Aaron Price is the cofounder of livecube, the world’s most engaging event app used by many Fortune 1000 companies. He’s also the founder of the the award-winning NJ Tech Meetup, New Jersey’s largest tech community. With an early entrepreneurial drive sparked when awarded a patent in high school, he went on to found deliverU, effordables and weCraft. Price lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with his wife and their two proudest startups, their two daughters.

Keeping an audience attentive and engaged is one of the most challenging tasks for any event organizer. The average attention span of adults is estimated to be about 10 minutes, a fraction of the time an average speech or presentation takes at most events.

Today, event organizers are turning to gamification to utilize technology and social media platforms to elicit excitement, interest and joy for attendees. These positive experiences incentivize interaction and keep participants attentive and contributive.

“Event organizers are turning to gamification to utilize technology and social media platforms to elicit excitement, interest and joy for attendees.”

Think about how people willingly subject themselves to extra layovers to earn more flight miles. The time, effort and inconvenience to engage in an otherwise unpleasant activity is motivated by the promise of a future reward that is very desirable and rewarding. Similarly, a lifeless speech or event could be as arduous as a long layover, but an injected incentive as attractive as extra flight miles could change the perception of attendees.

Game content is key to the successful execution of gamification in events. Information and processes must be easily graspable by the average attendee, but also have the quality and reward system to keep the thought leaders engaged and interested.

Here are some best practices to using gamification at events, and tips on picking the right kinds of incentives, and building deeper attendee engagement:

• Stay away from offering “stuff.” Most people give out physical objects as rewards although it is the least motivating. Granted, if you give away a million-dollar sports car to the most engaged participant in a two-hour presentation, you might yield some enthusiastic interest. But the typical gifts (especially cheap corporate gift sets) are not the way to increase engagement.
• Go with SAPS rewards. The best rewards can be categorized (in importance order) by SAPS— Status, Access, Power and Stuff. Status means recognition. The person receives a badge during game play for example, or their achievement allows them to take a two-hour lunch. Think outside of the box, beyond just the $5 ticket for a free airline drink. Perhaps the top participant earns the right to ask the first panel question or earns dinner with the renowned speaker, giving them access to an influential person. You can give active participants the power of three minutes with the microphone to talk about their work in the company and recent successes. People want to feel special and to acquire something worthwhile for their efforts, so focus on SAPS rewards to keep the audience engaged.
• Engagement for single events. Engagement rewards for one-off events need to be immediate and impactful ­— you only have one chance to grab their attention. Gamification in a single event needs to be relevant and allow attendees to complete the challenge within the session. Consider relevant trivia quizzes during the discussion to encourage engagement with the content and base incentives on participation levels.
• Event series engagement. A series of events that are tied together provide opportunities for deeper engagement. Smaller achievements can be gamified throughout a series of events so attendees can earn rewards as they progress through the series. Use technology to keep track of attendee retweets and other activities over time, so the top “interacters” can be rewarded at the end.
• Incentivize sharing and networking. People attend meetings and events to either find ideas or meet interesting people. Tie gamification to the act of sharing information through social platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. The technology enabling gamification needs to allow seamless connection to social sites in order to be used by busy attendees, and not distract them from the actual event. You also can incentivize networking by rewarding people for making connections with others, or making the sharing of virtual business cards a game in itself.
• Leverage real-time feedback. Event presenters can use new technology tools to monitor attendee engagement in real time. This allows them to maximize the impact of the event by marginalizing low-engagement content and promoting the topics that are stirring interest and inter-group discussions. Presenters who are giving multiple talks can use real-time feedback to refine their discussions so the next talk can be more engaging and productive.
• Knowledge leaders. If you see several people who are very engaged in the content (through observation of their sharing patterns or aptitude on quizzes), quickly accord them some form of recognition to spur them on. Utilize these people to help others in the group to understand the material, and give them a gamified “leader” status so they are proud of their deeper involvement. If you spot top thought leaders over several sessions, then perhaps these individuals can be recruited for special projects or tagged as management candidates.
• Use surveys to gauge interest. You can gauge engagement indirectly by looking at attendees’ sharing activity and conversations, or measure it directly through surveys. Gamification within the survey can make it fun and exciting for participants to offer their honest opinion. The standard questions such as “what did you learn today?” could be built into a game, with incremental rewards for answering multiple questions.

An important consideration before introducing gamification is to remember you aren’t looking to make your event into just a game. Gamification is a complement to the event experience, a way to present relevant incentives in a more engaging and fun context. It provides a simple yet compelling way to motivate and focus audience behavior while giving event organizers a more active audience and livelier event. In a way, gamifying the event experience can be seen as the proverbial dangling carrot, incentivizing engagement and maximizing audience participation of the attendees. C&IT

McDonald’s attendees check mobile devices in the Engagement Center with the social media mosaic LED wall in the background. Credit: McDonald’s Corporation

Mobile apps have become one of the hottest topics in the meetings industry. Innovative mobile apps are not only popping up at a breathtaking pace but, in many cases, they are utterly transforming the process of planning and attending a meeting or event.

In May, at IMEX Frankfurt in Germany, IMEX Group, in partnership with mobile app technology innovator and market leader QuickMobile, released a groundbreaking research study that shed light on just who is doing what.

Although 60 percent of planners have used a mobile app in the past two years, the study found, most are only using them for a few events, such as major annual meetings. Key reasons for such reluctance are budget concerns and the perceived amount of time it takes to create a customized app designed to deliver a set of precise capabilities.

Somewhat surprisingly, the survey found, only 24 percent of planners typically include the costs of a mobile app in their budgets, while 42 percent said they never include such expenses.

And despite the ever-growing list of things a mobile app can do, 91 percent of planners reported that the primary motivation for using one is planner-to-attendee communication and the sharing of information such as meeting agendas and program notes. A large majority, 79 percent, also said they viewed the ability to facilitate communication among attendees as a key benefit, with 75 percent saying they wanted to get the interactive conversations started before the meeting and 78 percent noting they want to continue the conversations after the event.

The biggest and most important of the first-of-its-kind survey, says Patrick Payne, CEO of Vancouver, Canada-based QuickMobile, is that “while more planners are using mobile apps and seeing them as 365-day communication tools, they are just beginning to discover their strategic value.”

Bonnie Boisner, vice president of events management at global customer loyalty management firm Aimia in Plymouth, Minnesota, notes the speed with which mobile technology has entrenched itself in the meeting industry. “Not that long ago, mobile apps were not that widely used,” she says. “But nowadays, they are expected. Mobile is not something that’s just nice to have anymore. It’s mainstream.”

And there’s a simple reason for that, says QuickMobile’s Payne. The most essential impact of mobile technology is the critical difference between real-time information and information that is old, even if by a day, which tends to render it as anecdotal rather than spontaneous, he says. “The question is if you have real time information, what advantage does that give you? And I would say that after day one of a three-day conference, if you can say, ‘This seems to be the hot topic out there, these are the things that people are most interested in, you can actually make adjustments on day two, as opposed to in the past when your only real option was to review the whole meeting two or three weeks later when you’re trying to figure out what worked and didn’t, and what changes you want to make for your next meeting.”

Attendee Engagement

Although new capabilities and functions are being announced on an almost weekly basis now, it’s still attendee engagement, in one form or another, that is driving the adoption of mobile apps by planners.

“Mobile technology has enhanced the way in which we engage with our attendees, and it allows us to do that on a whole different level,” says Kelley Butler, director of meetings and events at McDonald’s Corporation in Oak Brook, Illinois. “It allows us the opportunity to create experiences that engage our attendees before, during and after the meeting.”

That’s critical to McDonald’s, which hosts major meetings around the world.

Another key benefit of mobile technology for Butler and McDonald’s is the ability — before, during and after the meeting — to drive the development of more effective content. “And specifically, that means what our attendees want to hear about,” Butler says. “And that means giving us the ability to tailor specific messaging that is considered most relevant to attendees. It also helps perpetuate the dialogue that goes on about that content. And it also creates a way in which you can gather analytics about the behavior patterns of specific attendees and from that perspective, use those analytics to make very targeted and specific decisions about how you spend money and develop more meetings and trade shows moving forward, based on the information coming out of all those analytics.”

Boisner, a user of the Cvent meeting management platform and its CrowdCompass mobile app, as well as QuickMobile, agrees that attendee engagement is the single most important benefit of mobile technology. “The most common thing we use mobile for is to communicate information, such as schedules,” she says. “We also put our maps on the app and room assignments. We put all the details that attendees need in their hand via their smartphone.”

In effect, she says, it is a high-tech wayfinding function for attendees.

“But,” Boisner says, “it also includes things like speaker bios and meeting-related content, such as links to presentations or other content that people will be communicating about at the meeting. It’s not just about the agenda. It’s now about everything as it relates to the event and the experience of attendees.”

Another important dimension of her use is personalization of the meeting experience for attendees. For example, Boisner says, attendees can adapt the meeting agenda to their own personal agenda — what sessions they plan to attend and what other onsite activities they will participate in — that is always current and at their fingertips.

Using an app that is a component of the market-leading Salesforce.com customer relationship management (CRM) platform, Boisner recently took engagement to a new level when she connected different groups of attendees who did not know each other previously. “We assigned individual group leaders and then they reached out and formed sub-groups through the mobile app,” she says. “Then they were able to communicate and engage with each other prior to the meeting. And by doing that, they were able to exchange questions and other information that related to what they are responsible for and the experience they would have at the meeting.”

In turn, that made their interaction at the meeting more efficient and productive. “And that was all accelerated by that ‘get to know you’ phase before the meeting,” Boisner says.

Melanie Scharton, marketing programs manager at Behavioral Science Technology (BST) in Austin, Texas, is a relatively new adopter of mobile technology. She has used Cvent’s CrowdCompass for her last two annual user conferences, which each draw about 2,500 attendees. Her primary motive? Enhancing the attendee experience onsite.

“We want to make sure they have the latest information,” Scharton says. “And if there is any updated information, like a session being cancelled or moved, then they get that information right away. And with printed material, any kind of change means your program guide is now outdated and incomplete once attendees get onsite.”

But, Scharton says, she must master some change management, too. “This has been a learning experience for our attendees,” she says. “Ours are a little different from a lot of meeting groups. They are not necessarily tech savvy. They come mostly from the plant level floor in large manufacturing operations. And many of them don’t use a computer every day. So they’re not the most technology-forward group. So the first year was an experiment for us to see how well a mobile app would go over. And we were actually quite surprised to see how well it went over. We got more than a 50 percent adoption rate on the app our first year. And this year was even better. And we also found better ways to communicate and connect people onsite.”

That’s very important to BST, Scharton says, “because one thing our conference does is help people network and share best practices among their different industries or find similar challenges that they want to network and communicate about. So that was another advantage of using mobile technology that we also identified the first year and did a lot more of this year.”

For example, Scharton says, “For this year’s meeting, attendees could use the app to build their own profile and then put that up so other folks could see it and connect with them electronically.”

Gamification

One of the fastest growing and most talked about capabilities of mobile technology is gamification, which means steering and rewarding specific kinds of behavior, such as on-time attendance at particular sessions, retention of educational content, or interaction with sponsors or exhibitors. Response mechanisms such as scanned QR codes are used to monitor and tally results.

Butler used gamification for the first time last year at the McDonald’s U.S. owner-operator conference, which drew a total of 15,000 attendees to three Las Vegas events.

Butler chose to use gamification because the major event is tailored toward education. “So there was a desire from the planning team and the operator community to be able to engage those particular attendees in a different kind of way and also make the event fun and interactive,” she says. “We also wanted to allow people to compete because we are a very competitive brand by nature. And we also like to have fun at our meetings.”

As a result, Butler and her team created a game that attendees played by region, based on how they participated in educational sessions and what they did on the exhibit floor. “And based on those things, they could earn points that led to them being the winning region,” Butler says. “And what they were playing for was to make a donation to the Ronald McDonald charity in their region.”

As a result of the success they had, they now consider gamification a go-to tool for attendee engagement and have deployed it for this year’s meeting. “Any time you can create something that helps people participate more in your meeting, that becomes a best practice,” Butler says.

Boisner is increasingly using gamification as way of getting attendees excited about a meeting. “Gamification is the hot new thing out there,” she says. “It’s a great way to drive results and get the specific outcome you want.”

“Gamification is the hot new thing out there. It’s a great way to drive results and get the specific outcome you want.” — Bonnie Boisner

She uses the gamification capability within Cvent, as well as QuickMobile. She agrees that QuickMobile is currently the clear innovator and dominant brand in meeting-related mobile apps, largely because it can be customized and configured based on exactly what a client wants to do or accomplish. “We do a lot more gamification with QuickMobile,” she says.

Scharton is now preparing to investigate gamification. “I know our marketing team would like to look more into that,” she says. “They’re interested in going even further in improving upon how people interact at our meetings onsite. So gamification is something that we’ll be looking at for next year’s meeting.”

New Frontiers

Although truly wide adoption of mobile apps is still a way off, according to the IMEX/QuickMobile survey, technology providers are betting on the premise that the sky’s the limit for new apps.

In April, Chicago-based startup Social Q&A introduced a new browser-based mobile app that enhances audience response by allowing attendees to participate in question-and-answer sessions from their smartphone, tablet or laptop. Attendees submit questions that in turn can be up-voted by other attendees, giving speakers or moderators real time insight into which questions are deemed most important by the audience.

BusyEvent, from The Meeting Pool, ups the ante when it comes to meeting-related business intelligence that helps meeting hosts and planners generate revenue. It allows the tracking of attendee activities such as personal agenda building, clicked links in digital meeting materials, one-to-one meeting requests with sponsors, exhibitors or vendors and more.

