Minions greet meeting attendees at Universal Orlando, which offers a slate of Meeting Enhancements with characters and entertainment. Credit: Universal Orlando Resort

No meeting destination in the U.S. is more popular with corporate meeting planners than Orlando. And that is true, in large part, because no other destination works harder to continually reinvent itself, or focuses more relentlessly on the key factors that are most important to planners.

Michael McMyne, vice president at Raleigh, North Carolina-based Ortho Dermatologics, a division of pharmaceutical company Valeant, has used Orlando multiple times in recent years. He also considers it one of the country’s best meeting destinations. “I like destinations that present opportunities for small groups of attendees to go offsite and do interesting things that promote teambuilding and moments of personal growth,” McMyne says. “And the city that comes to mind for me when I think of those factors is Orlando. That’s why we’ve done numerous meetings there at numerous hotels over the last few years.”

Maria Taylor, CMP, senior corporate events planner at Huron Consulting Group in Chicago, has been taking meeting groups to Orlando multiple times each year for more than 15 years. She has a 125-attendee meeting coming up in late April at the Four Seasons Orlando. “One of the main reasons my attendees and I like Orlando so much, and go there so often, is the climate, because at the times we host most of our meetings in Orlando, it’s cold where our attendees are based. So for us, the warm weather is a perk. Another reason is that when we hold meetings, we require a lot of meeting space, including a lot of breakout space. And Orlando has a number of excellent properties than can accommodate us.”

Both Taylor and McMyne cite Orlando’s exceptional airlift as key factors in their loyalty to the destination.

“The airlift into Orlando is great,” Taylor says. “There are many flights in and out for our attendees, and that makes it very convenient for our attendees. For example, we generally start our opening general session at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. And that allows many of our attendees to catch a morning flight in. And the same goes for the afternoons when we end the meetings. The Orlando airport is also very easy to get into and out of. The ease of getting through the airport is another factor that my attendees and I like about doing meetings in Orlando.”

McMyne adds, “The airlift into Orlando was significant factor in our decision, and not only for its ease, but also because of the size of the airport, the number of air carriers who have a presence there is just tremendous. That means that the number of daily nonstop flights from around the country is excellent. And those flights also provide great affordability. The airport also provides a very good experience for attendees from the time they touch down to the time they board their transportation to the hotel.”

Exceptional Hotel Inventory

Orlando enjoys another important practical benefit. Because it ranks as the No. 1 meetings and family vacation destination in the U.S., there’s an exceptional range and diversity of hotel product.

Among the city’s premier meeting properties is the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort, whose two individual but interconnected hotels — the Swan and the Dolphin — comprise a total of 2,200 rooms, making it Orlando’s largest meeting venue. Featuring 330,000 sf of meeting space and exemplary service, the hotel is perennially ranked as one of the city’s best meeting properties. Last year, Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin completed a multiyear, $140 million renovation in which all of the resort’s 2,267 guest rooms received a facelift, as did the convention space and the lobby on the Dolphin side of the hotel.

Another of Orlando’s most popular and renowned meeting hotels is the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate. The sprawling and serene resort, which is acclaimed for its exceptional F&B and also its superb meeting support services, features three championship golf courses.

McMyne used the property in late January for a six-day, five-night annual Masters Summit sales meeting for 400 attendees. “I wanted a hotel that has a staff that will make my attendees feel like they are in a very small boutique hotel, but one that operates like and delivers the service level of a large hotel,” he says. “I also wanted a property that had modern meeting space that was equipped for interactive training. And Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate met all of those requirements.”

After his meeting, he had particularly high praise for the resort’s food and beverage offerings. “When you host meetings, the number one thing you get back on post-event surveys is feedback about the food,” McMyne says. “And if the food is not good, that is always the biggest complaint about the meeting. For the meeting at Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate, I’ve never seen a group of attendees so satisfied with the food. And in addition to the quality of the food, that satisfaction also means the range of options and the amount of food. And the levels of attention to detail and the service were also phenomenal.”

McMyne also praised the hotel’s meeting space, housed in a stand-alone, state-of-the-art conference center. “It is fantastic,” he says. “And what makes it special is that they operate it as a conference center. But at the same time, it is still very convenient to the hotel. The space is fresh. The lighting is very good. And you really get a feel for Florida when you’re there. It’s a first-class facility, with great technology.”

Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate provided what McMyne calls “a perfect balance of customer service, uniqueness in terms of its facilities and opportunities for us to conduct a truly first-class meeting on a reasonable budget. The property itself is great. But it’s the people who work there who were responsible for my choice. I never go to the same destination twice, back-to-back, but based on the quality of the hotel and the quality of the service, we’re now talking with them about going back.”

In fall 2017 Omni Orlando completed a $40 million expansion project which added 23,000 sf of additional pool deck and recreational space, installation of Kissimmee’s only resort wave pool and a new 93-room property villa building. The resort’s Trevi’s Restaurant was redesigned to include an outdoor garden terrace and bar. The expansion also added 100,000 sf of expanded event lawn and conference center space at the Osceola Conference Center. The 862-room resort offers a total of more than 248,000 sf of indoor-outdoor meeting space, 36 holes of championship golf, the Mokara Spa and more.

Another resort-style property that receives high marks from meeting planners, and a lot of repeat business, is the Villas of Grand Cypress Orlando, a luxurious 1,500-acre resort whose accommodations include spacious Club Suites and elegant villas with up to four bedrooms. The property’s world-class amenities include golf courses — the 27-hole North/South/East course and an 18-hole New Course that features classic Scottish links — designed by Jack Nicklaus. The facility also boasts an Academy of Golf training center. The property’s Executive Meeting Center, renovated in the fall of 2015, offers four individual meeting rooms that total 7,200 sf of space and can be further divided into eight rooms. The meeting rooms surround an open atrium and overlook a scenic garden terrace. The property also offers 10,500 sf of outdoor event space.

Taylor has used Villas of Grand Cypress multiple times in the last several years. Her last meeting there was a four-day, three-night educational conference for 75 attendees in February. For the meetings she places there, the property is absolutely ideal, Taylor says. “For the programs we have hosted there over the last several years, we pretty much take over their entire meeting space,” she says. “It’s just perfect for those particular meetings. So it is a very intimate meeting for us. And we can brand the property as ours while we’re there.”

She highlights the resort’s top-quality F&B as a critical factor in her loyalty. For the February meeting, the company held all of its meals onsite. “The food and beverage is phenomenal,” Taylor says. “We do an attendee survey after every meeting. And Villas of Grand Cypress always gets very, very high marks for its F&B.”

But the level of service she and her attendees get there is even more important, she says. “The staff at Villas of Grand Cypress,” she says, “is probably the best I have ever worked with.”

Yet another of Orlando’s popular meeting hotels is the 28-acre DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld. McMyne has used the property and he gives it a glowing review. Located at SeaWorld Orlando, the property features stylish guest rooms and offers complimentary shuttle service to the SeaWorld parks. It is also conveniently located just minutes from the best dining and biggest attractions. DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld also features a total of 100,000 sf of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, which includes three individual conference centers, each with its own ballroom. The hotel recently added a new 20,000-sf Majestic Ballroom as a complement to its 11,840-sf Orange Ballroom, as well as a new lawn function space and outdoor Palm Promenade, divisible into four spaces, including a covered pavilion.

Another major meeting hotel is the Caribe Royale Orlando, featuring one-bedroom suites and two-bedroom villas. The hotel recently completed a multimillion-dollar makeover of its convention center, restaurants and public spaces, and opened the new Calypso Pool Bar and Grille. The hotel’s signature restaurant is the AAA Four Diamond-rated Venetian Chop House, which serves exceptional steaks and seafood. The casual Cafe 24 is open 24 hours a day. Grand Caribe Convention Center features a 40,000-sf Grand Sierra Ballroom and 26,000-sf Caribbean Ballroom, as well as 29 breakout rooms and two executive boardrooms. Post-meeting, attendees can unwind on a new 1.5-mile paved running and bike trail, the Island Spa or the two-story fitness center.

Universal Orlando’s five onsite hotels — Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, the Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Loews Sapphire Falls Resort — currently offer a total of 5,600 rooms. The Loews Meeting Complex — comprised of Loews Sapphire Falls Resort and Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which are connected by bridge — offers groups and planners 295,000 sf of indoor meeting space and 97,000 sf of outdoor space. Plus, all five hotels are within walking distance or a quick shuttle ride to the Universal theme parks and Universal CityWalk, the resort’s shopping, dining and entertainment district.

New Hotels

Despite the accolades its current hotel inventory generates, Orlando never rests on its laurels, notes Fred Shea, senior vice president of sales and service at Visit Orlando. A number of new hotels are now under development.

“Universal is building two new hotels, a 2,200-room and 600-room property, to join its multiple existing Loews-branded properties,” Shea says. “The new hotels will be located on the site of the former Wet ‘n’ Wild water park located adjacent to the Universal complex. Once the new hotels are completed, there will then be total of 9,000 hotel rooms in the Universal complex.“

One of those properties is expected to open in August: The the new Aventura Hotel at Universal will feature a 16-story gleaming glass tower with 600 guest rooms, and the first ever rooftop bar and grill, Bar 17 Bistro, on Universal property.

A new JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort with 50,000 sf of meeting space will be completed in the early part of the first quarter of 2020 in the popular Bonnet Creek area, which is already home to a trio of major meeting properties — the Hilton Bonnet Creek, Waldorf Astoria Orlando and Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek.

“That will make Bonnet Creek a candidate for mini-citywide meetings,” Shea says, “because you have four major hotels located right there.”

The Delaney Hotel, opening this spring, is a new 54-room boutique hotel in the SoDo — south of downtown — district of Orlando, and will offer unique high-tech conveniences for guests such as remote check-in, digital tablet-based concierge services in every room, smartphone room keys, and smart TVs.

Margaritaville Resort Orlando, a new waterfront destination resort, will feature 175 rooms, 1,000 Margaritaville-themed vacation homes and 300 timeshare units. A new dining and entertainment district is also planned, along with a 12-acre water park, a wellness center and more. It is expected to open this year.

Theme Park News

The thing that makes Orlando unique and empowers it to retain its status as the country’s top family destination is its famous theme parks. They also are a mecca for meeting and convention groups, as all of the major theme parks offer event planning and park buyouts for spectacular special events.

“One of the things we hear so often from meeting planners is their interest in the experience attendees will have in the destination,” Shea says. “And that’s a subject that we always have a lot to talk about when it comes to Orlando. There is also always something new to talk about when it comes to the kinds of experiences you can have in Orlando. And our theme parks are a big part of that.

“Universal is now adding a new ‘Fast & Furious Supercharged’ venue at its Universal Studios entertainment complex,” Shea says. “It will take guests on a high-octane adventure into the world of underground racing, right alongside stars from the ‘Fast & Furious’ films.”

Other new happenings at Universal include the recent opening of the water theme park Volcano Bay next to Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort. Inspired by various Polynesian islands and cultures, and anchored by the 200-foot “Krakatau,” Volcano Bay is replete with a host of water-based thrills as well as after-hours private event options.

Universal Orlando also is offering new Meeting Enhancements including characters (such as the Minions), customizable performers and unique entertainment elements to engage attendees and help deliver specific messages and reinforce conference theming.

“There is also quite a bit of other theme park and activity venue news,” Shea says. “Infinity Falls, a new rainforest river rapids ride, is coming to SeaWorld Orlando this summer, featuring the world’s tallest river rapid drop.”

SeaWorld recently debuted its Electric Ocean after-dark experience, featuring bioluminescent lighting and glowing sea creatures, music, fireworks and DJ entertainment. A customized experience can be arrange for groups. Also new at SeaWorld is the park’s first digitally enhanced ride experience, Kraken Unleashed, a virtual reality (VR) roller coaster experience.

“The Great Lego Race VR Coaster will debut as the first (Lego) virtual reality roller coaster. It will open in place of the Project X roller coaster at Legoland Florida Resort, re-imagined with a new story plus special effects,” Shea says.

“Nona Adventure Park,” he continues, “will be a new water sports park featuring an inflatable, floating obstacle course, with wakeboards pulled along by cables and a 60-foot climbing tower with a ropes course. The park is scheduled to open this summer in the Lake Nona area.”

Dining and Entertainment

Over the past five years, the single biggest — and most important — factor in Orlando’s growth as a meeting destination has been the steady evolution of its dining scene.

“Five years ago,” Shea says, “we were getting complaints from meeting planners that there were not enough good restaurants in Orlando. Now that concern, that perception, is completely gone.” Orlando, he says, is now regarded as a fine-dining destination.

That status is thanks, in part, to the James Beard Award-nominated chefs who now operate acclaimed local restaurants. Kathleen Blake owns and serves as chef at The Rusty Spoon in downtown Orlando. Brandon McGlamery serves as executive chef at Prato and Luma on Park in Winter Park, as well as Luke’s Kitchen and Bar in Maitland. James and Julie Petrakis are the owners and chefs at The Ravenous Pig in Winter Park and Cask & Larder at Orlando International Airport.

Orlando offers a spectacular offsite dining and entertainment complex, Pointe Orlando, located on International Drive near the convention center. Among its restaurants that are popular with groups are Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar, B.B. King’s Blues Club, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Lafayette’s Music Room, Tommy Bahama and Taverna Opa, which serves acclaimed Greek food and fun.

What makes the Pointe unique, Shea says, is that it offers the opportunity to host a sophisticated dine-around program under one roof.

McMyne took advantage of that opportunity for his recent meeting. He used B.B. King’s, Lafayette’s and Tommy Bahamas. He also sent a group of 100 attendees to a buyout of Mango’s Tropical Cafe, the Orlando outpost of the world-renowned Mango’s that has been a mainstay in South Beach Miami for decades. In just a few years, the new Orlando location — known for its Latin cuisine, creative cocktails and high-energy Latin-themed entertainment reminiscent of Havana in the 1950s — has become one of the most popular offsite dining and entertainment venues in the city.

“The food at Mango’s was fantastic,” McMyne said. “The facility is beautiful. The entertainment is spectacular. And the service is great.”

Entertainment and attractions outside the theme parks that are popular with corporate groups in Orlando include the Mario Andretti driving school and Topgolf complex. The new Main Event, located in Pointe Orlando near the convention center, is a 25,000-sf, multifaceted dining and entertainment complex that includes activities such as bowling and interactive games, including innovative virtual reality games.

Perhaps the most noteworthy, in terms of activities, is the explosion of “escape rooms” that has occurred along International Drive. Escape rooms pit teams of participants against one another to achieve escape from a “locked” space. They are becoming popular in several major U.S. meeting destinations, including Las Vegas.

New escape room venues in Orlando include The Escape Game Orlando, Escapology Escape Rooms Orlando, America’s Escape Game, MindQuest Live Orlando, The Escape Effect, Lockbusters Escape Game, Breakout Escape Rooms, and The Escape Company. “Meeting planners are always looking for something new and different to do,” Shea says, “and the fact that Orlando now offers an unparalleled range of escape room venues is something that really appeals to them. In addition to being a lot of fun, escape rooms offer a new and innovative form of teambuilding.”

