Meeting fatigue is common among attendees who sit too long and too often, especially during lengthy and tightly scheduled programs. Lethargic attendees are inattentive and less able to retain information. Providing endless supplies of coffee during meetings has been a customary solution. However, drained attendees need more than short-lived caffeine and sugar boosts.

They need to get moving. Physical activities and exercise, even in moderation for short periods, can increase oxygen and blood flow, jump-start attentiveness, enhance attendee experiences and help achieve meeting goals.

More attendees are requesting physical activities ranging from stretching and yoga breaks to exercise classes and fitness-related teambuilding activities. The demand for new and unique physical activities is rising, especially among millennials, who make up about half the workforce. In addition, older attendees, who have experienced years of traditional meeting activities, also want new options.

As a result, including a wider variety of physical activities has become a priority for planners. According to the Incentive Research Foundation’s Wellness in Meetings and Incentive Travel Study, 87 percent of planners believe wellness is a key focus when planning events. Also, more than 90 percent of corporate planners feel enthusiastic about wellness.

Increased Focus

Planners who are enthusiastic about the benefits of physical activities during or before meetings include Joanne Orlando, CMP, account manager of Schaumburg, Illinois-based, Total Event Resources, who says, “Physical activities will get attendees energized with increase blood flow between seated meetings. Attendees’ focus will be increased after a physical activity resulting in higher information retention. They will be more willing and open to interact and network as physical activities are a good icebreaker and energizer.”

Judy Meyers, owner of HPM Associates Inc., a Whittier, North Carolina-based meetings and incentive travel firm, agrees, especially when it comes to teambuilding.

“Attendees’ focus will be increased after a physical activity resulting in higher information retention.” — Joanne Orlando, CMP

“Generally, the goals of a corporate meeting or incentive program are improving communication, increasing motivation, identifying leadership and encouraging bonding,” she says. “A well-planned, exciting and fun group physical teambuilding activity should help achieve all these goals.

“When people work together in a contained indoor and mostly sedentary setting, the scope of their interactions is limited,” Meyers says. “Physical activities inside or outside the location will let them see and experience themselves and each other in a new and different way. They will share the rewards that are inherent in these types of activities.”

Jay Klein, CMP, COO, of Coral Gables, Florida-based A-plus Meetings and Incentives, adds that physical activities can improve attendees’ attitudes toward their employers.

“The physical activities show attendees that the employer cares about their well-being enough to coordinate these programs,” says Klein. “Beyond that, with the sedentary nature of most meetings combined with the volume of food and drink, means that attendees who can exercise during the program will be more alert and ready to absorb the content being presented. They’ll also have more energy for evening networking activities.”

Due to the many benefits of physical activities, Klein encourages corporations to include them during meetings and events. “Almost every program we plan these days includes some sort of physical activity,” says Klein. “We’ll usually have 10 to 20 participants for a program of 500 people, with many more utilizing the fitness center.”

Robust Physical Activities

While some attendees prefer moderate activities during or between onsite meetings, others want vigorous workouts.

For Klein, “These programs typically involve early morning fitness programs. We try to vary it daily, but usually it will include yoga, kickboxing or boot camp workouts. Kickboxing and boot camp are definitely the most popular, along with early morning hikes or biking (depending on the location of the program).

“The feedback is universally positive, both from the physical fitness aspect and for the teambuilding/networking,” says Klein.

Cindy Lo, DMCP, president of Red Velvet Events, finds that many corporate meetings want 1K runs.

“These are typically for multiday conferences for corporate clients where they want to offer a physical activity before they start their standard meeting agenda,” says Lo. “For the runs, we can have anywhere from 10 to 50 participants. We typically encourage our clients to pre-register, so we know the interest level.

“The runs are usually for meetings where everyone does not know each other and are attending for education or networking,” says Lo. “Overall, the runs have been enjoyable, especially in a city like Austin, where you can start your run from the hotel lobby and visit the Texas State Capitol, and see all the fun and colorful art murals we have that make us different.”

Moderate Activity Helps

Even activities that require moderate physical exertion can improve attendee alertness, especially if they move constantly from station to station.

For example, Orlando planned outdoor physical activities at the Schaumburg Boomers Stadium, where 100 sales employees of a payroll and human capital management software solutions company convened for some friendly competition.

“The activities we planned included a scavenger hunt, inflatable games, mini-arcade games and baseball-style carnival games,” she says. “Through strong branding, fun interactive activities and downtime out of the office, attendees had a great time getting to know other employees while letting their competitive side show. The events were designed to create strong team bonding while pushing employees to meet their yearly goals.”

Communicate for Turnout

Planners should schedule physical activities strategically and communicate details in advance for maximum benefit on attendees and meeting goals.

According to Lo, “I have found that it’s very important to communicate early and clearly on when these activities will take place, if there’s a sign-up required, what to pack and wear and if there’s limited capacity. Sometimes, people get so busy, they miss the initial sign-up and get upset if they do. It definitely helps to have a plan B readily available if too many people show up.”

Klein believes attendees benefit best from before-breakfast workouts. “We find that the programs should be scheduled in the early morning prior to breakfast, which is when many people prefer to work out, and it doesn’t impact the agenda,” he says. “For mandatory teambuilding exercises, usually later in the afternoon works well.”

Meyers also favors morning workouts. “One of my favorites is an early morning hike, bike ride or something out in nature that awakens the body, the senses and the spirit,” she says. “A group could be divided into teams with tasks or stops to make along the route.

“The event would culminate in a healthy breakfast meeting in which they can debrief what they learned during the activity,” says Meyers. “Following the breakfast meeting, they should be energized and ready for a productive day.”

Flexible Scheduling

Another option for Meyers is scheduling physical activities throughout the entire meeting agenda to give attendees a choice of times.

“During the event, schedule a morning break time and an afternoon break to take a brief walk or other activity,” she says. “It is always helpful to have your last day of the program be a half-day in order to incorporate a physical activity as the last part of the overall event. This leads to additional comradery that will leave a lasting impression.”

Meyers also planned another event that included yoga sessions throughout the day so attendees could choose which time they wanted to attend.

Despite planners’ push for physical activities during meetings, some are cautious.

According to Lo, “I would say unless a company culture is all about physical activities, most companies want to play it safe and have minimal physical activities. We have to incorporate limited liability waivers for many physical activities and, depending on how large the client is, they usually try to avoid these situations per their company policy.

“However, having said all this, I am a fan of getting out of the hotel ballroom and doing something that can re-energize your attendees,” she adds. “After all, that’s why physically interactive experiences are still top of the wish list when it comes to meeting planning and gets high marks from attendees.”

Even the most cautious planners can find several activities to make meeting agendas less sedentary. The options range from short fitness breaks to thrill-seeking activities.

Active Teambuilding

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can combine physical activities and teambuilding that get attendees moving while fostering meeting goals and engagement.

Klein often suggests that corporate groups include active CSR teambuilding. “It has definitely taken over the teambuilding programs we do, either with something like a build-a-bike program for Boys and Girls Clubs or helping a school with painting, clean-up or other maintenance requirements,” he says.

“For teambuilding, we recently took a group of 100 leaders from a telecommunications technology company to a local school to paint it and build planters,” says Klein. “This was exceptionally popular, especially at the end of the day when many of the young students joined our attendees to help. It was a great give-back to the host community and met the meeting objectives for networking and teambuilding.”

Meyers cites a unique example of active teambuilding. “We have planned teambuilding programs with a company called the Academy for Coaching with Horses based in Mexico City,” she says. “New perspectives are gained because, when training and working with horses, you will see things as you never have before, which facilitates deep and true change.

“This methodology takes teambuilding to an entirely new level,” adds Meyers. “This is not the typical teambuilding activity that fits into one short session of a meeting. It is an unusual format in its time requirement.”

Meyers recommends another example of active teambuilding. “Full-day experiences, such as foraging for a culinary experience for glamping (an upscale form of camping) in hill country, can be incorporated for events that are less meeting-focused and can be customized for a unique attendee experience,” she says.

A growing number of venues offers activities that get attendees moving. Here are some examples:

• Cirque du Soleil’s Spark Sessions teambuilding activities permit groups of up to 40 to learn basic acrobatic moves and choreography from world-class acrobats. Spark Sessions are held in Las Vegas, Orlando and Mexico’s Riviera Maya.
• Topgolf, a chain of more than 35 golf-related theme parks in the U.S., accommodates groups of up to 1,000 within several spaces located inside giant multilevel complexes. The facilities are climate-controlled, and attendees don’t need their own golf equipment.
• Competitive ping-pong venues are opening in major cities nationwide. One ping-pong chain, Spin, offers a funky, lively décor along with comfort food. Games can be designed for up to 10 players.
• Food Truck Challenge allows teams to compete to develop a food truck concept. Teams create a truck name, logo, menu and cook the dishes while developing a cardboard truck façade. Groups have two hours to complete the challenge, which is offered by TeamBonding, a teambuilding company.

Light Activity Breaks

No-sweat activity breaks can be provided in meeting rooms by an instructor from a local fitness center or via video.

The breaks can consist of simple stretching and movements to get blood flowing. Make the breaks short and sweat-free so attendees can do the activities in their clothing and even while seated.

Other options: Distribute Fitbits to attendees and use the devices to encourage physical activities. For example, have attendees compete to walk the greatest distance during an entire event.

Maintain and distribute rankings through an event app, and award prizes to the winners. In addition, planners can email or text tips to attendees for using simple physical activities to keep themselves energized during meetings.

Exercise Lounges

Set up a dedicated lounge or room where an instructor leads attendees through exercises, such as yoga, Zumba, aerobics, tai chi or spin classes. For example, last year, IMEX America set up a Be Well Lounge in a breakout room, where wellness experts led yoga classes and mediation sessions. More than 1,200 people attended the lounge, according IMEX America.

Thrill-seeking

Millennials have helped increase the variety of physical teambuilding and other activities because they want more interactive, surprising and thrilling experiences. Planners cite examples such as a NASCAR ride-along, indoor skydiving, learning to fly a Cessna aircraft, rappelling, cave excursions and skydiving.

Given the demographic mix of attendees in many groups, one option is providing a choice of thrilling and more traditional physical activities. That’s what Lo did.

“On a recent company incentive trip, we offered the group a choice between something that was active and less active and about half the team chose the more active, thrill-seeking option,” says Lo.

“It was extreme tubing (think white-water rafting but on a tube),” she adds. “There were a lot of big rocks. We still tell stories about it today, and I had T-shirts made after the event to say, ‘we survived.’”

Some planners, including Klein, take a cautious approach to thrill-seeking activities. “We rarely do truly thrill-seeking activities due to liability concerns, but on incentives, we’ll frequently offer zip lining or ATV riding,” he says. “We’ve also rented out a B-17 aircraft for rides. There is a small portion of our attendee base that might like the adrenaline rush, but it’s usually not for the full group.”

Meetings that require groups to spend most of their time onsite can take advantage of the increasing number of options offered by hotels and resorts. Some examples are:

Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, allows Navy SEALs to lead group training sessions and competitions.

Gateway Canyons Resort & Spa in Gateway, Colorado, offers group cattle drives in which attendees help cowboys gather cattle off several hundred acres and direct them to corrals.

Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Arizona offers aerial yoga that suspends guests from hammocks, HoopFiT resistance training on LED-lighted hula hoops and core-strengthening workouts.

Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate offers competitive Laser Skeet Shooting.

Planners looking to try a new physical activity should remember that it will not be a hit just because attendees haven’t done it before. That’s why it’s crucial to know the group.

Planners suggest asking the following questions to determine attendees’ experiences with past physical activities.

• What physical activities have attendees enjoyed and not enjoyed in the past?
• Do they prefer indoor or outdoor activities?
• Is the group up to the challenge of a physically demanding activity if one is desired?
• What are the group’s interests?

More planners are doing what they can to include physical activities in programs to fight meeting fatigue and energize attendees.

Even minimal exercise or movement for short periods can stimulate attendee listening, learning and creativity. There are many simple and inexpensive options for including physical activities in meetings and many benefits to doing so. C&IT

When people and data are threatened, when attendees are not safe at conferences or in public places, when terrorists attack crowds with assault weapons, who is to blame?

April Starkloff, DMCP, event producer with PRA Chicago, points to recent court filings and litigation for perspective.

“The world in which we live has changed,” she says. “As planners, it’s not only our responsibility to plan amazing events but to make sure the people attending them are safe. Across the United States, many criminal tragedies have taken place in very public spaces. In the aftermath, lawsuits have been filed against those who planned the events. The litigation has been filed referencing the planners’ ‘Duty of Care’ or the ‘Reasonable Foreseeable Risk.’ Because of this, it has become more and more important to have documented and well-thought-out emergency plans.”

Whether planners are truly responsible or could reasonably see ahead to the horrific acts of deranged individuals, or even to the ever-evolving ingenuity of cyber criminals, could be debated. But what is absolutely certain is that every planner should have a comprehensive safety and security plan in place for every event, as well as thorough knowledge of the safety and security protocols and procedures at host venues.

Questions Are the Answer

“The most common safety and security issues we face are weather, civil unrest (i.e., protests), cyber security and traffic/transportation,” Starkloff says. “Creating an effective emergency plan based on the elements of your program is key. What are the foreseeable and possibly unforeseeable situations that you can plan for? You have to analyze the program and determine the risks and the best way to mitigate those risks.”

“As planners, it’s not only our responsibility to plan amazing events but to make sure the people attending them are safe.” — April Starkloff, DMCP

One way to do that is to ask a lot of questions early in the planning phase.

Among the questions Starkloff asks are: What has happened in the past? Are the attendees, speakers, subject matters or locations of the conference controversial? Are the attendees older or more likely to have medical issues? What weather-related risks are at the location? Again, what are the reasonable foreseeable risks, and what is the optimal mitigation plan?