Another new tool is the business card reader for iPhones by ABBYY, which automatically transfers and saves contact information from business cards — in 21 different languages — to iPhone contacts or the app’s own digital storage capability.

And now that Apple has revealed that iOS 8 is on it’s way, the opportunity horizon for new app development is greater than ever. C&IT

The 2013 lia sophia annual Ignite the Dream conference, held at the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium, utilized the latest in technology to make an impact with their attendees, especially the younger participants. Credit: lia sophia

In the last 10 years, the meeting planning industry has undergone significant changes, many of which we could never have seen coming. The recession has both reined in budgets and caused planners to focus increasingly on ROI. Certifications have brought increased professionalism to the field, and planners bring higher and more specialized education backgrounds to their work. Furthermore, the recovering economy has put hotels in a strong bargaining position, giving planners less wiggle room and more work to find appropriate venues within budget.

But what will things look like 10 years from now? Or even five?

We asked planners and people in various functions throughout the meeting planning and incentive industry to break out their crystal ball and tell us what they see as the future of the meeting industry.

Technology Will Continue to Be an Asset to Planners

One of the larger perceived threats to the meeting planning industry in recent years has been the rise of technology enabling attendees to “meet” remotely. While many companies and key industry organizations have clearly announced that virtual meetings will never replace the value created by face-to-face meetings, planners have learned on the ground where technology can be an asset — and even more so as it continues to evolve to suit meeting planners’ needs — and where it detracts from the value of the event.

According to Casey Carignan, meetings and events coordinator for Wood Dale, Illinois-based lia sophia, a jewelry multi-level marketing company, and an inaugural member of the Professional Convention Management Association’s “20 in their twenties,” “Younger planners are definitely bringing tech savvy and weaving it into meetings. With conferences, you often do the same agenda, and you keep going the same way year after year, but now with the different opportunities speakers have, such as using pictures and video, the statements they make are more meaningful. Technology has really enhanced the industry.”

For Megan D. Tate, manager of event, meeting and travel management for San Diego, California-based Petco Animal Supplies Stores Inc. and another inaugural member of PCMA’s “20 in their twenties,” technology in meetings has a clear and growing place. “Obviously technology has completely revolutionized meetings,” she says. “You can’t put on a conference and not have multiple forms of technology going on, and in the future, even more technology we haven’t even seen yet will be incorporated.

“I don’t think it’s going to take away from face-to-face meetings, because, at least for us, we’ve tried them (virtual meetings), and we’re actually stepping away,” Tate explains. “We did a leadership meeting with top leaders and corporate staff in one location and broadcast it out to locations around the country. For people in remote locations, even though they’re seeing what’s going on, they’re not involved in the conversation or asking questions. They’re very passive participants, and it leaves a bitter taste because they’re not being valued as much as the colleagues who are onsite.”

“I don’t think (technology) is going to take away from face-to-face meetings, because, at least for us, we’ve tried them (virtual meetings), and we’re actually stepping away.”  — Megan D. Tate

“I think the use of cloud-based systems will become paramount; the norm and how we do things,” she continues. “I manage anywhere from seven to 10 planners in the department during the year, and they’re going all over the place, and we need one place where everything lives.”

California innkeepers attend roundtable sessions discussing marketing, social media and more during the annual InnSpire Conference & Trade Show. Credit: Wowi Zowi Productions and CABBI

Jenn Wheaton, this year’s winner of the MPI RISE Award for Young Professional Achievement for her strategic use of technology and social media in her role as marketing and program coordinator for Sacramento, California-based California Association of Boutique & Breakfast Inns, agrees that the cloud is key for the future of meetings and not just for staff. “There’s a lot more balls in the air,” she says. “As a planner, I work with the Cvent app for registration. You can get a snapshot of how many attendees have shown up and who’s attending. There’s also an app that does trade show floor planning. Custom apps, though they can be expensive, can be great, and I’ve seen an increase in CVBs helping set up apps and customized websites for events. For the hotel and lodging association, we had an app for our large hotelier conference with all the speaker bios and all the supplier names, and it was great for us because I knew what room everyone was in with one touch all the time.”

While bandwidth availability is increasing, smartphone and mobile device usage will only continue to rise, and Wheaton counsels that in the future, planners will need to be more savvy not only in their event app creation, but also how they approach their website layout for mobile use.

“A huge thing is making sure things are mobile,” she explains. “People are registering and booking from cell phones, and I know a big thing from our event website is to optimize mobile for iPhone, iPad and Android. People are looking at your website on their devices, and that’s a big change. You have to make sure every piece of your marketing can be seen on the phone, and it looks how you want it to. Tiny print or formatting makes it hard (to view) on the phone, unless you can come up with something that really makes it pop. We do a lot of marketing with emails with various topics and images, and you have to make sure that people can see those images on their phones. We’ve started to sort of phase out print marketing, and we don’t supply a registration form. We encourage them to go to our website.”

Carignan agrees that the digital switch is the way to go — and even more welcomed by attendees than expected. “Something that I do in my work for lia sophia, is to use more of an app for the conference information and schedule instead printing a bunch of paper. A conference app can include everything you need, and make it easier to push out changes. Last year was the second year that lia sophia did an app, and we really promoted beforehand so they wouldn’t show up onsite to ask for a paper schedule. We did a ‘know before you go’ email to our attendees, and the feedback was amazing. We saw a 300 percent increase in the download rate. If you approach it correctly, there shouldn’t be much push back.

“It needs to be user-friendly, with the generational gap,” she continues. “That means user-friendly for everyone, no matter his or her level of tech savvy. You’ll have younger people and people who are more experienced that buy in quicker, but we’re working on tutorial videos of a couple of people in our office showing what the app is like, rather than just sending a list of instructions.”

Managing attendee expectations regarding the availability of meeting technology may be an issue meeting planners face now, but as the culture of immediacy created by technology grows more and more ingrained, planners will face new challenges.

“In thinking about how technology impacts our events, the biggest difference that I see now is attendees expecting to have an immediate voice in what they’re experiencing and a forum to share that on,” says Tate. “People don’t wait until two weeks after the event to say what they think, so you must incorporate into the architecture and design of the meetings that you’re planning and provide the tools to do it.”

Some larger events now incorporate a screen showing a live feed of the event’s Twitter hashtag on stage behind speakers so that the conversation becomes a central part of the event. But in a corporate climate, the where and how of attendees’ social media contributions and real-time interactions often needs to be negotiated.

According to Tate, her attendees are all corporate, and “they’re required to attend events, but they don’t have company issued smartphones, so we have to either provide devices or rely on them using personal devices,” she explains. “We haven’t provided devices onsite in the past, but we’re looking into it. We obviously supplement with paper in some cases, but 90 percent have their own devices that they’re using for real-time, immediate access to information about that event.”

Where Are the Hot Destinations and How Will We Get There?

If there’s one place crystal ball predictions could save big bucks, it’s knowing which destinations are hot before everyone else starts booking them. As hotels gain more and more strength in negotiations, planners are having to book further out to secure the destinations they desire.

“With the economy getting better, this is the way it’s going to be,” Wheaton explains. “I don’t see it getting any easier. Our B&B conference is fairly small, and just this last year when we were sending RFPs, it was harder to get space than in the past. We’ve been trying to book a conference in northern California, and we tend to book a little over a year out, but it’s becoming more and more apparent that even though we’re small, we really have to plan ahead to get into the market. But things change so much, it’s hard to book two or three years out. I don’t know what’s going to be going on in the industry, and booking two or three years in advance with a deposit can be hard in case something shifts in the industry.”

As a leader in the incentive field, Kevin M. Hinton, chief staff officer of Chicago-based Site International Foundation, is finding that, “Specifically in incentive travel, business has gotten better, but because of some of the supply and demand factors, prices have gone up in some factors, and the biggest issue we are facing is airline fares,” he says.

“Incentives are sold to a client 18–24 months out, and because that’s when the budget is put together, and you budget for X airfare, but now that they’ve qualified the names it’s Y, they’re spending more than they planned on airfare, which makes it hard to get some other things,” Hinton explains. “You see airlines decide that they no longer want to do group sales, but others, like Emirates, are looking to expand. I envision that some day I might have to fly to Dubai to get to Europe because those airlines are investing immensely in this marketplace and the group space.”

Emirates has already made headway into Europe, with its new New York to Milan offering, though that route is facing appeals in court after The Lazio Regional Administrative Court near Rome ruled the service breaches terms of the Italy-United Arab Emirates bilateral air service agreement. Even if they lose the route, their competitor Etihad Airways is working on a partnership with Alitalia. In the coming years, as Middle Eastern airports are set to become the world’s busiest and Dubai continues to gain ground as a top shopping, resort and dining destination, it may begin to trend as an ideal incentive and meeting location for companies looking to provide a top-notch destination experience with a more reasonable airfare and lodging price tag.

“Otherwise, the Caribbean is always popular, particularly from North America,” Hinton continues. “However you define that region south of the border, it has a lot to offer, with Mexico remaining strong and Panama growing in interest.”

Tate agrees. “The Dominican Republic is actually where we’re doing our incentive trips,” she says. “We looked at Panama last year, and for the right group, I think it’s going to be very interesting and most cost effective. I think Central America is going to continue to be strong, as flight costs to Europe are very prohibitive.”

Looking farther south, Hinton finds that “South America will continue to grow, especially cities of Colombia. With what’s happening in Brazil, they’re not as focused on group travel right now because of the World Cup, but London hotels were looking for business after the Olympics left, and my opinion is they have enough going on right now with these big mega events, but I think the cities in Brazil will be great destinations after that. Also, whether Chile or Argentina, there will be a great recognition in this part of the world of all that South America has to offer.

“As far as the next frontier, we’re looking to take our conference to India, which is on a lot of people’s bucket list, but it’s a crazy combination, it’s a bit too much for some people,” he continues.

“If there’s one thing on the horizon, it’s cities. They’re becoming major incentive places. Not everyone is looking for fun and sun. Some people are looking for adventure, but others are looking for a cultural urban setting where you get great restaurants and nightlife,” says Hinton. “Cities wouldn’t have been looked at for incentive travel before, but I live in Chicago, and I think it’s a phenomenal incentive. Major cities are great if positioned correctly,” adds Hinton.

The Shifting Role of the Planner

While strategic meeting management has quickly become an industry buzzword, it’s only the first step. “Planners by definition must take care of the logistics, but then they also have to think: What does this do for our clients or company and why are we doing it,” says Hinton. “If you have the right people in the room, but it’s cold or the AV doesn’t work or the attendees can’t hear the speaker, it’s not a successful meeting. Logistics are always the foundation, but, at the same time, there’s this realization that meetings are for business. They’re not luxury stuff. They’re a necessity — how we sell things or know what our clients are facing.

“There has been a lot of pullback during the recession, but there has also been a realization of the critical nature of events,” Hinton continues. “If it’s an important deal, you don’t do it on conference call or with some kind of technology. It’s time to get our story straight, we have the Meetings Mean Business campaign, but we need to do more as an industry.”

Amanda Cecil, Ph.D., CMP, professor in the department of tourism, conventions and event management at Indiana University in Indianapolis, has shifted her involvement in the meetings industry from the trenches to teaching, shaping the future of the industry. In the coming years, she foresees “a move to a really business savvy professional. There’s a need to be much more forward thinking, and much more strategic in terms of their thought processes,” says Cecil. “For senior planners, that means there has to be an executive type of training, including more of an event marketing kind of look moving toward a business approach.

“As we watch business structures change post-recession, it changes where meetings are housed,” Cecil explains. “Some are shifting to global operations, and especially with planners who are multinational, that has to happen. As companies look at a more global approach, events and meetings should as well.”

Cecil says the university program, now includes a study abroad component “to give students a more global mindset because some of these positions are reporting through a global reporting structure.

“Reporting through finance and HR I think will make a difference in how planners approach the philosophy of the meeting,” she continues. “They’ll have to be accounting- and finance-savvy and better understand both the procurement process and how to measure the intangibles, like attendee satisfaction,” she adds.

“I think the role of the planner has become more and difficult in terms of both qualitative and quantitative measurement. To prepare for this, we have added a business focus, and we’ve partnered with business schools. That’s been very well received. Students are looking for ROI on their degrees,” Cecil says.

Stand Up for Yourself and Take Ownership of Your Future

Most of all, Hinton is convinced that planners are in a unique place to show the value of their profession and reap greater — particularly in financial terms — rewards for their work. “I know people in this industry work hard. It’s not a traditional profession, but you get to see the world, and you attract the best and brightest. While the rewards aren’t necessarily financial…you don’t need to be underpaid; you can make a lot of money, but you need to plan for that.

“When you have a meeting or incentive, tell people why they’re there and say, ‘Yes, you might be enjoying that dinner and that bottle of wine and this amazing place, but ultimately you made a big impact on our organizations or you sold a lot of stuff, and we’re here to build a stronger community and a shared vision.’ Tell the story of why we are doing this. You have to advocate for yourself, stand up and take ownership for your own future.” C&IT

Sandals Resorts’ Luxury Meetings & Incentives Collection includes 15 resort locations in Jamaica, St. Lucia, The Bahamas, Antigua, Granada, Barbados and Turks & Caicos.

A famous philosopher (OK, it was Jimmy Buffett) once said, “If there’s a heaven for me, I’m sure it has a beach attached to it.” Considering the popularity of beach destinations for meetings and incentives, there are plenty of meeting planners charged with site selection who just may share that same philosophy.

Mike Farmer, vice president of group travel business development for Merdian Enterprises in Hazelwood, Missouri, has been in the incentive travel industry for more than 25 years. He listed the factors that make the Caribbean a popular beach destination for groups. “Most of the incentive programs and award trips go in the spring when everybody wants to get away from the snow. The Caribbean offers a chance to get into the warmth. Generally speaking, you don’t have to go too far to get to the islands, and that is certainly attractive compared to European destinations. And, of course, there are the beaches. The opportunity to get out and play in the sun is probably the biggest reason that it’s such an attraction.”