I-Drive 360 is an entertainment complex on the International Drive corridor, which extends from Universal Orlando, down to the Orange County Convention Center and SeaWorld. I-Drive 360 is anchored by the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye, a 400-foot-tall observation wheel with enclosed passenger capsules accommodating up to 50 passengers each. The wheel can be rented out for special events. I-Drive 360 also features Sealife Orlando, a marine aquarium and Madame Tussauds wax museum, which is available for group buyouts.

Convention Center

Year after year, the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) ranks as one of the top facilities in the country. After an extensive, multiyear renovation and expansion project, it offers some of the newest and most sophisticated exhibit and meeting space to be found anywhere. It is also known as one of the most technologically advanced and environmentally responsible convention centers in the country.

Its latest offerings, Shea says, are a new Destination Lounge in the North-South Building and Vision Gardens, a hydroponic garden that raises produce for farm-to-table fare served in the facility. “People really like it,” Shea says, “because you can actually see the food being grown.”

Last year, a new pedestrian bridge that connects the West Building to the Grand Hyatt Orlando across the street made its debut. Also in 2017, the OCCC launched a VR-enabled 3-D interactive map, a system that allows meeting planners to virtually explore OCCC’s total of 7 million sf through 360-degree panoramic images, simplifying the search for ideal meeting spaces and breakout rooms.

And the convention center isn’t finished improving: Last summer OCCC officials announced a nearly $500 million proposal to expand the convention center over a 41/2-year construction timeline. The plan calls for building two new additions at the convention center’s North-South Building for a total of 800,000 sf.

Such constant evolution and improvement is what  makes Orlando so popular with planners, McMyne says.

“When you do a meeting in Orlando, you know that you are going to be able to find a great hotel at a good price and that the airlift is going to make it easy for people to get there at a reasonable airfare,” he says. “And once they’re there, you know they are going to have an experience they’ll remember. And in those specific ways, Orlando is unlike any other U.S. city.” C&IT

Jill Anonson is Events Solution Manager at ITA Group and has more than 20 years of experience in strategic incentive travel, event management and sales strategy. In her role, she is responsible for market definition, competitive research, business plan development and more while creating strategies and solutions that help ITA Group thrive. ITA Group creates and manages incentives, events and recognition programs that align and motivate people. Headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, ITA Group has operations in every region of the United States and award solutions for 75+ countries globally. Contact her at www.itagroup.com.

Your incentive travel destination — the same tried-and-true resort every year — revs up a mild amount of excitement on your team. The onsite giveaway hasn’t really changed in a decade or so, but everyone could use another beach towel…right? And the flyers in the break room about the program get the job done, more or less.

The whole thing works well enough, and you seem to get some results. So why rock the boat? The answer: you could be getting a lot more out of your people. And you could be getting more out of your program.

If you’re not paying close attention to the strategic details that make up your program — way more than just the destination and giveaways — you’re missing an incredible opportunity to boost results.

Are you ready to take your incentive travel program from good to great? Take a deeper look at these seven actionable ways to revamp it and elevate the measurable ROI.

1. Get Strategic

At the core of every effective incentive travel program is a strategy. Being able to analyze and really get to the heart of the results of your program is imperative to its success. If you’re looking to optimize the ROI, your strategy can’t stay the same from year to year. It needs ongoing analysis — a thorough look into your goals and the steps needed to get there — to ensure consistent growth.

Think of it this way: if the same 10 people have been qualifying for your trip for the last decade, you’re not pushing them hard enough. The target should be increasingly difficult to hit, yet still attainable. The strategy and profit lies in finding the sweet spot between “no problem” and “that’s impossible!”

With a custom-crafted incentive travel solution tailored to your audience — and with strategy at the helm of your program — it’s easier to get more out of your people.

2. Remember Incentive Travel Participant Demographics

Your people are all unique, with different motivators and unique interests. And younger generations are storming into your office at breakneck speed. Does your incentive travel program reflect that?

According to a study from Eventbrite, 78 percent of millennial respondents say they would rather spend money on an experience versus a material possession. Travel is important to them, but only if it’s on their terms. They’re not always thrilled by rubbing elbows with the other participants. Likely, given the opportunity, millennials would rather rent a car and drive through the mountains of Hawaii than hobnob with coworkers on the beach.

It’s all about choice — cast a wider net by giving participants the option of doing what they would prefer to do.

3. Consider the Whole Family

Incentive travel participants work hard for the privilege of going on the trip. That can mean missed Little League games and a lot of late nights at the office. For those reasons, your incentive travel trip isn’t just for participants. It’s also for the spouses and kids who supported them along the way.

The option of a family-focused program, in addition to the more common two-person trip, is key to the many participants who hope to bring the whole family along. With this option, people who don’t want to be with kids don’t have to be. And, for those who do bring the kids along, provide camps, buffets with kids’ food and more.

4. Consider an Incentive Travel Provider

Perhaps your incentive travel program has been run in-house for years. Someone books the plane tickets, and you rope in an intern to help set up hotel rooms and book restaurant reservations.

Clearly, there is a better way. A high-quality incentive travel provider can help with the logistics — travel, lodging and food — and then some. They have exclusive access to a host of private, high-class experiences that you couldn’t get otherwise.

Dinner under Michelangelo’s David in Florence, Italy? Can do. Backstage passes to the hottest entertainment? Check. Pit passes to a Formula One race? Sure thing! An incentive travel program provider, working behind the scenes, creates an unparalleled experience that you couldn’t necessarily put together on your own.

5. Think About Gifting

Everyone loves to get a little gift in their hotel room when they arrive onsite. It’s a great perk that really resonates with your participants, especially if it’s a surprise. Yet unless that gift really hits home, it’s liable to be left in the hotel room. If you’ve been a top sales performer and have been on the trip a number of times, there are only so many beach bags you can handle.

Ponder this: if you were going on this trip, what would make your experience better? Think outside the box — but not too outside the box. An unwieldy gift, however much the participant likes it, can get left behind.

Also, consider giving your participants an opportunity to pick their gift in an onsite experience. When they can pick a high-ticket gift while their peers look on, there’s a social element that can’t be underestimated.

6. Give Back to Gain Emotional Connection

For many people, incentive travel means beaches, piña coladas and steak dinners.

But, for others — millennials especially — it means an opportunity to make a difference somewhere outside their backyard.

Volunteer experiences are growing in prevalence in incentive travel. Why? Because, as a recent Time magazine article noted, 65 percent of MBAs say they want to make a social or environmental difference through their jobs, and 70 percent of millennials say a company’s commitment to the community has an influence on their decision to work there.

Work with a local charity at your destination to see what opportunities there are to give back. Whether that means helping out the environment, working with kids or something else, participants will walk away with a greater understanding of the world around them and an irreplaceable experience.

7. Focus on FOMO

Booking a photographer to document your trip can be a worthy investment. There’s nothing more inspiring and motivating to the people who didn’t make the trip than seeing their colleagues leisurely enjoying themselves on the beach. That’s FOMO — fear of missing out. It’s the social pull that drives your people, and it’s something your event needs to succeed. Getting great photos of your attendees can be used in powerful communications leading up to your next event, building brand immersion and reiterating recognition throughout the year.

While revamping your program, keep in mind that there’s far more to incentive travel than a destination. The opportunity is a chance to connect with and inspire your people along the way. Through these seven simple steps, you can create more strategic, authentic travel solutions that inspire growth, loyalty and ROI. C&IT

The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club has undergone more than $50 million in enhancements over the last few years including renovation of the championship golf course.

Florida is in a class by itself for several reasons, not the least of which is its unique geographical configuration: As a peninsula, it is the only mainland state with eastern, western and southern coastlines. It boasts the world’s most famous collection of theme parks and distinctive city, coastal and resort properties that continually upgrade and improve to remain attractive in one of the country’s most highly competitive meetings and tourism markets. Ahh, and then there’s the weather…

No wonder so many groups return to Florida year after year, some planning several different types and sizes of meetings in the state in a single year.

The Emerald Coast

The Panhandle’s Emerald Coast — Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island — is distinguished by its beachy ambience with sugar-white sand beaches and the stunning, emerald-green Gulf.

Planners and attendees love the world-class golf resorts, too, including the 602-room Hilton Sandestin Beach, the largest full-service beachfront property on Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast. The property offers 40,000 sf of meeting space and six restaurants, including the Emerald Coast’s only AAA Four Diamond steakhouse. And at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Miramar Beach, the 15,000-sf Linkside Conference Center is undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation.

The Emerald Coast Convention Center (ECCC) in Fort Walton Beach, which boasts 35,000 sf of multiuse space, attracts its share of repeat groups. Andromedia Systems Inc., a Virginia Beach-based provider of technology services and solutions, planned its fourth meeting at the ECCC for March 2018, booking rooms at the Holiday Inn Resort and three other hotels.

Value was a prime reason for choosing the ECCC. “We held meetings in the ECCC’s main ballroom and in several breakout rooms,” says Sarah Rollins, Andromedia’s business development and proposal planner, and meeting planner. “The ECCC is very reasonable compared to hotel and resort meeting spaces. I researched them all and this was the best price for our group. They have reasonable catering costs.”

The ECCC also was convenient for other several reasons. “They have first-class facilities and up-to-date AV,” says Rollins. “They are located in close proximity to several nice hotels. This location has a convenient airport, with flights from DC, Charlotte and Atlanta. And the ECCC is well managed and meets all of our needs. I suspect the visit in March won’t be our last.”

The Fort Worth, Texas-based Acme Brick Co. chose Destin over other destinations for its annual sales meeting in February of 83 employees, executives and their guests. “We have offices in three cities in our Southeast division, so we looked at those places,” says Barbara Lewis, executive assistant-sales and meeting planner. “Two of those other cities have great activities and ambience, but were very expensive compared to Northwest Florida, with higher hotel and airfare rates.”

So Lewis considered Destin. “Someone in the office suggested Destin as an alternative,” says Lewis. “The person had attended a convention in Destin the previous year and had really enjoyed it. Destin has great beaches and resorts, and a large variety of activities for our attendees to enjoy.”

Following a site visit, Lewis selected the new Henderson, a Salamander Beach & Spa Resort, which opened in 2016. “The resort hosted the Acme Brick vice president and me, and was very attentive,” says Lewis. “They made sure that we were able to not only experience the rooms at the hotel, but also the food, the onsite spa and the private beach during our stay.”

It will be the first time that Acme has held its annual sales meeting in Destin, and the Henderson’s value played a key role in the decision. “The hotel was very flexible working with us to meet our budget on hotel and food costs,” says Lewis. The property has the quality of food that our group expects. Also, the resort provides concierge car service for its guests so we were able to save on the cost of rental cars, taxis and Uber for our group.”

Lewis was impressed with the Henderson’s meeting space. “The ballroom has the perfect ambience for our awards banquet, elegant, but not too formal,” says Lewis. “They have an amazing rooftop deck where we can hold the cocktail reception during sunset. We are excited to have access to such great views during this reception and anticipate lots of wonderful selfies will be taken by our guests.”

The Henderson, adjacent to a coastal nature preserve, features a dedicated meeting wing with 30,000 sf of indoor/outdoor meeting and event space, a nature-inspired spa and Gulf-to-table cuisine.

Northeast Coast

Jacksonville isn’t — but should be — among the first destinations corporate planners consider in Florida.

One reason: Travel guidebook publisher Lonely Planet ranked Jacksonville No. 9 in its Best in Travel 2018 list as one of the world’s Top 10 Best Value Destinations. Jacksonville was the only American city on the list. The guidebook cited Jacksonville’s beaches, park system, family-friendly food scene and affordable hotel rates.

More hotel space is coming: Hyatt Place Jacksonville is under construction and is scheduled to open late this year at The Strand at St. Johns Town Center, a new 45-acre development with retail outlets, restaurants and apartment homes. The five-story property will include 160 guest rooms and 3,000 sf of flexible meeting space.

South of Jacksonville, the 200-room Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach is slated to open in early 2018 with 20,000 sf of indoor and outdoor meeting space, including some with views of the Atlantic Ocean. The property is Daytona Beach’s newest beachfront hotel and the fourth Hard Rock Hotel in Florida.

The Gold Coast

Miami

Planners find that Miami offers everything needed for memorable meetings, including event-friendly hotels such as the Hilton Miami Downtown, which has completed a property-wide, $35 million renovation. Located downtown near the Wynwood Arts District and Design District, the 527-room property offers more than 45,000 sf of meeting space including a 17,000-sf ballroom and 19 meeting rooms.

The Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC) is undergoing a multimillion-dollar, state-of-the art renovation with sustainability in mind — the MBCC is on track to receive LEED Silver certification when it debuts in September. The project includes exterior fin-shaped structures lining the building’s sides and entrance that provide shade to reduce energy use by 20 percent when combined with natural sunlight. Other energy-saving efforts include LED bulbs, solar panels above the parking areas and electric-car charging stations. The new MBCC will offer more than 500,000 sf of exhibit space, 180,000 sf of meeting space, a new 60,000-sf ballroom and 20,000-sf junior ballroom.

The Marriott Marquis Miami Worldcenter Hotel & Expo Center, developed by MDM Group, is scheduled to break ground in the third quarter of 2018 with an estimated completion in the first half of 2022. It will feature approximately 1,700 hotel rooms and 500,000 sf of meeting and exhibition space. Amenities will include an expansive pool deck with views of Biscayne Bay, the American Airlines Arena and the downtown Miami skyline, as well as an 80,000-sf outdoor event deck.

Hollywood

Just north of Miami is the city of Hollywood, home to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which is undergoing a $1.5 billion expansion that includes construction of a guitar-shaped hotel tower. The project encompasses an additional 806 guest rooms and suites, including 638 in the guitar hotel tower as well as 168 new rooms and suites in the seven-story Pool Tower. The Seminole Hard Rock’s expansion will add 60,000 sf of new retail and restaurant space, and provide a new $100 million redesigned and rebuilt Hard Rock Live arena that will replace the 5,500-seat venue with a state-of-the-art facility that seats 7,000 theater-style. The expansion will premiere in mid-2019.

Another iconic Hollywood property, The Diplomat Beach Resort, is emerging from a $100 million transformation that includes 1,000 reimagined guest rooms and suites, and indoor and outdoor public spaces.

The Diplomat’s repeat customers include a customer service company that held a meeting for 1,400 employees, managers and executives last year. “This was the fourth large program the company operated at the hotel,” says Jill Bartholomay, lead buyer, event purchasing and industry relations, ITA Group. “We continue to return because the destination is promotable to our employees and because of the hotel’s flexibility and great operational history.”

Bartholomay cites several reasons, including location, as to why the Diplomat is so popular with the group’s attendees. “There is great airlift with the flexibility to use both Fort Lauderdale and Miami airports,” says Bartholomay. “The hotel offers a beachfront location, extensive meeting space and experienced staff that understand the needs of corporate groups. The renovations look great.”

The Diplomat’s 209,000 sf of function space — the 50,000-sf Great Hall, four ballrooms and the 20,000-sf Grand Ballroom — fit the group perfectly.