Kristi Casey Sanders, CMP, CMM, DES, HMCC, director of community for MPI, agrees that planners must ask and answer critical questions in order to create truly effective plans.

“The best way to secure your meeting is to conduct a threat assessment and rank in priority what is most likely and what would have the biggest to least impact. Then, identify what risks you can mitigate with insurance or delegating liability and which ones you can minimize through best practices in risk management,” she says.

Once you’ve identified those, she says, “You can create a crisis-management plan for that event that will instruct your team on how to manage small and large threats that you are likely to face with that program. If you’re not familiar with best practices, MPI just published The Essential Guide to Safety and Security, which has nearly 400 best practices for various situations that you can look up and include in your plans.”

Sanders says weather is the most likely common hazard planners need to consider. “That’s far more likely than a terrorist attack or first-person shooter to disrupt your event. Yet planners need to create plans based on all kinds of possible scenarios and that includes assessing the venues to be used.”

To that end, Sanders has a comprehensive list of questions planners should ask personnel at hotels and event venues.

• What security protocols and procedures do you already have in place? What can you share with me? What can I share with my attendees?
• Can I speak to your head of security about this event?
• Do we need to bring any concerns to local law enforcement? (if protests, traffic issues or altercations are possible)
• If something happens, where are the nearest exits from this space?
• In case of fire, what do the building sirens sound like? Are there other warning signals for other incidents? What do they mean? What does the all-clear signal sound like?
• How far away is the nearest hospital? Do you have EMTs onsite? How would we get someone to emergency treatment if needed?
• Where are the defibrillators? Do you have epi-pens? How do I locate people who can use them?
• Do you have any materials I can share with my attendees?
• Can we create a cheat-sheet like an airline safety card to display during our walk-in slides, place on tables during general sessions or include in my attendees’ welcome bags?
• If meeting outdoors, what are plans B or C?
• If something happens and people can’t get out of the city, where would they be sheltered?
• Will you be able to give me a real-time rooming list so I know where all my people are on your property?

Starkloff advises planners to always request a walk-through of a venue ahead of an event to ascertain the answers to critical questions.

When it comes to weather, planners can keep watch, but it’s not always possible to know in advance how to react.

“Sometimes you just don’t know what will happen,” Starkloff says. “Yet it is the planner’s responsibility to understand what weather-related issues could come up and to formulate a plan. It’s important to make these calls ahead of time. Determine what circumstances would cause a venue change, cancellation or an evacuation and who will have the final authority to make the call. If these circumstances are agreed upon in advance, there will be no question on how to react.“

Sanders notes that planners can get alerts from the National Weather Service if necessary, and if problems seem eminent, there are other options and steps, as well.

“Some planners I’ve talked with have actually had events where they positioned contacts at 150 miles, 100 miles, 50 miles and 20 miles from the event center, who would then relay real-time weather data so they would know when or if to evacuate. You have to pay attention to the reports, be transparent with attendees and overcommunicate if you have to,” she adds. “You can also communicate with the local airport authority. If they’re thinking about canceling flights, you don’t want your attendees to get stranded.”

And, if anyone related to the city says it’s time to evacuate, she cautions, “don’t delay that decision.”

Meetings set on foreign soil have added safety and security concerns, not the least of which could be language issues in the middle of an emergency. Or a country might suddenly experience civil unrest although it wasn’t indicated at the start of the planning process for a conference.

Additionally, planners have to think about common types of crimes that occur in some countries, or the presence of certain illnesses, which could be different than those that typically occur in the United States.

“Is civil unrest an issue or are there certain health concerns or prevalent criminal activities, such as carjackings, kidnappings or pickpockets? If so, communicate to attendees how to protect themselves and which facilities and organizations should be trusted,” Starkloff says.

Sanders says attendees should also know how to register with their local embassy so they receive travel alerts and make it on lists for evacuation, should the need arise to leave the country.

“Depending on the location and the status of the attendees, you might need to have someone meet your delegates and help them get through customs. You also might need to provide ground transportation if taxis are unsafe,” she says.

Cyber and Tech Dangers

“One of the biggest changes is that cyber and other security issues are on people’s minds,” Sanders says. “Before, people would just leave name tags hanging out or post a list on the website of everyone who was coming. You’ll still see that happen, but it’s no longer prevalent because people are aware now of how those actions create vulnerabilities.”

Protecting attendee data has become a major concern, thanks in part to the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, which is intended to protect delegates from data breaches or any unauthorized use of their personal information.

And it’s not just relevant in Europe. “The first thing is to realize that GDPR is relevant globally,” says Mariela McIlwraith, CMP, CMM, director, industry advancement, with the Events Industry Council. “If your events hold personal information about EU citizens, then GDPR applies to your organization. In addition, more jurisdictions are developing regulations on this topic; as an example, the California Consumer Privacy Act.”

Handling data in general has become far more of an issue than it once was. As Sanders says, “You can’t email out lists of attendees anymore because if an EU citizen tells you to delete all their information, how are you going to track down and ensure compliance from everyone who had access to that email or file?”

Beyond that, she says, “You need to have a privacy policy on your event website and know how personal data is being handled, who has access to it and how it is used. Your IT or event-marketing partners need to be able to explain to you what steps they’re taking to be compliant. The good news is that if someone requests to have their data deleted, there are ways to scrub all the personally identifiable information from a record and encrypt it so that the identity is anonymous. However, the data you need to look at for your event historicals doesn’t disappear completely. Shifting the liability to your tech partners and letting them advise you is easier than trying to keep up with all of that yourself.”

There are other cyber challenges, as well. “Phishing scams are probably the biggest issue,” Sanders says. “Make sure your attendees know how to tell the difference between messages sent from you and imposter accounts. Train your staff to detect phishing so they don’t click on corrupt links or files that could hijack their computers or compromise your networks.”

Room-block poaching is one example of phishing. “Event professionals continue to be affected by room-block poaching, and it’s now affecting other areas of our industry, as well,” McIlwraith says. “This is related to cybersecurity in that poachers are using phishing practices to lure event participants and exhibitors into making bookings with fictitious room blocks.”

Using USB drives is also tricky. “Collecting presentations on USB drives the day of the event can put your systems and those of your presenters at risk,” McIlwraith says.

Sanders agrees. “USB drives are another way that malware can infect your systems, so don’t allow presenters to bring presentations on USB drives. Enforce the use of a presentation management system and make sure your AV team is wiping its computers every night,” she says.

Communication is Key

If there’s one element related to safety and security that everyone agrees is critical, it’s communication.

Starkloff notes that planners and key stakeholders should create a telephone tree in advance with clear instructions on who will call whom. Attendees should receive safety and security information in their registration information and they, too, should know where information will be coming from in the event of an emergency. An app would be one way to deliver emergency information, for example, and if that’s the case, attendees should know that downloading and using the app is important.

Signage at events can provide onsite safety and security information, and emails can be sent out at an event to follow up on what attendees have previously received when registering.

Sanders’ list of communication protocols includes early planning, practice plans and emcee announcements.

First, she says, collect emergency contact information and cell numbers at registration and let attendees know that you will only use the information in case of an emergency. Also, get attendees’ food allergy and physical-challenge information at registration and explain that you need this to ensure their safety and comfort.

Next on her list, “Send out crisis plans and communications in the know-before-you-go. Have an emergency checklist/info on walk-in slides in rotation, on table cards and/or in the welcome bags. Do an orientation with attendees so they’re prepared for what to do if something goes wrong. At one event, the emcee had people who knew CPR and how to operate defibrillators identify themselves and agree to help if something happened.”

Sanders adds that it’s critical to discuss emergency procedures with your staff, volunteers and vendors, and she suggests run-throughs with the pertinent teams. “Practice your crisis plans with your internal and external team, and see if there are any vulnerabilities or holes before anyone gets onsite.”

One area of technology that greatly benefits crisis communication is the use of chatbots. Elizabeth Glau, CMP, with Sciensio, notes that to use them effectively, steps must be taken first.

“Chatbots, or in our case, EventBots, are used in crisis communications. Once the team has determined there’s a message that needs to go out to all attendees, using SMS (text messaging) is the only way it will reach all attendees. No one is checking email, and not everyone downloads the app or turns on notifications in the app,” she says.

“This is why it’s crucial that organizers collect (require) mobile numbers from attendees when they register and let them know that is how they are going to communicate with them (via SMS). It’s also important to note,” Glau adds, “that you want all of your stakeholders in that communication system — staff, volunteers, vendors, etc., so they receive these important messages. Our platform allows you to text targeted messages as well if you’re faced with a scenario where you only want to communicate with a segment of your stakeholders or attendees.”

Best Practices

“Safety and security need to be top of mind and incorporated in all aspects of event management by all event stakeholders,” McIlwraith says.

In many ways, all of this seems obvious, yet it takes clear thought and attention to detail.

“You should plan your emergency policies and procedures with the same attention to detail as you do your events,” Starkloff says. “What is your duty of care and what are the reasonable foreseeable risks? If you base your emergency plan with this in mind, you have done your due diligence.”

Yet, it’s not as simple as make a plan and you’re done. “Communicate and practice it with your team and your attendees. And update it for every event,” Sanders says.

The good news is that safety and security should be a group effort.

“Planners don’t have to do it alone,” Sanders points out. “In fact, their work will be a lot easier if they leverage internal resources, such as people from procurement, IT, legal and events, and external partnerships with the venues and service providers, to review potential threats and work together to create, review and test the event’s risk management and crisis plans.” C&IT

After a $175 million renovation, the Ocean Resort Casino opened last June with 160,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting and event space. Credit: Ocean Resort Casino

At a time when many meeting planners are looking for something genuinely new and different to do, Atlantic City, one of the most historic and iconic beach destinations in the country, is undergoing a renaissance. And planners who discover it are often very pleasantly surprised by its scope and sophistication.

“We have world-class casino resorts in a true resort destination,” says Jim Wood, president and CEO of Meet AC, the city’s convention and visitors bureau. “We have beautiful, pristine beaches that a number of our major resorts sit on. We have the world-famous Atlantic City Boardwalk. We also offer a broad selection of nighttime entertainment. And we offer some of the best culinary experiences anyone could ever expect to have at a meeting.”

Jennie Tis, director of business development at local destination management company, Roberts Event Group, A Hosts Global Member, based in Philadelphia, adds that because of its evolution and transformation over the last few years, Atlantic City is now a formidable competitor in the national meetings market.

“It’s a fantastic meetings destination,” Tis says. “You really feel like you’re someplace that is special.”

It’s also unique and iconic, she says. The famous Atlantic City Boardwalk serves, in effect, as the trademark for a nationally known tourism brand that has endured for a century. “So that gives us a sort of cool ‘retro’ appeal,” Tis says.

“The thing that surprises some planners is the fact that we do have world-class casino resorts in a true resort setting that is truly spectacular.” — Jim Wood

Meeting planners who have recently taken groups to Atlantic City also give it high marks.

“Meetings at Atlantic City resorts are now seen in a much more positive light,” says Mona S. Meretsky, CSEP, president of Fort Lauderdale-based COMCOR Event & Meeting Production and COMCOR Consulting Services. Meretsky, who has chosen the destination for several meetings, cites its infrastructure, especially its major casino resorts, as an important benefit.

“Many of the big resorts are self-contained,” she says. “And there’s so much to do that your attendees never have to leave if they don’t want to. In turn, that generates more interaction and networking. The major casinos have outstanding restaurants. The entertainment is very good. And there are great recreational opportunities available. You can also get great value in Atlantic City.”

John Boyd, principal of Princeton, New Jersey-based The Boyd Company, one of the country’s oldest and best-known site-selection firms, has brought more than 50 meetings and events to Atlantic City over the years.

“It’s actually a multi-faceted city, with so much to see and do,” Boyd says. “There’s a great hospitality infrastructure. It also offers excellent accessibility from airports in New York City and Philadelphia. And now there is growing airlift from other cities, too.”

Beyond all of those attributes, Boyd says, there is an even more important benefit for him and his corporate clients. “Atlantic City is a place where people have fun,” he says. “And, among the senior executives with whom we work, that helps foster networking and improved personal relationships.”

Surprise, Surprise

Despite its long and illustrious history as a coveted East Coast vacation destination and a popular meetings destination for companies based in the northeast, Atlantic City surprises many meeting planners who visit for the first time.

“Until they actually come here, it’s often lost on meeting planners that Atlantic City does sit right on the Atlantic Ocean and that we have beautiful beaches,” Wood says. “The other thing that surprises some planners is the fact that we do have world-class casino resorts in a true resort setting that is truly spectacular.

“Another thing that surprises many planners is our size and capacity,” he says. “We have four properties that offer more than 2,000 rooms each — Tropicana, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and Harrah’s Resort. And all four of those resorts offer very, very good meeting space and meeting-related amenities, like a variety of fine-dining experiences, nightlife and entertainment. So when I say that comes as a surprise to planners who come for a site visit, it’s also a very pleasant surprise.”

Tis agrees that planners are often amazed by the scope of the destination. “They’re surprised by how big Atlantic City is, how many hotel properties there are and how many rooms we have.” For the record, there are more than 17,500. “And there are a lot of options, including non-gaming hotels like The Claridge, for planners. That level of variety often comes as a real surprise to planners.”

The biggest marvel, Wood and Tis say, is the extraordinary value that planners can take advantage of during the off-season.

“The most important thing about the destination when it comes to what meeting planners are looking for today,” Tis says, “is that they’re going to get luxury accommodations at a great value, as long as they don’t come between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when every town on the Jersey Shore is full with vacationers. And if you plan a meeting here between Labor Day and Memorial Day, you’re going to get beautiful rooms with beautiful views of the ocean at a fraction of the price you’d pay during the summer.”

In addition to exceptional value, Atlantic City offers pleasant weather in the spring and fall that avoids the sometimes extreme heat of summer.

