their event
promotion, but who lack the experience or interest in using
digital tools, will find a helpful ally in a destination’s CVB
or DMO. Increasingly, these organizations are taking it upon
themselves to develop rich online offerings for visiting
groups, including apps, videos, and websites that planners can
use for promotional or educational purposes.
“Lots of groups don’t have a nice centralized website for their
events,” says Trevor Curtis, destination sales and services
specialist at Visit Fairfax, the DMO of Fairfax County, VA.
The organization creates customized webpages for groups that
are individually branded with the association or company’s
logo, and include extensive links to merchants and services in
the area, as well as basic information like directions and
transportation details.
“In addition to building attendance, it allows that delegate to
say, ‘it looks like a great place – maybe I’ll bring my family
there another time,’” says Todd Garofano, president of Saratoga
Convention and Tourism Bureau, in Saratoga Springs, NY, which
also offers customized landing pages.
Recently, Visit Fairfax has expanded this concept into a mobile
application, which attendees can download to access destination
information, including coupons and discounts, from their
smartphones throughout the event itself. This also presents an
added green benefit: Instead of creating boxes of supplemental
material for every meeting group, Visit Fairfax has taken to
providing groups with a stack of tear-away cards with details
on the app and a QR code that attendees can scan to directly
download it to their smartphones.
Visit Denver has recently begun offering videos that groups can
customize specifically for their event, to use in any
promotions, or to send out to attendees.
“We take location suggestions and can even get the mayor
involved in the videos,” says Deborah Park, associate director
of communications for Visit Denver.
Along the same lines, Visit Orlando has recently launched a
library of short educational videos to demonstrate different
aspects of the destination to planners. Tammi Runzler, senior
vice president of sales and services at Visit Orlando,
emphasizes that the videos are meant more as informational
tools than marketing ones.
“These videos allow the planners to have visual aids when they
might need to gain further understanding of a feature of our
destination,” says Runzler.
The tools have proved to be especially valuable to attendees.
“Visit Orlando is a strategic partner of PennWell that provides
invaluable assistance in developing our long-term goals for the
Orlando market,” says Lisa Gasaway, director of event
operations for PennWell Corporation, a publishing firm. “They
go above and beyond, assisting not just us but also our
exhibitors and attendees on all of their needs.”
Elevating the Event
While CVBs can strengthen the digital offerings of a meeting,
they can also help make it feel like something much more than
just a company event. For example, by working with local
businesses to post signage welcoming attendees and encouraging
local merchants to post their own promotions, CVBs can make it
truly a community experience.
“It tells the attendee that the business appreciates them being
here, so they know they will see a happy face when they walk
in,” says Garofano of the Saratoga CVB.
These efforts have helped Saratoga to attract the SEMI Advanced
Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference for three years in a
row. The group of about 250 executives from around world were
drawn to the Saratoga area partly because a new semiconductor
manufacturing plant was opened about 20 minutes outside the
city. But they certainly faced competition.
“They came here for the first time two years ago, and we were
up against Boston, Washington D.C., and other first-tier
cities,” says Garofano. “Our more personal approach set us
apart.”
Because DMOs and CVBs are so connected to the rest of the
community, in some cases they can even organize complementary
events to stoke attendance and boost the conference’s
offerings.
For example, Denver holds the annual Great American Beer
Festival, which draws a growing number of visitors to the
region each year. Visit Denver, the area’s DMO, has worked with
a number of the local merchants to expand the program
offerings. It has been instrumental in expanding the event into
a massive nine-day festival.
“We set up ‘Meet the Brewer’ nights and events where they would
tap a rare keg for attendees to share,” says Rich Grant,
communications director for Visit Denver, adding that last year
it arranged for an event where the mayor brewed a beer, and
even scrubbed one of the tanks.
Visit Denver took a similar approach once it started hosting
the SIA Snow Show, the world’s largest snow sports trade show.
“We created the Mile High SnowFest around it,” says Grant.
“There’s an art show where skis and snowboards are set up with
fabulous art on them, and specials are offered at the bars,
which if you came in with a delegate badge you would be
qualified for.”