The Bahamas

Last September, Farmer attended the Caribbean Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchange hosted by The Cove Atlantis in The Bahamas in partnership with Site. “It’s definitely one of my favorite Caribbean destinations,” he explains. “It’s a little expensive, on the higher end of the Caribbean hotels from a price perspective, but the Atlantis resort has everything you could ever want in a group travel destination. At The Cove, you’ve got the great suite product with nice, high-end service. You also have signature, name-brand restaurants…Bobby Flay, Chef Nobu, things like that. You’ve got that wonderful water playground that they have. There’s nothing else like that in the world. In addition, you’ve got a beautiful beach and shopping in downtown Nassau. It’s a complete destination in one small area, and it’s got great golf.”

Atlantis, Paradise Island is an ocean-themed resort offering 3,400 guest rooms including The Cove, a resort within a resort that features 600 oceanview suites. Atlantis is also known for having the largest open-air marine habitat in the world. Its 141-acre waterscape contains more than 20 million gallons of fresh and saltwater lagoons, pools and habitats that house more than 50,000 marine animals. But it’s not all play and no work. The conference center can accommodate up to 4,000 attendees and includes the 50,000-sf Imperial Ballroom, 40,000 sf of prefunction space, 30 breakout rooms, and three boardrooms. There are 21 outdoor event spaces — totaling 300,000 sf — that take advantage of tropical settings including, of course, the beaches, lagoon, waterscapes, marine habitats and more.

Another major player soon will be entering the market in Nassau. A new $3.5 billion development called Baha Mar is scheduled to open later this year. Being promoted as “The Bahamian Riviera,” the complex will include these upscale hotels: The Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, which will contain 1,000 rooms, the 200-room Rosewood at Baha Mar, the 300-room SLS at Baha Mar and a 700-room convention hotel, Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar. Following extensive renovations, the 694-room Meliá will join Baha Mar. The complex also will include a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, the 30,000-sf ESPA spa, the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas and Waterside Place, a shopping and dining complex. The Convention Center at Baha Mar will offer more than 200,000 sf of meeting and event space along with a 2,000-seat performing arts center.

Also of special interest to planners, thanks to the Tax Information Exchange Agreement the Bahamian government signed with the United States, The Bahamas is a tax-deductible destination for American companies.

The Numbers Game

Lorie Thomas, CMP, CMM, director, events and trade shows for Concur, an integrated travel and expense management solution provider based in Bellevue, Washington, had to get creative when she ran into a common dilemma that many planners face. She had to reserve her room block for an incentive program long before she knew what the final number of qualifiers would be.

Thomas had initially booked a block of rooms at The Westin St. John Resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands. When the number of qualifiers exceeded expectations, she was able to reserve some additional rooms at the 96-room Westin, but not as many as she needed. Her solution was to book an additional room block at the 166-room Caneel Bay Resort, an even more upscale property located seven miles away. Using two hotels instead of one presented a few more challenges. First of all, she had to determine who would stay at the overflow property. She did this by selectively looking at the attendees’ job titles, and then she relied on her personal knowledge of the personalities involved to decide which property would be the best fit. The Westin had a more active setting whereas Caneel Bay was more laidback.

She says that this challenge actually turned out to be a blessing because everyone had the opportunity to experience two very different properties on the island. “The cool thing is I was able to work with both resorts and get permission for my group to experience both products,” she notes, “so nobody could really complain about the fact that one person had something better than the other.” She arranged shuttles to take guests back and forth between the properties, and all group events were held at The Westin. Also, as guests were shuttled back and forth, they were able to see more of the island’s natural land preserves than they would have by staying at one property, so that turned out to be another plus. Three-quarters of the island is a national park.

Thomas faced a few other challenges, such as a tent that collapsed right before an evening event and having to ferry golfers to the nearby island of St. Thomas. But in the end, everything turned out very well. “What I’ve learned is that you just have to be really creative with your solutions and your problem-solving. It’s fun. Now I look on it as I can take on any challenge!”

Hawaii

Thomas recently attended a FAM trip sponsored by Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, which is set on 21 acres on the leeward coast of Oahu. The resort, which opened in 2011, contains 351 hotel rooms and 481 two-bedroom vacation villas in its two towers, along with more than 50,000 sf of indoor and outdoor event space, including a crescent-shaped beach that fronts the resort’s tranquil lagoon.

What makes Aulani unique among Disney resorts (and other resorts, for that matter) is that Disney uses its legendary storytelling skills to showcase the state’s history and culture throughout the resort. Everything, from the building’s architecture to the artwork, music and guest activities, authentically reflect the Hawaiian culture to help guests feel a true sense of place and embrace the island’s aloha spirit.

“The beach access is awesome,” Thomas describes. “A lot of properties don’t have their own private lagoon. The kids’ club (Aunty’s Beach House) is amazing. We’re very family-oriented, and at most properties you have to pay extra for the kids’ program. If you’re an adult or a couple who wants to have your own private time, there’s plenty of space where you can go off to a private location.”

Thomas also praised the quality of Aulani’s Laniwai Spa, noting how important it is for properties to have a spacious spa to meet the expectations of today’s incentive qualifiers. She was also impressed by how well Aulani embraces the Hawaiian culture. “They really teach that. It’s not necessarily a Disney experience, it’s a Hawaiian experience, and that’s what I really appreciate.” The Aulani staff also can arrange to bring in Hawaiian cultural experts to lead teambuilding activities and offer other cultural experiences. “It’s the whole package,” Thomas sums up.

Kevin Harvey, manager, pre-owned business for Porsche Cars North America Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia, chose The Kahala Hotel & Resort, a secluded beachfront property in Honolulu, for one of the company’s programs. “Porsche Cars North America conducts a sales incentive each year for authorized Porsche dealerships to quality for an all-expense paid trip to a luxurious resort or destination. Typically, there are 33–40 people who attend the trip,” he explains.

The Kahala offers 338 spacious guest rooms and suites, and the resort has a private lagoon that is home to the Dolphin Quest Encoun­ter where guests can interact with Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Harvey describes what made the hotel a good choice for his program. “The Kahala is a premier luxury resort and hotel. The property’s ergonomics, the culinary offerings, the exclusivity and privacy, coupled with exemplary service that exceeds expectations all encompassed my decision to choose them as the destination. …More­over, the Kahala is represented by one of the best hotel groups, the Landmark Hotels Group.”

California

In January, The Resort at Pelican Hill earned Newport Beach’s only Forbes Travel Guide Five Star award for the second year in a row. Set on 504 acres overlooking the Pacific, the luxury resort features 128 villas, 204 bungalow guest rooms and 36 holes of Tom Fazio-designed golf, most of which offer ocean views. In addition, The Spa at Pelican Hill, which has 22 private treatment rooms, earned its fifth consecutive Forbes Five Star award.

One fun way that meeting and incentive attendees can enjoy the beach while they’re staying at Pelican Hill is to take a bike tour that departs from the resort. It takes bikers along the beautiful coastal bluff and stops for a tour of Crystal Cove, a historic seaside colony that was popular in the ’30s and ’40s. The colony’s original cottages are still standing, and many have been restored to reflect their former glory. As an interesting bit of trivia, many movies were filmed at Crystal Cove, including “Treasure Island” (in 1918 and again in 1934) and the Bette Midler tearjerker “Beaches,” in 1988.

Florida

For a lively beach destination with an art deco vibe, planners may want to consider the 790-room Loews Miami Beach Hotel set in the heart of South Beach. The hotel features a 900-foot beach, an oceanfront pool and a St. Tropez-inspired cabana deck along with 65,000 sf of indoor and outdoor event space. Whenever attendees can pull themselves away from the beach and pool, there are seven restaurants and bars to explore.

Last May, the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort, located on 1,350 acres in Northeast Florida, celebrated its grand reopening after an $85 million renovation. The 404-room resort offers panoramic views of the Atlantic and access to 3.5 miles of pristine beach. It also features 54 holes of championship golf, 23 Har-Tru tennis courts and multiple pools, including an adults-only infinity-edge pool, a family-friendly pool and the Splash Park water playground. The amount of event space the resort offers is extensive, with 80,000 sf of indoor and outdoor venues to choose from.

The 15 tourism districts in Palm Beach County, commonly referred to as The Palm Beaches, are experiencing a building boom. More than 1,000 hotel rooms are expected to be added to the area’s inventory by the end of 2014, and an additional 800 rooms are in development.

The 179-room Wyndham Grand Ju­piter is scheduled to open in September. Located on the Intracoastal Waterway, the upscale, full-service hotel will include 15,000 sf of meeting space, including the rooftop Mangrove Deck, which will offer more than 4,000 sf for events. The 403-room Palm Beach County Convention Center Hilton Hotel is expected to be completed in 2016. It will be connected to the 350,000-sf Palm Beach County Convention Center.

Puerto Rico

Meet Puerto Rico recently launched a new branding and image campaign titled “On a tropical island. In the Caribbean.” It’s designed to lure group business with images of the island’s beautiful beaches, rainforests, undersea life and golf courses. Puerto Rico offers 1.2 million sf of meeting space, 14,000 hotel rooms and hundreds of non-stop flights. It offers other advantages, as well. Since Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth, the U.S. dollar is the official currency, and U.S. citizens don’t need a passport to enter the destination.

For planners who can’t decide between the Caribbean and the Atlantic, El Conquistador Resort, a Waldorf Astoria Resort on the island’s northeastern tip, offers the best of both worlds. It is perched on 500 acres on a cliff top overlooking the spot where the waters of the Caribbean and the Atlantic converge. The resort’s spacious 750 guest rooms and suites are allocated among five “villages,” and to arrange one of the resort’s more unique beach experiences, planners can book an excursion to Palomino Island, a private, 100-acre getaway.

Interest in All-Inclusives Grows

All-inclusive resorts, which are commonly found in beach destinations such as the Caribbean and Mexico, continue to grow in popularity with planners because meals, beverages and, in some cases, activities are included in the per-person rate, which can make the budgeting process easier and much more predictable.

“If you would have asked me five years ago, I would have told you that all-inclusives were on the downside of their popularity,” Farmer notes. “But as usual, I was wrong,” he laughs. “They just continue to grow, and companies are expanding their portfolios. The all-inclusives are a great product, quite honestly. The challenge is that you have to know what the good product is from the bad product.”

“The all-inclusives are a great product, quite honestly. The challenge is that you have to know what the good product is from the bad product.” — Mike Farmer

As one of the leaders in the all-inclusive segment, Sandals Resorts’ Luxury Meetings & Incentives Collection offers groups a comprehensive, all-inclusive program called Luxury Included. The collection is comprised of 15 resort locations in Jamaica, St. Lucia, The Bahamas, Antigua, Granada, Barbados and Turks & Caicos. Sandals’ Discovery Dining program allows attendees to choose from up to 15 gourmet restaurants at each property, and wines from Napa and premium brands of liquor are also included. Another budget-friendly advantage of meeting at Sandals Resort is that most activities are also included, such as unlimited golf (excluding Sandals Emerald Bay), waterskiing, wakeboarding and scuba diving. In fact, Sandals claims to offer “more quality inclusions than any other resort on the planet.” Sandals even offers a convenient “Event Cost Estimate” calculator on its website that enables planners to get a ballpark estimate for hosting their event at any of the Sandals properties as they begin the planning process.

Program Patterns

Farmer says that the most common pattern he sees for beach-oriented incentives is to do a four-night event. “If you’re doing an all-inclusive, you’re going to have maybe a welcome poolside event, two days of sponsored sightseeing activities and on the final night, generally a beach party. Although you do save on the budget with an all-inclusive product, one of the challenges is that you kind of feel obligated to have all of your meals in the hotel. I have had clients that have said, ‘OK, even though we’re saving overall, let’s take the final night off-property and do something unique on the island.’ ”

Giving Back at the Beach

The fact that beach programs may be more laidback than others doesn’t mean that they can’t be used to support a good cause. Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, recently partnered with Pack for a Pur­pose, an organization whose mission is to positively impact communities around the world by helping travelers make meaningful contributions for the destinations they visit.

Scrub Island has chosen to support the BVI Autism Cen­tre through Pack with a Purpose. To participate, guests simply need to allocate part of their luggage allowance (as little as five pounds) to bring supplies requested by the Autism Centre, such as books, toys, art supplies and other items. The resort will ensure that the organization receives them. Scrub Island offers 52 guest rooms and a collection of villas, and is a member of Marriott’s Autograph Collection.

Back to the Beach

There are many ways to gauge the success of a meeting or incentive program held at a beachfront location. Maybe it’s the smiles on attendees’ faces or their relaxed demeanor. Or, it could be the ultimate testimonial — the kind of response that Harvey noted. “Several of the attendees made plans to return to The Kahala on their own at a later date.” We can only imagine that Jimmy Buffett would approve. C&IT

The “winged” Milwaukee Art Museum overlooks Lake Michigan in downtown Milwaukee.

What constitutes value? Finding value during the site selection process can be tough. Is it lower room rates or increased attendance because of a destination or perhaps above-and-beyond assistance provided by CVBs? However value is defined, these communities deliver it.

Jacksonville, Florida

“Jacksonville is a destination with so much to offer, and value is one of our greatest assets,” says Paul Astleford, president and CEO of Visit Jacksonville, the city’s CVB. “Not only are our room rates very competitive compared to most waterfront destinations in the state, but our location, our accessibility by plane or car, our extensive venue selection and the overall vibrancy of our city give us an edge when it comes to meeting a planner’s needs and wants.”