New and Renovated Hotels

A key factor in Atlantic City’s current renaissance has been the emergence of three hotels as pillars of its meeting infrastructure.

Last June, after an extensive $175 million renovation, the former Revel property opened as the Ocean Resort Casino, a Hyatt-affiliated hotel. Ocean Resort Casino features 1,399 rooms and 160,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting and event space, which offers complimentary Wi-Fi. The resort’s trio of signature fine-dining restaurants are Amada, a tapas-style Spanish eatery that specializes in the regional fare of Andalucía; American Cut, an award-winning steakhouse and modern Italian restaurant Dolce Mare. Other amenities include the 40,000-square-foot Exhale Spa and a Topgolf Swing Suite that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.

“The great news about having Ocean open up,” Meet AC’s Wood says, “has been their commitment to reinvest into the property in order to keep improving it. For example, they are going to develop and complete the 500 rooms that were supposed to be located right in the middle of the hotel, but were not actually built as Revel because they lacked the capital to do it. Ocean already has 1,399 rooms open, so once the new rooms are completed, they’ll be up to 1,899.” Projected opening of the new rooms in summer 2020.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City also made its debut last June, on the site of the former Trump Taj Mahal, after a $500 million makeover.

Meeting attendees can’t miss the 60-foot-tall guitar outside of the hotel that has 2,000 guest rooms offering amazing views of either Atlantic City or the Atlantic Ocean and more than 150,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The 29,000-square-foot Seminole Ballroom can be divided into as many as six sections in order to accommodate everything from intimate concerts to large banquets. The Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena can stage general sessions for up to 7,000 attendees or be used for major concerts or other entertainment.

And speaking of entertainment, it’s what clearly defines the Hard Rock experience, making this resort casino property comparable to some Las Vegas hotels. With more than 20 nightlife and dining options onsite, as well as a casino featuring slots and table games, “the party never stops” at this newly opened resort. Attendees can have fun until the wee hours at venues such as DAER Nightclub, Sound Waves and Howie Mandel’s Comedy Club. When it comes to fine-dining, the hotel’s three flagship restaurants are Council Oak Fish, which specializes in ocean-to-table seafood and offers table-side caviar service; Kuro, a contemporary Japanese restaurant that features artisanal dishes crafted from ingredients sourced locally or imported from Japan; and Il Mulino, which serves classical “Old World” Italian cuisine, including homemade pastas and cheeses.

And there is, of course, a Hard Rock Cafe for more casual and fun dining. This 400-seat restaurant with the unique music memorabilia décor serves the savory fare guests know and love, plus some special dishes exclusive to this destination.

If shopping is on the agenda, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has that covered, too. A wide variety of shopping options are onsite, including a chic boutique, art gallery and Hard Rock gift shop. Attendees can get what they need without leaving the hotel.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City boasts one of the largest music memorabilia collections in the United States featuring one-of-a-kind items from artists such as The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Madonna, KISS and Bruce Springsteen. Highlights of the collection include the handwritten lyrics to “Imagine” by John Lennon, a black tuxedo from Dean Martin’s personal wardrobe and Elvis’ 1963 Rolls-Royce Phantom.

The arrival of the Hard Rock property marks an important milestone for Atlantic City. The appeal of the brand demographically will help bring to town younger, hipper groups, Wood says. “The curb appeal of the Hard Rock is definitely to a younger demographic. But what we’re also seeing with the new hotel, which is very important to the brand and the destination, is a major commitment to world-class entertainment. And that means we will rival any destination anywhere, including Las Vegas, when it comes to big-name entertainment.”

The third major pillar of the city’s hotel infrastructure is the 2,590-room Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, located in the exclusive Marina District. It features 125,000 square feet of meeting space, including the $125.8 million, state-of-the-art Waterfront Conference Center, now ranking as the largest meeting facility between Boston and Baltimore.

The three flagship fine-dining restaurants at Harrah’s are the new Gordon Ramsay Steak; Martorano’s, which serves classical Italian fare and what actor Al Pacino has called “the best meatballs on the planet” and Veracruz, which specializes in tapas and tacos.

Harrah’s is now completing a $56 million renovation of its 507-room Coastal Tower. The project is the latest phase of a $125 renovation and expansion undertaken over the last four years, in addition to the development of the conference center.

Harrah’s is vital to Atlantic City because of its long-standing, globally established parent brand, which represents the best of gaming, Wood says. “And on top of that, you have the incredible views in the Atlantic City property because of its location in the Marina District. The vistas are just gorgeous, and it’s also very relaxing.”

The Dining Scene

Yet another element of Atlantic City’s evolution has been the growth and increased sophistication of its local dining options.

“Almost everything that’s hot right now about Atlantic City dining has to do with the celebrity chef scene,” Tis says. “For example, Stephen Starr has Buddakhan and The Continental. Buddakhan serves modern Asian cuisine, and The Continental features a global tapas menu and a fantastic ambience that includes a sunken fire pit lounge and an outdoor patio. Newer restaurants include Olón by Jose Garces, which opened at The Tropicana about two years ago. It features wonderful fresh seafood. And another great new restaurant is Gordon Ramsay Steak at Harrah’s Resort. The Claridge, which is a non-gaming property, has a restaurant on its top floor called The VUE. It’s a more casual place, but the view is breathtaking. It also offers outdoor seating you can use at night for a spectacular experience.”

An oceanfront restaurant that Tis favors is The LandShark Bar & Grill, part of Jimmy Buffet’s dining and entertainment empire. “It’s located right on the beach,” Tis says. “So you get a sensational view, and it’s also a lot of fun.” Buyouts are available for groups of up to about 250 attendees.

Located just off the Boardwalk is the Orange Loop, which covers three beachfront blocks and features unique local restaurants and bars, as well as coffee shops and live music venues. Among its most popular establishments are Bourre, which features Cajun barbecue, and the recently opened Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall.

“The locally owned restaurant scene in Atlantic City is eclectic,” Body says, “especially in ethnic neighborhoods like Ducktown, which has great little Italian restaurants.”

Among the city’s other best restaurants are three major-brand steakhouses — The Palm Atlantic City, Morton’s The Steakhouse and Ruth’s Chris Steak House — as well as local Italian favorites Carmine’s and Il Verdi. Two of the most beloved and highly rated seafood restaurants are Harry’s Oyster Bar & Seafood and Chart House.

Offsite Venues and Activities

Although its day-to-day meeting infrastructure is dominated by the major resort hotels, Atlantic City offers a pair of eclectic offsite venues that Tis often recommends to her clients.

“One venue we really like is the Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University,” she says. “It’s truly something unique and different. It has arts exhibits that cycle through over the course of the year, and it shows Atlantic City in a way that most people don’t think of it because it doesn’t have anything to do with casino gaming. It has to do with culture and especially with pop art.

“Another venue we like very much is One Atlantic, located over the water on the boardwalk. It’s a private event venue that is also unique and different. It’s part of The Playground, which was formerly known as The Pier Shops. It has nice amenities like hardwood floors, as well as sweeping ocean views and beautiful space. And it can be customized to do smaller functions, like intimate cocktail parties, or lunches or dinners for as few as 50 people. Or you can go as high as 500 people for a seated dinner.”

Whenever Roberts Event Group submits a proposal, it also typically recommends activities that get attendees out on the water.

“So we recommend things like sunset boat cruises or deep-sea fishing charters,” Tis says. “We also can set up morning yoga classes on the beach, or at Ocean Resort we can do that in a ballroom overlooking the beach. We also now have a great local winery scene on the Jersey Shore. One we like is The Renault, which is about 15 minutes outside of town. Another fun activity is the Stockton Seaview Golf Club, which is a wonderful golf course for groups who want to work in some golf.”

Given everything that Atlantic City offers, Meet AC enthusiastically urges meeting planners who’ve never been to town to come for an exploratory site visit.

“We spend a lot of time bringing planners here,” Wood says. “We’re open to site inspections, by any planner, at any time. We’d love to show you around and show you what Atlantic City has to offer. And we’re confident that once you see it, you’ll want to come here for a meeting or conference.” C&IT

It’s not uncommon to close off streets in New Orleans for everyone — including meeting attendees — to join a parade! Credit: Terry Epton

New Orleans celebrated its 300th anniversary last year. For a city that lives to celebrate anything and everything, that’s a big deal.

New Orleans is a jewel that can’t be duplicated. It’s diverse and historic with music, food and deeply rooted traditions that sets it apart, all providing huge appeal for meeting planners and groups.

Yet, there are planners who feel just as strongly about Shreveport-Bossier in the northwest corner of the state. And, that’s good news. Louisiana offers choices.

New Orleans

The city’s joie de vivre, superb meeting infrastructure and the fact that attendees love it are just a few reasons the 2018 International Roofing Exposition with 10,076 attendees was set in New Orleans.

Tracy Garcia, CEM, show director with Informa Global Expositions, says, “Our exhibitor and attendee base love the multitude of activities New Orleans has to offer, from award-winning restaurants to art, architecture and live music. We survey our audience to see what cities they would like us to bring the show to, and New Orleans has been one of the top cities they’ve selected.”

Added to that, Garcia says, is the overall hotel product. “There is a property type, location and price point for everyone.”

“People want to come here, and they return repeatedly because it is uniquely authentic. It’s so instantly comfortable, generous and freewheeling; people give themselves permission to loosen up because it is not only OK but expected here.” — Terry Epton, CIS, CITE, DMCP

In total, the group used a large block of hotels, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and other venues for its February expo.

“We hold a welcome party the first night for all attendees,” Garcia says. “This year, it was at the historic Generations Hall, built in the 1820s as a sugar refinery. It combines a glimpse into the past with a state-of-the-art sound system that created a great backdrop to mingle and dance.”

Garcia calls the city’s convention center a superb facility. “From the director of sales to the convention service manager down to the folks working in the food courts, they understand the convention and meetings industry. They are always willing to help any way that they can. The facility is one of the most advanced in the country,” she says.

In addition to the team at the convention center, Garcia also lauds the staff at New Orleans & Company, the city’s CVB, for making planning easy. “They are very responsive and always on top of every detail. Their hospitality industry partners went out of their way to meet and exceed our expectations,” she says.

With a convention of this size, meeting and exhibition space are paramount.

“We use most of the capabilities offered by the convention center. The Wi-Fi capabilities are top-notch with a system of 183 Ximus APs and multiple bands. In addition, Wi-Fi was free in the public space of the facility,” Garcia notes. “The center also has cool digital products that can be used as sponsorships or show branding, including 52-inch monitors in the public space, an outdoor LED sign at the shuttle drop-off area and large, high-resolution signage at the entrance.”

Marketing assistance from New Orleans & Company also helped. “One challenge we have is that in our industry there is not a lot of drive-in traffic,” Garcia says. “However, the CVB went out of its way to help us market. A New Orleans & Company representative attended the prior year’s meeting to promote the city. They provided marketing assistance with custom promotion flyers, email address based on SIC codes and more.”

For some groups, the core hotel is meeting central. That was the case for the RenWeb Power Conference in July. Ginger Reed, director, value-added services with RenWeb, has high praise for the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, where the event with 1,100 attendees took place.

“Hyatt Regency New Orleans was a great location for us due to the size of the facility — the number of breakout rooms, size of those breakouts and number of sleeping rooms,” she says. “A large percentage of our customer base is located in the south, so location and ease of access made for a great fit, as well. We loved the fact that the hotel was close to the ‘action’ but not right in the middle of it. And, New Orleans has a great deal to offer as a destination.”

In addition to the variety of meeting space options, Reed liked the layout of space and the expertise of the hotel staff. “We appreciated how stacked the meeting space was for easy access between breakouts,” she says. “And, in nine years of hosting this conference, this team was the best! They were extremely visible and ahead of our needs at all times. There was great communication and availability pre-con, during
and post-con.

“The sales and event management teams were on it,” Reed continues. “Their organization, communication and commitment to every detail put me at ease throughout the process. During the conference, PSAV knocked it out of the park, as well, with internet connectivity in the meeting space. They also set up a table in one of the foyers to assist clients with connectivity on their devices.”

Connectivity is a critical issue for Reed. “This was our ninth annual conference, and up to this year, we had internet issues every conference. This year was different,” she says. “PSAV worked with us on delivering a conference with no connectivity issues at all. When you’re a software company training users on your system, and there are no outages during that training, that is huge.”

Reed says the group utilized a total of 34 meeting rooms — 30 breakouts, rooms for lunch and general-session and two conference rooms. “All rooms were set and refreshed without issue throughout the conference,” she says. “The catering team provided lunch. They moved people through seven to eight station locations very quickly. I don’t believe we’ve ever served lunch so quickly at any conference, not to mention the food quality was excellent. The staff in all areas worked with us to ensure the conference kept moving smoothly.”

Reed says there were no challenges in planning the event, but there were some uncertainties. “A few months out, we worked with the hotel on flipping some meeting rooms around for us to better meet our needs. After final approvals from another pending group, we were able to make those changes. It wasn’t a challenge, but a ‘what if’ in our planning,” she says.

The smoothness of the planning process was facilitated by the Hyatt’s staff. “They deliver on a quality experience and great customer service,” Reed says. “They’re a friendly team that loves their city and wants to make sure you and your attendees leave feeling like you’re family.”

To planners considering the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, Reed says, “Do it! You won’t regret your choice in property or city location. You’ll have amazing service, people, food and music.”

No one knows a city better than an experienced DMC and that’s certainly true of Hosts New Orleans, a Hosts Global member, headed up by president Terry Epton, CIS, CITE, DMCP.

“We have a broad selection of meeting hotels for groups of all sizes, but that’s not necessarily remarkable,” he says. “We’ve got a 1-million-plus-square-foot exhibition hall with its huge complement of meeting rooms for breakouts, spacious and well-appointed ballrooms, a theater and more. We’ve got ample and growing lift for a city of our size, with a new airport opening in early 2019. We’re well-known for the walkability of our popular visitor areas. You can check all the boxes. But there’s more.”