“The Diplomat is an ideal property for large meetings and incentive programs based on the flexibility of the space,” says Bartholomay. “With multiple ballrooms, our evening events can flow between rooms, allowing for multiple themes and food and beverage options. During the day, there is the flexibility to hold meals outside for large groups, with indoor backup.”

The group also enjoyed meals at The Diplomat Landing, a restaurant venue across the street from the Diplomat accessible via pedestrian bridge. Attendees enjoyed The Landing’s restaurants and large outdoor patio with views of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Bartholomay says meetings at the Diplomat are always a hit. “A survey of attendees was conducted following last year’s,” she says. “The hotel scored a 93 percent overall satisfaction and the overall program received a 98 percent overall score, a great success.”

Palm Beach

Some might be surprised at the variety in Palm Beach County, which includes 39 cities and towns as well as 15 tourism districts in 2,200 square miles. The area features chic shopping, fine dining, 160 golf courses and opulent resorts.

Seven resorts and two hotels were named among the “Top Resorts in Florida” by the Condé Nast Traveler 30th annual Readers’ Choice Awards. The two hotels were the Chesterfield Palm Beach (No. 3) and the Brazilian Court (No.5). In the resorts category, the Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa was ranked No. 4.

And two Palm Beach County resorts — Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa and Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach — earned five-star ratings in the Forbes Travel Guide 2018 Star Award Winners.

Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, formerly The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach, is set on seven oceanfront acres on tony Palm Beach island. The hotel features 309 guest rooms and suites in three towers, the 42,000-sf Forbes Five Star Eau Spa and more than 30,000 sf of meeting and event space. Unique spaces include Stir terrace, which faces the Atlantic Ocean and features a firepit with seating nearby; Breeze Ocean Kitchen, an oceanfront restaurant that also can be used for private receptions and dinners; and the Self-Centered Garden at Eau Spa, a lovely outdoor space ideal for receptions.

In January, the Boca Raton Resort and Club hosted a meeting for 100 executives and customers of Georgia Pacific. It was the group’s fifth meeting at the resort.

The Boca Raton Resort’s value is a top reason why Georgia Pacific returns to the property, even when rates may not be the lowest. “Granted it was peak season in the area, and rates were higher than what’s seen during other times of the year, but we forecast for that and for a luxury property, and prices were comparable to other resorts,” says Wil Bates, CMP, manager, GP Events.

Flexibility is also a factor. “During the sales and contracting phase, the hotel is always willing to be flexible with us and do what they can to help us achieve the goals and objectives of the events we hold there,” says Bates. “The meeting space was fantastic.”

Attendee feedback is always good. “We received feedback from event stakeholders and attendees that the event was very well executed,” says Bates. “We have contracts signed for two other events at the Boca Resort over the next two years.”

Corporate meeting attendees are among the growing number of visitors to Palm Beach County. According to data research company STR, between January and October 2017, room nights sold grew by 4.2 percent and average daily rate (ADR) grew one percent. RevPAR grew 3.3 percent.

Room inventory will increase if a new hotel and convention center are built on Florida Atlantic University’s campus in Boca Raton. According to reports in the Palm Beach Post, FAU is considering partnering with a private developer to build the complex, which could include a 30,000-sf convention center, apartments, stores and restaurants.

Central Florida

Florida’s crown jewel destination is known for its vast array of more than 450 properties, including the Margaritaville Resort Orlando, scheduled to open by the end of this year. The highly anticipated $750 million resort is inspired by the lyrics and lifestyle of singer Jimmy Buffett. The 187-room Margaritaville Resort will feature 30,000 sf of function space, 200,000 sf of retail space and a dining and entertainment district. The project also will include 1,000 Margaritaville-themed resort vacation homes, cottages, villas and timeshare units.

The venerable convention property Rosen Centre Hotel has renovated all of its 1,024 guest rooms. Upgrades include new furnishings, new teal color scheme and technology upgrades aimed at business travelers and families. Rosen Centre guests can charge all of their devices simultaneously on a new multi-outlet connectivity bar containing one ethernet and two USB ports. Additional outlets and USB ports are on the desk lamps, nightstand lamps and headboard panels.

In addition to the technology upgrades, Rosen Centre offers 150,000 sf of meeting and event space that includes a 35,000-sf Grand Ballroom, 18,000-sf Executive Ballrooms, 14,375-sf Junior Ballroom and 35 breakout rooms.

In 2017, Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate underwent a $40 million expansion project that added 23,000 sf of additional pool deck and recreational space, installation of Kissimmee’s only resort wave pool and a new 93-room property villa building. The resort’s Trevi’s Restaurant was redesigned to include an outdoor garden terrace and bar. The expansion also added 100,000 sf of expanded event lawn and conference center space at the Osceola Conference Center. The 862-room resort offers a total of more than 248,000 sf of meeting space, 36 holes of championship golf, the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, the Mokara Spa, multiple dining options and more.

Disney is adding 500 rooms to its Coronado Springs property by the end of 2020. The Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort has renovated all of its 2,267 guest rooms and 329,000 sf of meeting space at both properties.

Universal Orlando’s five onsite hotels — Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, the Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Loews Sapphire Falls Resort — offer a total of 5,600 rooms. The number will rise to 6,200 rooms when Universal’s 600-room Aventura Hotel, scheduled to open in August 2018, is combined with the 400-room ongoing expansion of the Cabana Bay Beach Resort. The Loews Meeting Complex — comprised of Loews Sapphire Falls Resort and Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which are connected by bridge — offers groups and planners 295,000 sf of indoor meeting space and 97,000 sf of outdoor space.

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at SeaWorld recently added 20,000 sf of ballroom space and 20,000 sf of outdoor courtyard space, bringing total indoor/outdoor event space to 100,000 sf.

Southwest Coast

This area’s beachside properties, activities and restaurants are drawing more visitors than ever. During the 2017 fiscal year, which ended September 30, Tampa Bay’s hotel revenue increased 5 percent to $670 million over 2016, according to Visit Tampa Bay. Average daily rate (ADR) increased 4.2 percent while RevPAR rose 3.1 percent.

According to Santiago Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, “As we wait for new hotel inventory and anticipated developments to come online over the next few years, we are working hard to make the most of the availability we have for both leisure travelers and convention groups.”

Tampa-area beach meeting properties include the 343-room Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach, which opened last year with 22,000 sf of meeting space. Nearby, The Hilton Clearwater Beach completed a $20 million renovation that includes transformation of its 35,000 sf of meeting space, a new restaurant and new spa.

Inland from Tampa Bay, sits Streamsong Resort, one of Florida’s top group golf destinations. Streamsong opened its third golf course, Streamsong Black, last year along with a new clubhouse and restaurant. The course was named the Best New Course of 2017 by Golf Magazine — the latest of several honors that Streamsong’s golf courses have received since the property opened about five years ago.

South of Tampa and just across the causeway from Fort Myers, Sanibel Island’s Sundial Beach Resort and Spa is perfect for planners and meeting-goers looking for a laidback, beachfront site for their corporate events. Nine meeting rooms, each with comprehensive audio-visual capabilities, comprise the 12,000 sf of indoor and outdoor event space, and the resort boasts that it is the only destination on the Florida Gulf Coast’s Sanibel Island capable of accommodating up to 300 guests. Dining options include a daily breakfast buffet and a new restaurant, Shima Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, that can be used for private group events.

Farther south on the Gulf side is Paradise Coast — Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades — offering 30 miles of beaches, trendy stores, outdoor adventures and some of Florida’s top resorts including the AAA Four Diamond Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, which offers 83,000 sf of indoor/outdoor meeting and event space. Events in the oceanfront venues or on the beach are accentuated by the spectacular Gulf Coast sunsets.

The 319-room resort has undergone more than $50 million in enhancements over the last few years including renovation of the championship golf course, the only on-property golf course at a beachfront resort in Southwest Florida.

In addition, Naples Beach Hotel’s “Welcome to Paradise” promotion offers perks for groups that book new meetings from April 15, 2018 to October 31, 2018. Bookings must include a minimum of two peak nights Sunday–Thursday and a signed contract by September 30, 2018.

Paradise Coast properties have bounced back from hurricane Irma with renovations and improvements.

LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort in Naples reopened in November following an $8 million renovation and a two-month closure due to Hurricane Irma. Upgrades include transformed guest rooms in the Gulf Tower, a refreshed lobby and a new look for Baleen, the property’s signature restaurant.

Naples Grande Beach Resort reopened in December after closing for more than three months due to Hurricane Irma. Upgraded areas include meeting space, notably the Vista Ballroom, as well as 474 newly refreshed guest rooms, public spaces and pools.

The JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort will complete $320 million in improvements this year that encompass 716 renovated guest rooms, new dining options, a reimagined lobby and the new adults-only Lanai Tower with 94 guest rooms and new meeting space.

Whether returning to a tried-and-true resort or trying someplace new, meetings in Florida can be depended upon to deliver a little slice of paradise for all who attend. C&IT

Fresh seafood at Salt Wood Kitchen & Oysterette at Sanctuary Beach Resort in Marina, California.

Providing a range of healthy, nourishing foods and beverages made from locally sourced ingredients is one of the biggest trends in the meeting industry. There are many good reasons for attendees’ shift in thinking when it comes to food choices.

“I think we’re all just more informed,” says Megan Delaney, an independent meeting planner in Greenacres, Florida. “People are in general more health conscious. They’re moving from American-style big plates to enjoying food and making sure it works for their body. There’s also been a huge uptick in people finding out that they have a sensitivity to gluten or that dairy is what’s causing their GI issues. They’re realizing that with diet and exercise they can control their weight or prevent diabetes. And they’re finding that for religious or moral reasons they don’t want to eat red meat.”

While healthy food is a priority for many people attending conferences and incentive trips, not everyone has made this shift. Plenty still come to meetings expecting to splurge on comfort food and eat dessert after every meal. How do you balance these two expectations?

It may be easier than you think. A lot of it is about striking a balance between healthy and less healthy food. “Every single meal we’re looking at — does it appeal to our mass audience?” Delaney says. “If there are cupcakes, have we balanced that with whole fruit for people? Are we taking into account dietary needs? Does every meal have a vegetarian protein and something that’s vegan? We try to appease people with having some comfort food while at the same time making sure that healthy options are always available.”

Serving really good food made with real ingredients also can go a long way toward satisfying everyone. “As corporate budgets decrease for large-scale events, companies are really focusing on high-quality catering options and using more locally grown food,” says Shane Terenzi, senior event producer for High Beam Events, an Austin, Texas-based company that focuses on corporate meetings, experiential and social events and destination management. “We are seeing so many huge companies and small companies wanting to incorporate local ingredients as much as possible. Caterers want to give back to their communities and that includes working with local farmers to get the ingredients they need and working with ranchers to get locally raised meats.”

One of the most important things to remember when designing healthy menus is not to buy into old stereotypes about healthy food being boring or unappealing. “Don’t be constrained by any self-imposed limitations,” says Mike Schugt, president of Teneo Hospitality Group, a resort representation company in Orlando, Florida. “Attendees want healthy food, so give it to them and get very creative.”

Chefs can be your best friend in making this happen. In many cases they’re the ones leading the charge for healthier food and beverage options, says Tom Garcia, acting vice president, food and beverage for Benchmark, a global hospitality company. “They are engineering recipes and menus to include healthier options. Now the meeting planner or decision-maker of events and meetings can view healthier options when maybe it wasn’t top-of-mind prior to choosing the food offerings.”

The New Health Foods

Executive chef David Baron with Salt Wood Kitchen & Oysterette at Sanctuary Beach Resort in Marina, California, shares several healthy food trends he’s observed in recent years. “Red meat is less popular for some people,” he says. “They want white meat like chicken. We also do a lot of fish and seafood.”

Baron’s grain salads featuring quinoa, bulger and barley are very popular these days. He’s also using plenty of seasonal fruits and vegetables and fresh herbs. “Herbs are big for me in cooking,” he says. “They add a lot of fresh flavors.” One of his favorite things to do is coat melon with them and grill the slices. “It changes the structure of it and gives it some extra flavor.”

Healthy fats are in high demand, as are natural sugars such as honey and agave. Fermented foods continue to be popular as more people learn about the benefits of eating probiotic food. Baron is also using more nuts and seeds in dishes.

Delaney likes to allow people to build their own meals so they can choose exactly what goes into their food. As an example, she describes a lunch buffet that starts with simple salad greens. People can select their own protein, garnishes and dressing, depending on their tastes and dietary restrictions. “I can see 10 different people walking through that buffet line, and they’re all satisfied and have choices,” she says.

The “build you own meal” trend has gotten very popular in recent years, Terenzi says. “People are wanting to know what they’re consuming and they’re wanting to do things themselves.” Part of this is that more people view food as a form of entertainment, so they want to interact with it. But it also allows people with dietary restrictions to identify exactly what’s going into their meal or snack.

Terenzi shares a few of his favorite DIY meals and snacks. For stuffed avocado bars, caterers set out halved, pitted avocados and allow guests to add crème fresh, cotija cheese, queso dip, salsa and other ingredients. At canapé stations, guests are encouraged to top crostinis with seared ahi tuna, cooked meat and vegetable spreads. A client serving guests at South by Southwest eschewed their traditional early morning alcohol offerings and instead set up a create-your-own parfait station with dairy and nondairy yogurt, granola, fresh fruit and other add-ons.

“Meals now are much heavier on vegetarian options versus beef,” says Schugt. “Desserts are very small and more just to taste versus a piece of cake or pie. There’s a move to organic foods versus processed.” Attendees also are grateful to receive scratch-made foods when possible.

Cater to Dietary Restrictions

A big part of the move toward healthier food has to do with the growing number of dietary restrictions. Meeting planners and chefs are finding more ways to accommodate diners with food allergies or sensitivities; eating preferences such as Paleo, Mediterranean, vegetarian or vegan; or religious limitations such as halal or kosher.

Restaurants and caterers are increasingly setting out a full list of what each dish on a buffet contains. That way people can judge for themselves whether they can eat something or not. It also can be helpful to point out which foods contain allergens and which are appropriate for people with different dietary needs.

When it comes to working with corporate meeting planners, “I try to get the group’s rules — and by rules I mean dietary restrictions and aversions,” says Baron. “I like to get a background of what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. Then I tell them to let us do our job and our sourcing to do what we do best. We work within their price range to deliver what they want out of the meal.” He often ends up customizing menus to their tastes and needs.

Strike a Balance

Meeting food doesn’t have to be all healthy all the time. “Guests like to see the healthier options available, and may grab a little here and there, but the chips, pretzels and chicken wings are still going to be the most popular items,” says Garcia.

“The meeting planner has to have strong knowledge of what the client or group expects and enjoys,” he adds. After all, the ratio of healthy food to sweet and salty treats meeting attendees want will vary widely from group to group. “If healthy options are a priority, the meeting planner will need to deliver that message to the chef and catering manager.”
Striking the right balance between healthy options and indulgent ones can be fun. Given the popularity of small plates, Delaney likes to set up themed stations around the dining area to encourage participants to try a little of everything. “You can have one that’s fun healthy options, then one that’s for people who follow a halal or vegetarian diet,” she says.
This is a good way to serve ethnic cuisines without alienating people who are hesitant to try new things. “An ‘around the world’ feel gives everybody that little bit of satisfaction and little bit of healthy, and it helps broaden people’s horizons,” she says. “They can try some new spices or vegetarian foods and see how they like them.”