Tapping the right local artists to enhance an event is another
way CVBs are often able to elevate a program. For the Georgia
Governor’s Tourism Conference, the Macon-Bibb County CVB
commissioned a local artist to create a special design for the
Governor’s conference award.
“It is a stained-glass plaque with the design of one of our
local museums, the Tubman African American Museum,” says
Valerie Bradley, communications manager of the Macon-Bibb
County CVB. “We also worked with a local caterer who designed
the finale dinner menu with items from all Georgia-area
farmers.”
Expert Suggestions
While CVBs can provide an introduction to all that a
destination offers, sometimes they are also able to help by
taking the opposite approach, simplifying choices and helping a
meeting planner decide from an overwhelming number of options.
That was the surprising difficulty that the National Soccer
Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) found itself in last
year when it held its annual conference in Kansas City, MO.
The gathering brings together about 10,000 coaches, exhibitors,
honorees, and other special guests for a range of activities
including education sessions, a tradeshow, and awards for the
year’s top 25 teams and All-American athletes. But in putting
together such a huge gathering, the event’s planners had an
unusual challenge.
“In Kansas City, you can pick your own catering company in the
convention center instead of them supplying it like they do in
other places,” says Geoff Vandeusen, director of events for the
NSCAA.
With an overwhelming number of choices available, the group
turned to the Kansas City Convention Visitors Association
(KCCVA), which was able to offer the group a few specific
recommendations on caterers. Pleased with the options they
suggested, the NSCAA worked with them to develop the
entertainment well.
“We had a couple of our leaders in the association retire, so
[KCCVA] secured a barbershop quartet that customized the songs
for the retirees, which was a really great touch,” says
Vandeusen.
CVBs can also provide insider knowledge about what dates or
time frames work best for groups of various sizes, and which
periods to avoid. For example, a smaller group may not want to
overlap if a major company is holding its event the same week,
since it will have fewer resources at the destination.
CVBs can even offer diversions for the spouses or families who
join on a group meeting when the attendees are focusing on
business. The Albany Convention Visitors Bureau in
Albany, GA, arranges this type of “spouse itinerary.”
“We will organize the day and travel with them – helping them
hit all the local hot spots,” says Jenny Collins, manager of
marketing and communications for the Albany CVB. She gives the
example of a recent hunting classic where the spouses of
attendees who were not interested in hunting joined in a safari
ride and behind-the-scenes tour of the Albany Zoo.Demonstrating
Impact
After the event, the marketing organization’s work often
continues. For the NSCAA conference, the Kansas City, MO
Convention Visitors Association nominated the group for a
Hometown Hero Award, which recognizes organizations that make
the greatest impact on the local community. They won the award
for the wide-ranging business benefits their event brought to
the Kansas City area.
“It was presented to us by the mayor and covered in the local
press,” says Vandeusen, adding that the association may never
have thought to apply if not for the KCCVA.
This kind of recognition does is more than just a nice trophy
to decorate an office – it can offer real business value for
future meetings.”We as meeting professionals want to know what
kind of economic impact we are having in a destination,” says
SmithBucklin’s Weaber. “We can try to figure that out on our
own, but it’s much easier to go through a destination marketing
team, and then leverage the information in negotiations to show
what kind of business our group will bring.” SM Questions or
comments? Email alex@alexpalmerwrites.com
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You might be asking, “Wait, I thought we already had a green meeting program?” If you thought you were ready for green meetings, think again.
Green meetings programs have been around for years, and hotels have been able to develop and offer these programs to satisfy limited customer needs. A hotel green meetings program exists under the premise that the meeting client puts in a general request, and the hotel dictates the attributes included in the green meeting offering. The reverse is now becoming mainstream as more meeting planners are requesting green meetings with criteria they obtain elsewhere and are seeking the hotel’s compliance.