There is something magical about New Orleans, Epton says, something that’s irresistible to the people who know the city, and that is why New Orleans is a “bucket list” place.

“People want to come here, and they return repeatedly because it is uniquely authentic. It’s so instantly comfortable, generous and freewheeling; people give themselves permission to loosen up because it is not only OK but expected here,” he says. “It’s as if people’s personalities shift gears to a new reference frame … one where they stay up a little later than they normally do. They likely eat a little more than normal and drink a little more, too. This all adds up to being less inhibited, less guarded than usual. It’s liberating. Isn’t that the magic we all crave — permission to lighten up, relax and find personal joy?”

Then there’s the fact that planners have so many choices. “There are endless variations to develop a jaw-dropping program,” Epton notes. “We have so many more themes and one-of-a-kind venues that planners must often decide what not to do because there is so much. Just choosing restaurants here is a wonderful challenge. It’s all so delicious.”

There are 1,550 restaurants in New Orleans, Epton says. “The most per capita by far in the USA, because ‘we live to eat!’ We also have a music scene that is world-renowned. Several areas around the city feature live music clubs. Taking over a funky music club or restaurant for an event is something groups often choose to do.”

One of the city’s most well-known venues is Mardi Gras World, which Epton says is a favorite with all kinds of groups. “Many groups choose to go with a familiar theme and venue complex that can host all sizes and in a wide range of budgets,” he says. “This would be at the venue complex that comprises the River City Venues, more commonly known as Mardi Gras World. We’ve used it for groups ranging in size from thousands to smaller incentive events for a few hundred. Mardi Gras packs a punch, and when you’re looking for a party, it’s a natural.”

More popular lately, Epton notes, is the National WWII Museum. “It, too, is a complex of venues that can all be used for groups of all sizes. Smaller venues, such as the Stage Door Canteen, a WWII-themed USO club, is good for intimate gatherings. Sections such as the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, with its WWII-era airplanes hanging from the ceiling and tanks and other vehicles on the floor, work for larger groups. The entire facility can host thousands,” he says.

There is much more to be said about hotels, venues and infrastructure. But the bottom line, Epton says, is simple. “New Orleans is inspirational.”

Think about it, he continues. “Jazz, the root of all modern music, was invented here and is evolving to this day. Famous writers came to New Orleans to be inspired and find their words. Truman Capote and William Faulkner wrote here. So did Mark Twain, Ann Rice, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams. Artists and musicians have been here for hundreds of years finding their sound … their inspiration.”

What stands out about New Orleans? Epton asks. “People who come here are inspired, including groups who meet and travel here today. This is an added value that you cannot put a price on.”

Indeed. It’s also hard to put a price on a name, but the New Orleans CVB is betting that a change will yield positive results. As of May 2018, the organization became New Orleans & Company, a name, they say, that “better reflects the work that we do and the people we serve.”

In addition to the new terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, scheduled to open in May, the city is spending many millions on the historic riverfront redevelopment projects, which will provide access to 3.2 miles of contiguous space from Spanish Plaza to Crescent Park.

Over the past few years, the Omni Royal Orleans has been upgrading various parts of the hotel, from two luxury suites to all guest bathrooms, carpets, linens and furnishings. On the horizon: a reimagination of the rooftop pool area.

The Hyatt Regency New Orleans recently completed a technology upgrade. It now offers a state-of-the art system with up to 2 Gbps of internet bandwidth, the largest within the city. With more than 850 wireless access points, attendees are now guaranteed to stay connected.

Shreveport-Bossier

Located in the northwestern corner of Louisiana, the dual communities of Shreveport and Bossier City flank both sides of the Red River and offer excellent meeting and entertainment options for attendees and planners.

Omni Specialty Packaging, LLC, based in Shreveport, held its Omni-STIHL “Bayou State of Mind” seminar for two weeks at Eldorado Resort & Casino, drawing 50 attendees in each one-week session.

Leah Strickland, customer service representative with the company, says of the event: “Omni Specialty Packaging blends and packages a wide variety of two-cycle engine oils, passenger car motor oils, hydraulic oils, etc. We hosted a training seminar for territory managers, product managers and technical mangers from one of our customers, STIHL, Inc., last year. This event was based in Shreveport, so our guests could tour our manufacturing plant and our research and development laboratory. These guests were from all over the country, from Hawaii to New York.”

In addition to touring Omni’s plant and warehouse facilities, event attendees were treated to a welcome reception at the Eldorado’s Allure Ultra Lounge, as well as breakfast and meeting functions in the hotel’s ballrooms, meetings and lunch at the Regional Commerce Center at the Port of Shreveport-Bossier, a sunset roof function at the Remington Suite Hotel & Spa and dinner in the Remington’s Royale Ballroom. A day of tours and activities included guided fishing on Caddo Lake, golf at Southern Trace Country Club and sightseeing via limousine. The group also toured Shreveport’s new aquarium, just across the parking lot from the Eldorado, followed by a dinner on the patio of Salt, the aquarium’s restaurant.

Strickland has a multitude of recommendations for local expertise that planners can tap into.

“I highly recommend the Regional Commerce Center. Marilyn Haley and Michele Duet are fantastic to work with. The Remington Suite Hotel & Spa rooftop and Royale Ballroom have a warm, historical feel that our guests really enjoyed,” she says. “Kameron Simpson was a joy and had several great recommendations in utilizing the available spaces. This is a beautiful location, intimate yet spacious.”

Catering was also an important element. “We chose Maison Louisiane out of Natchitoches for our catering service for lunch at the Regional Commerce Center and for dinner at the Remington,” she says. “Keri Fidelak has a unique selection of menus. Everything they prepared was delightful, and all of Keri’s assistants were professional and friendly. In addition, Keri provided tablecloths for all offsite events.”

Strickland likes the indoor/outdoor spaces at the relatively new Shreveport Aquarium. “The rollup garage doors provide additional under-roof dining space with access to the fenced-in courtyard for a comfortable indoor/outdoor dining experience,” she says.

“Charlene Mahoney and her team were very accommodating and also provided a wide variety of menu choices.”

In addition, transportation was critical. “We contracted with iShuttle for smaller groups and transporting them to and from the airport,” Strickland says. “Philip Maxwell and his team go the extra mile to assist with any transportation needs. For the larger groups, we contracted with Peter Ramsey at Red River Trailways and Charlotte Stephens at Tri-City Charter. We had positive experiences with both companies.”

Strickland calls the day of recreation a huge success, thanks in large part to the guides. “The guided fishing trips were coordinated by Mike Echols. He knows how to run a bass tournament! Many of these guest anglers had never wet a hook before, and Mike paired them with seasoned, successful and patient fishing guides,” she says. “They also knew the history of Caddo Lake, which added to the great time our guests experienced fishing there.”

Local step-on guide Johnny Wessler led the sightseeing tour. “We highly recommend Johnny,” Strickland says. “He has a wealth of knowledge about our area and makes tours fun and exciting. Our guests rode in style in a limousine from Shreveport Limousine. The company provides quality, customized service. The sightseeing group was also impressed with a tasty lunch at Abby Singer’s Bistro inside the Robinson Film Center. The food and service is always on point.”

As for golfing at Southern Trace, Strickland says, “Nathan Barrow always aims to please guest golfers and never disappoints.”

Staff at the Eldorado Resort & Casino went above and beyond. “We have worked with Jessica Ray and Laurie Green and their teams many times. They are professional and go the extra mile. For example, on the day of departure, some of our guests’ flights were very early in the morning. As part of our company’s southern hospitality and customer service, we had an Omni employee and an Eldorado employee, Moe, in the lobby as early as 3 a.m. to send the guests off with a hug or handshake and a continental breakfast. Moe was very helpful in assuring that this small gesture was successful,” Strickland says.

Planners, she adds, should definitely consider the Eldorado and enlist the help of Ray, sales and catering manager. “Express the expectations and wishes up-front. Jessica will let you know if it’s possible. Honestly, she has not told us no yet!”

As with any event, Strickland notes, “I suggest staying organized, communicating often and expressing concerns and compliments as they happen. People get busy, and events are a team effort that require focus. I am extremely blessed to work with many people that are willing to share their various talents.”

New Orleans and Shreveport-Bossier City are just two Louisiana options. Other possibilities include Baton Rouge, Lafayette, the Northshore and Lake Charles.

Wherever groups choose to meet, however, one thing is certain: Southern hospitality will be front and center, as it is arguably the most deeply rooted tradition of all across the entire state. C&IT

From using smartphones to measure steps walked during a wellness conference to participating in event-wide “competitions” among attendees, the gamification of corporate events and meetings management has taken center stage.

Gamification, or gaming strategy, is the utilization of technology to entice meeting attendees in various ways. Social media and interactive networks are increasing daily, and many people are using these interactions to engage audiences like never before.

Making an Impact

Gamification of meetings and events takes many forms. At a recent internal company event at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Florida, one of Cvent’s partners centered their gamification efforts around the Harry Potter theme and made the game interactive within the park. They sorted attendees into “houses,” and displayed the houses on a leaderboard to encourage friendly competition. They utilized beacons onsite that sent push notifications to attendees as they approached certain areas of the conference.

For example, “The game theme completely matched the rest of the event and brought a new level of interaction to the mobile experience maximizing attendee engagement,” says Myllisa Patterson, corporate meeting expert and senior marketing director at Cvent.

The above example illustrates how, over the course of the last decade, meeting professionals have seen the mobile phone go from a future-learning technology to a vital tool in people’s everyday life.

“Eighty-four percent of people say they couldn’t go a single day without their mobile device, and that reliance doesn’t stop at a conference,” Patterson says. “Before we knew about mobile event apps and gamification, the meetings and events industry was struggling to reach an audience whose attention was split between the live event experience and the mobile experience.”

“Gamification plays to our competitive nature as humans and keeps attendees coming back to use your technology.” — Rachel Butts

Now, many event professionals have recognized the importance of turning what was once a distraction into an opportunity, and because of this, gamification plays a more significant role in enhancing the attendee experience.

Consider this: Today, almost all of consumers’ favorite mobile apps are gamified, without them even realizing it. Starbucks rewards patrons win free drinks when they’ve collected enough gold stars (earned from previous purchases). Fitbit has daily challenges where an individual can compete in a step competition with friends, strangers and even themselves. And, navigation apps, like Waze, are getting into gamification, letting a person “level up” after reporting a certain number of road incidents.

As Patterson explains, attendees now expect to be digitally connected with others (and with an event) even before they are onsite, and upon arrival, they like to be able to find exactly what they need when they need it — just as they can do with their other daily tasks.

“We are seeing higher mobile adoption and more attendee engagement than ever before, and we can thank gamification and mobile event apps for making that possible,” Patterson says.

With nearly 10,000 events utilizing Cvent’s mobile app solution this year alone, Cvent has seen incredibly creative implementations of gamification across events of all sizes. The company also uses mobile event apps and gamification for its internal events with employees.

“With a dispersed workforce, it allows for a really great way to stay connected and engage with each other across time zones and borders,” Patterson says.

For instance, before and during an event, Cvent corporate meeting planners have mobile apps and gamification being used to share directions to conference venues and highlight other nearby spots where attendees may want to congregate and explore.

“Our clients are also using mobile apps to offer attendees a better way to browse session information and find the content that best applies to them,” Patterson says. “The ability to easily make an agenda more personalized is a major driver for app adoption, as attendees want to make the most out of their time spent onsite.”

Meeting and event planner Karen Shackman, founder of Shackman & Associates, has recently incorporated gamification into corporate and incentive travel in several ways, including a popular twist on the teambuilding spy scavenger hunt.

Scavenger hunts are hitting a new level in New York City, and the “hot” item to be found is a “kidnapped” executive or colleague.

As Shackman explains, this person is the star of up to four video clues delivered to teams of attendees via their mobile devices. The clues outline a sinister plot against the company, and the group is on a race against time as spies try to find secret information — which can be physical items hidden in public or via beacons — that helps the rescue and saves the company or group from disaster.

Whether it is for a unique new twist in scavenger hunts for destination meetings or as a collaborative way to plan off-hours experiences, virtual reality within gamification is the next big thing in 2019 and beyond for corporate meeting gaming.

“In the case of scavenger hunts, players can learn about the city or the challenge themselves by doing more than simply collecting items; they can take over territory, collect virtual items and use them to become more influential,” Shackman says.

This helps attendees experience areas and locations from the game in real life. Running a virtual reality scavenger hunt in a destination meeting can also help customize an exciting downtime itinerary.

“We have found that millennials, in particular, do not want to be simply trucked around in a group,” Shackman says. “We are seeing huge growth in augmented reality scavenger hunts. This is a huge step forward in location-based reality games for corporate teambuilding. Instead of playing on a Google Map layout, as with other platforms, players can walk around in the real world as they look at their screens.”

Gamification also has found its home on the convention floor. Samuel Smith, managing director at Interactive Meeting Technology, says an information services company used event gamification to connect customers to content, drive them to the trade show floor and to staff-led demos. Players were given a list of challenges that they could complete either on their phone, at a kiosk (in the trade show area) or by participating in a short demo presentation. Once players reached 3,000 points, they were allowed to spin the prize wheel.

“As compared to a typical event gamification activation, earning spins on the prize wheel doubled attendee participation and quadrupled the total number of challenges that were completed,” Smith says. “Individual exhibitors felt like they had more booth traffic, the client collected more data to be used for market insights and attendees appreciated the instant gratification of getting a prize at the prize wheel — rather than waiting until the end of the event.”

Jamie Moran, CEO and co-founder of Scavify, a gamification app, works with conferences and event planners to boost attendee engagement by having attendees complete different interactive challenges (snap photos, record videos, location check-ins, quizzes, scan QR codes, etc.) to get points and earn rewards.