Beautiful Presentations Will Wow Attendees

“I would definitely say the trend is to find more fun ways of bringing healthy food and beverage into events,” says Terenzi. One great way to do this is through eye-catching and entertaining displays.

“Colors can add a lot,” says Jarrod Salaiz, senior event producer with High Beam Events. So can edible flowers or Instagram-worthy plating. “When we think about selling a client on healthy food, it can seem a little scary. But if it’s beautiful and tastes great, people will go crazy for it. It will bring people in no matter what the food is.”

Creating more attractive food displays can be as easy at putting vegetables and fruits on more interesting platters or containers, Garcia says. Or it can be as involved as building an entire buffet around a clever theme and fun decorations. Work with your caterer and any event designers to create something no one has seen before (or everyone has been buzzing about on social media). No one will be able to resist digging in.

Stay Healthy at Breaks

Healthy food should carry over from meals into snack time. Serving healthy, high-protein items will give people more energy to participate in events throughout the day.
“What people are snacking on and drinking in today’s world is getting adapted in banquet kitchens,” says Schugt. “Previously, you would have popcorn stations and ice cream stations. Now that’s been replaced with smoothie stations and many different and interesting presentations of coffees and espressos. Hotels have baristas for breaks and meals to prep coffee drinks like lattes. Instead of having bags of chips, you’ll find Kind bars.”

“Corporations and groups are not going for the meat platters as much anymore,” Baron says. “They’re going for vegetable and fruit plates with dips.” For the latter, cooks can offer plenty of alternatives to ranch dressing. Try hummus plain, blended with white or fava beans instead of garbanzos, or combined with vegetables like beets or roasted peppers. Yogurt-based dips have less fat than their sour cream-heavy counterparts.

Beyond Food: Healthy Beverages

Health-conscious consumption doesn’t stop at the break table. Consumers are more concerned than ever about what they drink. And food providers are responding with flavorful choices meeting participants can enjoy all day.

“The No. 1 thing you’re seeing, because we’re always trying to hydrate attendees, is flavored water or spa water,” says Delaney.

Baron backs this up. “We cut down coffee in the lobby and are doing infused water with citrus or fruit or berries,” he says.

Water stations provide some interesting opportunities to meet other meeting goals. Salaiz points out that many consumers who are interested in eating better are also concerned about lowering their carbon footprint. A water station that allows them to continually refill a water bottle is more eco-friendly than utilizing several plastic water bottles.

In addition, he says, companies can set out their own branded reusable water bottles (or sponsored water bottles) that attendees can pick up. This provides an additional opportunity to share a marketing message or sell a sponsorship.

“Coconut water is becoming more available for meetings and events,” says Garcia. “Teas are back in popularity and offered all day.” Kombucha, a fermented tea that contains probiotics (and a tiny bit of alcohol) may also be popular with some attendees.

For people who still crave that cup of coffee, there’s a new option that’s being called a healthier choice: butter coffee. “This was a hit in Austin a few years ago,” says Salaiz. “Instead of adding sugar and cream to your coffee there’s a special butter with healthy fat that you can add.”

“Fresh pressed juices are always a big hit,” says Delaney. Fruit isn’t the only thing being juiced anymore; drinks that contain vegetables such as beets, carrots, spinach and kale are also quite popular.

Juice is great for breakfasts or breaks, but it can also be used in mocktails, which are another healthy beverage trend. “People are serving less alcohol, but when they’re doing bars, instead of using traditional sweet and sour mixes they’re doing fresh juices,” says Terenzi.

Meeting attendees go crazy for smoothie bars. One twist is to allow people to make their own or choose from a list of ingredients, Terenzi says.

No matter what food and beverages you serve, the key is to keep it fun, Salaiz says. “There are so many caterers who want to experiment with different flavor profiles and different colors.” With their help, meeting-goers won’t even remember that they indulged in healthy treats on their trip. All they’ll remember are the flavors that tempted their taste buds day after flavorful day.” C&IT

Meeting with a view at Kimpton Amara Resort and Spa, Sedona, Arizona.

Meetings and incentive trips in the Southwest provide attendees with stunning scenery, great hospitality and outdoor adventure. Each state in the region has different characteristics and benefits. Arizona is an excellent destination for people seeking warm weather and great entertainment. New Mexico provides rich cultural experiences unlike any other place in the U.S. Oklahoma is a centrally located destination that provides plenty of amenities at an affordable price. Here’s our guide to what you need to know about some of the hottest spots in the Southwestern U.S.

Arizona

Phoenix

“Greater Phoenix is home to dozens of world-class resorts that offer golf, spa, tennis, horseback riding, motorcycle tours and just about anything you can imagine,” says Ronnie Collins, director of sales for Visit Phoenix. “For the groups looking for engaging activities, rappelling, off-road Segway tours, Tomcar desert tours, skeet shooting, glass-blowing classes and white-water excursions are just some of the few that Phoenix offers.”

Phoenix is a hub for both Southwest and American Airlines with flights from more than 80 domestic cities. The airport is only 10 minutes from downtown. The light-rail system can deliver visitors to the city center for a $3 fare.

Once visitors arrive, they’ll find the area easy to navigate and full of entertainment options. The downtown is highly walkable. Pedicabs and Grid Bikes, in addition to the light rail, serve people who need transportation between destinations. The University of Arizona and Arizona State University both have a presence downtown. There are dozens of good places to eat, of which 95 percent are family-owned and operated. Planners looking for offsite venues can choose from multiple theaters, museums, science centers and sports facilities (Chase Field, home of the Diamondbacks, has a reception hall that can hold 600 people).

The Phoenix Convention Center has a 312,500-sf exhibit hall and reception capacity of 12,000. The Hyatt Regency Phoenix is adjacent to the convention center and has 693 guest rooms. The nearby Sheraton Grand Phoenix, Westin Phoenix Downtown, Palomar Phoenix Cityscape, Renaissance Phoenix Downtown and other downtown hotels offer more than 2,000 additional sleeping rooms. A new Hampton Inn & Suites will open in downtown in May.

Scottsdale

Sunny Scottsdale is located a stone’s throw from Phoenix and boasts many of the same amenities: warm weather, beautiful scenery and plentiful opportunities for recreation. It’s a great place for people interested in all kinds of outdoor adventures. There are 200 golf courses within driving distance. “Attendees seeking a little bit of adventure can explore the wonders of the Sonoran Desert with a sunrise balloon flight, a night-vision Hummer tour or even a self-driven (literally) adventure in a Tomcar,” says Kelli Blubaum, CMP, vice president of sales and services at Experience Scottsdale.

Accommodations in Scottsdale are plentiful, and range from luxurious spas to state-of-the-art hotels. Hotel Adeline, a new property with nearly 10,000 sf of event space and 213 guest rooms, opened last fall. The JW Marriott Camelback Inn is constructing its own state-of-the-art conference center that will bring the resort’s meeting facilities to 95,000 sf. Royal Palms Resort and Spa is upgrading all 119 guest rooms as well as its event and outdoor spaces. The Phoenician is currently building an athletic club that will include tennis and basketball courts, a fitness center, activity center, and dining and shopping options.

Last year Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa finished a $2 million renovation of its casitas (apartments) and suites. The rooms were updated with modern and luxurious furnishings and decorations. The resort has also added the Spa House, a 3,500-sf home designed to pamper groups of up to 16. These guest rooms provide luxurious accommodations for groups who visit the resort for meetings. The resort has a 3,200-sf ballroom that can host up to 250 people with theater seating or for a stand-up reception (or can be broken down into five smaller spaces). There are also two small boardrooms. To make the most of Arizona’s beautiful weather, groups can plan outdoor events on one of several patios, lawns or other outdoor spaces.

Maribeth Nash, trade show and event planning associate with Origami Risk, a risk management software company headquartered in Chicago, chose the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia for her company’s annual colleague conference, bringing 115 of the company’s onsite and remote workers together for a three-day planning and relationship-building event.

“We do the event in the first quarter, so we’re looking for somewhere warm,” says Nash. Once she’d narrowed her choice of cities to Scottsdale, she picked the Omni at Montelucia for its quality, amenities and price. “The Montelucia has that destination feel. You felt like you were at a resort somewhere exotic. My goal is always to make our colleagues feel like they’re on a rewarding trip.”

The event began with a welcome reception on a terrace overlooking Camelback Mountain. Monday and Tuesday morning were dedicated to meetings. On Tuesday afternoon attendees were treated to a half-day rafting trip organized by Camelback Adventures. Buses drove guests to the Salt River, where they piled into rafts and floated over rocks and gentle rapids. Afterward they had dinner under the desert sky while a band played. The gathering concluded with a half-day of meetings on Wednesday.

Nash was pregnant and unable to fly to last year’s colleague conference. Because of that, “I had to really make sure the staff…was going to be amazing because I wasn’t going to be there. I needed to trust them, and I needed them to be proactive. If something was wrong, I needed them to not wait for someone to tell them but work to fix it. My executive managers came to me after the event and said, ‘They could not have done a better job. They were on top of everything.’ ”

Flagstaff

In some ways, the northern Arizona city of Flagstaff feels worlds away from Phoenix and Scottsdale. The small community sits along Highway 40 surrounded by the pines of the Coconino National Forest. It’s close to Humphreys Peak, Arizona’s highest point, making it a destination for ski and snowboarding enthusiasts.

All of this showcases an exciting and different side of Arizona than people are used to seeing. Flagstaff has more of an Old West feel than many other Arizona cities, which means there are interesting historical sites to check out, such as: touring Navajo National Monument (nine miles away), the cliff dwellings of Walnut Canyon National Monument (10 miles), Petrified Forest National Park (25 miles) or the Grand Canyon (80 miles).

“With spacious rooms and attentive service, Flagstaff offers accommodations to suit various needs and preferences,” says Meg Roederer, communications specialist for the Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau. Top meeting destinations include the High Country Conference Center, Little America Hotel and Doubletree by Hilton. There’s also a new Fairfield Inn and Suites. The Hampton Inn and Residence Inn Marriott were recently renovated.

Sedona

The small, artsy community of Sedona is located about an hour south of Flagstaff and two hours north of Phoenix. It’s known for its stunning red rock formations, abundance of artists, and pampering resorts and spas. These qualities make it ideal for incentive trips and meetings where you need a quiet getaway.

“Sedona is host to hundreds of meetings and tours annually with more than 3,300 rooms, flexible meeting space up to 33,500 sf and over 50 restaurants,” says Leslie Brearley, sales manager for the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau. “The brand new Posse Grounds Pavilion offers participants a venue that’s off the beaten path. It’s surrounded by numerous trail systems, a sports complex and nearby community pool. Offering spacious festival-style seating for up to 300, the Posse Grounds Pavilion will wow participants with views of the famous Sedona Red Rocks.”

Now is a good time to visit Sedona because there are multiple new and renovated hotels. The new Courtyard by Marriott Sedona has 115 rooms. L’Auberge de Sedona, Enchantment Resort, Hilton Sedona Resort and Arabella Hotel Sedona are among the properties that have gone through renovations to guest room and/or grounds in recent years.

Guests will have to rely on the Phoenix or Flagstaff airports for air transportation, but once they arrive in Sedona, almost everything is within walking distance. Sedona has a number of great restaurants and more than 80 art galleries and shops. If ground transportation is needed, groups can charter a trolley or bus.

New Mexico

Albuquerque

“Albuquerque is a bucket-list destination, where the experiences are truly unique and hard to replicate anywhere else,” says Kristin McGrath, vice president of convention sales, services and sports for Visit Albuquerque. “The opportunity to attend a meeting in an authentic destination that provides immersive, interactive experiences and a world-renowned culinary scene provides truly memorable events for attendees. With more than $300 million in hospitality investments reshaping the city’s skyline — including a renovated convention center, new downtown entertainment district and increased air service at the International Sunport — there’s never been a better time to connect with Albuquerque.”

Planners will find a lot of impressive venues in New Mexico’s largest city. The convention center has 167,000 sf of meeting space along with a 2,300-seat auditorium. The DoubleTree Hilton Albuquerque just wrapped up a $7 million renovation to its guest rooms, fitness center, public areas and grounds. The Hyatt Regency Albuquerque and Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North have been updated in the past few years.

Planners seeking a more intimate space can check out the newly renovated Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm or Nativo Lodge, which showcase interesting aspects of local culture. The Albuquerque Museum, Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and National Hispanic Cultural Center are among the interesting venues available for off-site gatherings.

The Albuquerque airport is less than a 10-minute drive, and the city just opened a rapid transit system with the nation’s first fleet of electric buses. It will make 19 stops along a nine-mile corridor within the city. People staying downtown will find it highly walkable. Remind meeting-goers that they can get their kicks along Route 66, which runs through a portion of the city.

Isleta Resort and Casino on the outskirts of Albuquerque has provided a warm and welcoming place for several shows sponsored by Ben E. Keith Co., a food and alcohol beverage distribution company. “I’d done convention centers and exhibit halls, and the issue with them is they’re pretty cold — both in temperature and feeling — because you’re dealing with a giant warehouse space,” says Kim Snitker, the company’s marketing and design manager. “We decided to go with Isleta because it’s a much warmer atmosphere.”

Ben E. Keith’s main food show kicks off each March with a party for vendors and customers. “We showcase products that will be at the food show but in a more casual atmosphere with music and dancing,” Snitker says. For the next two days, attendees can check out booths with food vendors, equipment, and paper and cleaning products. The event draws about 120 vendors and 400 customers.

“The location is perfect because it’s close to the airport and has great views,” Snitker says. “A lot of the appeal to coming to New Mexico is our vistas. You can see the mountains and the volcanoes. They have the ballroom situated so it’s perfect for sunsets, which can be pretty spectacular. It’s near the highway but set back far enough that you don’t feel like you’re right on the highway.”

One of the things that’s kept Snitker coming back to Isleta is that they showcase local products. “Since it’s part of the Isleta Pueblo, they featured all Isleta artists,” she says. “Everything has a story behind it and is connected to the space. They’re also really good about featuring local beers and food, like green chile and fry bread and things people can’t get even if they’re coming from southern Colorado.”

Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, a luxury resort located on the Santa Ana Pueblo, recently completed a multi-million-dollar guest room renovation providing meeting and group guests with updated and modern accommodations that encompass the serene and authentic feel of the Native American Pueblo-based property.

“What makes this area really special is we have this incredible mix of cultures here,” says Jolene Mauer, marketing and public relations manager for the Hyatt Regency Tamaya. “There’s the native culture from the pueblo people who were here first, but we have such an amazing Hispanic culture. Later the Anglos came from the east. That wonderful combination of the native, Spanish and Anglo coming together is the biggest draw for this part of New Mexico. Whether that’s the art or the food or the architecture, it makes for a completely unique experience.”