Furthermore, large citywide events are now looking to become sustainable events. The hotel is not the venue for these events, yet the event planners are still looking for sustainability attributes in the hotel block. They also use resources generated within their own meeting and event circle. These two circles—sustainability in hotels and sustainability in meetings and events—are now converging. Or perhaps better said, colliding. A significant indication of this is the recent release of the Accepted Practices Exchange/American Society for Testing Materials
Accommodation Standard for Green Meetings. That’s right, a new sustainability standard with not one but two acronyms.
An event planner incorporating sustainability into the program will affect hotels serving as a venue for meetings, where the planner may ask for a range of practices or specifications for the meeting. The requests can be comprehensive or simple depending on the planner, and could include serving local food; serving fair trade coffee; eliminating polystyrene from the buffet stations; having recycling bins in the meeting rooms; not placing individual pens and pads at each seat; not serving bottled water; etc.
A second and emerging effect is for sustainable hotel stipulations for citywide events. This gets more complicated because most downtown chain hotels are involved, not just a single hotel. The green hotel practices requested of the room block also vary, as planners will request between 10 to 150 items at each hotel.
Complexity begins to emerge as multiple clients start undertaking non-standardized surveying of multiple hotels for venue and hotel needs. And while green initiatives in corporate business travel have focused on trying to come up with alchemic value based on carbon numbers, meeting planners are more checklist-oriented. They care less about carbon metrics and more about how each type of material in the waste stream was handled.
Many hotel companies started out with their separate green meeting program. As a result, we ran into the familiar problem of these programs not being standardized while at the same time no one single corporate program stood out as a clear leader the others could adopt.
For those working in sustainable events for a long time the inevitable discussion took root years ago: “We need a standard.” This discussion was carried forth through the Convention Industry Council’s Accepted Practices Exchange, which set up a process to develop green meetings standards for both event planners and event suppliers through an American standard-developing organization and with the help of the Green Meetings Industry Council and the Environmental Protection Agency. This was to ensure rigor, transparency and global acceptance of standards.
Nearly a decade (yes, a decade) later, the first iteration of these standards is finally available for how an event planner, a venue, food-and-beverage menus, ground transportation services, the audio-visual setup, the convention center and even the destination can comply with criteria to achieve Level 1 to 4 of the standard. After being tied up and held in a three-year bureaucracy, the standard for accommodation was just released this month. Regrettably, the three-year bureaucracy did not include major hotel industry input or buy-in.
Now that the standards are out, we are entering into the next headache standards bring: certification. APEX and ASTM are focused on developing standards but not on the process of verifying or ensuring compliance with them. So no formalized, structured process exists as to how exactly an entity or organizer can become certified. Yet the green meetings community is heavily touting them to push sustainability forward in meetings and events. At the same time, companies with business models built around preparing for certification and “officially” certifying things are now pouncing on the opportunity. More noise has been created around a premature set of criteria that lack sufficient technical depth, which is now being certified through a process equally lacking in technical clarity.
As if that weren’t enough, another standard for sustainable event “management systems,” ISO 20121, was released last year and is getting traction among large, global citywide events. Entirely process-based in classic ISO form, this standard built off the successful ISO 14001 for environmental management systems, which itself was built off the equally successful ISO 9001 for quality management systems. So all that good document collecting, policy setting, monitoring, measuring, evaluating and so forth has evolved into a comprehensive program to make a citywide event as sustainable as possible. Though ISO 20121 will unlikely be applied to a small meeting held only within a hotel ballroom, it will be applied to citywide events in which case hotels are key suppliers for roomnights, and thus will be evaluated, engaged, measured, monitored and so forth. And there is a slight chance that an event held at a big-box convention hotel might have the resources to go the ISO route.
ISO 20121, however, brings us back to the earlier dilemma of what criteria to request and evaluate against for venues and hotels. At the basic level, simple survey requests come in to the properties to fill out and send back. More engaged event planners will embed sustainability criteria in to the contract language. And some events have even started rating hotels on sustainability criteria and then publishing that rating in the hotel list for attendees at registration, without reference to any justification for which criteria to use or how to weigh them in a rating. So all this is now bubbling up, while at the same time adding confusion to the majority of (non-green) event planners who now have to try to understand how and whether to use ISO 20121 and/or APEX/ASTM, while at the same time dealing with firms selling the related consulting and certification.