Astleford also notes that planners experience value in the outstanding support from the CVB’s services department before, during and after their events. “This makes Jacksonville the best and smartest choice,” he says.

Karen Miller, president of Seneca, South Carolina-based Miller Marketing Communications Inc., whose 2014 Motor Operated Valve Users Group and Air Operated Valve Users Group annual conferences (MUG/AUG conferences) were held at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront in January with 700 attendees, has already booked Jacksonville for next year’s conference, and value was a key reason.

“We found hotel and restaurant costs very affordable for our attendees, and as organizers, the meeting costs at the hotel were much less than at many other Florida destinations. The hotel was very pleasantly aggressive in pursuing our group,” she adds. “They offered discounts on their already reasonable food and beverage costs, and comped expo hall Internet and two receptions for the group, and provided generous room upgrades. The city’s CVB provided additional incentives, including a monetary sponsorship based on room-night utilization, one incentive I have never experienced anywhere else.”

The conference runs in January when finding value during the site selection process in Florida can be challenging. “It is a unique situation to find a Florida city at this time of year that works hard to win your business within your budget,” Miller says.

And then there’s the setting. “The St. Johns River is such a beautiful feature, and the city skyline against the river and boardwalk create a fantastic setting,” Miller says. “The one caveat is that planners should be aware there are not a tremendous number of restaurants, clubs or shopping options within walking distance of the riverfront, so if your group is looking for that, this may not be a match. However, if most of your evening events and activities are planned in your hotel, then Jacksonville along the St. Johns River is a beautiful and affordable location for a meeting.”

Among recent enhancements at area hotels is a multimillion-dollar renovation at Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach — 30 minutes southeast of Jacksonville — where guest rooms, dining outlets, meeting space and access to the adjacent TPC Sawgrass championship golf course were updated.

San Jose, California

One rarely hears “affordable” and “San Francisco Bay Area” in the same sentence, yet groups find value here in many ways, including weekend meetings and taking advantage of free and nearly free entertainment. Planners also can do a little research to discover which local city offers their group the most value. Bea Langsdorf, corporate events manager for global technology company Nvidia Corporation, based in Santa Clara, CA, has done exactly that What constitutes value? Is it lower room rates or increased attendance because of a destination or perhaps above-and-beyond assistance provided by CVBs? However value is defined, these communities deliver it. and believes San Jose is that city.

“The Bay Area is not an affordable meeting destination compared to many others in the U.S.,” she says. “However, out of the three choices you have when you want to hold a large event in the area, San Jose is much more affordable than San Francisco or Santa Clara, particularly when comparing hotel room rates. In the last comparison I ran, San Jose room rates were about 20 percent cheaper than Santa Clara and 30 percent cheaper than San Francisco. For us, lower room rates mean more attendees can afford to attend the conference.”

Langsdorf found savings in other ways, too. “The San Jose (McEnery) Convention Center worked with us to come up with some off-the-standard-menu lunch options that met our budget. By serving lunch there we saved money and our attendees saved time as well.”

Karolyn Kirchgesler, CEO of Team San Jose, the city’s CVB, isn’t surprised. “One of the reasons 98 percent of planners say they’d return is that San Jose offers great value for corporate planners and groups,” she says. “Our one-stop service saves valuable time, and our compact, walkable downtown means there’s no need for group transportation. We offer competitive hotel rates on weekends and a lot of free or budget-friendly entertainment.”

Langsdorf’s GPU Tech­nology Conference in March attracted approximately 3,500 attendees, and Team San Jose was integral to the meeting’s success. First, Langsdorf says, “Team San Jose always helps us promote our conference with signage at the airport and around the convention center. It is part of our package deal and does not cost us extra. Second, the staff helped us put together a dining program for our attendees. They assisted in selecting venues that were walking distance from the convention center and would reserve one or two large tables for group dinners with the specific requirement of splitting the bill between all dinner attendees. Their volunteers also manned the dinner sign-up station at the event.”

Close-in restaurants book­ed by the group included Mezcal, Loft Bar & Bistro, Billy Berk’s, Il Fornaio, PF Chang’s China Bistro and Gordon Biersch Brewery & Restaurant.

Attendees who want to add vacation time to a San Jose meeting are in luck. Monterey, San Francisco and the Santa Cruz Mountain Wine Region are all within a short drive — yet another side of the value coin.

Daytona Beach, Florida

Value isn’t always about the lowest dollar amount. Stewart Doty has been bringing the Racing Promotion Monthly Promoters Workshops to Daytona for 23 years, just as his predecessor did for 19 years before that. The meeting takes place in February during the area’s primo event, the Daytona 500, when prices are typically the highest of the year.

“We convene at the absolute peak time each year, Daytona 500 week, so rates across the community are not as low as they might be at other times, yet they’re competitive for the area at the time,” says Doty, the editor of the Merrill, Wisconsin-based Racing Promotion Monthly. “Our event has been part of Daytona Speedweek since 1972, so the “bang” we get is race-week ambience, the tradition in our industry that is Speedweek, the adjacency of numerous events and the festival atmosphere of race week. It strengthens the draw of our own event by adding the opportunity to attend events during and around our dates at nearby race facilities.”

Doty, whose group of about 350 was based at the Hilton Daytona Beach Ocean Walk Village in February, also points out the “value-added assistance of the CVB. “Since we are small by comparison to the races in terms of public attendance and corporate participation, the CVB has been extremely helpful in explaining the value of our event to Daytona hoteliers, as we must compete with the corporate money surrounding the big race, which has at times been a challenge. The CVB has also assisted us in locating facilities and in recruitment of speakers from the Central Florida area for our events.”

Sharon Mock, who was serving as interim executive director of the Daytona Beach Area CVB at the time of this interview, says that in addition to the International Speedway, NASCAR and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) have a major presence in town. “These organizations offer one-of-a-kind offsite venues ideal for meetings, special events and teambuilding activities,” she says. “Attendees can take three hot laps around the World Center of Racing with the Richard Petty Driving Experience or host a charity golf tournament at LPGA International. The added value Daytona Beach provides is unmatched.”

Those top-tier businesses create a local pool of speaker talent, as do the area’s three universities, including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Daytona also is within range of three airports, making getting there easy, and offers 23 miles of beaches, making it a place attendees want to be. All of that combines to make Daytona a value-laden destination at any time of year.

Among the latest developments are enhancements at the Speedway and several new hotels, including the Marriott at Daytona Beach Shores, scheduled to open this fall.

Charlotte, North Carolina

“From the hundreds of affordable flight options and ease of accessibility at Charlotte Douglas International Airport to a wide array of economical hotels all within walking distance of the Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte brings tremendous value to the table,” says Mike Butts, executive director of Visit Charlotte.

The value extends to city facilities. “The Charlotte Convention Center has also created value through a one-of-kind asset, the NASCAR Hall of Fame,” Butts continues, “which is attached to the facility and serves as a truly unique special event venue or easy escape for attendees during their downtime. Attendees can conveniently experience the venue with reduced $10 admission thanks to our new Show Your Badge program.”

Charlotte has a lot going on, including the recent opening of Skye Condo­miniums, a mixed-use high-rise featuring a Hyatt Place and an 8,000-sf open-air rooftop restaurant and sky bar. A Sheraton Charlotte and a Le Meridien open this year as well.

As for venues, Charlotte-Concord Sea Life Aquarium opened in February, and among its attributes is Tropical Bay of Rays, a mesmerizing backdrop for events of up to 80 guests. And in April, Charlotte’s LEED-certified ballpark for its AAA baseball team opened to rave reviews just four blocks from the Charlotte Convention Center.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

One upshot to saving by choosing a value destination is that planners can use those savings to create a more robust meeting experience for their attendees.

“The real advantage to Milwaukee as a destination is that you can spend more money on your meeting because the cost of accommodations, food, attractions and events is lower than most first-tier cities,” says Paul Upchurch, president and CEO of Visit Milwaukee. “Planners rate the experience in Milwaukee as exceptional and have the money to invest back into a quality meeting experience.”

Monetary incentives also can positively affect the bottom line for planners. Visit Milwaukee currently offers a $5,000–$10,000 cash incentive to groups booking meetings in the Wisconsin Center from September 2014 through December 2016 (there are restrictions). The center, part of Milwaukee’s budget-friendly convention campus, includes the historic Milwaukee Theatre with 2,500–4,100 seats depending on configuration, and the U.S. Cellular Arena, with additional function and trade-show space plus 12,700 seats of its own. A convenient skywalk connects the Wisconsin Center to more than 1,200 rooms at the newly renovated Hilton Milwaukee City Center and Hyatt Regency Milwaukee, making inclement weather inconsequential.

One of the city’s most notable attractions also is a spectacular setting for a gala or opening reception. The Milwaukee Art Museum, overlooking Lake Michigan, is an architectural wonder, particularly its postmodern Quadracci Pavilion with an evocative 90-foot glass ceiling and outer “wings” that unfold and fold twice daily. Planners who want wow with their value need look no further.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Brian Fullerton, assistant director of events with Bloomington, Indiana-based Solution Tree, a leading provider of educational strategies, planned the Minneapolis Professional Learning Communities at Work Institute in Minneapolis last July. He calls Minneap­olis extremely affordable. “This is one of the major reasons we continue to return,” he says. “Hotel rates are very affordable, especially with the quality of hotels our staff and attendees reserve. In addition, with the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport being a major Delta hub, flights are easy to find and afford.” In 2014, Solution Tree will return to the city for the sixth consecutive year.

The Minneapolis Convention Center provides additional value for the meeting, which attracted 2,200 attendees last year. “We get amazing space for our group size that is really budget friendly,” Fullerton notes. “Our type of meeting requires not only a single space for all attendees to listen to keynote speakers, but also up to a dozen large rooms for breakout sessions. The convention center provides all this under one roof for an affordable price. And the center’s service providers (catering, Internet, security) always deliver top-quality service at some of the lowest prices we see in the country.”

Melvin Tennant, president and CEO of Meet Minneapolis, calls the city’s compactness a value element. “There are thousands of hotel rooms within a mile of the Minneapolis Convention Center, saving groups on transportation costs,” he says. “Attendees also can easily access the restaurants, attractions and downtown-located sports facilities after hours by walking around our vibrant downtown or using our terrific free bus rides on Nicollet Mall, which will save them money, as well.”

Fullerton agrees. “The city is very walking friendly; you are never too far away from anything, and if you do need public transportation, it is nearby, easy and always feels safe.” His group has frequented many of the city’s close-in restaurants, including Brit’s, the Butcher and Boar, The Local and Zelo’s, all of which he says provide a great atmosphere and value.

“(Minneapolis) is very walking friendly; you are never too far away from anything, and if you do need public transportation, it is nearby, easy and always feels safe.” — Brian Fullerton

Additionally, Meet Minneapolis offers many free services to planners. In October, for example, it launched Go Minneapolis Signature Experiences, putting the best of the city in one value-packed package for groups. And if planners or attendees wear out their shoes during a conference, no problem: there’s no tax on shoes (or clothing) in Minnesota. Now that’s value.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Planners who haven’t been to Oklahoma City, or haven’t been recently, may be surprised by what this city offers. Over two decades Oklahoma’s capital has been transformed by more than $5 billion of public and private investment and improvements. The CVB is anxious to show it off.

Mike Carrier, president of Visit Oklahoma City, says, “Okla­homa City is a value-oriented city well known for being a great place to do business. Our culture is built on the ideals of good value for price paid and an honest return on your investment. With an average cost of living here more than 10 percent lower than the national average and our ranking in Business Travel News at 74th in per diem cost out of the top 100 cities in the nation, OKC provides an affordable location for planners.

“We have numerous top-quality, full-service hotels in the downtown core with ease of access from Will Rogers Airport, and within an easy walk of several entertainment areas featuring a wide variety of restaurants including Automobile Alley, Bricktown and Film Row,” he says. “Add such attractions as the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum and the Civic Center Music Hall and the area provides an outstanding array of facilities and amenities to make any meeting a success.”

In the heart of downtown, the Cox Convention Center offers more than 150,000 sf of total meeting space including a 25,000-sf ballroom and 100,000 sf of exhibit space. The center also includes a 15,000-seat arena. There are currently 12 hotels and nearly 2,200 rooms within walking distance, including the Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center Hotel, connected to the center via a skybridge. Two blocks north, the Skirvin Hilton offers a historical setting with original woodwork and architectural details from its 1911 grand opening.

Oklahoma City has an abundance of intriguing offsite options, including its Boathouse District, located along the Oklaho­ma River on the southern edge of downtown. The Chesa­peake Boathouse offers space for meetings as well as teambuilding activities such as dragon boating and kayaking. Also in the district are the Devon Boathouse and Chesapeake Finish Line tower, both with event space and primo views.

Not yet visible but on the horizon, thanks to a 2009 vote approving $252 million in funding, is a new, expanded downtown convention center slated for completion in 2019.

Virginia Beach, Virginia

A popular coastal community, Vir­ginia Beach has a relatively short peak season and, happily for planners, a relatively long value season.

“Virginia Beach is a perfect setting for corporate meetings and is an especially excellent value destination for the corporate meeting planner from October through May,” says James B. Ricketts, director of the Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau. “During this eight-month period, we are able to offer a wide array of convention hotels with affordable rates on the oceanfront, on Chesapeake Bay and in our downtown community, Town Center of Virginia Beach.

“One benefit for corporate meeting planners in choosing Virginia Beach is that they will work with one team when they book our award-winning convention center and when seeking the ideal hotel,” Ricketts continues. “Our CVB sales and services team has been recognized nationally as a team that gives attention to detail and provides excellent customer service.”

While the term “award winning” is often overused, Virginia Beach has garnered well-earned accolades for its stellar LEED Gold-certified Virginia Beach Convention Center. With more than 516,000 sf, the center is ideal for groups of all sizes, especially those wishing to make their meetings environmentally friendly.