Hyatt Regency Tamaya is designed to provide an inspiring group experience with state-of-the-art meeting facilities and one-of-a-kind activities for guests. The property features 29,000 sf of indoor and 25,000 sf of outdoor meeting space including the Tamaya Ballroom, a 12,000-sf space that can be partitioned into eight separate rooms, and the Wolf and Puma rooms, offering floor-to-ceiling windows that open directly to a patio with panoramic views of the Sandia Mountains and cottonwood forest.

Located on more than 550 acres, the resort is home to several unique and exciting activities for groups including its Tamaya Horse Rehabilitation Program non-profit organization. The program provides shelter, care and rehabilitation to neglected and abandoned horses in New Mexico. Groups can arrange for interactive experiences with the horses, take part in teambuilding and volunteer activities, or sponsor a horse on behalf of their company.

Additionally, the property features culturally inspired group experiences through its Srai Wi program including art and activity classes led by members of the Santa Ana Pueblo, horseback rides that traverse the Southwestern terrain and explore the banks of the Rio Grande, world-class golf at the Twin Warriors Golf Club and restorative treatments at the award-winning Tamaya Mist Spa. Hyatt Regency Tamaya also offers excursions including hot-air balloon rides which take off from the resort’s onsite launch pad, hiking and biking trails, rafting and jeep excursions, fine dining at the Corn Maiden restaurant and much more.

Santa Fe

Culture, history, art and cuisine combine to make Santa Fe a destination unlike any other. That authenticity is just part of the appeal of meeting in the state capital. “Santa Fe is a very affordable city,” says David Carr, director of sales for Tourism Santa Fe. There are more than 2,000 hotel rooms within walking distance of the convention center, and most are reasonably priced. The city has its own airport and the Albuquerque airport is only an hour away. The downtown is small enough that it’s walkable, and planners can contract transportation for any out-of-the-way events.

The city’s high elevation means it’s more temperate than other places in the region. “A lot of people, when they think Southwest, they think Arizona, but we are not Phoenix,” says Mauer. “We do not get to 100 degrees. It gets really cool at night when the sun goes down.” Summertime temperatures average in the mid-80s with no humidity. Snow is possible in the winter.

In addition to the convention center, downtown Santa Fe has over a dozen hotels with meeting space. The Eldorado Hotel and Spa, which can accommodate groups of up to 700, and La Fonda on the Plaza, which can hold up to 600 people, are among the largest.

When it comes to offsite events, there are numerous good options. The four museums on Museum Hill can host large groups inside and out. The Santa Fe School of Cooking can teach participants to make mole, green chile sauce, tortillas and other Southwestern foods. “For people who are more adventurous, there’s Bandelier and Puye Cliffs, where you can hike through ruins,” Carr says.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City

There are plenty of reasons to say “OK” to Oklahoma City as you consider future meeting or incentive trip destinations. The community is an affordable destination and has lots to offer in terms of meeting space, transportation, food and entertainment.

Oklahoma City is in the process of building a brand new convention center. The facility will have 200,000-sf of exhibit space and 125,000 sf of additional meeting space, all built to LEED standards. The space is expected to open in 2020. A 600-room Omni hotel will be attached. Across the street will be a 70-acre park that connects the convention center to the Oklahoma River.

Oklahoma City is divided into districts. Bricktown is the entertainment district and is home to a number of the city’s great restaurants. The Asian District is home to one of the country’s largest populations of Vietnamese immigrants and is also a hot foodie destination.

Within the Boathouse neighborhood is Riversport Rapids, one of only six indoor white-water facilities in the country. “You can bring any size group you want and spend an afternoon on the white water,” says Dennis Johnston, CDME, vice president of sales for the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau. “In addition, you can do paddle sports like canoeing, kayaking or racing in dragon boats.”

Current meeting spaces include the Cox Convention Center and adjoining Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center Hotel, Embassy Suites by Hilton and 396-room Sheraton Downtown Oklahoma City. New as of last year were an AC Hotel, Hyatt Place and Hilton Garden Inn Edmond/Oklahoma City North.

Jasco Products Company, which designs and develops home and mobility products, is based in Oklahoma City and regularly hosts meetings, receptions and dinners at the 21c Museum Hotel. The boutique property is housed in a former Ford Motor Company manufacturing plant, which gives it some real character.

Marketing coordinator Kearsten Howland has high praise for the hotel. “It’s always been the best place for having a great atmosphere and accommodations right in the heart of Oklahoma City,” she says. “There’s so much new happening downtown, and the 21c is really close to everything. That location also has really competitive pricing and a great staff to work with.”

The event and sales folks always offer feedback and suggestions designed to make Jasco’s events even more successful. They’re extremely accommodating and work hard to make sure guests have everything they need. “There was a time we were hosting an event on the rooftop, and we were worried about the cold front coming in that evening because our event was supposed to be outdoors,” Howland says. “When this was discussed with the staff, they orchestrated the purchase of some heaters and installed them, so that really saved the day.”

At a different event an executive mentioned that he was missing a game with his favorite sports team. “The staff brought a television up to the rooftop and connected it and rearranged the room so the group could watch that game while dinner was being served,” Howland says.

Arizona and the Southwest offers something for every planner: desert vistas, luxury accommodations, mountain ranges, rich culture and spectacular national parks. C&IT

Lindsay Martin-Bilbrey, CMP, has been planning association, corporate and nonprofit events for more than 15 years. Her favorite part of being part of Pathable’s event app team is collaborating with clients and other event professionals on how to make meetings exceptional for all attendees. Contact her at: https://pathable.com/

If you want to be great at event management, you need to get comfortable with failure. Being an event planner requires you to constantly put yourself on the line: From taking a chance on an unknown speaker and convincing your board to change up how you program your conference or adding a new event app like Pathable so you can better connect your attendees with the relationships they want. The more chances you take, the likelier you are to sometimes — even frequently — fall flat on your face. And when it happens, occasionally all of the attendees are watching. But as Robert F. Kennedy said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Don’t beat yourself up for failing. These seven options will help you see your failure in a positive light.

1. Failure Is a Chance to Increase Your Resilience

There are only two possible options to failure: Either you give up, or you dust yourself off and try, try again.

If you take the second option, you’re guaranteed to become more resilient. Trying again gives you confidence. The next time you fail (yes, you’ll fail again), you’ll remember this situation and think, “I got a little bit further towards my goal this time. I can try this again (and again, ad nauseam).

Remember Thomas Edison’s words as he tried to create the light bulb, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

2. Failure Is The Beginning — Not the End

We tend to think of failure as the end of an opportunity. Your boss decides to go with another venue, so you pack away the capacity chart for the property you really wanted. The end.

However, every failure is actually a beginning. Maybe you keep an eye on the property to watch for renovations and updates they’re making. You build a new case for your boss on why this venue is the right fit for your event. They’re impressed by your persistence and decide to take a chance on the space.

As Gena Showalter said, “Giving up is the only sure way to fail.”

3. Failure Allows You to Build Tolerance to Risk

“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” — Robert T. Kiyosaki

Failure is proof that you thought you could reach the sky; that you were confident in your ideas. You could avoid having that uncomfortable meeting with your conference committee when “everyone” swears that new agenda structure fell flat with attendees, but you shouldn’t. Because sometimes you get the conference evaluation results back and 50 percent of the attendees actually loved it!

Sometimes you win big. Sometimes, it’s a draw. However, at the end of the day, you should be proud of your failures. Each one represents a time you put yourself out there.

Just make sure you’re learning from your failures. It’s a foolish person who repeats a bad idea once proven wrong.

4. Failure Keeps You Realistic

Winning feels good. Succeeding feels good. So, when we plan an outrageous idea that goes 1,000 percent smoothly, it can go to our heads. Which can make us tough to live with and perhaps tempt us to bite off more than we can chew the next go-round.

Taking risks and dreaming big doesn’t mean that you ignore reality. You still have to keep in mind the time, resources and scope of your event. Keep this question at the core of your thinking: Is this best for our attendee experience?

Then go ahead. Think outside of the box. Just have backup plans in case out-of-the-box is too big for your conference compatriots. And always do your research and create the business case for why you took the risk.

Because when you fail (and again, remember, you will at some point), and someone points a blaming finger, you’re well prepared to say yes, we did fail. Here was our thinking when we tried the ideas and here’s what we learned to do better next time.

5. Failure Helps You Test Assumptions

Event planners rely heavily on assumptions. Think about the ones you’ve made this month alone, from “That type of AV company can’t provide the support we need” and “Surely we can afford that event app” to “No one really likes that much chicken at conferences” and “They’ll probably get the most value from this new program (even though we haven’t talked to any actual prospective attendees).”

Assumptions help you make better decisions. Just like it’s a rare venue that would take your business sans deposit without previous meetings history, your assumptions help you use previous experience to infer what will and won’t work. Sometimes, we can get the wrong assumptions into our heads. And we need to know we’re wrong so we don’t continue to repeat our mistakes.

6. Failure Can Make a Team Stronger

I once worked with an association who rebranded their organization and annual event and didn’t tell the membership it was happening until we magically changed the logo and redecorated the entire conference hall live during a morning general session. I think 50 people (out of 7,500) knew before we did it.

It didn’t go well.

As embarrassing and frustrating as the public failure was, though, our staff and board failed together as a team. From the CEO and the board president on down, we shared the responsibility for the failure to be transparent, listened to the hurt feelings from the membership, and ate crow together as a team.

This memory might sound negative, but in hindsight, I look back and am incredibly proud of that time. We didn’t play a blame game. We instead acknowledged and moved forward, stronger.

7. Failure Helps You Reach Beyond Low Hanging Fruit

If you aren’t leading your events team to think about longer range goals and innovations for your attendees on a regular basis, then you’ll forever stay in a short-range, low-success space. We joke a lot in the events world about how slow change happens, but it can be startling to realize we’re part of the problem.

Meeting planners are risk-averse by nature. We want to know the outcomes and redundant backup plans for everything. This means that when we’re too focused on the now, it steals our energy and momentum towards later — our future.

Sometimes you won’t know the outcome before you take the risk.

Attendees have more options than ever for their professional development, their networking and their conferences. Why sacrifice our long-term event viability and financial stability by holding too tightly onto our fear?

I mean, they’re called Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG) for a reason.

And the more you practice failing, the less likely you are to be scared about trying to achieve that BHAG. C&IT

This article originally appeared in Pathable’s blog on May 28, 2017.

Ready to double down at the blackjack table, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut.

The choices in gaming resorts today are as diverse as the selection of table games at a casino. The hotbeds of the industry remain Las Vegas and Atlantic City, but there are compelling gaming resorts that beckon corporate groups to less-traveled corners of the country, from Hollywood, Florida, to Biloxi, Mississippi, to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, to Ridgefield, Washington. Unique cultural experiences await groups in many of these smaller gaming enclaves and a prime example is Ilani Casino Resort, which opened in Ridgefield last spring.

Developed by Salishan-Mohegan LLC in collaboration with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Ilani is located on the tribe’s 156-acre reservation, about 17 miles from the Hilton Vancouver. The 368,000-sf facility includes a 100,000-sf gaming floor and a meeting and entertainment venue seating up to 2,500 guests. Attendees have at their disposal a variety of retail shops, bars and restaurants, including Tom’s Urban and Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse. The Friedmutter Group, an architecture firm that specializes in gaming facilities, designed Ilani to highlight the beauty of the Northwest and home of the Cowlitz tribe, with panoramic mountain views and prominent use of wood, stone and zinc as building materials.

Ilani adds to the gaming options in Washington, which is also home to Tulalip Resort Casino. Having recently completed a $15 million renovation, Tulalip offers 30,000 sf of meeting space and 360 redesigned guest rooms that express the rich history and culture of the Tulalip Tribes.

Southwest

For five years, sales representatives from Spectrum Technologies have been enriched by the culture of the Mescalero Apache Tribe at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino. The New Mexico gaming resort offers groups AAA Four Diamond facilities that include 273 guest rooms and 40,000 sf of meeting space. “They have a lot of unique paintings and statues, and they really do highlight that heritage throughout the property,” notes Michelle Lemke, technical solutions director. “Several of our attendees have remarked on that (heritage) and asked questions. So it is showcased in a very professional manner and adds some ambience to the property.”

The Inn of the Mountain Gods was selected for the company’s January sales kickoff meeting primarily because of its location, notes Lemke. “It’s nice and remote and takes our sales team out of the daily grind of the sales world and allows us to decompress,” she explains. “Secondly, the amenities the Inn offers are quite exceptional. They have a beautiful lounge where we typically host our cocktail hour, a great onsite bar, and then the menu that we typically serve for that cocktail hour is very good. It’s a little bit out of the normal scope of bar food.”

Apart from providing an atmosphere conducive to networking, the resort’s grounds are ideal for teambuilding. “This year, we had a scavenger hunt around the property, and the Inn staff helped our attendees to find clues, which was kind of neat,” she says. “I’ll never forget the fact that they were interactive and helped to make it fun. They seem to really care about being engaged with the customer. It’s also wonderful that the staff hasn’t changed since I began planning (meetings there).”

Customers who enjoy robust entertainment offerings along with their meetings may consider another Southwest gaming icon Talking Stick Resort. Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, the 496-room property includes the Showroom, Salt River Grand Ballroom and Pool — all of which host touring entertainers. Recently hosted acts include Dave Mason, Gabriel Iglesias and award-winning blues-rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Talking Stick Resort houses more than 100,000 sf of flexible meeting space. Nearby recreational options include the 36-hole Talking Stick Golf Club, OdySea Aquarium and Topgolf at Riverwalk.

Las Vegas

When it comes to diversity in casino entertainment, arguably no gaming destination can match Las Vegas. Yet many of the city’s gaming properties also are quite serious about delivering a standard-setting conference experience. A case in point is the MGM Grand Conference Center, which topped out its 250,000-sf expansion in January. The $130 million project, opening the end of this year, will expand the conference center to 850,000 sf, including a 22,000-sf expansion of Stay Well Meetings. New facilities will include a 49,000-sf ballroom, 32,000-sf ballroom, three junior ballrooms, 11 breakout rooms and a 5,500-sf outdoor courtyard.

The MGM Grand Conference Center expansion is certainly making headlines, but it’s only a part of MGM Resorts’ commitment to expanding its group business. When the expansions at Aria, Park MGM and Luxor are completed by the end of this year, MGM Resorts will have 4 million sf of meeting and convention space, reportedly more than any other company in Las Vegas. Aria’s $165 million project to enhance its LEED Gold-certified convention center will deliver an additional 200,000 sf of flexible meeting space. The enhanced center welcomed its first clients in February. Meanwhile, Park MGM has introduced phase one of its new 77,000-sf conference space, and later this year will open phase two: the city’s first Executive Meeting Center and Idea Studio. The high-tech space will be ideal for small groups looking to maximize productivity. At Luxor, groups can utilize the new 20,000-sf Galleria Square, which features the 8,000-sf Lotus Ballroom, five meeting rooms ranging from 1,400–1,650 sf, and a 4,700-sf prefunction area. With the expansion, Luxor’s meeting space now totals more than 40,000 sf. In addition, Luxor completes a redesign of more than 1,700 hotel Tower Rooms in March.