For hotels, this will likely result in two things: First, the clamoring around green meetings and sustainable events will generate more interest in asking for some type of criteria, and help get the industry to pay more attention to issues such as recycling. And second, the lack of clear industry buy-in on one single standard or certification will add another layer to the “which green hotel certification?” discussion. At least we don’t have the case here of every state in the U.S. trying to come up with its own green meetings standard. However, if the American Hotel Lodging Association quasi-endorses the Green Key Meetings rating as the AHLA did with their hotel certification/rating, then the plot thickens because meeting planners are about as aware of Green Key as hoteliers are aware of APEX and ASTM.
The roundabout result of all this is that at the property level, hotels will begin to face the complex landscape of standards and certification criteria coupled with the survey fatigue from abundant sustainability evaluation requests. This coincidentally is what corporate sustainability teams face at every major hotel company. So at least the empathy that builds will enable further collaboration to simplify or streamline the work and enable fair competition.
For now, the hotel-level managerial application to best prep for this is to get a checklist going of everything you do on property that is related to environmental and social practices, keep it updated and have it ready to provide to group clients or use it to respond to a survey quickly. Make sure that list includes key energy, water, carbon and waste performance data. Look more closely into sustainable FB criteria and give a cursory look to the new standard. And if your property doesn’t recycle, then get with the times because we’re going to be recycling a lot of criteria and indicators.
Eric Ricaurte works with the hotel industry and its leading companies to advance sustainability through reporting and measurement. His current activities include consulting, industry engagement, academic fellowship, column writing and publication authoring.
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of HotelNewsNow.com or its parent company, STR and its affiliated companies. Columnists published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to comment or contact an editor with any questions or concerns.
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Discover Lehigh Valley’s New Group Tour Meeting Planners Give Event Coordinators an Inside Track
PRWEB.COM Newswire
Lehigh Valley, PA (PRWEB) April 12, 2013
Discover Lehigh Valley, the official Destination Marketing Organization for Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania, is making life easier for event planners by providing them with in-depth Group Tour and Meeting Planners that contain detailed summaries and contact information for area lodging, meeting spaces, suppliers, attractions, shopping and restaurants.
Free planners can be requested, downloaded and viewed online after filling out a brief form at the Group Tour and Meeting Planner sections on http://www.DiscoverLehighValley.com
“Our Group Tour and Meeting Planners are designed with event planners in mind, offering event coordinators turnkey services that help them locate meeting spaces, hotel accommodations, activities and connections with suppliers that meet the demands of any event held in Lehigh Valley,” said Marc Kaminetsky, National Sales Manager of Discover Lehigh Valley. “Planning an event is an extremely time-consuming task and our goal was to cut out the research stage by providing detailed information on all operational aspects and components of meetings and group tours.”
Convenient and affordable, Lehigh Valley is an ideal destination to host a business or organization meeting. Planners will find beautiful meeting facilities at a variety of sizes with plenty of options for entertainment and dining. The Discover Lehigh Valley Meeting Planner breaks down the dimensions and capacity of each space in the area and provides a number of attractions ideal for spousal activities and off-site trips. Additional free services provided by Discover Lehigh Valley include distribution of meeting specifications, site inspection arrangements, site selection support, vendor/supplier referrals, city services, transportation, media contacts, registration assistance, housing bureau services, off-site activities and more.
Group tour operators are always looking for locations and attractions that fill motorcoaches and a broad spectrum of entertainment and events make Lehigh Valley a must-stop destination. Lehigh Valley is easily accessible by major highways, convenient to get around and filled with affordable activities for everyone. Whether a group wants to enjoy a spooky ghost tour, watch talented artisans build masterpiece guitars at the C.F. Martin Co. factory tour, roll the dice at Sands® Casino Resort Bethlehem or explore the area’s unique American history and folk art, Discover Lehigh Valley’s Group Tour Planner can help make scheduling and planning much more manageable. The planner includes detailed information on dozens of attractions, shopping, dining and lodging in Lehigh Valley. Sample itineraries are included to provide examples of the area’s diverse range of entertainment options.