Virginia Beach combines the best of urban and resort offerings, giving attendees a downtown core and 35 miles of shoreline and beach. Attractions include the Virginia Aquarium with its live shark gallery, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art and the new Adventure Park, where groups can book teambuilding sessions. The CVB also puts corporate groups in touch with local charities and non-profits for CSR events via its One Beach, One World program. Given the city’s location and strong military presence, popular options include beach cleanups and assistance to veterans.

The bottom line is that from coast to coast, planners can find value — and quality — just by looking beyond the most obvious choices. C&IT

A volunteer prepares a heart-healthy low sodium soup, which the charity organization Manna makes from scratch for their clients battling life-threatening illnesses. Credit: Manna

Meeting planners face the constant challenge of creating unique and fun teambuilding activities that generate a buzz among attendees. That’s why nowadays more and more meetings and incentives include Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs that are designed to inspire attendees, create memorable experiences and help the community at large.

Companies also find that CSR programs stretch budgets because they are typically less expensive than traditional activities and entertainment. “You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a CSR event,” says CSR manager Kate Wetzel, who plans CSR programs for Queens, New York-based JetBlue Airways. “You can spend $3,000 or $30,000. You can create something for any amount of dollars you want to set aside. Money doesn’t have to be the driver of the experience.”

The definition of CSR programs is broad and includes community service projects that benefit charities, people and the environment. Programs can range from volunteering at food banks and making toys for hospitalized children to rebuilding homes lost in disasters and helping military families. Most CSR programs take place away from the meeting site but also can occur onsite. The best CSR programs are truly meaningful.

For example, last fall JetBlue employees visited a local Boys & Girls Club of America during a two-day meeting on best practices in Fort Lauderdale. About 80 flight attendants and airport and ground operations workers headed for the Boys & Girls Club shortly after arriving at the B Ocean Hotel Fort Lauderdale. “We had boxed lunches in the lobby for them to pick up and board a bus to the club,” says Wetzel. “They split into teams and did activities like cooking, soccer, after-school reading and garden beautification projects. One of our more entrepreneurial participants organized a foosball tournament.”

During the three hours of volunteering, JetBlue employees also helped prepare and serve dinner. “That was one of the most meaningful pieces of the activity, because we were all doing it together as opposed to separate team activities,” says Wetzel. “It was meaningful because it propelled them to establish stronger relationships with each other.”

The connection was evident as the group returned to the hotel on a bus. “People who volunteered together shared stories from the day that meant something to them,” says Wetzel. “One person from Newark, New Jersey, who helped kids with arts and crafts walked around showing photos to people she didn’t necessarily know. It brought cheer and good will to other people.”

Wetzel purposely planned the CSR activity to take place right after the group’s arrival at the hotel to help set the tone for the meeting. “It was a good way for them to get to know each other and gain common ground,” she says. “It provides participants with a common experience that creates a connection so that nobody goes into the day of learning feeling that they don’t have familiar faces to connect with.”

“It provides participants with a common experience that creates a connection so that nobody goes into the day of learning feeling that they don’t have familiar faces to connect with.” — Kate Wetzel

Following the meeting, Wetzel posted a story about the activity along with quotes from participants on what it meant to them. Post-meeting feedback shows that JetBlue’s CSR activities are popular with attendees. “The community service component is always considered the highest return on value,” Wetzel says. “When we ask what they get the most out of, it’s usually the volunteer event.”

Timing is Everything

Matching a corporate meeting with the right nonprofit organization can be more difficult than it seems. It is often easier to schedule a CSR event between companies and nonprofits that already have an ongoing relationship. Still, many organizations are in high demand and book assistance from groups several weeks in advance. In addition, it’s sometimes tough to match a meeting’s date and itinerary with the schedule, needs and requirements of nonprofit groups.

Even basic communications can be a challenge. “They run such bare-bone organizations, and their staffing is so minimal that it can take weeks to get a response,” says Lucy Eisele, CITE, principal of Integrity Incentives, a Big Lake, Minnesota-based meeting and incentive planning firm that specializes in arranging CSR activities. “The natural thought is, ‘Wait a minute. We are trying to help them, and they aren’t even getting back to us.’ It can be frustrating. It can take several emails and phone calls. It depends on whether there is someone dedicated to replying to people who want to help.”

It can be even more frustrating to plan a CSR event on a short turnaround. One planner learned that lesson while planning a CRS activity for a meeting in the Philadelphia area last fall for 23 managers of a pharmaceutical company. About one month before the meeting date, the company’s planner asked Jeffrey Cesari, president, Shimmer Events, a Philadelphia-based meeting and event planning firm, to plan the entire four-day meeting including a teambuilding activity. At that point, after considering several options, the pharmaceutical company planner decided upon bowling at a high-end facility as a teambuilding activity.

Cesari started scouting bowling alleys. “We had a contract but I decided to wait until the last possible minute to sign it,” he says. “Thank goodness I did because they came back a week later and said they wanted something completely different — something to give back to the community. This was three weeks before the meeting.”

Finding the right charity under a tight deadline proved to be challenging. “We were limited geographically to the Philadelphia area,” says Cesari. “We were also limited in time. We already had the meeting agenda published and flights already set. We were in a tight time frame about who could do what, when and how to make it work”

Cesari talked to several nonprofit organizations. “We talked to about six before we found one,” says Cesari. “One organization had certain slots of hours open that didn’t match the meeting agenda. The other organization was booked with volunteer help more than a month in advance. Another could hold only 12 volunteers at one time. I was a little nervous because there were so many things up in the air. As a planner, you like to have details set in stone with a backup plan in place.”

About 10 days before the meeting Cesari finally found a charity — Cradles to Crayons www.cradlestocrayons.org, a children’s charity with an office in W. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. The nonprofit had an opening because another corporation had canceled a day or two earlier. Attendees volunteered at Cradles to Crayons for three hours, splitting into groups. One group inspected children’s donated clothing and repacked them into boys and girls apparel according to sizes. Another group cleaned and repackaged toys.

“There was a closeness that’s more than that from a non-CSR program. People talked about it throughout the rest of the day. They said it feels good to give back. There was a sense of giving themselves to something greater.” — Jeffrey Cesari

The experience inspired attendees. “After they finished and boarded the bus, the laughter was joyous,” says Cesari. “There was a closeness that’s more than that from a non-CSR program. People talked about it throughout the rest of the day. They said it feels good to give back. There was a sense of giving themselves to something greater.”

Another organization Cesari recommends is Manna www.mannapa.org, which offers corporate partners a variety of opportunities such as event sponsorship, traditional marketing support, cause marketing, interactive social media connections and employee teambuilding possibilities. Manna, based in Philadephia, develops custom-made partnerships based on a company’s goals.

The most memorable CSR experiences result in an intimate person-to-person experience. For example, earlier this year 15 female salespeople for a woman-owned direct sales company volunteered at an orphanage in Montego Bay, Jamaica, during a five-day incentive trip. The group spent five hours at the orphanage, which usually had only one local volunteer for every 15 children. Volunteers fed, held and rocked babies, folded many bins of laundry, built bookcases and donated books.

Volunteering at the orphanage was the talk of the meeting. “We had a reception and dinner that evening where they shared stories about the children and work,” says Eisele, who planned the entire meeting and CSR event. “It may be hard to believe that something that simple could have a profound impact, but some people went as far as saying it was life changing. They were nurturing children. They learned a lot about Jamaican families.”

Eisele found the orphanage during a site visit to Montego Bay. “I was driving back from a horseback riding activity and mentioned to my guide that I needed to find a ‘give-back’ activity for the group,” says Eisele. “The guide said her mom has worked for an orphanage for 30 years. I asked if she could bring me there now, and she did. I met the director and asked her to let me know how we could be helpful. I wanted to start a relationship, find out what they needed and then look at our budget.”

Following the orphanage experience, the volunteers returned to their hotel for a reception and dinner at a local restaurant before heading home the next day. Scheduling the dinner after the event was purposeful. Providing post-CRS networking time reinforces the value of the event and attendee relationships, says Eisele. “You cannot end a give-back on your last day and then put them all on a plane to go home or say tonight you are on your own, see you tomorrow. It’s crucial that everyone be brought together after the event to debrief each other. People really want to talk to each other about what they just did. I’ve seen it every single time.”

Solid Advice

CRS programs run the gamut from helping large organizations to smaller projects, such as aiding a military family with a parent serving overseas. Large or small, these programs can be equally impactful for the attendees involved and the recipients.

The following advice will help planners set up meaningful CSR event and programs.

• Find out what the company’s CSR philosophy is and recommend projects that match the goals of the organization. Match the nonprofit organization with the meeting’s theme, company products and services, and attendee demographics and interests. Determine whether the client seeks meaningful CSR teambuilding or simply wants to meet a company philanthropic goal for the year, Eisele advises.
• Contact at least two or three nonprofit organizations. Be considerate of what the organization needs and when they need it. Don’t impose the group’s needs on those of the nonprofit. Organizations don’t want to be told what they need and can afford. “The volunteer experience needs to be beneficial for the company and the nonprofit,” says Wetzel. “It can be disruptive to ask for a certain time on a certain day. That doesn’t always work for organizations, especially small ones. It’s important to listen, figure out what the needs are and support them.”
• Wetzel advises planners to remember that volunteering isn’t free. “There is a cost for the non-profit to organize the event for you and figure out what you can do. Most nonprofits track their cost per volunteer. That’s why it’s important to also make a donation along with volunteering,” she says.
• Nonprofits typically don’t allow planners and volunteers to take pictures that include their staffers and people who receive help. But pictures and videos (especially group shots) of volunteers are usually allowed. “You almost never can take pictures, especially of children, so you have to take what you can get,” says Eisele. “You can sometimes take video and pictures of your group inside the venue but it’s hard to get people there into the picture. That’s usually a no-no. You have to sign waivers saying what you plan to do and when you will arrive and leave.”
• Use any photos, videos and other information gathered during a CSR activity to publicize it to participants and the company’s employees. “People who didn’t earn the incentive trip this time will hear about it from coworkers so you need something to promote it,” says Eisele. “Usually a good way to do it is to have a top executive put out an email or letter describing what was done and take testimonials from the group to add to that. That is powerful.”

How Hotel Brands Give Back

Many hotels have their own in-house CRS programs that planners can use. For example, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts offers its Meetings that Matter program. Here’s how it works: Planners booking a 2014 meeting prior to December 31, 2014, with at least 50 room nights can donate 10 percent of the hotel’s room revenue to a charity of their choice. Participating companies have donated room revenue funds to a range of organizations including those involved with HIV/AIDS and disabled children, according to Fairmont’s website.

Kimpton Hotels are affiliated with local non-profit organizations, including those that benefit the arts, education and neighborhood beautification. In addition, Kimpton Restaurants are involved in their local communities by hosting and teaching cooking classes along with other charitable events and promotions throughout the year. On a national scale, many of Kimpton’s chefs and restaurants are involved in Taste of the Nation, a program for Share Our Strength.

At the national level, Kimpton is a strong supporter of numerous charities, including Dress for Success www.dressforsuccess.org by providing financial and volunteer aid. During March and April, Kimpton highlights its partnership with Dress for Success with a special campaign called “Suited for Success.”

In addition, Kimpton’s Red Ribbon Campaign — an HIV awareness and fundraising program in November and December — involves all hotels throughout the United States.

Some hotels are giving back in other ways. For example, Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced that it will contribute $7 million to the University of Nevada Las Vegas William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration over five years.

The resort company also will donate $1 million to nonprofit Clean the World, which recycles hygiene products from hotels and distributes them worldwide.

Marriott is committed to investing in the communities where they do business through their “Spirit To Serve Our Communities” social responsibility and community engagement initiatives. All over the globe, their properties are involved in five areas of giving: shelter and food, environment, ready for jobs, vitality of children and empowering diversity.

For example, Marriott associates have helped build thousands of homes in 15 countries for Habitat for Humanity. Also, Marriott is a partner with Back on My Feet, a program to help the homeless prepare to return to work.

Furthermore, The Ritz-Carlton brand, a proponent of Succeed Through Service, encourages their employees to mentor students in disadvantaged communities. This program brings students to the hotels and Ritz-Carlton employees go into the classrooms to share the importance of social skills (eye-contact, a great smile and a firm handshake); healthy eating habits and how to safely handle food; group presentation skills; and the value of teamwork and collaboration.

The company shares their Succeed Through Service toolkit on an open source, non-proprietary basis to inspire others to get involved in helping young students.

There was a time when today’s CRS programs were uncommon and corporations helped others largely through philanthropy in return for positive publicity and tax breaks. That window-dressing approach has evolved so that more and companies are pursuing truly meaningful ways for employees to give to others. C&IT

The meeting industry is not known for controversy. With the exception of the “AIG effect” explosion during the financial crisis or the occasional outcries from Congress that a government agency such as the General Services Administration has fleeced taxpayers with an overly extravagant conference, the industry has a remarkably placid history.

But earlier this year, a major eruption occurred when Meeting Professionals International (MPI), as part of a new alliance with the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), announced changes to the coveted Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM) credential originally created in 1998. There are currently 938 holders of the designation, with 47 of them named in 2013.

The initial changes announced in December 2013:

• The eligibility requirements for professional experience were reduced from 10 years to five years.
• The formerly mandated 5½ days of onsite education was reduced to 3½ days and two webinars.
• The longstanding and highly respected CMM acronym was eliminated and replaced with a new name, CMM Designation Program, making CMM a trademark.
• The assessment previously involved taking an essay exam and writing a business plan. The changes eliminated the exam and only required development of a “business case assessment.”