Further cementing its resources for meetings, MGM Resorts partnered with Cisco Systems in November to upgrade and double its wireless infrastructure throughout all MGM Resorts meeting and convention spaces in Las Vegas (except Circus Circus). The new system features increased high-density coverage and faster download speeds.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. began construction on its new Las Vegas Strip development, Paradise Park, in January 2018. The 47-story, 1,500-room hotel and convention center will be built alongside a 38-acre lagoon, ringed by a mile-long boardwalk and white-sand beach. The development is replacing the golf course behind the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. Design integrated with recreation is, as always, paramount for Wynn — there are plans for a nightly Carnivale parade of floats on the hourglass-shaped lagoon. Wynn is also doing its part to add more renewable energy resources in Nevada — powering Paradise Park entirely by energy from a dedicated solar array built outside of Fallon, Nevada.

Caesars Entertainment also has been augmenting its hospitality product in Las Vegas with a $100 million renovation of the Palace Tower at Caesars Palace. The project spans 1,181 guest rooms and suites, including the 10 opulent villas on the resort’s 29th floor. The elegantly designed new guest rooms and suites feature cool gray tones accented by royal blue and champagne gold. By the second quarter of this year, the Flamingo Las Vegas will have completed a $90 million renovation of 1,270 rooms. The rooms’ décor pays homage to the Flamingo’s 70-year history.

A modern addition to Las Vegas’ resort collection is the M Resort Spa Casino, located in nearby Henderson. Opened in 2009, the 390-room hotel offers more than 92,000 sf of meeting space, including a pavilion, grand ballroom and multiple reception areas. Both natural lighting and views of the Las Vegas skyline complement the function space. Alternative gathering venues throughout the resort include Lux, the expansive 16th floor function space; Hostile Grape wine cellar; and the M Pool, which includes outdoor event terraces. Top-quality F&B is a major focus of the resort, which houses nearly 30,000 sf of kitchen space and culinary work areas. Most of the M Resort’s restaurants feature outdoor dining on terraces that overlook the 100,000-sf pool and events piazza, as well as the Las Vegas Strip.

Northeast

Caesars Entertainment is not only conducting major guest room renovation projects in Las Vegas. In the home of the world-famous Boardwalk, Harrah’s Atlantic City completed a $30 million renovation of its 450-room Bayview Tower last summer. In addition, The Pool at Harrah’s/The Pool after Dark received a $2.6 million redesign and a new fitness center was introduced.

Major renovations have also been completed at the Tropicana Atlantic City. The $200 million project has refurbished all 21 meeting rooms in the Havana Tower (16,000-sf combined), 18,000-sf Ballroom and the 20,000-sf Grand Exhibition Center. The Tropicana also offers meeting planners newly refurbished and renovated guest rooms in the North, South and Havana hotel towers, new amenities and experiences such as AtlantiCare Life Center Fitness and Escape AC, and three new dining concepts by award-winning chef Jose Garces: Olón, Bar Olón and Okatshe. After the company acquired the adjacent boutique hotel, The Chelsea, last year, the property began the process of linking it to Tropicana’s operations as its fifth hotel tower, bringing its total guest room count to 2,369 and adding 5,600 sf of meeting space.

Up in Uncasville, Connecticut, Mohegan Sun is also making strides with the upcoming summer debut of its convention space expansion. Totaling 250,000 sf, the new space includes a 125,000-sf Expo Center, 20,000-sf Earth Ballroom, 15 meeting rooms and 20,000 sf earmarked for new dining or entertainment space. Expansive meeting space options are also available at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Along with a variety of smaller meeting rooms, facilities include the 47,533-sf Premier Ballroom, 15,000-sf Celebrity Ballroom and the 25,000-sf, column-free Foxwoods Grand Ballroom, divisible into five sections. A 4,000-sf prefunction area with 23 foot ceilings provides ample room for registration or pre-dinner cocktail hours. Foxwoods also features the 1,400-seat Fox Theater and the 4,000-seat Grand Theater.

Cumberland Farms has taken advantage of these spaces over the last seven years for its annual meeting and trade show. The most recent installment brought about 1,200 attendees to the property. “We have a wonderful partnership with them; they have really become part of the Cumberland Farms family,” says Debra J. White, senior executive assistant, adding that the company has booked its 2018 and 2019 trade show and year-end meetings with Foxwoods. “We typically hold a large cocktail party for our vendors, and we’ve held that in the past in two of their ballrooms. But this year we decided to go over to Grand Pequot and we used their High Rollers (Luxury Lanes and Sports Lounge). It’s pretty amazing. So we had an event there on one evening for 600 people, and the next evening another event for roughly 300 people, while simultaneously using another one of their ballrooms for a dinner for about 600. It was the first time we had done that kind of an event for our store managers, and they were thrilled because they had the bowling alley and we had put on a nice spread of food.”

White commends Foxwoods’ culinary service in general. “They have a tremendous chef who’s always willing to work with us; if there’s something on the menu that we would like to see changed, they change the food offering for us,” she explains. “And they make positive suggestions about how we can change things to spice things up a little bit.”

Pennsylvania’s gaming scene has been growing in recent times. The Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem opened in 2009, bringing a 150,000-sf casino to the state, complemented by the Sands Bethlehem Events Center, offering 12,000 sf of rentable space and an onsite AV and event team. And for the last five years, King of Prussia has been home to a full-amenity gaming resort, Valley Forge Casino Resort. Guest rooms are divided into two towers: The 483-room Radisson Tower and the 154-room Casino Tower, which recently underwent a $6 million renovation. Since the property opened, renovations have been made to the Event Center and the 100,000 sf of function space, which includes five ballrooms. In addition, dining space has been converted into a classic steakhouse, Revolution Chop House, and the Valley Beach Poolside Club was created.

Southeast

Beau Rivage, located in Biloxi, Mississippi, has also recently completed a rooms renovation. Ninety-five of the property’s Jasmine, Cypress and Beau Chene Suites have been remodeled to better represent the Gulf Coast lifestyle. The materials palette includes the blue-greens of the local waters and foliage, the colors of driftwood and sand, and yellows and fuchsia pinks. The project was a collaboration between MGM Resorts Design & Development and the Beau Rivage Facilities team.

The 1,740-room Beau Rivage offers groups 50,000 sf of function space, including the 17,000-sf Magnolia Ballroom; an 85,000-sf casino; a 1,550-seat theater; upscale retailers; the nearby Fallen Oak golf course; and a spa and tropical pool. During their free time, attendees can catch headliners such as Kansas, Kool & the Gang, Billy Idol and Jim Gaffigan. A new offering for groups who want to feel the breeze on the Mississippi Gulf is the Betsy Ann Riverboat, a 150-passenger true stern wheel paddleboat docked at Point Cadet Marina. The vessel, featuring an enclosed climate-controlled main cabin, is now available for two-hour tours, sunset cruises, dinner cruises as well as private charters.

Down in the Sunshine State, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood is adding a $1.8 billion, guitar-shaped tower with 800 rooms to its current 500 guest rooms. The project is scheduled to be completed by late 2019, and will also add 50,000 sf of function space along with new dining and entertainment venues. The hotel currently offers 120,000 sf of meeting space, including a 38,000-sf exhibit hall divisible into 10 spaces. Other venues include the 5,500-seat, 18,000-sf Hard Rock Live arena and a 7,000-sf poolside function area.

Midwest

The Ameristar brand has made a name for itself in the Midwest via the Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City and the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles. The Kansas City property is a AAA Three Diamond full-service hotel with 184 well-appointed rooms and the largest casino in the Kansas City area at 140,000 sf. Numerous amenities complement the hotel’s 15,000 sf of function space, including seven dining venues, live entertainment and even an 18-screen movie theater.

Located just west of the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, the Ameri­star Casino Resort Spa St. Charles has a slightly smaller casino at 130,000 sf but a larger hotel at 400 guest rooms. The AAA Four Diamond property houses a 20,000-sf conference center. Other highlights include an indoor-outdoor pool, a full-service luxury day spa, state-of-the-art fitness center and a pool deck featuring fountains, a firepit and Missouri River views.

A small group of Starbucks facilities managers gathered last year at the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles for an annual regional kickoff meeting planned by Todd Holmes, Starbucks facilities manager. Holmes, who was personally familiar with the Ameristar brand prior to selecting the property, remarks that the “conference rooms were very comfortable; they were able to arrange it in a way that was conducive to our group. We were able to have the media and the electronics we needed to support our meeting. We had some people that dialed in from the Indianapolis market, and so we were able to have the conference call option in the room. It worked out perfectly.”

One aspect of the event that did not go perfectly was a power outage throughout the hotel one evening. But the personalized planning assistance that Holmes had been receiving from Ashley Gaddy, senior executive sales manager with Ameristar, continued throughout that situation. “Through no fault of their own, the power was out. We had people staying up on the 23rd–25th floors. Ashley called me and said, ‘We understand if anybody wants to go to a different hotel. We will have somebody go up and get their bags.’ And they really supported us during that time. We just hung out in the lobby, and when the power came on we all either went to the casino or up to rooms. But it made for a memorable story to tell when we get together again. We like to talk about it in a good way: how the company, and specifically Ashley, handled the situation for us. I can’t imagine anything she could have done to deliver better customer service, and she still stays in touch to this day. The next time I’m in charge of organizing (the meeting), we’ll stay there again.”

Upscale gaming hotels don’t leave the guest experience up to chance, and the long-term partnerships that companies like Cumberland Farms and Spectrum Technologies have established with such properties are a testament to the remarkable customer service their attendees receive, year after year. With the growing variety in gaming resorts across the country, planners have more opportunities to create such partnerships. C&IT

For their meetings on Capitol Hill, Solum Consulting attendees overnight in Alexandria, where hotels offer convenience and value. Credit: Jill Wheeler, Syngenta Corp.

No other meeting location in the U.S. can match the singular allure of Washington, DC. It is the world’s premier “power” destination. Although the nation’s capital does attract corporate meetings, it is much more frequently utilized for government and association meetings, as well as events and conferences staged by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and foreign governments and organizations.

That means that corporate planners looking for rates, dates and space on a typical budget often have to look outside the city’s limits to find accommodations. Fortunately, northern Virginia and southern Maryland fill that need very well.

The Magic of Alexandria

Located just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, Alexandria, Virginia combines a unique history that dates back to before the American Revolution with modern flourishes that have made it a stylish and sophisticated destination.

Steve Powell, president of Greensboro, North Carolina-based Solum Consulting, which plans educational and leadership conferences in the agricultural industry, has been using Alexandria for one or two meetings a year for the last decade.

“There are two key reasons why we are so loyal to Alexandria,” Powell says. “The first is its proximity to Washington, DC. As part of our meeting agendas, we often go into the city for meetings on Capitol Hill with members of Congress or with staff at various federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Alexandria is very convenient. It’s very easy to get from any hotel in Alexandria to any place you want to go in Washington in about 20 minutes.”

The second factor that keeps bringing his events back to Alexandria is cost savings. “We also save money in Alexandria, which is a much more budget-friendly environment than Washington,” Powell says. “We’ve done detailed cost research in comparing Alexandria to Washington, and for a meeting we hosted last November, we saved 20 percent on room rates. For food and beverage, we also saved 25 percent by staying in Alexandria. In addition, based on our F&B minimum, we got our meeting space at no cost. No hotel in Washington would offer that. And that saved us even more money.”

Such savings are particularly important to Powell because the budgets for his meetings are underwritten by Sygenta Corporation, a major crop science company that pays the cost of his events.

For last November’s meeting, a four-day, three-night event for 22 agricultural industry executives, Powell chose the Kimpton Lorien Hotel & Spa in Old Town Alexandria as his hotel.

“We found the hotel thanks to the efforts of Visit Alexandria, the local CVB,” he says. “I give all the credit to them. They made my job very easy. I contacted them very early on and told them what we were doing and what we needed, and they did a fantastic job of helping us find the perfect hotel. They helped us put together our RFP and then they put it out to all of the hotels that they felt would meet our needs. Then we selected several finalists and finally narrowed it down to our choice of the Kimpton Lorien.”

Based on his experience and the feedback he got from attendees, Powell gives the Kimpton Lorien high marks. “The room product is excellent,” he says. “The bedding, the bathrooms and the lighting are all very good. The F&B is also excellent. The hotel also offers an intimate environment, which was perfect for such a small meeting. The staff was also excellent. They gave us tremendous and very personalized service. And that is very important to us, because in addition to wanting attendees to remember the content we present, we also want them to remember the experience they had. And the Kimpton Lorien and the other hotels we’ve used in the past in Old Town Alexandria have all delivered on that count.”

The Kimpton Lorien is currently completing a multimillion-dollar renovation.

Powell returned to Alexandria in February for a 35-attendee meeting at The Westin Alexandria, also located in Old Town. “I always use an Old Town hotel because the area has a great history, but also has a modern ‘cool factor,’ ” Powell says. “It’s a unique and sophisticated place. And there are nice dining options right down on the Potomac River, in historic old buildings that have been renovated. And places like that make the meeting memorable.”

Last May, Alexandria’s first waterfront hotel, the Hotel Indigo Old Town Alexandria, made its debut.

Given its singular history, Alexandria and its northern Virginia surroundings also offer a number of exceptional offsite venues. Among them are Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, where George Washington celebrated his birthday and Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and other famous early Americans dined and danced. George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate is also available for corporate events. More modern popular venues include the Torpedo Factory Art Center, a former 1900s munitions factory that is now a working art studio for local artists, and Port City Brewery.

Yet another popular activity for groups is Potomac Riverboat Company aboard The Cherry Blossom or the Parisian-themed Nina’s Dandy.

Baltimore: Urbane Urban Appeal

An hour north of Washington, DC, Baltimore is another historic city that has undergone a modern transformation and gentrification that has turned it into a popular meeting destination.

Last August, Mark Fried, CEO and president of New York-based Vendome Group, a media company that produces major conferences, used Baltimore for a National Conference for Addiction Disorders, which drew 1,000 attendees from entities such as addiction treatment centers and drug testing companies.

Why Baltimore? “The evolution of Baltimore over the last few years, with things like the development of the Inner Harbor, and the gentrification of the destination in general, were major factors in our decision to go there,” Fried says. “And Baltimore today is also much more than just the Inner Harbor. There is a lot going on there. It’s just a destination that offers a lot of flexibility in terms of options, so it works very well for meetings in our markets. It’s a destination that has curb appeal for many of the markets we represent. The meeting infrastructure in Baltimore is also very good.”

Another factor in Baltimore’s favor was its airlift. “We had people that used all three of the area airports — Baltimore/Washington, Dulles and Washington National,” Fried says. “And multiple airport options meant both convenience and cost-effective fares from around the country.”

As his headquarters hotel, Fried chose the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards. He used the same hotel, located adjacent to the stadium where the Baltimore Orioles play at Camden Yards, several years ago when he hosted his first-ever conference in Baltimore.

“The quality and configuration of a hotel’s meeting space is always a major consideration for us in selecting a hotel,” Fried says. “We need a large ballroom for general sessions. We also need a fairly large exhibit hall. And we do breakout sessions. And I happen to like ‘stacked’ space, so the Marriott Inner Harbor was a natural choice for us. And it’s an excellent property. Both the room product and the food and beverage were excellent. We were very pleased with the property.”