“Just as many other aspects of the events industry have become increasingly focused around mobile strategies, gamification has also become increasingly focused around mobile technology,” Moran says. “Paper bingo cards and physical stamps for vendor passport programs have been replaced by QR codes and scanners built directly into each attendee’s device.”

While many of the mechanics remain the same — points, leaderboards, rewards, etc. — the medium is now largely mobile and more interactive. The most common examples of gamification Moran has seen implemented involve encouraging interaction between attendees and an event’s vendors, sponsors and themes. This is often in the form of digital passport programs or scavenger hunts, where attendees scan QR codes to verify visits to vendor booths, take photos and videos capturing their interactions around the event, sharing these interactions on social media and answering trivia questions in real time.

Pros and Cons

The original benefit of gamification involved getting attendees — who were looking at their phones anyway — to at least be engaged with the event when doing so.

“Gamification is the ability to effectively incentivize and motivate actions and behavior by transforming an otherwise ordinary activity or program into something that feels more like a game,” Moran says. “Building competition, points, leaderboards and rewards into an activity can greatly increase participation and interaction.”

Gamification is also fairly easy to incorporate into activities to make them fun for attendees without sacrificing higher-level event goals.

As Patterson explains, while that’s still a valuable function, apps have become much more sophisticated, and one of the biggest advantages of event app gamification today is enhancing the attendee experience.

“Many of the people at your event or conference are going to be navigating unfamiliar venues with schedules that are jam-packed,” Patterson says. “We’ve found that carefully curated gamification can really draw people into the app and encourage them to use it.”

Gamification is like the gateway into getting attendees to realize the time-saving tool that is at their fingertips — empowering them to make faster and smarter decisions about where and with whom they will spend their time onsite.

Additionally, gamification is a great way to increase foot traffic to booths at an event. By giving unique QR codes to booths and assigning points for every QR code scanned, meeting planners can instantly boost traffic and engagement. It also gives attendees the opportunity to move around the event and strike up conversations with more people.

Patterson says one thing to note is that there is a fine line between engagement and distraction.

“If attendees are more involved with the game — even more so than the content being provided onsite — it might be time to address how the live event experience is engaging attendees,” she says.

Another downfall of gamification is that if the game is no longer fun, attendees may stop using the app completely.

“We encourage our clients to consider who the audience of the event is and to tailor any gamification to that crowd. Plan ahead so it doesn’t become stale or a distraction before the event concludes,” Patterson says.

So how can gamification increase mobile adoption on the part of attendees, and why is it important to do so?

As Patterson explains, gamification is one of the best ways to guarantee event app adoption. In fact, 59 percent of the top performers in Cvent’s Mobile Event App Benchmark Report were those who used some form of gamification.

She points out that the same report finds that gamification boosts engagement by 44 percent and drives a 95 percent increase in user contribution.

“Gamification is not only increasing mobile adoption, but providing those who do adopt a more captivating and engaging experience that they are looking for,” Patterson says.

Making the Most of Gamification

The same mechanics that make gamification effective for encouraging participation in activities can also be applied to driving attendees to a broader adoption of an event’s greater mobile strategy. This includes providing attendees incentives and rewards for interacting with the event on their mobile devices.

“This gives event organizers an additional avenue for attendees to become aware of, engage and ultimately adopt the event’s entire mobile medium beyond the initial gamification activity,” Moran says.

With mobile being such a critical platform for events to provide information, generate additional revenue through sponsorship opportunities and connect attendees to social media, it is important for event organizers to create multiple avenues like these to serve as entry points for engaging attendees on mobile that can then be used to further expand broader mobile adoption.

To make the most of gamification and engage attendees, meeting planners need to have a well-designed plan around the key aspects — desired attendee actions, competitive elements, rewards, etc.

Moran says it’s also important to support the activity with proper messaging and promotion, provide attractive rewards for attendees and think through the effort required by attendees and the rewards needed to motivate it.

“It also helps to incorporate physical displays throughout the event that promote the activity through things like TV monitor displays of leaderboards, photos streams and social media streams,” he says. “All of these strategies will help increase awareness and incentivize participation.”

Other ways to make gamification at a meeting or event successful include:

Make it fun. Gamification is one of the best ways to guarantee event app adoption. Patterson says that if the game isn’t fun, doesn’t have a clear purpose and doesn’t align with the event goals, a meeting planner can bet that attendees will stop using the app.

“Inject friendly competition by including a leaderboard that displays the top 10 players with the highest scores to motivate attendees to keep playing,” she says. “Up the stakes by having prizes for the top three players.”

Make it fair. As much as friendly competition in gamification is a good motivator, it is not unheard of for highly competitive individuals to take the game too far. These players are the ones that run around the event doing everything humanly possible to move themselves up on the leaderboard. Perhaps they’ve even found a loophole that allows them to get ahead with minimal effort.

“While this can be easily avoided, it’s still possible,” Patterson says. “And, seeing someone skyrocket up the leaderboard can discourage others from playing the game, as they have lost hope of ever catching up to win.”

Meeting planners can minimize this risk by adjusting players’ scores accordingly and actively monitoring the leaderboard for any outliers. Another best practice is refreshing the leaderboard at the end of each day to give players an even playing field the next day and adding up total scores at the end of the event.

Make it beneficial. Rachel Butts, solutions development manager at Brightspot Incentives & Events, says that while most mobile apps will be downloaded by a majority of attendees, many won’t interact with the app unless there’s something in it for them.

“Gamification plays to our competitive nature as humans and keeps attendees coming back to use your technology,” she says. “Through gamification, you can drive your attendees to use the app daily — or more if you’re doing it right. Attendees gain insights from the information they’re receiving, sponsors gain recognition through in-app advertisements and investors see the ROI of the product.”

Brightspot is a big proponent of using gamification in the meetings they plan to help facilitate networking and educational opportunities.

“We know people are constantly using their phones to take photos, so we build on that trend and award points for uploading relevant photos to the activity feed,” Butts says. “During a recent trade show, we saw unprecedented participation, including an upload of 1,200 photos — two times the number of app users at the conference.”

A key piece to successful gamification is making it easy for attendees to get something out of the event, all while having fun. For example, Patterson suggests using gamification to promote networking, which can be difficult for many attendees.

“With the help of gamification, attendees can more easily break the ice. By adding points to certain networking activities, it encourages attendees to talk to one another, while still gaining traction in the game,” she says.

Mistakes to Avoid

When incorporating gamification into a meeting or event, there are some key mistakes that planners should try to avoid. For instance, a crucial piece of successful implementation of gamification is making it easy for attendees to get something out of the event and incorporating a little fun along the way.

“A common mistake that we see are games that are neither engaging nor beneficial to the attendee and exist solely as a cool aside to the event or conference,” Patterson says. “It can be easy to get carried away with gamification and gamify everything, leaving little meaning to the game itself. Gamification works best when the purpose of the game aligns closely with the goals of the event. Designing a successful game is as much strategy as it is creativity.”

While gamification can be a powerful tool, it, like most other things, requires the proper framework and support in order to maximize its potential.

As Moran explains, it’s easy to fall into the trap of tacking on a last-minute “gamification feature” to an event app or slapping some points and a leaderboard on an activity without thinking through the actual attendee experience.

“This superficial level of gamification may make organizers feel like they are ticking the gamification box, but their activities often fall flat because the attendee experience is poor, or the core gamification elements and greater strategy are not well-aligned,” he says.

Another common mistake Moran sees event organizers make is not spending enough time mapping out and understanding their overall gamification strategy. This includes the event goals, actions they want attendees to take and the balance between effort required by attendees and the rewards needed to incentivize those actions.

Moran says it’s also easy to forget other key support elements that can greatly impact the outcome of your gamification strategy, including proper messaging and promotion of the activity, communicating with relevant stakeholders (i.e., vendors, sponsors, other event personnel), providing supporting displays throughout the event space that showcases activity (i.e., photo streams, social media streams, leaderboards) and investing in rewards that are actually attractive to attendees.

Down the Road

The role of gamification in the future of meetings and events is unknown; however, considering how people are embracing technology in all aspects of their personal and professional lives, it is most likely here to stay.

In fact, the Cvent teams sees a future where gamification continues to grow in its role as a driver of attendee engagement, along with exciting developments in the tech world, including augmented reality. With augmented reality, attendees can bring gamification to life just by using their smartphones.

“What was once a game relegated to the two-dimensional view on the mobile screen can become a more engaging 3D experience in real-time,” Patterson says. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality doesn’t isolate the user with a headset, but instead allows for a more unique and interactive real-life experience that can be shared with those around them.

Patterson predicts that venue maps will become easier to navigate with 3D displays, and beacons will be able to send out push notifications for gamified promotional activities, such as helping the event’s mascot find treasure hidden onsite.

“The opportunities really are only limited to our imagination, and as technology progresses, so too will the mobile technology and gamification offered at live events,” she says. “And, we’ll be exploring all of the opportunities.”

Moran believes many of the core mechanics of gamification will remain the same over time — points, leaderboards, competition, rewards, etc. — but the types of experiences that incorporate gamification will continue to evolve with technology. Over time, these experiences will become more and more interactive.

“Virtual and augmented reality are well underway and will continue to improve and make for more interactive experiences for attendees,” he says. “As mobile apps and technology continue to evolve and improve, additional functionality that makes tracking attendee activity, creating more personalized experiences and measuring engagement will become easier for both attendees and organizers.” C&IT

New developments in Oklahoma City include a $288 million convention center, opening in 2020, and the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel, set to open in early 2021. A new streetcar system will link these venues to the downtown district. Credit: Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau

While CVBs are in the hospitality industry, the term “hospitality” may not encapsulate the full palette of services they offer meeting clients. Going well beyond providing friendly, logistical service to incoming groups, CVBs are often strategic partners in event promotion and design. Indeed, creativity and resourcefulness in these areas is a way of standing out among competitor bureaus that all offer similar basic services, such as housing, registration and volunteer support. Both event promotion and design are also vehicles to express the city’s unique character to attendees, and there are no better consultants on local culture than CVB staff. The best CVBs can translate that culture into events that align with a client’s corporate culture and enlist local partners to realize that vision.

Visit Indy

A prime example is the work of the Indianapolis CVB, whose senior convention services manager, Roberta Tisdul, CMP, recently helped customize an offsite event for one of Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop’s key vendors. The event was part of the August 2018 GameStop Conference. Tisdul first took the GameStop planner and vendor on a tour of several venue options. The planner opted to do a food truck block party on the event promenade just outside the Indiana Convention Center. Tisdul also brought in Accent Indy, a local DMC, to help execute the event, which followed the “festivalization” trend.

“We have been incorporating festivalization more and more into our culture to create organic and socially dynamic attendee interactions with our sponsors,” explains Samantha Vogel, CMP, senior manager, meetings & travel, GameStop. “Knowing our culture, Roberta helped us source a DMC that could take our GameStop vision and incorporate our sponsor’s vision to design a one-of-a-kind festival atmosphere that thrilled our attendees and sponsor. Client service from CVBs like Visit Indy that go above and beyond logistics, instead truly immersing themselves into client cultures, helps planners take their events to the next level.”

“Client service from CVBs like Visit Indy that go above and beyond logistics, instead truly immersing themselves into client cultures, helps planners take their events to the next level.” — Samantha Vogel, CMP

That kind of service also takes “Hoosier Hospitality” to the next level and is part of the reason GameStop is returning to Indianapolis in 2020.

Visit Jacksonville

Finding an event venue that fits all of the client’s parameters and symbolizes the city can be challenging, and thus, an opportunity for a CVB to really shine.

Visit Jacksonville begins this process by collecting key data. Last year, a technical/engineering group client of the CVB was looking for an offsite venue that accommodated 200 to 225 attendees and was “unique to the city of Jacksonville and spoke to the city’s assets,” says Courtney (Hartert) Gumbinger, CMP, CHS, director of convention services for Visit Jacksonville. “We had them share with us things they had done in prior years so we didn’t include similar venues. We always ask a series of questions to help us recommend venues for them to visit while onsite. We provided them with descriptions, pictures and links, and had them narrow down their selection to the venues they wanted to see.”

After that initial stage in site selection, Visit Jacksonville arranged the kind of site visits that convey the character and event potential of each option.

“We arranged personalized visits at three of the venues that we thought would fit their request,” Gumbinger says. “At Sweet Pete’s candy store, we arranged for ‘Sweet Pete’ himself to do the chocolate tour and allowed them to [sample] a sweet of their choice in the store. At The River Club [a historic downtown social and business club], we arranged a group photo to be taken with the iconic river view behind them. For the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, we wanted them to experience a unique way of getting their attendees there, so we arranged transportation with our St. Johns River Taxi to escort them to the venue and back.”

After these experiences, the client was able to make a well-informed choice: the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. “The river view, entertainment options and the river taxi were their reasons for choosing this venue,” Gumbinger explains.

The CVB also assisted in promoting the event with items such as posters, visitor guides, “This Bag is Headed for Fun in Jax” luggage tags and a promotional video. Their staff created a customized microsite for the group with all the information attendees would need to plan their trip to Jacksonville.

“Included in the microsite was information that we would be at the hotel during registration to answer any questions they may have about Jacksonville,” Gumbinger says. “Attendance was not tracked, but we believe this positively impacted both the hotels and surrounding businesses as it created greater awareness and comfort to explore area restaurants and activities. …We come prepared for any question we may get — anything from ‘How do I get around?’ to ‘Where can I get the best shrimp ‘n’ grits?’ Our favorite question is, ‘If I could only do one thing while in Jacksonville, what should it be?’”

As a concession, the CVB offers attendees shuttle service on a night of their choice to help them explore surrounding neighborhoods.