There was further controversy concerning a decision to award a CMM credential to about 90 former holders of the GBTA-created strategic meetings management certification (SMMC), which was intended to foster consolidation of corporate business travel and meetings management, but was discontinued in 2011 only two years after it launched.

The reason for the changes to the CMM program, according to MPI, was to broaden its reach. But existing CMMs — and particularly some well-known industry veterans — claimed that the changes diminished the prestige of the designation.

Ann Rebentisch, CMP, CMM, principle of Handshake Events in Thousand Oaks, California, is leader of a LinkedIn Group of 456 CMMs. She launched an online survey in mid-February in which about 20 percent of existing CMMs participated. Based on her research, Rebentisch said in a statement, 88 percent of CMMs opposed the overall program changes. Rebentisch submitted the survey to MPI on March 5.

On March 14, MPI president and CEO Paul Van Deventer responded to this and other objections with a letter that indicated the objections and specific suggestions for revision were under review.

In April, in another letter, Van De­venter informed CMMs and all MPI members that some revisions to the original plan had been made:

• Eligibility requirements were amended to include a minimum 7–10 years of professional experience in the meeting and event or business travel industry and a minimum of 3–5 years of management experience with two years of profit-and-loss responsibility, and a personal statement and letter of recommendation from a professional colleague or supervisor.
• Amended assessment requirements: “Each future CMM Program participant will be required to develop a business case in which they must apply the course materials learned. The business case should reflect real situations, address current challenges that need to be resolved and be actionable — meaning the participant must have responsibility and influence over the challenges’ outcome. Each participant’s business case will be evaluated and scored against a pre-established standard of performance or rubric by CMM Program faculty,” said Van Deventer.
• It also was agreed that the program would maintain its Certificate in Meeting Management branding and restore the CMM acronym as a recognized and established designation.
• Van Deventer also clarified: “Professionals who achieved the Certificate in Meeting Management from MPI prior to 2014 will retain the CMM designation, which is now supported by both MPI and GBTA. GBTA will communicate directly to individuals who achieved the comparable GBTA certificate (formerly SMMC) regarding parameters for using the CMM designation.”

MPI will re-issue new certificates to existing CMMs with the correct Certificate in Meeting Management branding, although no details have yet been announced.

As of press time, a resolution of that key issue had not been announced by GBTA.

Adding to the confusion and consternation is a basic misunderstanding among some planners and even some MPI Chapters over certification vs. certificate. MPI spokesperson Sonya Thorpe clarifies: “The CMM Program has been incorrectly branded/marketed as Certification in Meeting Management in the past; however, it has always been a certificate program since continuing education credits were not required to maintain the CMM.”

The Controversy Continues

Despite Van Deventer’s April letter, the controversy over the changes lingers.

“I was disappointed by what MPI did, because I don’t feel that they engaged even the faculty from the CMM program, much less the existing CMMs out there,” says Karen M. King, CMP, CMM, principal of Meeting Strategists LLC in Falmouth, Massachusetts. King earned her CMP credential in 1996 and became a CMM in 2005. Until recently, she served as a member of the CMM faculty, teaching the strategic financial management module.

Based on her 20 years of experience as an MPI member, King says she has an idea why things went wrong with the CMM initiative. “MPI frequently makes decisions without doing their due diligence,” she says. “And this incident was a perfect example of that, in the sense that they have now come back and said that because of the feedback they got from everyone that maybe they didn’t do the work they should have done before they made the decisions. It is unfortunate that MPI does not reach out to people before they do things.”

King also says she has a clear sense of MPI’s original motives which led to the controversy. “As a large organization, MPI has to target the lowest common denominator, which is your mid-level planner,” she says. “I think that for senior-level planners, they are missing the boat. And that’s why senior-level planners are looking for an alternative now.”

Carolyn Pund, CMP, CMM, senior manager, global strategic meetings management at Cisco in San Jose, California, is another veteran, high-profile CMM who took umbrage at the changes originally announced by MPI. “CMMs represent the industry’s senior meeting professionals — a group that MPI has struggled with over the past few years to retain,” Pund says. “I didn’t quite understand their strategy — or lack of strategy — to dismantle, reassign or revise something that was well-respected as a meetings management designation. The passion and pride of those of us holding a CMM were made quite obvious when significant changes were announced with minimal input from the CMM community.”

There is a certain irony, Pund notes, in the fact that the CMM designation has long focused on “leadership and acting strategically. I think in general, and from the discussions I heard and online forums I read, the initial execution by MPI/GBTA leadership was anything but strategic — it was a disconnect.”

“I believe MPI has now made the necessary revisions to maintain the integrity of the original program intent, although to get to this place they might have alienated even further that senior planner audience.”
— Carolyn Pund, CMP, CMM

That disconnect, King says, was largely based on a commercial desire by MPI and GBTA “to get more people into the (CMM) program. In 2005, when I achieved my CMM, we were doing Harvard Business School case study work to achieve our CMM.  It was then, and still should be, essentially like getting a master’s degree — not just (undergraduate) degree work. So to change it the way they have, I do think they have diminished what it used to be.”

‘A Disservice to the Meeting Industry’

Erin Stahowiak, CMP, CMM, project manager at McDonald’s Corpo­ration in Chicago and manager of the company’s SMM program, found the MPI situation “somewhat discouraging and disappointing.” Stahowiak earned her CMM certification in 2011.

She agrees with many other CMMs that the prestige of the designation has been diminished. Like many of her peers, she is not completely satisfied by the revisions announced in April. And like a number of CMMs she knows, she is not convinced the process has been concluded, because in her opinion MPI still has work to do to correct its mistakes and repair the damage done.

“It’s a disservice to the meeting industry and to meeting professionals to take away from the most prestigious certification that we have,” Stahowiak says. “People who hold that credential worked hard to get it through a rigorous program. And it’s rewarding to accomplish that. And when you tell people you’re a CMM it means something.”

But, she says, the actions by MPI have downgraded it and harmed its value. She also is frustrated by what she sees as poor handling of the episode by MPI, especially when it comes to communication. “They have suggested they included people in the decision-making process, but it lacked a collaborative approach that could have made the process much more positive for all sides,” she says.

Donna M. Patrick, CMP, CMM, associate director, global meetings and conventions at UnitedHealth Group in Minnetonka, Minnesota, agrees that MPI fumbled the ball in terms of how it handled its decision-making process.

“I was surprised that the matter wasn’t handled as well as it could have been,” says Patrick, who earned her CMM in 2001. “But with any change, there are things that are done right and things that aren’t. But there were things that just didn’t go right initially, and that included the communication of it. And we didn’t get the feeling that they asked the opinion of any existing CMMs. It was like they just took the changes out of a box and said here they are.”

Patrick was among the CMMs who had interaction with MPI after the initial announcement last December. She and her peers tried to focus on protecting the integrity of the respected and prestigious credential.

As a result of the ongoing debacle, she says, she is considering not renewing her MPI membership when it expires in August.

CMM Supporters Say Program Is Enhanced

Although there is no existing research that shows critics versus supporters of MPI’s updated changes announced in April, MPI president and CEO Paul Van Deventer says that a majority of CMMs now support the resolution agreed to based on the feedback received after the first announcement in December.

Among those who do support MPI are Tony Lorenz, CMM, founder and CEO of Chicago-based BXB Online. “I’ve been a CMM since 2000,” Lorenz says. “And since that time, just as you do with any program, I’ve seen that it needed to evolve and change. And there have been changes several times to the program before the most recent changes.”

Even Lorenz, however, acknowledges that Van Deventer and MPI chief operating officer Cindy D’Aoust could have done a better job of engaging the CMM community and making its initial decisions and announcement. “To be straight about it, with regard to Paul Van Deventer and the team at MPI, there may have been in hindsight a different approach to the input from the community that might have yielded a different response to phase one of the changes,” he says. “Those original changes were not very favorably received. And that caused a lot of reaction from the CMM community.”

At the same time, however, he takes issue with the CMMs who had such a vehement reaction to the changes. “My reaction was not so much to the changes themselves, but to the process by which people reacted to the changes,” Lorenz says. “I think there’s a right and wrong way to bring feedback to an organization like MPI, and I didn’t feel it was done in the right way. It should be transparent and fact-based. And I didn’t see enough of that.”

Today, Lorenz says, he is satisfied with the revised changes announced in Van Deventer’s April letter. “I accept them as favorable to the program overall,” he says. “Nothing is perfect in any certification program and never will be. But in the end, I think, MPI listened to the community and made changes to the program that are in the best interests of the program as they see it.”

“Nothing is perfect in any certification program and never will be. But in the end, I think, MPI listened to the community and made changes to the program that are in the best interests of the program as they see it.” — Tony Lorenz, CMM

He also notes that he knows a number of other CMMs who are satisfied with the changes and supportive of MPI. In the long run, he says, the new partnership between MPI and GBTA will enhance the CMM program and broaden its reach beyond just the meeting industry. “I think the program will now be more relevant to a wider business community than it was before.”

Pund also is personally satisfied with the revised program. “I believe MPI has now made the necessary revisions to maintain the integrity of the original program intent, although to get to this place they might have alienated even further that senior planner audience,” she says.

Van Deventer Says Changes Strengthen Program

MPI president and CEO Paul Van Deventer, who spoke exclusively with Corporate & Incentive Travel after reportedly declining other interviews earlier in the controversy, makes clear that he will not respond to the individual criticisms expressed in this article.

“I don’t want to speak to those statements, because I think we have a much broader community here. But the intent throughout this process was to enhance and to increase the value of the CMM program and to provide a program that continues to evolve and change as the industry evolves and changes.”

MPI moved forward with its new alliance with GBTA because a number of GBTA members are involved in meeting and event planning, Van Deventer says. “So we worked with them, as well as a task force group, to design a new (CMM) program,” he says.

Once the controversy over MPI’s original announcement in December became known, Van Deventer says, “The approach we took was to say we appreciate your concerns. We will listen to you. And we will ensure that where those concerns make sense and your recommendations make sense, we will integrate those to the (final) program to continue to enhance it.”

Like Lorenz, Van Deventer cites the fact that the program has undergone three cycles of revisions in its 16-year existence. “And for these most recent changes, we listened to the community, and we got some great feedback from a number of sources. We consolidated that feedback and worked with GBTA to get consensus with them on how we could make the program stronger. And those are the changes that we announced in the April letter and that are now being implemented.

“We feel really good about the changes, Van Deventer continues. “We feel that the program is still a very prestigious program, and that it is strengthened not only by the partnership with GBTA, but also by the partnerships we’ve created with prestigious universities such as the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. And those kinds of relationships add levels of consistency and credibility to the program, both inside and outside the meeting industry, that we really think enhance the program.”

Despite any lingering negativity to the contrary, Van Deventer says, the revisions announced in his April letter are acceptable to a majority of the CMM population. “In the broader community, including online CMM forums, they have been extremely receptive and very positive and fully behind the changes that have been made. And they are also supportive of the fact that MPI listened to the community.”

“We feel really good about the changes. We feel that the program is still a very prestigious program, and that it is strengthened not only by the partnership with GBTA, but also by the partnerships we’ve created.”
— Paul Van Deventer

Both MPI and GBTA, Van Deventer says, are satisfied that the process has been favorably resolved in everyone’s best interest and any isolated opinions from people still making criticisms after the April letter do not represent a dominant opinion, as demonstrated by the many positive comments MPI has received.

For their part, however, King and a number of her peers still object to the changes. “I just do not think they should be changing the CMM program at all,” she says. “I feel that they’ve dumbed down the CMM credential a number of times over the last 10 years. And I think they’re doing that purely to increase the number of people they can put through the program. It’s become more and more of a revenue generator for MPI. That’s the reality.”

She believes the recent controversy and lingering bad feelings from many veteran CMMs will do permanent damage to MPI’s reputation and credibility. “My fear is that they are going to lose their stronghold in the industry as the leading organization,” King says. “It saddens me to see that MPI is where they are. But they got themselves there.” C&IT

The Sky Terrace at the newly opened Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.

It’s no secret that Mexico has experienced its share of challenges in recent years. During that time, some companies shied away from the destination, while others relocated meetings they had initially booked there due to safety concerns. But thanks to a combination of a newly elected president (Enrique Peña Nieto) in 2012, an increased focus on safety and security, and significant investments being made in new properties and infrastructure, groups are once again heading south of the border with confidence.

Cecilia Cruz, executive director for the meetings industry for the Mexico Tourism Board in Washington DC, explained that Mexico’s new government is working hard to address areas of concern to make tourism in the country world class. “We are increasing security and doing many, many things in the cities, in the venues and in the resorts. I know it is one of the things that meeting planners care about. We also care very much about it. I think it is one of the most important things we’re working on.”

Adam Lawhorne, CITE, CIS, is CEO of Chicago-based Meeting Incentive Experts which operates offices in Los Cabos, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. “We are a planning company within a DMC, so we do both,” he explains. “We help bring people to the country, show them around, give them ideas on the hospitality and wonderful destination Mexico is, find out their objectives and see which destination fits best for them.”

Lawhorne cited the significant investments being made in new resorts and infrastructure in Mexico as evidence of the progress the country is making. “The people that are investing in the country are not just Mexicans, but also Europeans, Canadians and Americans. I don’t think they would invest that kind of money if they thought they were going to have a problem with violence and safety concerns. With this new president that has come in and the infrastructure and things that are changing and really getting better in Mexico, people are seeing a difference when they come down for a site inspection.”

Major U.S.-based hoteliers, such as InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Marriott, Hilton and W, among others, are making investments in meeting quality hotels. IHG alone will have invested $500 million in 47 new Mexico properties by the end of this year.

And major Mexican and international hoteliers such as Fiesta Americana, Grupo Presidente, Barceló Hotels & Resorts, Palace Resorts, Riu Hotels & Resorts and AM Resorts have made significant investments in new hotels and renovations of existing properties to stay abreast of their American competition.