The local dining scene, especially in the Inner Harbor area, earned rave reviews from his attendees, Fried says. “There’s a wide range of dining options, including within easy walking distance of the Marriott hotel,” he says. One common denominator when it came to food: Maryland’s world-famous crabs. “Whenever you talk about Baltimore and food, you’re going to talk about crabs,” Fried says. “There are crab restaurants that range from casual to fine dining. Almost every single person I spoke to at the meeting was either going to have crabs at the hotel or was planning to go out for crabs somewhere well-known.”

The overall attractions of the Inner Harbor area also generated a lot of positive feedback from attendees, Fried says. “They really enjoyed the Inner Harbor scene, including the restaurants and entertainment options. They also enjoyed the fact that there is the walkway around the harbor, which makes exploring easy and fun.”

Among the top attractions are the Maryland Science Center, which features an IMAX Theater; the National Aquarium; the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine; and the historic battleships now housed in the harbor, including the USS Constellation, USS Torsk and USCGC Taney.

For meeting planners considering Baltimore as a destination, Fried also highly recommends working with local CVB Visit Baltimore. “I rate them very highly,” he says. “Too often, we as meeting planners find that CVBs are either very passive or not reactive at all. And Visit Baltimore was great. They helped us with our collateral materials and other practical aspects of the meeting. It was a pleasure to work with them.”

Because of his success in Baltimore last year — the conference was the second most well-attended in Vendome’s history — Fried is going back next year. “Baltimore is just a destination that leads to a successful meeting,” he says.

Another meeting planner who has discovered the appeal of Baltimore is Justin Haggart, event marketing manager at Somerset, New Jersey-based Guest Supply, a Sysco company.

For the last two years, Haggart has used Baltimore as the destination for Guest Supply’s annual July five-day, four-night sales conference, which draws 500 attendees. The company will return this July for the third consecutive year.

“The reason we keep returning is simple,” Haggart says. “Baltimore is a very good meeting destination. There are a lot of things for attendees to do in their spare time.”

Like Fried, Haggart and his attendees like the fact that Baltimore also offers three major airports as logistical options.

Guest Supply’s hotel is the Hilton Baltimore, located in Inner Harbor, across the street from Camden Yards and connected to the Baltimore Convention Center. Why such loyalty to a single hotel?

“The ballroom space at the Hilton is a very good fit for us,” Haggart says. “We take over the entire Key Ballroom, which is about 25,000 sf, and also the entire Holiday Ballroom, which is 15,000 sf. We use the Key Ballroom for exhibit space and the Holiday Ballroom for general sessions and dinners. We also use a lot of breakdown rooms. So the space at the Hilton is just perfectly suited to us. The F&B is also great. The team that we work with at the hotel is excellent. They have been wonderful partners. The hotel also has enough rooms so that as our meeting grows, they can still accommodate us. There are also lots of convenient opportunities outside the hotel, including offsite venues.”

Haggart has especially appreciated the hotel’s creative F&B options. “Two years ago, they brought in local oystermen who harvest famous Chesapeake Bay oysters and we did a Maryland crab feast,” he says. “Last year, we did a barbecue outside that included burgers and sausages. They really work with us to change up the menus and do fun things.”

Last year’s meeting also featured a baseball game-style tailgate event. Afterward, the group went across the street and attended an Orioles game.

Haggart encourages meeting planners who have not experienced Baltimore to investigate it. “Baltimore is very convenient, especially in terms of its three airports, for people coming in from the East Coast,” he says. “It also offers a lot of opportunities to get away from the hotel. For example, when I was there recently, I toured Sagamore Distillery as the possible venue for a dinner event this year. And new options like that mean you can keep going back to Baltimore, but also have enough options for doing something different from last year so that you can keep your event fresh.”

Two major meeting properties located in southern Maryland, just outside Washington, DC, are two of the country’s most acclaimed meeting properties: the MGM National Harbor and Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

MGM National Harbor, located just minutes from the heart of Washington, DC, on the banks of the Potomac River is a sprawling gaming resort complex that includes a state-of-the-art theater that hosts big-name entertainers and is also a meeting and conference venue. Among its critically acclaimed restaurants are Fish by José Andrés, and Voltaggio Brothers Steak House. Tap Sports Bar is also popular with groups. The resort’s meeting facilities, which total 50,000 sf, include ballrooms, VIP suites and boardrooms, as well as the theater for general sessions.

Marriott’s Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, also located in National Harbor, Maryland, is just 10 miles from the U.S. Capitol. Noted for its dramatic 19-story atrium, the resort’s flagship restaurant is the Old Hickory Steakhouse. The complex also offers a popular and casual sports bar. Gaylord National offers 546,000 sf of meeting and event space, including 89 meeting rooms and the 24,000-sf RiverView Ballroom. Amenities include an indoor pool, fitness center, spa and salon.

Live! Casino Hotel Maryland, located in the Washington, DC, Baltimore corridor, boasts one of the country’s largest casinos, as well as world-class dining and entertainment. Opening in May is Live! Hotel, a 17-story tower adjacent to the casino with 310 guest rooms, including 52 suites. Live! Hotel will offer more than 20,000 sf of customizable event space, including a large ballroom with six breakout rooms, expansive prefunction space and an executive boardroom. Live! Hotel also will house a grand event center; 1,500-seat concert venue; built-in performance stage; and banquet seating for up to 800 people. C&IT

Is the meetings industry setting itself up for a catastrophic cyber incident in the near future? Are planners putting themselves at personal risk if their attendees’ information is hacked and data collected and used for meetings is breached?

The hacking of Equifax, reported in September 2017, may be proof that any company and any individual can fall prey to cyberattackers these days, and that hackers are often an elite group of competent international criminals who are out to collect and use data for immense personal gain.

Data breaches may be about personal information gathering, or they may be about corporate espionage or ransom. A breach can be an aim to disrupt if the group itself or someone speaking at the conference is controversial, and that may be particularly true if the meeting involves government or military employees. A breach may be hackers just trying to see what they can get because they know a venue isn’t very secure.

The fact is, when you put a lot of people together in one place, all using their mobile devices and laptops, and all registered using personal data and/or accessing sensitive data for the meeting, it’s a scenario ripe for cyber infiltration.

The Risks Are Many, the Criminals Clever

Sean Donahoo, CEO of Disruptive Solutions, which provides cybersecurity solutions in the meetings industry, says there are multiple possibilities. Registration kiosks and websites can be hacked in order to steal personal information. Hackers can “impersonate” or shut down conference Wi-Fi or disrupt audio-visual equipment. Cyber-savvy criminals can also set up cellphone intercept equipment, another way to gain access to personal information. And if embarrassing or disrupting a conference or corporation is the goal, criminals can do such things as exploiting a conference app and sending fake updates or other messages. All of these things, Donahoo says, have negative potential, from embarrassment, to harming reputations, to loss of sensitive data to causing major financial damage to companies or individuals.

And then there’s the venue. Paige Schaffer, president and COO, Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit, at Generali Global Assistance, says, “Identity theft and fraud risks run rampant at both convention centers and hotels, as well as unfortunately in most locations throughout the world. Hotels may pose slightly more significant risks only because they are not usually reserved exclusively for a given conference. In other words, many other people may be in the hotel outside of an event, which makes it a bit more difficult to ensure that only registered attendees enter a conference area.”

Additionally, she says, “most hotels have free, open Wi-Fi running in their lobby area 24/7, which opens up channels of attack for cybercriminals. Convention centers may be more limited in their Wi-Fi access requirements. Again, however, both hotels and convention centers pose cyberthreats, so organizers and attendees should ultimately not take any differences into account. Cyberattacks can occur, and identities can be stolen, anytime and anywhere.”

Phishing & Spearphishing

Schaffer notes that phishing of one kind or another is still the major cyberthreat at conferences and in many aspects of life in general. “In 2016, for example, more than 55 percent of the more than 1,000 data breaches reported in the U.S. were caused by spearphishing, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. Spearphishing occurs when cybercriminals target employees who have access to sensitive data by sending them bogus emails that appear to come from a trusted source and that request confidential information. Spearphishing emails may also include links or attachments that lead to malicious websites, or that install malware on an organization’s network,” she says.

Schaffer points out that cybercriminals often specifically target large events with their phishing campaigns because they can so easily obtain an attendee list, including contact information, which is all they require to get started. “Phishing emails are increasingly difficult to detect as criminals become ever more savvy, and any conference attendee that is duped by them may unknowingly hand over their sensitive data, whether that be personally identifiable information (PII), credit card information, corporate information from the organization for which they work, etc.”

While phishing may be the most common cybercrime tactic aimed at conferences and their attendees, Schaffer says it’s by no means the only threat. “Attackers can hack the physical scanners that are used to collect PII from attendees, set up bogus event websites that ask visitors to enter their sensitive information and can even hack legitimate conference websites, also for the purposes of collecting PII.”

Then there’s the non-digital arena, “low-tech” identity theft, which is also rampant at conferences.

“Because the majority of attendees at a large event travel from out of town,” Schaffer notes, “they’re likely to carry sensitive documents and other materials with them, especially at business-oriented conferences, and therefore pickpockets and muggers often loiter near event venues. Attendees need to remain vigilant against these threats, but event organizers must also play their part by providing educational resources about all identity theft risks and best practices to protect against them.”

Consider the Vendors

In addition to all that, Schaffer says vendors at conferences also can pose a threat. “Vendors often collect payment information or other types of PII, and if they do not properly handle this data it can pose serious problems. To effectively combat this risk, conference organizers should ensure that any vendors collecting payment information onsite are fully compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).”

Event organizers, Schaffer says, should research how effectively vendors protect their own customers. “Questions to be asked include, do they have adequate firewall protection in place? And, do they encrypt sensitive customer data? If a vendor does not engage in these practices normally, then they almost assuredly would not do so at an event.”

But even that is not enough. Schaffer says conference organizers should investigate whether a given vendor has suffered a data breach or been the victim of a cyberattack in the past. “Countless organizations experience breaches in today’s day and age, and in and of itself this is not necessarily a cause for major concern. Critically important, however, is a vendor’s response to a past breach. If an organization has experienced a breach and done little or nothing to rectify damages, reimburse constituents or update their security systems, that vendor should not be allowed to participate in a given event.”

Online Registration, Fake Websites & More

One staple of conferences these days, online registration, is another potential risk, though Donahoo says there are many variables that affect the different parties involved with a registration website.

“Users,” Donahoo says, “should verify that they’re on the correct site before entering any information and should make sure there’s a secure connection before using the site. To do that, they should look for ‘https’ in front of the address and check for an indication on the browser bar that the site is secure, usually a lock icon with the word ‘secure.’ ”

Planners, for their part, have to vet registration providers. “Planners should take the time to ask about their registration provider’s security practices, specifically how data is stored, retained and transferred,” Donahoo says. “They should ask how the provider conducted website and web app security testing and penetration testing. They should consider bringing in a security consultant to review the provider’s responses.”

Registration providers must also do their part, “by ensuring that website and applications are secure, by developing products with security in mind from the beginning and by conducting security testing and evaluation,” Donahoo adds.

Schaffer also points to the possibility of fake websites. “Online event registration can certainly pose risks, for two main reasons,” she says. “First, cybercriminals may set up a fake registration site, and given their growing sophistication, these can be quite convincing as legitimate pages. Anyone who is duped into entering their data, likely including payment information, would be providing that information directly to the criminals.”

But even fully legitimate registration sites may pose an issue, Schaffer notes, “as nefarious parties may be able to simply hack these pages to steal registrants’ PII. It’s difficult to say that online registration is always safe or always dangerous, as the truth of course lies somewhere in the middle. However, it is quite evident that entering personal information almost anywhere online can pose a threat, and this is certainly not limited to event registration sites.”

There’s no question that technology is getting more sophisticated and infiltrating deeper into contemporary life. At conferences, the use of technology has increased dramatically over the past few years — not just in terms of online registration and payment, which are now the norm, but in terms of conferences using mobile apps, digital badges, interactive education sessions dependent on mobile devices and ever-increasing bandwidth at venues so that more and more attendees can be online at the same time, to name but a few possible problem areas.

Fake Wi-Fi Networks

“Identity theft and fraud risks naturally increase in line with the number of users connected to a given Wi-Fi network,” Schaffer says. “Especially with open, public Wi-Fi, which is extremely common at large events, savvy criminals can utilize the connection to easily steal sensitive information contained on other connected devices. Additionally, it’s common for malicious parties to set up fake, open Wi-Fi networks at events that appear legitimate, similar to their strategy of establishing phony registration websites. Of course, any unsuspecting attendee connecting to one of these networks would essentially be opening a direct line between their data and the fraudsters.”

Because of these increasing risks, Schaffer says it’s critical to avoid connecting to open Wi-Fi networks whenever possible. “While even secure networks that require login credentials to connect are not immune from cyberthreats, they are far less likely to result in data theft than open, unsecured networks.”

Donahoo points out that this risk isn’t new. “We’re already there and we’ve been there for awhile,” he says. “Most of the technology used at a typical conference has been exploitable for years. Add in potentially poor cybersecurity practices and it’s just a matter of time until conferences become another routine target. Conferences have the potential to bring all of the top industry professionals to one location. That’s going to peak someone’s interest.

“It has to be about changing the mindset of both the planner and the attendee. Planners can start baking cybersecurity into their budget and plan. Attendees should not let their guard down just because they aren’t in the office.”

Apps & Badges

And what of conference apps and scannable badges? The first is a bit more complex.

“Like any other app, if it’s not secure it can be exploited,” Donahoo says. “At a minimum, the app should not be storing or transmitting sensitive data in the clear. To mitigate potential problems, planners should ask the same security questions they used regarding their registration website. And again, planners should consider bringing in a security consultant to review the app and security documentation. Moreover, since many conference apps are ‘re-skinned,’ meaning the same app with a customized event look, if an app is not secure it can affect more than one event.”

Scannable badges, Donahoo says, should not contain any information you would not want a stranger to have. “Ideally, the only info would be your registration number and the scanner/system marries that up with the personal info. Keep in mind that badges get lost and that people wear them around their hotel or resort and the conference venue.”

Threat Prevention & Mitigation

With so many vulnerabilities and so much at stake, what should planners be doing to prevent attacks?

“First,” Schaffer says, “event planners should designate specific personnel as ‘trusted event employees,’ who are solely responsible for handling attendee PII. Identity theft risks decrease in line with a lower number of total individuals who come into contact with sensitive information. Additionally, as noted previously, establishing secure Wi-Fi networks is critical. Event staff should have their own separate network as they will have the greatest access to attendee PII. Limiting that information to one network significantly decreases the risk of identity fraud. As cybercriminals often set up phony event networks, conference organizers must make it sufficiently clear which networks are legitimate so that attendees can better avoid connecting to the wrong ones.”