Visit New Orleans

When a multilevel marketing organization brought its annual meeting to the Big Easy for the first time, they wanted to kick off the event with a unique New Orleans experience for the roughly 18,000 attendees. New Orleans & Company was tasked with helping to pinpoint the ideal venue partner among its 1,200 hospitality members, sourcing personalized proposals from those that fit the client’s specs. Toward facilitating site visits, the CVB creates an online, mobile-friendly itinerary that can be shared with everyone involved and updated in real time.

No atmosphere is more indigenous to New Orleans than Mardi Gras, and Mardi Gras World ultimately became the host for the client’s event. Located on the Mississippi River, the venue includes a float den that surrounds guests with floats that will roll in more than 40 parades. This kind of atmosphere both expressed the city and generated excitement appropriate to a kickoff.

In determining how to best market New Orleans’ assets to attendees, the CVB “starts with identifying the overarching theme of the meeting and looking at the profile of the average attendee,” says MaryBeth Guarisco, CMP, senior manager of specialty services & programming, New Orleans & Company. “Planners are the experts on what their attendees are interested in or enticed by, so we can take that insight and provide information about New Orleans that appeals to the group. For example, groups who tend to bring families along may be more interested in attractions such as the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas and The National WWII Museum, while groups with a heavy millennial attendance are likely to be enticed by photogenic locales, ‘foodie’ adventures and high-tech activities.”

Speaking of high-tech, Guarisco explains that marketing tools have largely shifted to digital.

“As marketing skews to a digital-first — and now mobile-first — model, the majority of our tools have transitioned to digital options. Photos and videos are often used on websites and social media, as well as in email and print distributions. We have provided customizable New Orleans-themed email blast templates, banner ads, digital graphics, a mobile-friendly microsite and more.”

Physical promotional items have not been completely obviated, however. “Promotional brochures and giveaways, such as Mardi Gras beads, are popular to engage attendees and drive excitement for the destination at the year prior meeting,” Guarisco adds.

Both packages of marketing services and flexibility in those offerings are important. “Many of our tools serve as turnkey solutions for our clients, but when a group identifies a need that is not already in our toolkit, we work to find a solution, which often results in adding a new offering to our complimentary marketing toolkit,” she says.

Visit Oklahoma City

With all of the new development in Oklahoma City, planners won’t hesitate to look to this destination for future meetings and events. Its location in the center of the U.S. makes its easy access an even bigger incentive.

The $288 million Oklahoma City Convention Center will feature nearly 200,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 30,000-square-foot ballroom and 45,000 square feet of additional meeting space. Its prime location across the street from the new 70-acre Scissortail Park, set to open later this year, and near the Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, will appeal to both conference attendees and locals. The convention center will open in 2020.

“This totally new convention center marks a significant milestone in Oklahoma City’s commitment to the meetings and convention industry,” says Mike Carrier, president for the Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The new 17-story, 605-room Omni Oklahoma City Hotel, set to open in early 2021, will also be a nationwide destination for meetings and events. The $241 million property will serve the city’s revitalized downtown area and feature 29 suites, seven dining outlets, 78,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting space, an expansive pool deck with event space, retail and a Mokara Spa.

“Oklahoma City has been incredibly welcoming to our Omni family. The revitalization surrounding this hotel is unprecedented, and we are honored to be a partner in the future of Oklahoma City,” says Peter Strebel, president of Omni Hotels & Resorts. “As a recognized leader in the convention center hotel market, we are redefining and reimagining the traditional headquarters hotel in exciting markets of growth and change across the country and Oklahoma City is leading the way for progressive downtown redevelopment.”

Scissortail Park will connect downtown Oklahoma City to the shores of the Oklahoma River. Construction on a 40-acre section across from the new convention center will be completed later this year, with the lower 30-acre portion set to open in 2021. The park will offer a variety of activities, including concerts, walking/biking/running trails, outdoor education opportunities and more.

A new streetcar system will link the park, convention center and the new Omni hotel to downtown attractions, dining and nightlife.

“Once the new center, the Omni headquarter hotel, the new Scissortail Park and the OKC Streetcar are all complete, Oklahoma City will be a completely new destination in the south-central U.S. for meetings of all sizes,” says Carrier.

L.A. Tourism

L.A. Tourism’s Destination Services team is similarly flexible in helping planners to create an “only-in-L.A.” experience for their attendees.

The team stays abreast of the city’s cultural trends and latest venues, and has access to some of the best entertainment, set designers and event producers in L.A.

Recently, the Destination Services team partnered with The Garland Hotel in North Hollywood to host its annual Customer Advisory Board meeting. The event featured a “glamping” (glamorous camping) theme that had attendees leave the boardroom and gather in a giant camping tent, surrounded by The Garland’s manicured outdoor park. The CVB even creatively branded the camp “WANNAGOLALA.”

Other examples of special events the Destination Services team has produced for clients include: customized food tours across Downtown with Six Taste Food Tours that incorporate historical and restored venues, such as the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana; large-scale receptions on the backlot of a major movie studio with red carpet and “paparazzi”; and teambuilding activities like Olympic-style games at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Visit Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh CVB staff recently showcased the Steel City for PCMA 2019 Convening Leaders. The meeting industry event utilized three primary venues: the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for its opening reception and main program, Heinz Field for its closing reception and Stage AE (an indoor concert venue, amphitheater and nightclub) for Party with a Purpose.

A total of 18 hotels representing brands such as Hilton, Fairmont, Omni and Marriott welcomed PCMA delegates.

Among PCMA’s hotel partners was the Kimpton Hotel Monaco. Housed in a historic building in the Old City, the 268-room property offers groups 13,000 square feet of meeting space and a rooftop lounge.

A consulting company recently held a party at the Kimpton Hotel and partnered with Habitat for Humanity to assist in various building projects for a local community group.

Visit Pittsburgh’s destination services representative helped connect the client to local contractors and construction companies, as well as entertainment companies for the party, and provided keynote speaker suggestions.

The CVB staff also assisted the group in obtaining a music permit.

All in all, Visit Pittsburgh provided customer service to this 175-attendee group that was on par with its service to citywides like Convening Leaders.

That contributed to impressing the consulting company’s attendees, many of whom remarked that Pittsburgh, often stereotyped as a “blue-collar town,” was nicer than they expected it to be.

Visit Denver

While creativity and resourcefulness in event promotion and design are increasingly hallmarks of CVB service, the basics of effective customer service continue to impress planners. Timeliness is one aspect.

“Pretty much as soon as you sign the contract, Visit Denver will reach out and say here’s what we can do” to promote the upcoming meeting, says Emily Moreau, senior event operations manager with PennWell Corporation. The company held HydroVision International, a power-generation conference and trade show, at the Colorado Convention Center in 2017, bringing in about 5,000 attendees to the Mile High City. Another important tenet of customer service is setting realistic expectations about the service that will be delivered. “The biggest thing is that [compared to some other CVBs] I’ve worked with, Visit Denver is very up-front: Here’s what we can’t do, here’s where they give us the green light. [In other cases], it’s me asking those questions.”

Despite any limitations, the CVB will definitely “go the extra mile when it comes to onsite promotion,” Moreau adds. “They’ll produce pole banners with your logo on it, get in touch with local restaurants and so on. Basically anything you ask for, they’re always willing to help, which is fabulous when a planner is going to a city they haven’t been to before.”

A promotional signature of Denver meetings is the image of the 40-foot-high blue bear sculpture that peers into the convention center lobby, entitled “I See What You Mean.”

Visit Denver cleverly deploys the image throughout their marketing pieces.

“I think that is very important when you can be familiar with a brand without even having to see the words” [to identify the brand], Moreau comments. “When we were hosting a party at the convention center and I needed some entertainment, I called [my CVB rep], and she said, ‘Do you want us to send a blue bear as a mascot?’ I said, ‘Sure. I wouldn’t have ever thought of that.’”

HydroVision International partnered with several hotels, and the CVB presented Moreau the RFP results in her preferred format.

“When I get the proposal back, it’s very helpful if it has all the hotels that can participate with their initial proposed rate, how far they are from the convention center, etc.,” she says “From there, I can take it and work with it on my own without having to talk to all these individual salespeople.”

Visit Denver took more work off Moreau’s hands when a major client attending the show wanted to coordinate an offsite party. A CVB convention services manager “was able to help them and worked as an extension of my event team,” she says.

She looks forward to partnering again with Visit Denver in 2022, when HydroVision returns to the city.

There are several partners that a planner could rely on to create engaging promotions and onsite experiences for attendees. DMCs, third-party planners and even hoteliers can all contribute innovative ideas.

But CVBs today are really outdoing themselves in devising ways for a planner to make the biggest impact using their city’s resources. They’re versed in event industry trends like festivalization and glamping. They’re masters of digital promotion. They can connect groups to venues that not only express the city’s culture, but also fit with the meeting’s spirit, theme and attendee demographics.

In short, CVBs are going far beyond the logistical hospitality, while preserving all those basic services that have made them, for many planners, indispensable. C&IT

Shimon Avish is a 20-plus-year veteran of travel and meetings management. He has worked as a consultant for American Express Consulting, American Express Meetings & Events, Management Alternatives, Shimon Avish Consulting and is currently the head of Acquis Consulting Group’s Meetings Management Group. As current member and former vice chair of GBTA’s Meetings Committee, he has led the committee’s Thought Leadership Initiative. Avish is a frequent contributor to industry publications, presenter at conferences and is considered an industry thought leader.

In recent years, the meetings management technology landscape has evolved at a phenomenal rate.

It used to be that selecting a meetings management technology platform was straightforward since there were only a few suppliers, and all the systems provided the same functionality.

These days, the variety of technologies available for managing meetings is staggering, and the systems address the needs that end-users did not even know they have.

Best-in-breed Platforms

Today, we not only have enterprise-level meetings management solutions, we also have best-in-breed platforms, which include the following long list of niche technologies: abstract management, association management, attendee tracking, check-in and badge printing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and marketing automation, digital marketing tools, exhibitor and floor plan management, housing, lead retrieval, matchmaking, presentation management, registration, staffing, transportation, venue management, and virtual and augmented reality systems.

Additionally, we have event mobile apps, second screen technologies, beacons, smart badges, virtual meeting solutions and simple meeting systems.

What has led to this sudden enthusiasm for the development of new solutions in the meetings technology space? According to a recently published book on the subject, The Face of Digital: How Digital Technologies are Changing the $565 Billion Events Industry, by Marco Giberti and Jay Weintraub, the meetings and events industry is seen as ready for disruption by tech innovators. “They are enthusiastic about the size of the industry and the scale of available business opportunities….”

At the same time, Giberti and Weintraub note that “forward-thinking investors, private equity firms and venture capitalists are showing interest in event tech.”

They add, “More than $1.96 billion was invested [in event tech companies] in 2015-16, with 372 companies funded in the last five years…” and it is this influx of capital combined with the sense that the industry is primed for disruption that is fueling the emergence of very interesting and creative technology solutions.

Another dynamic forcing change in the event tech space is that participants come to events with an expectation that the technology they use at events will give them the same personalized experiences they have as consumers in their non-work lives. This is lending pressure to create innovative new solution types that mirror the consumer experience where their preferences are known and catered to by marketers.

All of this change happened in a very short time and is leading to considerable confusion for end-users.

While these dynamics have led to the development of many exciting technologies, meeting planners are having trouble adapting to the variety of new technologies, and it may take years for the market to sort out the valuable solutions from the not-so valuable.

Pros and Cons

It is also worth noting that it wasn’t so long ago we were talking about how the consolidation of the top meetings technology suppliers was leading to an unhealthy dominance by one supplier, but now we find ourselves talking about the fracturing of the meetings technology space into numerous niche technologies and suppliers. As in all things, this fragmentation has its pros and cons.

On the pro side is the emergence of so-called best-in-breed solutions that allow for the combination of many of the technologies enumerated above into a unified whole through the use of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) that integrate the various tools and facilitate data flow between them.

These best-in-breed solutions are emerging as potential competitors to all-in-one enterprise solutions.

Additionally, a number of the new systems are self-service solutions, which shift some of the burden of meetings management to meeting stakeholders.

This is seen as a feature, not a glitch, especially for technologies like simple meeting systems that allow end-users to search for and book venues in keeping with an organization’s guidelines, while simultaneously providing end-users with a sense of empowerment to select and book their venues.

Many of these new solutions have the potential to be true disruptors in the strategic meetings management (SMM) space, as they offer unique capabilities not provided by enterprise level solutions.

Additionally, organizations are now finding themselves freed from a single supplier development road map which threatened to dictate the meetings technology capabilities available in the marketplace.

The emergence of these engagement enhancement and measurement tools is timely in that adoption of the standard SMM model has likely peaked. Organizations that have not yet adopted SMM are looking for alternative models that match their business needs, which are more focused on generating brand loyalty, leads and sales, and much less focused on cost savings and compliance.

Many of the emerging digital solutions developed in recent years have the ability to meet this new need by significantly enhancing participant engagement in the meetings and events they attend, and enabling the measurement of that engagement, addressing one of the more intractable problems in the meetings and events space, namely the determination of a return on investment for live events.

By measuring interactions with the new tools, marketing teams are now able to determine whether participants are engaged with their events and measure their satisfaction.

On the con side, we see that disruption is, well, disruptive, and requires years to shake itself out. Some of the implications of this are seen in the slow adoption of emerging technologies by meeting planners, and the difficulty for user communities in the development of technology strategies for their organizations, given all the options, unproven track records and long-term financial viability of these companies (approximately 75 percent of venture-backed startups fail).

These factors can introduce considerable risk into selecting emerging technologies.

Generally, the GBTA Meetings Committee sees that the emergence of new meetings technologies brings with it accompanying pros and cons with respect to the disruption of strategic meetings management programs, and the enhanced engagement and measurement of attendee participation, and will be closely monitoring trends in these areas in the year to come. C&IT

One way to get to Katmai Lodge is by private charter from Anchorage. The hour-long flight travels over some of Alaska’s most beautiful scenery. Credit: Katmai Lodge

Mid-summer destinations boast waves, beaches and a good tan, but great weather is only one condition for planning an attractive incentive trip.