Event coordinators interested in additional information on planning meetings, events or group tours in Lehigh Valley can contact Marc Kaminetsky, C.T.I.S., National Sales Manager at Discover Lehigh Valley, at marc(at)discoverlehighvalley(dot)com or 610-882-9200.
About Discover Lehigh Valley
Discover Lehigh Valley is the designated destination marketing organization (DMO) of Lehigh and Northampton counties. Its mission is to promote and develop Lehigh Valley as a leisure and business travel destination. Created in 1984, Discover Lehigh Valley assists in promoting regional tourism, an industry that generates $1.76 billion in annual revenue and accounts for more than 22,000 jobs in Lehigh Valley. For more information on Discover Lehigh Valley and its activities or to request a Lehigh Valley Official Visitors Guide, call (800) 747-0561, or visit the official tourism website of Lehigh Valley at DiscoverLehighValley.com.
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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10619400.htm
Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel
Meeting planners and event coordinators in the Los Angeles area should take note of a special meeting offer from the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 22, 2013
Meeting planners and event coordinators in the Los Angeles area should take note of a special meeting offer from the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport.
The latest offer from one of the leading meeting hotels in Burbank puts cash back in organizers’ pockets depending on the number of rooms booked. Groups that reserve 100 to 249 rooms through this promotion receive a 3 percent rebate to the master bill, while groups that book 250 to 499 rooms receive a 5 percent rebate to the master bill. For the largest events, groups that book more than 500 rooms will enjoy an 8 percent rebate to the master bill.
Organizers can use the significant savings toward future meetings at this Burbank Airport hotel or purchase additional amenities and services for their meeting or event. From audio and visual equipment to customizable food and beverage menus, these Burbank event spaces are well-equipped to handle intimate gatherings and large corporate affairs. Nearly 50,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor space that exudes sophistication and elegance is spread over 22 breakout rooms and four VIP boardrooms. The largest space, the Academy Ballroom, features more than 15,000 square feet and can accommodate 2,240 individuals.
After an event concludes, attendees will retire to spacious guest rooms at this Burbank hotel. Sensitive travelers can elect to stay in special PURE rooms. Each features a 32-inch flat-screen LCD television as well as high-speed wireless Internet access available for a fee. Comfortable beds and modern décor create a sense of warmth and welcoming in each of the spaces.
Event planners interested in booking this special promotion at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport should contact Maria Espino by email at mespino(at)pyramidhotelgroup(dot)com or visit http://www.marriott.com/BURAP. This offer is available for rooms booked between now and Dec. 31, 2013, and is not valid for previously scheduled events.
About the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
The Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport is near Bob Hope Airport, Universal Studios Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles. The Burbank hotel features 488 modern guest rooms, 50,000 square feet of flexible indoor/outdoor meeting space, an onsite American-style restaurant, two outdoor pools and a state-of-the-art fitness center. For information, visit http://www.marriott.com/BURAP.
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Austin tourism officials have said for years that additional downtown hotels would help the city land larger, more prestigious conventions.
Now, with an estimated 4,000-plus additional rooms set to come online in the next two to three years, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau is touting one of what it hopes will be several big “gets” in the coming years.
The Professional Convention Management Association’s 2017 Convening Leaders meeting will be held at the Austin Convention Center, the convention and visitors bureau said this week, bringing about 4,000 influential event planners to Austin and creating an estimated economic impact of $11 million.
Local tourism officials say conferences such as these have traditionally wound up elsewhere because of a perceived lack of hotel space in Central Texas. The city has an estimated 30,000 hotel rooms available for rent, less than the 40,000 available in nearby San Antonio.
“We are absolutely thrilled to host, for the first time in Austin, arguably the most important event in our industry,” Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Bob Lander said in a written statement. “We have been working on securing this bid for well over three years, and look forward to showcasing Austin’s creative, collaborative and innovative culture to the industry’s leading meeting professionals and attendees from around the world.”
Orlando will host the group this year, Lander said, followed by Boston in 2014, Chicago in 2015 and Vancouver in 2016.