For example, Grupo Presidente — which operates hotels across Mexico in destinations including Cancun, Los Cabos, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Ixtapa and Merida — has undertaken major renovations at its Presidente InterContinental Mexico City Polanco and the Presidente InterContinental Cancun Resort.

There also are new convention center facilities in Cabo San Lucas, Tijuana and Puebla.

Cancun

Michelle Machado, senior manager, marketing promotions for Herndon, Virginia-based XO Communications, recently brought a 150-person group of contest winners and their guests to the Sandos Cancun. “We were looking for a beach location that was pretty easy to get in and out of, and we also were looking for an all-inclusive-type property. Those are hard to find here in the states, so we thought the next best thing would be Mexico. A lot of us have had experience there and really liked it, so it was a good option for us.”

Prior to booking the event, Machado and her colleagues discussed safety issues and did a lot of research. “It seems that it’s more in the border towns (that problems were occurring), and not the resort communities, and so we decided to go ahead and go through with it, and we’re glad we did because we had a really great experience there. We didn’t have anyone bring up anything that caused anybody concern about someone’s safety. There were no incidents whatsoever.”

She described what she liked about the Sandos Cancun, an upscale, all-inclusive resort offering 214 guest rooms, five gourmet restaurants and bars, and an award-winning spa. “It’s a beautiful property. The beachfront was absolutely gorgeous — turquoise waters and white sand, and it was as clean as it could be. The food was really good. The property has a lot going on. They do a barbecue by the pool every afternoon. Our group really loved that. There were a lot of food options. The customer service is over the top. They’re just very good and will do anything to make sure your stay is pleasant.

Another factor in XO Communications’ decision to book its event at the Sandos Cancun is that it’s family friendly. Some all-inclusive properties are adults only.

“The proximity to activities was great,” she continues. “You are pretty much in the heart of town. You can walk to the main shopping areas. And they have this bus service. About every two minutes a bus passes you and it’s comparable to one U.S. dollar to hop on. They’re very safe and they seemed to be running from first thing in the morning to late into the evening. It was also easy to get in and out from an airport perspective.”

Machado planned a welcome reception the first evening. “It was just beautiful. They set it up in their gazebo area, and we had some beautiful Chinese lanterns and lights. It was just a really nice setting as the sun was setting on the beachfront. They did a nice job accommodating our private event.”

The destination and the resort were a big hit with Machado’s group. “Since we’ve gotten back, I’ve had a number of my folks ask me if I could get a discounted rate to go back with their families for a summer vacation,” she says.

Lawhorne explains that Cancun had to rebrand itself after Hurricane Wilma in 2005, which turned out to be a good thing. “They did a $20 million beach renovation in 2010, and now the beaches in Cancun are 30-40 yards deep from the hotels. It’s something that Cancun has never had before. The beaches are wonderful to do events on, from teambuilding to theme parties, and we have all this room now.”

He also noted all of the new hotels that are coming into play. “They’re renovating hotels and turning them into deluxe all-inclusives because that seems to be the craze in Mexico, even for meetings, so the planner doesn’t get a bill at the end of the program and say ‘look at how much money we’ve spent on food and beverage.’ Now they know what it will be upfront. We have a client who was doing a meeting in Chicago for 450 people…and they moved it to Cancun because it was cheaper.”

Palace Resorts completed a $55 million renovation and expansion of its landmark, 2,409-room Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort in Cancun. The expansion included the addition of the new 140,000-sf Moon Palace Arena, which joined the resort’s existing 55,850-sf Lower Level Universal Ballroom, 36,000-sf Upper Level Universal Ballroom and the 26,800-sf Galactic Ballroom.

Riviera Maya

Spanning south of Cancun along the country’s Caribbean coast, Riviera Maya is a popular meeting and incentive destination known for its eco-adventures and more than 80 miles of coastline. “Cancun and Riviera Maya are so different,” Lawhorne states. “They’re basically two destinations with one airport. You have the whole corridor, which is about 60 miles long all the way down to Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which has beautiful new hotels, from all-inclusives to deluxe E.P. hotels that are really good for meetings and incentive programs. They’re world-class hotels like Rosewood (Mayakoba) and Banyan Tree (Mayakoba). And then there’s Secrets (Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun).

“The one hotel that is unbelievably gorgeous, is Nizuc (Resort & Spa). It’s a five-star hotel with five-star dining options, a beautiful beach…a huge spa and a beautiful convention center. It’s absolutely gorgeous. If you’re looking for a top class meeting destination, that hotel would blow away a Four Seasons anywhere in the world. It’s a pretty amazing property.” The 274-room Nizuc Resort & Spa, which just opened in March, is located on the Nizuc peninsula at the gateway of the Riviera Maya, and less than 20 minutes from Cancun International Airport. Set on 29 acres, the luxury resort offers multiple pools, six restaurants, a 30,000-sf spa, two exclusive beaches and easy access to the region’s natural wonders, archaeological sites and attractions. All of the resort’s accommodations are suites or villas.

This month, Hard Rock International opened the world’s fourth all-inclusive Hard Rock property with the debut of the 1,264-room Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. In addition to 88,915 sf of meeting and event space, the hotel features expansive outdoor pools, a private beach, nine world-class restaurants, and eight bars and lounges.

Barceló Maya is a 2,751-room family-friendly resort comprised of five all-inclusive hotels and one of the longest stretches of private beach access in the area. Two of the hotels, the Barceló Maya Beach and the Barceló Maya Caribe, are currently undergoing a $48 million renovation. Phase one of the project has been completed, and the second phase is scheduled to be wrapped up by the end of 2014. The Barceló Maya complex also features one of the largest convention centers in Riviera Maya.

Los Cabos

Lawhorne says that Los Cabos was voted the safest destination in Mexico last year by the secretary of tourism. “It’s really going through a growing spurt right now,” he explains. “We’re going to be adding about 1,000 hotel rooms in the next year, which is tremendous. We have a new Secrets project…in Puerto Los Cabos, which is a new area right by San Jose. It’s a large, large area with a new marina that opened a couple of years ago. There’s room for about five hotels that are being planned right now.” AMResorts opened Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort in December with 500 suites, 16,000 sf of meeting space and access to the Puerto Los Cabos community’s amenities, including the full-service marina, and a Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman-designed golf course.

“Another great thing about Los Cabos,” Lawhorne continues, “is our new international terminal.” He notes that the new terminal can handle large aircraft, and it also has air-conditioned jetways, along with six baggage claim areas and an improved traffic flow through customs and immigration.

Lawhorne credits the G20 summit, which was held in Los Cabos in 2012, for many of the area’s recent improvements. “We have a new convention center now which is green certified.” The $100 million, 72,000-sf Los Cabos Convention Center, which opened in 2012, features solar panels and the largest green wall in the world. “Right now, with the new hotel builds and the convention center, we can now do citywides, which is really important for Cabo. We’re also adding more and more air lift.” He noted new service from Austin, Orange County, Dallas and San Diego as examples.

The Sandos Finisterra Los Cabos Resort opened last year. Formerly known as the Finisterra Hotel, the property has been transformed into a 288-room all-inclusive luxury resort. Of particular interest to groups staying at the resort during the time frame of January through April, will be the top floor suite that has been converted into a whale-watching bar.

Also opening last year was the all-inclusive, 619-room Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos. Located just minutes from San Jose del Cabo, the AAA Four Diamond beachfront property offers all-suite accommodations, eight restaurants, a spa, nightly entertainment and more than 35,000 sf of meeting space.

Puerto Vallarta

“I want meeting planners to know that we are considering Puerto Vallarta/Nayarit a new destination altogether,” Cruz states. “The two governments of those states are working together to make one destination, so we have more connectivity to this side of the country. We have good, good, venues in Puerto Vallarta, and also we have five-star hotels there, and more in Nayarit, so it is becoming one of the best destinations for meetings.”

“Puerto Vallarta is one of the cities that has had a really tough time,” Lawhorne notes, “it has had some bad negative press, but things are really turning around. Planners are really starting to see the value for Puerto Vallarta, the cobblestone streets, the beautiful history, all the shopping, all the great dining. Now there are two new hotel builds, and there hasn’t been any new hotel builds for 10 years. We have the first Hilton all-inclusive (Hilton Puerto Vallarta Resort). We have a beautiful convention center that was built (seven) years ago. We have a new Secrets (Vallarta Bay, Puerto Vallarta), an all-inclusive. All of these are on the beach, all of them are within five to 10 minutes from downtown and five to 10 minutes from the airport, which is a great thing for a meeting. Both of these hotels are wonderful. They’re really complementing the destination.

“The history of Puerto Vallarta has always been that there was nothing bad going on within the city,” he continues, “but if you went outside the city, there were some problems, but those have been corrected. I think that’s making people feel safer. I’m seeing more pharmaceutical companies, more real estate companies, health companies, computer companies.”

Mexico City

Mexico’s capital, Mexico City, has more than 21 million residents, making it the largest metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere. As the economic and business center of the country, Mexico City offers multiple world-class convention centers and more than 50,000 hotel rooms along with big city amenities such as art galleries and museums. It also offers easy air access with direct flights to and from cities around the globe.

The new 260-room Hilton Mexico City Santa Fe opened this spring in the Santa Fe business district of Mexico City. The hotel provides more than 8,000 sf of flexible meeting space, including a ballroom; a business center with six boardrooms; and a rooftop-level event space.

The St. Regis Mexico City unveiled three new meeting spaces last fall. The Madelaine Ballroom includes a terrace accommodating up to 400 guests, and two Orchid rooms provide space for more intimate events with up to 30 guests each. Guests staying at the property, which offers 189 rooms and suites, can take advantage of the brand’s signature 24-hour butler service.

Seeing is Believing

Cruz encourages planners to see what’s new in Mexico for themselves, citing Mexico Tourism’s “Live It to Believe It” campaign, launched last fall. “This campaign is really about inviting everyone to Mexico,” Cruz says. “If you don’t go, you can’t imagine how beautiful and how amazing it is — and not just our beaches and sun. We also have good venues and good cities and good infrastructure for all of the MICE segment. I invite the meeting planners to go and visit Mexico and live it to believe it. We will welcome them when they want to go and visit on a FAM trip or come to our road shows so they can know Mexico and do business in Mexico.” C&IT

An education session at a recent AIBTM.

Michael J. Lyons is exhibition director for Reed Travel Exhibitions, responsible for the management of AIBTM (The Americas Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition). Lyons is a respected veteran of the meetings/travel industry who held senior level posts with Carlson Wagonlit Travel, EGR International and McGettigan Partners (now Maritz). He was also the president and CEO of GEP Philly, a premier Destination Management Company. www.aibtm.com

There has never been any controversy over the value of professional credentials such as the CMP and CMM designations as career advancement tools. But until now, monitoring and managing certifications has often been a time-consuming and sometimes complex challenge.

The Americas Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (AIBTM), produced by Reed Exhibitions, aims to make that task easier with a new alliance with RecertTrack’s Association & Meeting Professional Advancement Portal.

The Web-based RecertTrack platform allows planners and other industry professionals, such as destination management executives, to track, update and store ongoing education information, as well as remind users when recertifications are due.

Career advancement for certified professionals in the meetings, incentive, conference and exhibition industry is highly dependent on education, and keeping track of continuing education units (CEU) and other documentation is vital. The industry has been in need of automated re-certification tracking for a long time, and AIBTM is pleased to join with RecertTrack to offer the Association & Meeting Professional Advancement Portal at our show in Orlando June 10–12.

AIBTM is the first and only meeting industry organization to partner with RecertTrack and offer online document management and automated recertification tracking, notes RecertTrack founder and CEO Cedric Calhoun, who will head a “To Certify or Not to Certify” education session at AIBTM next month.

Achieving certifications and continuing education credits and then storing and managing them can be considered too time-consuming or even overlooked altogether. Is that the next “meaning of life” question for the meetings and events industry? The meeting and events industry generates substantial revenues that support the gross domestic product. However, meeting and event professionals do not receive the recognition for the work that they do from government entities and industry largely because there is a lack of a formal structure for continuing education, and the industry is largely disjointed. There are many event management programs throughout the U.S. and Europe, but what happens after the program is completed? Where is the formal structure to continue the learning process? Is there a place for certification that requires continuing education and demonstration of knowledge over time?

Such existential questions and many more will be discussed by our education session panelists in an interactive format with the audience at AIBTM.

AIBTM works closely with CIC, PCMA, IAEE, Site and MPI to ensure the relevance of our educational content. Topics include hot current issues such as SMM, certification, global meetings, experiential design, content creation, the use of technology and even what food to serve. At this year’s event in Orlando, MPI will make a presentation on the future of meetings.

“We ask them what sessions they want to see at the next year’s show. So it’s not like we’re guessing at what meeting planners will find appealing. We’re giving people exactly what…they want.”

More than 20 complimentary sessions make up the education lineup in the Innovation Zone at AIBTM June 11 and June 12. Sessions include:

• 12 Ways to a Great User Experience. Put yourself in the position of attendees and learn how to avoid that one bad experience that can color an entire event.
• Unlock Your Event Data — The Smart Path to Enlightened Event Intelligence. How data can help you pick the right people and right place to create the right event.
• Hot Tech for Meeting Design. This is an interactive primer on using tablets, smartphones and laptops to enhance session design.
• Open TechBar. Here is where you can experience the latest technology and get the upper hand on how to use it.
• Surf the Content Marketing Wave. Learn to stand apart from the volume of material on the Internet and master content curation.
• Meeting Planning Automation. Put technology in perspective without getting left behind.
• Leveraging Mobile for Better, Greener and More Profitable Events. Using mobile has a number of advantages — for the user and the environment.