The larger focus is how will a special destination inspire and reward those who work hard to achieve their company’s business goals. Nature provides the perfect little reward tucked away in Alaska’s stunning landscape.

Experiencing a retreat at King Salmon’s Katmai Lodge along the breath-taking Alagnak River, spanning the Alaska Peninsula, is far from typical and certainly memorable.

Reviewers on TripAdvisor rated Katmai Lodge overall 5 out of 5, and ranked it No. 1 out of all 16 specialty lodges near King Salmon, and the neighboring Katmai National Park and Preserve.

Katmai’s remote and picturesque riverside location provides guests an exclusive secluded environment because the lodge can only be accessed by plane or boat.

The unique expedition starts when guests are flown on the lodge’s private plane directly from King Salmon to Katmai. If traveling from Anchorage, guests fly directly to the lodge on a private charter plane.

Upon arrival, lodge staff offers exceptional hospitality, great local cuisine and comfortable accommodations. The lodge even has its own pastry chef.

“The natural beauty of Alaska alone is awe-inspiring when first stepping off the plane; even after returning year after year, this environment promises amazement,” says Katmai Lodge CEO Robin Follman-Otta. “Retreating here is special. From the lodge staff to the fishing guides, we carefully select hospitable and knowledgeable people to make the limited season meaningful and remarkable for our guests.”

During the Katmai Lodge’s season from late June to early September, it delivers an adventurous destination experience at one of Alaska’s pristine fishing locations. All necessary fishing gear is provided by the lodge. From novice to expert anglers, everyone fishes at their own pace.

Guests can customize their guide experience, even tailoring it to a teambuilding activity in nature. Typically, guides lead two guests at a time which makes a good ratio of guide per guest attention, but this can be expanded to small intimate groups.

Anglers are led by experienced fishing guides, whether wading in gear waist-high in pure fresh waters, navigating by boat or simply by waterside. After a day of viewing wildlife and fishing, lunch is prepared — a barbecue of the fresh catch. Wood-plank salmon is a favorite.

Options are available for visiting different excursion locations led by the expert fishing guides. The Alagnak River and surrounding fly-out areas, such as Margot Creek, offers more than just fishing.

Alaska natural wildlife provides the unexpected and an element of pleasant surprise for viewing soaring bald eagles and regal brown bears in their natural habitats. At Brooks Falls, mother bears and their cubs are seen fishing, bathing and cajoling together.

“Alaska scenery is awesome; the fishing is fantastic, but what makes Katmai the best lodge in the state is the staff and the guides,” says Katmai Lodge guest and commercial airline pilot Captain Ed Tatro. “The wildlife is incredible. The lodge is relaxing. The entire experience is addictive. I already have my reservations to visit next year.”

Along the Alagnak River, the fish migrate in different months, offering anglers a bountiful selection of all five species of Pacific salmon, including king, sockeye, chum, pink and silver throughout late June, July and August. Rainbow Trout, Arctic grayling, Dolly Varden, Arctic char and Northern pike swim all season long.

It is not uncommon for guests to take home catch up to 50 pounds for sharing with friends and family. The lodge expertly fillets, freezes and vacuum seals fish in a leak-proof box ready to take on the flight home.

After a day of enjoying the outdoors, guests sip cocktails and share photos of their catch for bragging rights in the cozy main lodge. Gathering in the main lodge for darts, board games and cards further enriches the camaraderie.

Some guests choose to decompress in the lodge’s heated wood-planked steam sauna.
For private occupancy of the entire lodge for a period of time, it can accommodate up to 65 people with activities including sightseeing and fishing.

Katmai Lodge offers flexible packages to meet incentive travel budgets, activities for helping teams communicate and building interpersonal skills in a fun and exciting way at a unique location, making it an inspiring travel destination.

For more information, visit the Katmai Lodge website at www.katmai.com. To coordinate a custom package for a corporate retreat or other incentive travel, call Charmel Powers at 714-557-3432. C&IT

Planners who lack a system for managing meeting safety and security may be courting disaster because they remain vulnerable to a wide range of threats.

The need for a comprehensive crisis management plan is greater than ever. Recent trends in violence, including the shooting at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in 2017, have increased awareness that it can happen at hotels and resorts.

While concerns about active shooters are growing, planners must be prepared for a wide variety of safety and security threats ranging from fights between attendees and tablecloth fires to natural disasters and bomb threats.

Yet, most planners don’t have a plan.

Tyra Hilliard, CMP, attorney and assistant professor at the College of Coastal Georgia, wrote a PhD dissertation on why planners forego crisis management procedures. “What my research found was that the top reasons planners lacked crisis management plans were because they lacked the time, money, support and knowledge to create one, or they were required to have a plan but weren’t going to bother implementing it until they had to,” says Hilliard.

“Our plans must be somewhat customizable to fit the variables that change meeting to meeting. There is no one-size-fits-all.” — Tyra Hilliard, CMP

She urges planners who don’t have a plan to create one.

“I want planners to think incrementally about managing risk,” says Hilliard. “Do something, anything, then improve on it. If you can’t afford to hire security professionals to assess and manage risk, don’t decide to do nothing. Do what you can on your own, tweak it next time and add a little more each time. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.”

While planners must be ready for all security or safety emergencies, certain types occur more frequently than others.

Common Threats

“Meetings face more small potential safety issues than something big like an active shooter,” says Alan Kleinfeld, CMP, director of emergency planning at Arrive Management Group, which specializes in security for meetings and conferences.

“Violent acts are increasing, but it’s still more likely you’ll have an attendee trip over an untaped cable than you will have a guy walk in with a gun,” he says. “The most commonly overlooked safety aspect is knowing when to call 9-1-1 and knowing where help is needed.”

Kleinfeld cites an example of an emergency he witnessed at a meeting he didn’t plan that lacked a detailed crisis management plan.

“At a recent outdoor reception, a man collapsed, and the planning staff froze,” he says. “No one dialed 9-1-1. No one ran to get an AED (automated external defibrillator). When someone finally picked up the phone to get help, he didn’t know the address of the venue, which meant emergency medical service didn’t know where to go.

“When the ambulance got there, the path for them to park was blocked. All these small missteps can cost valuable minutes to get help to the person who needs it.”

Other planners also give examples of emergencies that can be problematic without a plan.

A fire alarm sounded while Heidi Foels, a producer for Bloomington, Minnesota-based metroConnections, an event and conference planning firm, was in a theater event packed with 1,000 attendees.

“The presenter ignored the alarm while attendees anxiously stirred in their seats,” says Foels. “As the support planner on the program, I immediately was on my phone with the venue manager asking for an update. The venue manager suggested that those who felt uncomfortable staying should go, and others should stay calm and wait for updates.”

Foels and her team promptly followed their plan to evacuate everyone and gave detailed instructions over the microphone on how to leave safely and where to go.

“The team made the decision because the presenter was not briefed on how to react and instruct the attendees in the event of such [a situation],” says Foels. “Chaos almost ensued. Our team provided as much guidance with crowd evacuation as we could, but the venue should have also had a plan in place where we could have reacted sooner and more knowledgeable than we ultimately did.”

Bombing and Inebriation

Catherine Chaulet, president of Washington, D.C.-based Global DMC Partners, cites two examples.

The first situation involved managing a corporate program during the Boston Marathon bombing. Immediately after the incident, officials locked down the entire city, including hotels and airports. Cellphone service was temporarily spotty. However, the communication and flexibility parts of Chaulet’s emergency contingency plan helped alleviate uncertainty among attendees.

According to Chaulet, “There were many times that we didn’t have updates on what was going on, but our plan was to send out communications to attendees’ emergency contacts every hour, even if there was no real update. The steady communication and flexibility that our team put in place helped ease the minds of attendees and their families so that they were not imagining things that were worse than they already were.”

The second incident involved a drunk attendee.

“I’ve experienced dangerous situations where an attendee has had too much alcohol,” says Chaulet.” They put themselves and others at risk if they become violent or sick. These situations can be managed well, but they can also become very disruptive or even violent. They can result in situations ranging from bringing people back to their rooms early to taking them to a hospital.”

Mike O’Rourke, founder of Washington-based Advance Operational Concepts, a global security consultancy, cites an example in which a large corporation headquartered in a conflict zone brought in his company as a security consultant.

“There was a terrorism threat, yet my client was planning a televised high-profile, black-tie event with hundreds of guests, including executives, celebrities and the international diplomatic community,” says O’Rourke.

“Diplomats had their own armed security teams, yet my client’s non-negotiable rule was they couldn’t bring weapons into the facility,” he continues. “To prevent these important guests from canceling, we arranged for their heads of security to inspect our security arrangements. Satisfied with that, diplomats attended without their own armed security, and the event was a success.”

Create a Comprehensive Plan

For the most part, planners can’t predict exactly what type of security and safety emergencies will occur or when they will happen. However, planners can create a comprehensive plan that includes prevention techniques and strategies for handling consequences.

But many planners have an inadequate crisis management plan or lack one altogether because they don’t have the time, budget and expertise.

Planners often focus on the details of meetings and providing a good attendee experience, while paying little attention to security.

According to Foels, “Some planners tend to forget this very important role of theirs. As planners, we need to be aware that attendees often lack the experience to recognize risks in unfamiliar settings and may not have the confidence to ask for advice if they feel unsafe.

“Perhaps some planners have never been to the venue or, on a greater scale, the city or state the meeting or event is in,” she continues. “Due to this, they feel uneasy about creating a crisis management plan. The best practice is to identify local resources available, have open discussions about these plans and walk through and review them once onsite.”

Greg Jenkins, partner, Bravo Productions, a Long Beach, California-based event planning company, offers the following advice: “Many planners feel that doing your own plan is too much work or too far out of their realm of expertise. Therefore, a detailed plan is never developed. Another reason is because they never think it could happen to them. How many times do we hear about tragic stories in the news, and those involved say, ‘I never thought something like that could happen to me.’”

But it can. That’s why it’s necessary to have a crisis management plan that does at least the following basics:

• Cover emergency response procedures, such as providing maps of the meeting site. Detail contact information for property and venue staff, hospitals, emergency services and law enforcement. Also have contacts for consulates of international attendees. Keep all contact information on hand at all times.
• Set up a chain of command and designate roles and duties for staffers. Know who will do what.
• Meet with the property’s staff to review onsite security plans. Know the capabilities of the property and staff to handle emergencies and provide related equipment. Does the venue staff have medical training and equipment?
• Know the emergency procedures of suppliers, transportation companies and offsite meeting venues.
• Include a communications strategy. Have email and phone contact information for attendees and their families, as well as meeting stakeholders and vendors.
• Create a guest “status check-in procedure” in the event of a crisis. Attendees can check-in via phone or email, or even gather at a certain location.
• Adapt plans for each meeting, and train staff to implement the procedures.

Do it Yourself?

Should planners create their own security plans, hire experts to do it or use a combination of both approaches?

According to Hilliard, “I’d say it’s fine for planners to put together their own plans rather than do without. But if they have the resources to use professionals to help put together plans and assess risk, that’s certainly a great option.

“The option planners take depends on the meeting,” she adds. “If it is a 200-person meeting at a downtown U.S. hotel, then planners can probably handle the planning with the help of the hotel’s security team. If it’s a 5,000-person meeting with attendees from many countries in a location known for terrorist activities, then by all means, use professional help.”

Foels also believes that planners can create their own safety and security management plans. “And, we should always be able to provide training and guidance to those who need help doing it,” she adds.

“When you’re in the role of a planner, attendees look to you for guidance in emergencies,” Foels says. “Being knowledgeable on the location of hospitals, emergency routes and exits and more is your responsibility. Every team member’s role should be identified up front, and we should ensure that crowd control is covered if a situation arises.”

However, says Foels, “The key is knowing which other professionals or resources you need to pull in as part of your safety and security plan to make it the most comprehensive it can be.”

Kleinfeld also believes it’s crucial to use several resources. “Planners can do the plans on their own with applicable resources, such as online, print and colleagues,” he says. “Having said that, planners who don’t know where to begin or don’t have the staff or hours to do it can certainly turn to someone with experience in safety planning. This doesn’t mean you have to spend a ton of money. It could simply be a short-term project to get a security
plan outline.”

Teamwork is Key

Whether a security plan is self-made or created with experts, it can be strengthened through teamwork with partners.

According to Chaulet, “Teamwork is the essential element that is critical to creating a successful plan. From the host venue or hotel to the tour company to the entertainment to the DMC, each party will look at safety with their internal teams and from their own angle.”

Planners can also use teamwork to help ensure they don’t overlook property-specific security issues.

“By involving all the key vendors and working collaboratively, the group will identify all items that should be included in the plan that perhaps the planner didn’t think about initially. There might be something the planner would miss without knowing the locality or culture well enough,” Chaulet says.

A safety and security management system can be rendered ineffective if there are mistakes in its planning and execution.

Hilliard says that one of the most common mistakes planners make involves using off-the-shelf plans without customizing them for each meeting.

“The tricky thing about safety and security for meetings is that it’s a moving target,” she says. “Our plans must be somewhat customizable to fit the variables that change meeting to meeting. There is no one-size-fits-all. While safety and security for a typical business assumes the same physical plan in the same location, meetings are just the opposite. We may be in a different city or country or venue with a different program and participants each time.”

Kleinfeld cites two other common mistakes. “For those who have a plan, the mistakes are not training team members and not revising the plan,” he says. “Continue to review and revise existing plans as needed and stay in touch with partners such as hotels, venues and CVBs or other suppliers that have a role in the event.”

Tailor Plans

Failing to cater emergency plans to attendee differences is another shortcoming. “We may loop all attendees into one category by creating a plan for everyone rather than individually,” says Foels. “Those with disabilities an/or age limitations will need plans adjusted for them.”