The new hotels on the way to downtown Austin include a 1,012-room JW Marriott already under construction at East Second Street and Congress Avenue that’s set to open in early 2015. A 1,000-room Fairmont Hotel at East Cesar Chavez and Red River streets is expected to break ground this fall and open in 2016.
Both are luxury brands that don’t currently have a presence in the Austin area.
Smaller hotels are also in the works in the city’s central business district, including a 326-room Westin at East Fifth Street and San Jacinto Boulevard and a 160-room Hotel Zaza, a boutique brand, at West Fourth and Guadalupe streets.
“Austin is a high-energy destination, and the Austin Convention Center is located in the heart of a vibrant downtown scene, supported by an expansion of new hotel offerings,” Professional Convention Management Association President and CEO Deborah Sexton said.
“In 2017, our Convening Leaders attendees will experience this unique city and convention center that nurtured South by Southwest from its early beginnings to the blockbuster event it is today,” she said. “We can’t wait.”
The group has previously held a few smaller gatherings in Austin, Sexton said, and members were impressed with the city’s convention center.
“As (the Professional Convention Management Association) is known throughout the meetings industry as a leader in innovation, we are excited to showcase the Austin Convention Center as a hallmark of innovation, while showing the world that Austin is a top-tier meetings destination,” Austin Convention Center director Mark Tester said.
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Discover Lehigh Valley’s New Group Tour Meeting Planners Give Event Coordinators an Inside Track
PRWEB.COM Newswire
Lehigh Valley, PA (PRWEB) April 12, 2013
Discover Lehigh Valley, the official Destination Marketing Organization for Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania, is making life easier for event planners by providing them with in-depth Group Tour and Meeting Planners that contain detailed summaries and contact information for area lodging, meeting spaces, suppliers, attractions, shopping and restaurants.
Free planners can be requested, downloaded and viewed online after filling out a brief form at the Group Tour and Meeting Planner sections on http://www.DiscoverLehighValley.com
“Our Group Tour and Meeting Planners are designed with event planners in mind, offering event coordinators turnkey services that help them locate meeting spaces, hotel accommodations, activities and connections with suppliers that meet the demands of any event held in Lehigh Valley,” said Marc Kaminetsky, National Sales Manager of Discover Lehigh Valley. “Planning an event is an extremely time-consuming task and our goal was to cut out the research stage by providing detailed information on all operational aspects and components of meetings and group tours.”
Convenient and affordable, Lehigh Valley is an ideal destination to host a business or organization meeting. Planners will find beautiful meeting facilities at a variety of sizes with plenty of options for entertainment and dining. The Discover Lehigh Valley Meeting Planner breaks down the dimensions and capacity of each space in the area and provides a number of attractions ideal for spousal activities and off-site trips. Additional free services provided by Discover Lehigh Valley include distribution of meeting specifications, site inspection arrangements, site selection support, vendor/supplier referrals, city services, transportation, media contacts, registration assistance, housing bureau services, off-site activities and more.
Group tour operators are always looking for locations and attractions that fill motorcoaches and a broad spectrum of entertainment and events make Lehigh Valley a must-stop destination. Lehigh Valley is easily accessible by major highways, convenient to get around and filled with affordable activities for everyone. Whether a group wants to enjoy a spooky ghost tour, watch talented artisans build masterpiece guitars at the C.F. Martin Co. factory tour, roll the dice at Sands® Casino Resort Bethlehem or explore the area’s unique American history and folk art, Discover Lehigh Valley’s Group Tour Planner can help make scheduling and planning much more manageable. The planner includes detailed information on dozens of attractions, shopping, dining and lodging in Lehigh Valley. Sample itineraries are included to provide examples of the area’s diverse range of entertainment options.
Event coordinators interested in additional information on planning meetings, events or group tours in Lehigh Valley can contact Marc Kaminetsky, C.T.I.S., National Sales Manager at Discover Lehigh Valley, at marc(at)discoverlehighvalley(dot)com or 610-882-9200.