The key to AIBTM’s excellence is that all the educational content presented at our event is delivered in direct response to surveys that ask people what they most want to learn about. We ask them what sessions they want to see at the next year’s show. So it’s not like we’re guessing at what meeting planners will find appealing. We’re giving people exactly what they tell us they want. And we know from our surveys that the education is the No. 1 reason why planners come to our show.

And perhaps no industry topic is more important at the moment than education. C&IT

Enjoying the Matrix Communications Inc. reception at Sandals LaSource Grenada are (l to r) Karie Timion, Mark and Jocelyn Hechtl, John and Carolyn Mirviss, Brian and Lisa Finnvik, Craig and Suzanne Nordstrom, Dan Galbraith, Mary Jo McGowan, Charlie and Lori Eicher, Ann and Tom Pearson, Tammy Peterson and Jim Peterson, Steve and Kareen Ferry, Mike and Paulette Parrott, Frank Millo, Susan and Kevin Peters, Peter McAllister, Lori Robbins, Mike Ellis, Shannon and Jason Cardwell. Credit: Matrix Communications Inc.

At last, it seems the meeting industry can breathe a collective sigh of relief. After years of worrying whether the economy would take another dip or how things would play out for the industry, The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) in early April significantly increased its forecast for the year, driven in large part by healthy corporate profits, rising management confidence and increased job development — a continued positive sign for the U.S. economy.

GBTA’s outlook for group travel was revised to increase 7 percent in 2014 to $126 billion — up from the 6.5 percent growth GBTA predicted last quarter.

While corporate meetings in many industries have remained relatively healthy throughout the recession, small meetings and executive retreats have increasingly come under scrutiny. Because they affect fewer people — and thus can be seen to have less valuable results for the expenditure — and can be perceived as “splashy” spending that only benefits upper management, many small meetings face the prospect of being replaced by lesser digital versions or phased out.

Always an inventive group, planners have responded to these challenges by showing why small meetings and executive retreats serve a crucial role for corporations. Planners today are engineering the intangible: intimate meetings that spark genuine connections among attendees.

Unique Venues and Unusual Spaces Help Planners Create Connections

As technology has become ever more integrated into meetings, and the recession has made budget and ROI come into focus more than ever, many fear that meetings — particularly small, face-to-face meetings — are in danger of losing out in the digital revolution. According to Meeting Professionals International’s Outlook 2014, 54 percent of meeting professionals are using digital or hybrid meetings.

But corporate planners — and their companies — still believe in the significance of face-to-face interaction. MPI’s study, based on a survey of meeting planners around the globe conducted by Association Insights, reports that only 3 percent of meeting planners are using virtual and hybrid to completely replace face-to-face meetings.

One of the key ways planners are continuing to demonstrate the value of in-person interaction is by putting extra effort into fostering attendee interaction through the specific spaces they’re choosing for their meetings. “I deal with investor meetings, executive retreats, strategy summits, board meetings and dinners, and corporate golf and tennis tournaments here and have in the past for other small- and medium-sized businesses that I’ve worked for, and I’ve found that companies are going more towards smaller venues,” explains Christine M. Eggert, CAP, MCT, executive assistant and office supervisor at Ewing, New Jersey-based Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc.

“I find that small venues are great because they provide us with personal attention in a private setting. It’s very important for our people to maximize interaction among attendees. I see better interaction when it’s a relaxed setting,” she says. “For instance, when I’m looking out of town, I don’t look for a conference room but rather a hotel suite living room, because there is more comfort there but there is still catering capability and the same quality of audio-visual capability. When I am booking a meeting that’s local, I insist that I go to the site before booking to check it out and make sure it has the meeting space we’re looking for but it’s also intimate.”

Increasingly, venues are responding to planners’ need for intimate spaces that foster interaction by renovation or restricting their venues to create unique spaces. In an interview in the MPI report, Darren Temple of the MPI Dallas Fort Worth Chapter and chief sales officer for the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau explains that the CVB is planning to reconfigure their ballroom space to accommodate these requests for smaller meeting and multi-use spaces.

“It’s about unique spaces for people to collaborate. We think that’s what meeting planners are requesting. There’s an emphasis on education and ways to collaborate. Sometimes that takes place in very small environments,” Temple says in the report.

Hilton Worldwide also has already responded to this need by launching a small-meeting-specific planning tool in November of last year as part of their Connect online meeting-planning portal. Called “Meetings Simplified,” the tool highlights properties that offer packages for 25 or few attendees with Wi-Fi, flip charts and beverages automatically included, and options for meals and guest rooms.

Planners and Hotel Staff Work More Closely Together

As the meeting planning business picks up and expands, hotels have been reacting to the increase in demand as basic economics dictates, raising prices when they can’t increase supply. But while planners around the U.S have been struggling to find space for many of their events, small and executive meetings are experiencing an interesting inverse of that: increased hotel availability and attention as venues look to cater to this market share.

Matrix Communications Marketing Director Karie Timion with Francine Stewart of Sandals La Source Granada.

Associated Luxury Hotels Interna­tional (ALHI) has responded to this need on the part of small meeting planners by creating the U-200 Gems Collection — a new specialty segment of their portfolio that highlights more than 20 member hotels with 200 rooms or fewer. “These gems can provide a wonderful, secluded atmosphere for your group, which can be particularly appealing if you have a very tight-knit group, one that requires privacy or total confidentiality, or one that wishes to utilize the property’s beautiful public spaces for private functions,” says David Gabri, president and CEO of ALHI in a statement on the new collection. “These hotels and resorts also enable smaller groups to be the main program at their property, which can have its benefits too.”

For planners looking to engineer an event that fosters interaction and breeds connection, buy-in from hotel staff is a key piece of the puzzle. “Besides booking early to make sure you get the space you want, I think having a terrific rapport with the site is one of the most important parts of planning small meetings, because if they know you’re organized and detailed oriented, they’re more likely to bend over backward,” explains Eggert.

Karie Timion, marketing director at Plymouth, Minnesota-based Matrix Communications Inc., agrees. “The success of our Grenada trip began far before we arrived with the talented assistance of Antonecia Sweeting, Sandals group events coordinator, and Francine Stewart, Sandals resort sales manager. Antonecia worked with me remotely prior to our trip to ensure our group was registered accurately and our group celebration dinner was planned down to the last detail.

“In general, we have found the Sandals brand focuses on complete customer satisfaction, and it aligns perfectly with what our organization looks for in a resort and destination.” — Karie Timion

“On the property, I began working with Francine Stewart, and I knew from the moment I met her that our group was in very good hands. She took care of our group with grace and excellence that made our entire party feel like we were the only guests she had to attend to on the entire island. Francine went above and beyond to always make herself available to assist during the entire stay to ensure our group was completely satisfied,” adds Timion.

“In general, we have found the Sandals brand focuses on complete customer satisfaction, and it aligns perfectly with what our organization looks for in a resort and destination,” says Timion. “You can always rely on Sandals as they focus on the ultimate experience for their guests.”

When hotel staff treats your attendees as if they are special guests, they feel increased connection to the location, event and each other. Carol A. Monaco, executive assistant of Netherlands-headquartered Damco Distribution Services Inc., has experienced this during her company’s executive retreat at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. “We’re a company that provides service to clients, so we know how important that is, and we want people to come back to us.” Monaco, who is located in Damco’s Madison, New Jersey, office, explains, “One thing that stood out for us during our executive retreat at The Broadmoor was definitely their customer service. The moment you check in to when you’re having breakfast to when people are just walking by, people who work at the hotel greet you by name.”

“One thing that stood out for us during our executive retreat at The Broadmoor was definitely their customer service. The moment you check in to when you’re having breakfast to when people are just walking by, people who work at the hotel greet you by name.”
— Carol A. Monaco

Like Eggert and Timion, Monaco has found that securing a connection with hotel staff early on in the planning process goes a long way to ensure an intimate event that goes off with a hitch. “We originally went last November to speak to the folks that would handle our account, and they were wonderful,” Monaco explains. “We went back in January, and there wasn’t anything that wasn’t covered. They work with you, and they will do anything they can to make sure you are completely happy. The food, the facilities, the cleanliness, and we had quite a few things that we did offsite that they arranged for us and all went perfectly.”

Activities That Create Unexpected Connections

Planners have long understood the value of giving meeting attendees an experience they couldn’t have anywhere else as a way to bond them, but today, one of the best ways to do so is to tie your activities to your location.

The days of flying in top singers, bands or comedy headliners are gone, and not just because of budget. When you provide attendees with an activity or experience you could only have in the location you’re in, it provides an extra element of exclusivity that also ties in to the rest of the meeting and reinforces the memory of the event for attendees.

Timion has planned incentive trips for her company’s “President’s Club” for 13 years, and this year, she found a way to make the flight home into an experience attendees won’t soon forget. On the way back from Grenada, the flight scheduled necessitated that her group have a long layover in Miami. Rather than have attendees pass the time in the airport, she arranged an excursion into Miami’s most exciting neighborhood for the afternoon. “The group ventured out to South Beach to check out the local fare on the way home. It turned a long travel day into yet one more day of vacation in the sun,” she says.

When Monaco held her executive retreat at The Broadmoor, the hotel delivered everything she could have hoped for as far as the meeting was concerned, but it was the activities the hotel helped her organize that really stayed with attendees. “All our meetings were at the hotel, and they had the Cheyenne Lodge located on their premise, a seven-minute drive up a mountain,” she explains. “We went up with provided vans for dinner one evening, and a local woman who raises wolves as her pets brought them into the lodge during dinner. We did it to surprise my boss because it was his birthday. They were very sweet, and there were a couple (of pets) that were there for an hour. People were petting them, and it was a very surprising experience.”

The Broadmoor’s 6,300-sf Cheyenne Lodge, adjacent to the Mountain golf course, offers both indoor and outdoor event and conference space.

“One night we had dinner offsite at the Olympic Training Center (in Colorado Springs),” she continues. “The chef from The Broadmoor came and cooked for us and three Olympic gymnasts performed for us. They don’t just let anyone have dinner there. We were able to go because The Broadmoor has a relationship.”

Relying on the relationships of the venue and their staff allows planners to create an experience for attendees that highlights parts of the meeting location planners might not know about otherwise. “For our incentive, we had 30 attendees, basically the employee who had been awarded the trip and their guests,” says Timion. “Sandals LaSource Grenada had just opened December 2013, and the property was incredible from the room configurations, amenities, décor, waterfalls, pools, which were all over-the-top gorgeous.”

But rather than stick with beach and pool time, she followed the hotel’s recommendations to integrate an exploration of Grenada, including St. Georges, the capital of the Grenada, known for its market square where locals shop for fresh fruit and fish. “We had a sunset cruise along the coast of Grenada organized by Island Routes, the Sandals excursion desk, and a trip to St. Georges to experience the local market and restaurants,” she says.

How Do You Decide When to Go Digital?

Deciding who travels and when is a decision that ultimately comes down to senior management, but it appears that more and more meetings are taking place across city, state and country lines.

MPI’s Outlook 2014 reports that 30 percent of respondents are using digital or hybrid components to integrate onsite and remote meeting elements. “Videoconferencing has become more widely used, and we’re using conference calling more,” says Eggert. “If we’re so busy in one area of the country, we can’t be everywhere, so we might meet individuals in New York, but then need to ‘meet’ individuals in San Francisco in another hour.”

“Most meetings can be WebEx, and most of mine are,” agrees Danell Smith-Wright, senior executive assistant, meeting planner, at Hillsboro, Oregon-based Grass Valley USA LLC. “Not board meetings, obviously. We have 100 percent attendance for those, though I suppose if one of the members had to be teleconferenced in you could, but that would be on an emergency basis.

“The CEO makes the call on whether a meeting should be face-to-face or digital, sometimes based on information I don’t have, but there is always a specific reason for a face-to-face meeting. In my experience, it’s been because he wants to impart some critical information to the leadership team to do with acquisitions, layoffs, reorganization or information that he needs to share and would like to share that face-to-face.”

“But with our technological tools, we’re able to not necessarily have face-to-face meetings or need them that often,” she explains. “I’m located in Northern California, and so we’re always looking at what kind of tools we can use to have cost savings and increase efficiency.

“Leadership team members don’t need to fly across the country to have a meeting, we can use tools like WebEx and even Skype once in a while, to have digital face-to-face meetings and be just as effective. We use other technology to share documentation, like DropBox, then everyone has the documents and we jump on, and we’re all set, says Smith-Wright.”

The MPI study also found that 24 percent of meeting planners are using digital or hybrid tools to enhance face-to-face meetings. Increased incorporation of technology into small meetings often has more to do with ease than need, however. While planners once risked wasting valuable meeting time making sure everyone was properly connected to a video conference or online PowerPoint presentation, the mainstreaming of digital meeting technologies — along with lower prices that are easier to fit into budgets — has made it more of a no-brainer to incorporate a digital element into meetings.

“I find that now technology is easier and more affordable,” Eggert explains. “Recently we got involved with Office 365, and I personally ran a workshop recently that used Microsoft Lync. The whole webinar, including video, PowerPoint and audio, ran online from the beginning, and it was a cinch. It’s extremely affordable, just $2 or $5 per month per user. Now you don’t necessarily have to purchase GoToMeeting because you can do it so much more affordably now.”

Small Meetings, Strong Results

While you may keep seeing sensational headlines touting that digital is killing face-to-face meetings or that small meetings are getting the budget axe, planners’ experiences, hotel programs and raw data still speak to the contrary.

Companies, particularly upper management, continue to see the value in small meetings for connecting employees for meaningful results, strategizing and delivering key information, while planners work more closely than ever with venues to create intimate meetings in unique spaces that make successful small meetings practically a guaranteed result. C&IT