Schaffer points out that there are a number of secure data handling processes that planners can implement to better protect personal information, and they include both high- and low-tech solutions. “Encrypting emails that contain sensitive information is one effective, preventative measure as is utilizing technology that allows for the remote wiping of data contained on lost or stolen devices. Low-tech considerations are also important, such as keeping sensitive documents in securely locked areas and thoroughly vetting staff members who will handle PII. Additionally, it’s critical that organizers validate their employees’ event IDs or badges.”

Donahoo strongly advises planners to make cybersecurity part of the planning process. “The earlier the better,” he says. “Planners won’t think twice about hiring consultants for everything from swag to tablecloths, but cybersecurity is rarely in the plan.”

He also discourages planners from relying solely on their IT, network or internet providers/consultants to cover security. “If you think they have it covered, you’re probably wrong. Their job is to handle bandwidth and connectivity. Adding items to their Statement of Work (SOW) such as encryption and daily, rolling passwords is a good start. But,” he notes, “cybersecurity consultants can go beyond that to such preventive measures as conducting active threat monitoring throughout the event.”

Donahoo says planners should make use of the right tools and practices together. “Use a VPN (virtual private network). I strongly recommend IDVector (www.idvector.net). Utilize encryption, full disk and email. Use only strong, unique passwords. Remember that free Wi-Fi isn’t free. And use smart browsing and email habits, meaning don’t be ‘click happy.’ “

Making cybersecurity part of meeting planning is no longer an option. It’s a must. As Donahoo notes, “It’s only a matter of time until potential data thieves realize that most of the event industry is an easy target.”

For that reason and others, once planners have put the right security measures into place, Schaffer says they should not be afraid to promote that.

“This actually serves as an educational method as it informs event attendees about security best practices, which should influence them to take the requisite steps to ensure that their own data is protected. This type of transparency will also showcase that organizers are committed to keeping their customers’ information secure, instilling trust in the organization.”

It also may send a message to would-be cyberattackers that this group is not, in fact, an easy target.

Despite all of the identity theft and fraud risks that come with the territory of large events, Schaffer says the events must go on. “It’s critical that event organizers, conference attendees and anyone in any profession or situation is aware of the cyber risks that exist today, and that they take the right preventative measures to protect their information. We must all remain vigilant as threats continue to increase in severity,” she says.

“However, at the same time we must all go on with our lives. We cannot let the fraudsters beat us through fear and intimidation. Countless events take place without any cybersecurity or identity theft issues.” C&IT

Some elements of site selection will never change. The primary consideration for planners has been and will continue to be choosing a site that meets the needs of their company or clients.

In many cases, however, multiple destinations and venues can offer what’s needed in lift, space, budget, quality, experience and so on. And, as times change, new elements and options may be added to the mix in terms of what destinations and companies put on the table. It’s up to planners to negotiate terms that will make it all work.

SITE Foundation’s 2018 SITE Index includes data on various aspects of site selection and evaluation, and among the findings are two important elements:

First, buyers and sellers have similar views on what’s important in selecting a destination, namely appeal to participant audience, value for the dollar and overall safety.

And research indicates that even though budgets have increased, buyers are looking for ways to reduce costs, and that effort is led by selection of less expensive amenities and less expensive destinations and hotels. In addition, shorter programs and fewer participants also are part of the equation, which can affect site selection as well.

We asked four experts to weigh in on what drives site selection and evaluation today, how educating planners on what they need to know about site selection has changed and how things might evolve in the near future. While the experts agree on many of the issues, they have some differing opinions, too.

The Top Trends

Alisa Peters, CMP, CMM, Illinois-based senior global account manager with Experient, a Maritz Global Events Company, puts her top trends into three categories.

She labels the first category Not the Usual Suspects. “Planners want new, interesting, memorable and sharable in a destination to attract attendees,” she says.

Next: They Weren’t Born Yesterday. “Planners know that room rate is not the headline anymore. Hidden fees are truly the name of the game when it comes to budget, and they are turning over every rock to find them. This isn’t a side gig for an admin assistant anymore,” Peters emphasizes. “Legal and procurement are typically a second line of evaluation. The details matter and the cracks will be uncovered. Finding them and addressing them in agreements is a must.”

The last top-three trend for Peters is Partners, Not Vendors. “Planners want to know that the ‘home’ they contract with will feel like home, with teams that become a part of their team throughout the planning. They don’t want to feel like they’re sitting across the table from a vendor. They want to feel like they’re sitting at the table with a partner (for a great meal, with interesting stories). Relationships matter,” she says. “Now more than ever.”

Scottsdale-based Maria Maddock, manager, global accounts, HelmsBriscoe, puts the top three trends today succinctly. “No. 1: Location is still most important. No. 2:  Clients hate resort fees and feeling nickel-and-dimed. Value,” she says, “is important.” As for No. 3: “Clients want free Wi-Fi.”

Matthew Marcial, CMP, CAE, vice president education and events at MPI, is on the front lines in terms of what meeting planners have to know and learn, including about site selection. He has oversight of MPI Academy, which provides not only the CMM program and courses that qualify for CMP clock hours, but also education for WEC, among other things. His top three trends are shorter booking windows, less short-term availability due to greater hotel and venue demand, and a greater focus on venue technology capabilities.

What Has Changed?

Marcial is in a unique position to evaluate how educating planners about site selection has evolved in recent years. “I would say the fundamentals of site selection have not changed. The primary focus always has to start with understanding the stakeholder objectives, because that will drive the overall success for an event and those objectives impact every aspect of the site-selection process,” he says.

“What has changed in recent years are elements like supply-and-demand and other economic factors that have an impact on a planner’s ability to negotiate the most favorable rates and concessions. There has been a greater focus on some of the big-picture trends, including economic influences, that impact the site-selection process versus the more tactical and logistical elements you’d see on a planner’s site checklist.”

While he says the topic of site selection is less in demand by more senior planners, he notes that, “Across the board we have seen greater interest in hearing about the industry trends that can play a substantial role behind the scenes in the site-selection process.”

On the client side, Peters notes that as the makeup of audiences has changed, so too, have selection criteria. “For more senior executives, where time is money, the quickest journey with the least potential for travel interruption is king right now,” she says. “Finding markets that are affordable and don’t require a transfer in an airport is crucial. A flawless hotel experience with impeccable service is a must, and flexibility onsite, with meeting space that can be adjusted with air walls based on last-minute content drivers, is key.”

But, she continues, site requirements are different for corporate groups of mixed audiences and those with emerging talent, particularly millennials. “These clients want the new hidden gem. They know that millennials, who have been backpacking and transferring and traipsing through airports their whole lives, are not afraid to switch planes. Planners are leveraging that and are no longer afraid of booking destinations that require a transfer. These clients want markets that haven’t been explored, with unique experiences that can be captured on social media. They want to make sure that the event is full of moments that allow for true relationship building and connection.”

Heather Connelly, CMP, incentive travel manager with Gordon Food Service in British Columbia, says one trend she’s seeing that’s different than past years is that hotels today may be going a bit overboard in trying to attract planners.

“I feel that some hotels are trying to make the visit more of a wow to really get your attention and stand out,” she says, “with things such as special welcomes, personalized room gifts and hotel services offered to the planner. Some hotels are listening more and also asking the right questions, not just the standard, ‘What do I have to do to get your business?’ Selecting a hotel is not just about the room rate. There are many factors to look at, and smart hotels know how to show off their property. It is nice to be pampered a bit during the site visit. However, sometimes I feel I’m getting a better experience than what our guests would have when they’re in the hotel.”

Maddock says one change she has seen is increased attendance. “Participation seems to be up as I regularly encounter rooms blocks being filled and requests for addendums to increase room block or find overflow hotels.”

Additionally, Maddock says corporations today want “unique team activities that provide an authentic sense of place,” which influences where the meeting will be set.

In terms of how things may continue to evolve and change, Maddock sees her clients as willing to try more value brands to save money, such as hotels that offer a free breakfast or reception.

For his part, Marcial says, “As the overall landscape for group business becomes more competitive, I believe we’ll be seeing venues up their game in terms of upgraded accommodations, technology capabilities and overall flexibility in working with groups.”

Incentives and Site Selection

“Business is booming, and with it, incentive events,” says Peters. “But at the same time, the world is growing ever smaller due to dramatic weather events, zika and changes in the political climate. Finding a home for incentives that will truly incentivize attendees has become more of a challenge if you have a reasonable budget.”

She believes planners no longer can rely on the destination alone to be the incentive, and may have to be flexible in terms of seasons. “Compression on ‘safe’ markets, those free of weather concerns, has increased, driving up rates in peak incentive months at the traditional beach-and-sand destinations,” she says. “This has created a climate of creativity, where planners are having to think about how they can ‘wow’ attendees and get them excited about urban destinations, or how they can sell their internal stakeholders on holding events during a different time of year.

“Incentive planners have become creative marketers. They must think about the entire journey, end-to-end, to make it something special, to make it marketable enough to make qualifiers walk the extra mile, make the extra call and put in the extra hours to win it. If attendees aren’t posting to Instagram and Facebook during the journey and the minute they arrive,” she adds, “you have failed a bit.”

Security and Site Selection

Today, security impacts site selection in ways it never did previously.

“Now, it’s a topic I always try to discuss with hotels during a site visit so I can understand what their procedures are when a situation arises. In the past, it was a question I didn’t ask until the pre-con meeting,” Connelly says.

Given recent mass shootings and bombings here and abroad, Peters says security is more important than ever and has broad impact on meetings. “Political climates are ever-changing in our current environment. Keeping current on changing visa requirements, unrest and potential developments is a must now, and it’s a daily workload. That work doesn’t end when the contract is signed. Our company is constantly monitoring the globe for all force majeure events including earthquakes, weather-related ground stoppages or delays, fires, floods, hurricanes and any other crazy Mother Nature events. We’re also on the lookout for political unrest or security concerns so we can alert our clients the minute we know that we/they may need to ‘get out in front of something’ that hasn’t even hit the news yet.”

She says planners are now asking for emergency plans from hotels and convention centers, “and we’re building in the ability to access those into agreements. That’s something that we weren’t always doing 10 years ago.”

There are changes in terms of cyber security, too. “An attendee’s personal information, and how it’s managed by a hotel (and marketed to) is now a part of many of the contracts that I do,” Peters says. “European hotels were the first to address this in contracts, largely due to European Union laws, rules and regulations. But as U.S.-based hotels have had personal and credit-card information compromised, many corporations are outlining specific measures they want taken to ensure that hotels are handling attendees’ personal details with the utmost care, confidentiality and consideration.”

Moreover, Peters adds, “The term ‘security’ transcends what you would traditionally think of when you hear that word. Attendees need to feel secure knowing that regardless of their skin color, religion or sexual preference, they’re going to feel welcome in a destination and are not going to be subject to harassment or to overt or latent discrimination. And clients,” she adds, “are caring very much about making sure that 100 percent of their attendees are comfortable going to a destination. They want to make sure that all attendees feel included, at home and safe when they arrive.”

Marcial also believes planners must consider security in ways they didn’t previously. “Today planners are more conscious than ever about security concerns as they relate to their events, and they’re looking for greater insight into venues’ specific security plans,” he says. “Depending on the type of event being planned, organizers should look to their partners for security guidelines that can be communicated with their staff and attendees, if appropriate and in the event of an emergency.”

Maddock, however, says, “I don’t encounter security questions with my clientele aside from them avoiding certain destinations.”

No One Size Fits All

Marcial notes that planners should always keep their group and stakeholder objectives at the core of the site-selection process. However, stakeholders don’t all want the same thing. When asked what corporate clients these days insist on or won’t compromise on related to sites and venues, the answers cover a range of elements.

Some are very specific: “Meeting room Wi-Fi charges seems to set off my clients,” Maddock says.

Connelly says flexibility with F&B is something her company requires and that impacts decisions on which hotels they will use. “Our guests work in food service so they’re passionate about food and know exactly which cut of protein is being served and what brand plate it is being served on. We have to work with hotels that are willing to do something different on the menu to satisfy them.”

For Peters’ clients, budget is key. “Now, more than ever, planners are measured either on attendance or on how they complied with their given budgets, and both hinge on the numbers. A meeting has to make financial sense and come in on budget. If it doesn’t, planners are risking their jobs in this current environment,” she says.

In addition to being a big-picture item, budget is also about the details, and Peters says her clients are noticing. “They’re sick of paying $8 for a soft drink and $150 for a gallon of coffee and aren’t buying into it. They want concession flexibility and creativity that helps them manage around some of the new and creative revenue sources hotels are using to increase their ADR.”

Peters says that staying on top of budget means having all the information. “Planners want to know every single potential impact to their budget, from the cost of a gallon of coffee to the hidden unexpected creative fees that hotels may come up with down the road to squeak out that extra bit of profit. Strategic sourcing truly is like firefighting now,” she adds. “Clients want to know that they have any and all costs factored into their budget and that they aren’t going to get hit out of left field with items that they (or we) never imagined. Half of my day is spent sourcing and contracting meetings, the other is pushing back on or trying to prevent attempts to impose unexpected fees in contracts before they get signed.”

What Planners Wish Clients/Companies Better Understood About Site Selection

“It is not just about price, there are many factors to look at such as room amenities, hotel location, spa/pool onsite, number of restaurants, the ambience/vibe of the hotel, what is within walking distance,” Connelly points out. “These all impact the selection. I have been to many hotels that on paper seemed to be the right fit but when I got to the hotel and walked around or talked with the hotel salespeople I could tell it was just not right for our group.”

For Maddock, it’s about a better understanding of third-party planners. “Using a third party is a complimentary service that will save clients time and money. It’s also in their best interest to use a third party who can advocate for them when they run into problems with the hotel. Our top priority is to set the client up for success.”

Peters’ take is looking at site selection as a two-way street. “The hotel or destination isn’t just selling to you. You must sell your meeting to the destinations you want because multiple groups may be vying for the same dates,” she says — and you must be accurate.

“You wouldn’t market your five-bedroom house as a two-bedroom house and expect to get the right price for your home. That’s essentially what you’re doing if you undersell your meeting by not disclosing your full F&B budget or don’t contract the proper amount of room nights or guarantee your shoulders accurately. It’s dangerous to under-guarantee your minimums and peak room nights as you’ll quickly find your attendees angry when you run out of the group-rated rooms, or your budget impacted when you have to pay more for the rooms you add in an addendum. You cannot be angry at a hotel for selling rooms or space you haven’t contracted as it is their job to fill their hotel and that’s how they’re measured and rewarded. You need to contract the rooms and space you know you will or may need, and protect yourself in the contract terms and/or with insurance in the event you don’t perform.”

Beyond that, she says, planning far out is more imperative than ever before if you want first choice of hotel and dates. “If you are looking for September or October, contract even further out or consider rethinking meeting dates. Holiday compression and weather-related issues in coastal areas have made these two months absolute insanity to attempt to contract. The larger your block, the further out you need to book.”

While the basics of site selection and evaluation do not change, planners must remain on top of trends and the specific but changing requirements their groups have based on the makeup of the group and the industry it’s in. Add to that volatile economic and security factors and site selection is anything but “same old.” It’s an element of planning that requires intelligence, vigilance, flexibility and creativity. C&IT