About Discover Lehigh Valley
Discover Lehigh Valley is the designated destination marketing organization (DMO) of Lehigh and Northampton counties. Its mission is to promote and develop Lehigh Valley as a leisure and business travel destination. Created in 1984, Discover Lehigh Valley assists in promoting regional tourism, an industry that generates $1.76 billion in annual revenue and accounts for more than 22,000 jobs in Lehigh Valley. For more information on Discover Lehigh Valley and its activities or to request a Lehigh Valley Official Visitors Guide, call (800) 747-0561, or visit the official tourism website of Lehigh Valley at DiscoverLehighValley.com.
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OTTAWA, Ontario, April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Maintaining the Brookstreet Hotel’s high standards for meeting planner satisfaction requires tools that increase efficiency and enable the hotel’s employees to respond quickly to meeting planner requests. To that end, the luxury Ottawa hotel implemented Benbria’s BlazeLoop Mobile Event Engagement solution to deliver a highly personalized meeting planner experience through the flawless execution of meetings and events.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121025/MM00780LOGO)
BlazeLoop Mobile Event Engagement acts as a lifeline between the meeting planner and hotel staff to ensure all logistics — planned or unplanned — are executed and tracked efficiently and accurately for all involved. Once the planner makes a request from his or her mobile device, such as ordering food, beverage, audiovisuals or meeting supplies, it is routed instantly to appropriate hotel staff for action, response and closure.
“Meeting planners were looking for a real-time solution to stay connected to hotel staff during an event, and the BlazeLoop Mobile Event Engagement solution allows us to keep in constant contact so events go off seamlessly,” said Brookstreet Operations Director Nyle Kelly . “It’s a much better solution for communicating, tracking and fulfilling requests than the status quo of emails, texts and phone calls.”
BlazeLoop is a cloud-based solution that enables hotel staff to manage event order fulfillment across each property without the capital cost and ongoing maintenance of onsite server deployments. As a web-based solution, meeting planners and hotel staff can easily use the highly intuitive solution from a single device without downloading an app or installing software.
Since deploying BlazeLoop Mobile Event Engagement, Brookstreet has seen immediate results to event operations:
- Improved Staff Productivity – Streamlined staff communications and event order fulfillment with a faster turnaround. “We’ve seen a 58 percent decrease in close time to meeting planner requests,” said Kelly. “Our staff only receives a text or email on the requests that they need to work on.”
- Enhanced Client Experience – “Meeting planners can quickly and easily send us last-minute requests without leaving the meeting,” Kelly said. “We can provide clients with better service and keep the meeting running without disruption.”
- Increased Event Revenue –“From a click-and-order interface, we can now track and charge for products and services that could have otherwise been overlooked, and lost in the rush, or not fulfilled in a timely manner,” said Kelly.
“Brookstreet is a forward thinking hotel that chose BlazeLoop Mobile Event Engagement solution to improve the event planners’ experience and make their jobs easier,” said Andrea Baptiste , CEO, Benbria Corporation. “BlazeLoop is a win-win solution for meeting planners and hotel staff by offering faster, more accurate and personalized service.”
About Benbria
Benbria is a leading global provider of mobile customer-engagement solutions for the world’s most respected enterprises in the retail, hospitality and restaurant sectors. Benbria helps enterprises drive growth and increase profitability through improved customer, guest and employee engagement. Using a variety of mobile, in-store and on-property technologies – including SMS, email, web, mobile app and kiosk – BlazeLoop enables customers to create a “loop,” the process of capturing and directing real-time customer requests and input to staff for action and closure. Our unique and patent-pending Loop solution helps enterprises to deliver a superior customer experience by using up-to-the-second customer insight to drive staff action in an immediate, efficient and results-proven way. Closing the loop through on-the-spot staff action helps companies to quickly enhance the customer experience during their visits, recover dissatisfied customers, improve in-store sales conversion rates, preempt negative online criticisms and foster positive reviews. For more information: www.benbria.com.
Benbria, BlazeLoop, BlazeCast, BlazePoint, BlazeCom, Rethink Notification, and Keep Us in the Loop are trademarks of Benbria Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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