She also reminds planners to rehearse procedures and define roles for the staff at the property regarding safety and security.

“Practicing plans in real time upon arriving onsite at the venue is key, as the plan may have roadblocks that need to be worked out,” says Foels. “Planners sometimes don’t do their due diligence in talking with venues and other local resources in advance. Roles and responsibilities are not identified in advance.”

Security expert O’Rourke, who works regularly with corporate planners, says a common mistake is relying too much on a venue’s security plan.

“It’s the top mistake I see from the meeting and event planning sector,” he says. “Existing plans might be perfect for securing an empty facility or another organization’s meeting. But how do you know someone else’s plan is sufficient for your meeting?”

O’Rourke offers this advice to planners: “You must be boots-on-the-ground, walking the site in person and visualizing your event there.

“Visualize where attendees will enter, where credentials will be issued and where emergency exits are,” he says. “Think to yourself, ‘Attendees will enter over there. Credentials will be issued here.’ See where the emergency exits are. Test doors yourself. Know the most likely avenues of approach for accidental or deliberate unauthorized access.”

Communicate

Another no-no is failing to communicate with vendors.

“Planners think about needing to have a safety plan, but they don’t always allocate the time to discuss a plan with each vendor,” says Chaulet. “Make time to collaborate with vendors around safety issues.”

It’s also critical that planners learn from mistakes to constantly revise and improve security plans. Even if every meeting proceeds without a mishap, it’s wise to do a post-meeting review.

Jenkins suggests asking the following questions after each meeting:

• Were there deviations from the event security plan? If so, why?
• How did having security in place make the guests feel? What was the perception?
• Was there a comfort level with having security in place, or did attendees feel threatened or somewhat alarmed about it?
• Was there adequate security to handle an emergency if one had occurred?
• If security guards were used, were they in the right place? Did they stroll around? Were they courteous? Were they alert?

Once upon a time, meeting security involved little more than hiring a few guards to watch people.

However, the variety and nature of threats to meetings have multiplied immensely in recent years. These days, planners must prepare proactively to assess, prevent and manage the outcome of practically every emergency imaginable.

Planners don’t have to do it alone. Teamwork is best and can involve vendors, hotel and venue staff, DMCs and security experts.

Plenty of help is available for planners without the time or inclination to create a crisis management plan, and those who lack one shouldn’t tempt fate any longer. C&IT

In the jargon of the meeting industry, perhaps no other term is used more today — or more inaccurately — than “partners.” Meeting planners and hotel executives invoke it to characterize one another and suggest harmony and synergy. But the truth is that such harmony and synergy do not exist often enough in any sort of enduring way.

John Branciforte, area director of sales and marketing at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek, acknowledges that underlying reality while politely understating it: “At times, we have an adverse relationship that we don’t need to have.”

That “adverse relationship” has only been exacerbated over the last two years by a swing of the proverbial market pendulum to what both sides describe as a seller’s market.

And it is the very notion that such a thing as a “seller’s market” exists in the hotel industry that is at the root of the larger problem when it comes to seller-buyer relationships and genuine acts of partnership.

Michael Dominguez, senior vice president and chief sales officer at Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International, cites the frequent invocation of a “seller’s market” as the source of a long-standing and fundamental conflict between meeting planners and hotel salespeople.

“When we talk about why hoteliers and planners are not better partners and we’re not working better together, that notion of a ‘seller’s market’ is one of the biggest reasons why,” Dominguez says. “I wish that our industry, and especially those organizations that shape industry dialogue, would start to understand that we are the only vertical industry that talks about a seller’s market or a buyer’s market vs. the market — in other words, supply and demand, which are the two things that drive all markets. And, by always talking about what kind of market cycle we’re in, we pit ourselves against each other, regardless of which cycle we’re in.”

In other words, he says, the perception is always that one side or the other is taking advantage.

“The meeting industry has become more of a business-to-business environment than a people-to-people environment.”
— David Abers, CMP

Although he believes that the idea of a seller’s market is a dangerous misnomer, he does acknowledge that its perceived existence takes a real toll.

“When we’re in a so-called ‘seller’s market’ cycle, like we are now — meaning high demand and limited supply — when we’re in front of a customer, we tend to be ‘selling’ them instead of taking the time to find out what their pain points are and what they really need,” he says.

That is one area where most hoteliers can improve their overall performance, he adds, by becoming more empathetic rather than being in “sales mode.”

Another element of the current conundrum is what Dominguez calls “the elevator pitch.”

“I’m not a believer in the elevator pitch,” he says. “That’s something I talk about often at industry events. The elevator pitch means that if you’re stuck in the elevator with a meeting planner and you’re riding down 50 floors, by the time you get to the ground level, he or she should know everything about my hotel that I want them to know.

“The challenge with that in today’s world is when those elevator doors open and that person leaves, what do you know about them and their business and what they need? Instead of just telling a planner who I am and what I have to offer, I need to take the time to ask them who they are and what they need and want.”

Another way of looking at that dynamic, he says, is “instead of thinking in terms of what I can sell this meeting planner, I should be asking, ‘How can I help you create better experiences at your meetings?’”

The even larger issue, Dominguez says, is “the concerns or discord that exist now are coming from our inability on both sides to take the time to understand other points of view than our own and to understand what each other’s objectives are.

“And, for meeting planners,” he continues, “their concerns always start with their pain points. But as hoteliers, we don’t start the conversation there often enough. On the other hand, if you do start with that, and the planner tells you his or her biggest pain point is their budget, then it’s going to be very hard for me to tell you that you’re going to have one of the most tech-savvy and successful meetings in one of my hotels next year. But at the same time, I have a responsibility to tell you honestly and candidly what you can accomplish on the budget you have.”

Branciforte concurs with that point. It is particularly frustrating to him that planners often do not understand that prices are dictated by market conditions and a hotel’s operating margins.

“We still see planners who come in and say they want $75 [a gallon] coffee,” he says. “That doesn’t exist anymore. That’s just one example of how many planners have preconceived notions when it comes to costs. So they say in their RFPs: ‘Here’s my budget, and I’m not going to spend more than X.’ But they’re not really looking at what the market data for the destination says. They’re trying to come in and bid room rates that are $50 a night below what the market is getting. And, they think that’s OK.”

Time Poverty

Yet another increasingly prominent issue that makes it difficult for hotels and planners to create and maintain meaningful partnerships is what Branciforte calls “time poverty.” That means people on both sides are often too busy to take the time to create and build genuine relationships, as opposed to simply completing transactions.

For example, Dominguez says, a surprising number of meeting planners at small and mid-sized companies plan as many as 50 or more meetings and events each year.

“If someone is planning that many meetings a year, I think it’s going to be very difficult for them to be able to give each one the attention to detail it needs and deserves,” he says. “And, based on what I see as significant differences, in terms of market knowledge, between those who plan very large meetings and those who plan small meetings, time poverty is one of the key differentiators.”

Planners of major meetings, he notes, generally plan only that one event and have substantial support teams that handle individual aspects of the meeting, such as room block management or onsite activities. They also typically have a much longer planning window.

Planners of small meetings, on the other hand, often handle all aspects of the meetings alone. And, they usually juggle multiple meetings that are all being planned in an abbreviated time window. The result: extreme time poverty that damages the overall process of meeting planning and synergistic relationships with hoteliers.

Emails and Electronic RFPs

Making matters even more challenging, Branciforte says, is that these days, meeting business is largely conducted via email and electronic RFPs, which include minimal, if any, human contact or real communication.

“My salespeople and I strive to understand who our constituents are and what they’re trying to achieve with their meetings,” Branciforte says. “That’s a lot harder today because of everything being handled electronically. As a hotel salesperson, you have to work harder to extract the information you need because an RFP cannot speak.”

David Abers, CMP, events account manager at independent meeting planning firm ITA Group in West Des Moines, Iowa, agrees.

“The meeting industry has become more of a business-to-business environment than a people-to-people environment,” he says. “I’m more of a people-to-people person. But 90 percent of my business is done by email.”

Veteran third-party planner Lori Kolker, founder and president of Elle K Associates in Rockville, Maryland, also strongly agrees that email has become the bane of the industry. Seventy percent of her meetings are now planned via email.

“I hate that,” Kolker says, who spent seven years in hotel sales before launching Elle K. “I’m very old school. I believe in real communication and real relationships. And, you can’t have those things if you conduct business via email. When I started as a planner 22 years ago, nobody used email in the hotel business. They picked up the phone and called you. Now that kind of communication is basically a thing of the past. That hurts all of us — planners and hotel people.”

For hotel salespeople and meeting planners who truly want to develop genuine partnerships, Branciforte says the important thing is to push beyond the barriers of electronic communication and have actual dialogue by phone or, ideally, face-to-face during a site visit to the destination.

“For that reason, I push my salespeople to find the avenue by which we can get that dialogue going and find out more about what the planner needs and wants. My view is we need that in order to provide a meaningful and detailed response to what is typically a ‘flat’ RFP,” he says.

Kolker applauds Branciforte’s initiative. “I wish more hotel salespeople would pick up the phone and call me instead of trying to do everything by email,” she says. “In the defense of hotels, there are a lot of meeting planners who say, ‘I don’t want to be bothered. Just email me the information I need.’ But I wish they wouldn’t do business that way.”

Dates, Rates and Space

Equally as detrimental to the overall process as emails and electronic RFPs is the fixation meeting planners have on the holy trinity of meeting metrics: dates, rates and space.

Because so many planners rely on that simple formula for assessing a hotel’s viability, and the initial response is by definition quick and electronic, Branciforte believes the process is now too narrowly defined at the outset.

“If those are the only metrics you’re going by, then you have an initial process that is flat,” he says. “From the hotel side, I think the hardest part of the process now is to get planners to actually engage and go beyond those simple metrics.”

Abers agrees that the dates/rates/space parameter is now “the essence of the process.”

“Quite frankly,” he says, “if we’re doing an RFP and three hotels come back with the dates, rates and space we need, we might go visit those three hotels and talk to people. And, that might become the deciding factor. But as the starting point, it is now just about dates, rates and space.”

Branciforte says a related issue, particularly when it comes to third-party planners, is they increasingly send RFPs to multiple hotels in various destinations, meaning that the hotel is not just competing with other hotels in Orlando, but numerous other properties in Florida
and elsewhere.

“That really is nothing more than a ‘data collection’ mode, with that data being presented back to their client as a way to start narrowing down the meeting host’s options,” he says. “That makes it increasingly hard for the hotel, frankly, because you’re no longer being treated as a resource. You’re just one of six hotels being considered in each of six different destinations. That, unfortunately, changes the entire process from the very beginning. You’re no longer just competing in your local market. You’re now competing all over the place.”

Abers also concurs with that opinion. “We’re a third-party planning company. So we do a lot of legwork before we even send out RFPs,” he says. “We sit down with our clients ahead of time and go over possible destinations. Then we narrow it down to types of hotels — five-star, four-star, a resort — we send out a limited number of RFPs.”

Finally, as if any other contributing factor were required to make the fostering of “partnerships” any more difficult, there is what is widely perceived by meeting planners as a declining level of experience and professionalism among hotel salespeople since the Great Recession, when many veterans left the industry as it melted down.

“I agree with that perception 100 percent,” Kolker says. “Many hotels have replaced truly professional and knowledgeable salespeople with younger ones who are just order takers. They just send you their bid. They do little or nothing to actually try to help you. Then they say, ‘That’s our offer. Take it or leave it.’

“That is very frustrating because our business should not be conducted like that,” she continues. “The real problem now is that the order takers just throw out information. ‘This is our meeting room rate. This is our food and beverage minimum.’ They make no real effort to understand me and what I need.

“My RFPs are very specific. I spell out exactly what I want and expect, and what the deal-breakers are.”

And, she adds, that damaging dynamic was further enhanced in 2018 by a strong seller’s market.

Abers questions whether lack of experience or professionalism are really the issue, but he agrees with the larger point Kolker makes.

“We do get the salespeople that say, ‘Take it or leave it,’” he says. “That’s really an indirect reaction to the market. If you look back to 2011 or 2012, hotels were extremely flexible in terms of accommodating all of our needs. Now, it is more of a ‘take it or leave it’ approach, and they say, ‘If we don’t have a definite answer by the end of next week, we’re going to sell the room block to somebody else.’”

Abers adds that mentality is increasingly common in the current seller’s market.

Finding a Solution

As an industry leader whose role stretches far beyond his job as head of sales for MGM Resorts International, Dominguez believes that both hoteliers and meeting planners should aggressively and consistently pursue more meaningful dialogue.

“Each of us needs to understand the objectives and strategy of the other. Planners need to understand that on our side, those things are not always the same. Year by year, they can change, based on market conditions,” he says. “But I find that if both the planner and the hotel can take the time to talk about their business and their needs, and ask each other questions and learn from each other, then you start to have a genuine relationship. Once you have a real relationship, then you can start thinking of each other as real partners.”

Branciforte notes that such issues have become a widespread area of concern and conversation in the industry.

“Everyone, including organizations like MPI, is talking at the same time about these issues,” he says. “And, we’re all kind of saying the same things. I really believe what we — planners and hoteliers and the industry — want is to find a balance based on dialogue.

“But, I go back to my point earlier about electronic RFPs and email communication. When you’re doing business by just pointing and clicking, you’re doing more to derail the whole process then you are to help it.”

When it comes to the notion of real hotel-planner partnerships, Abers proposes a more fundamental solution, which places the onus squarely on the shoulders of hoteliers.

“The main issue is dealing in fairness and appreciating loyalty,” he says. “By that I mean we, as planners, were there for you, as hoteliers, when the market was down. But now the market is trending upward. And, you’re telling us to ‘take it or leave it.’ To me, it’s all about fairness and loyalty. Fairness and loyalty work both ways.” C&IT