Jeannie Power, CMP is Cofounder & Event Technologist of the Power Event Group. Jeannie is a leading expert and speaker in the event technology field and enjoys the challenge of creating a customized and engaging attendee experience by thoughtfully integrating event technology. She has more than 10 years of experience in online event registration management using a variety of software systems as well as extensive experience integrating mobile apps and gamification into meetings and event design. A social media fan, Jeannie is addicted to sharing information to improve the hospitality industry. Jeannie is a past president of Meeting Professionals International – Virginia Chapter and continues to play a key role in the organization. jeannie@powereventgroup.com

The question “What am I going to do after this?” came from a seasoned event planner friend I was assisting during an international conference. She had spent years on this project that was now wrapping up.

The conference was moving on to a different country the next year and had a new event planner in that country as was its tradition. Over the course of planning the event she met many new people, learned about an interesting industry and pushed herself to the limit to create a great conference. She had other events and clients to focus on after this event, but life as she knew it would be different. Her routine, sense of purpose and relationships would change.

Changing Routine

Perhaps you’ve felt it yourself. The feelings of joy and excitement are mixed with stress, uncertainty and sadness. What is happening? As the event draws nearer, the days get longer and the stress gets higher. Your family and friends hardly have any quality time with you. You have no time for yourself. Life has been taken over by the event, and you can’t wait until it’s over… but then it’s done and you can’t shake feeling low.

“I’ve known some people to be overwhelmed and cry at leaving their ‘event friends’ behind.”

At the close of an event, your focus and daily schedule instantly become different. The hours that have been growing longer and longer come to a halt. The lengths that you have been pushing yourself further and further each day suddenly stop. Your life has changed. The event was a success. You love your job and could not think of doing anything else. The client and/or your boss were extremely happy. You are proud of yourself and know that you did an amazing job, but still can’t seem to shake this nagging feeling of emptiness.

Sense of Purpose

Through my research and discussions on the topic, I’ve found that this feeling is very common in our industry as well as other fields that focus on creating and producing something and having that purpose end. It’s commonly referred to as Post Project Depression or PPD. After the extreme “high” and adrenaline rush of finishing a major project that has been an obsession, comes a low or sadness of lacking that sense of purpose. It could be a writer completing a novel, a runner after completing a marathon, but whatever the task, the project owner is left feeling empty after the storm has passed.

Relationships

As you work longer on a project, you begin to make friends with the vendors, sponsors and staff you speak with on a regular basis, usually through phone calls or email. Once onsite, you put a face to the voice and continue building the bonding experience. This bond intensifies the longer you work on the same event. The long hours and stressful situations bond people together. You become a team. You are “in it together.” Being part of a team is something that most humans enjoy. I’ve known some people to be overwhelmed and cry at leaving their “event friends” behind. Once the event is over, everyone goes their separate ways. Sometimes forever or sometimes until next year. You’ve met some really great people, and you swear you’ll stay in touch, either through LinkedIn, Facebook or email. However, at the end of the day, everyone you have been working with for months goes home and back to his or her “normal lives.” Sometimes you may feel alone.

Tips to Battle Post-Event Depression

One positive thing to note is that since we know when the event will end, we can predict when these feelings of depression may strike and take action to prevent them. Here are some of the ways you can minimize or eliminate your feelings of post-event depression:

• Reorganize. It helps to get yourself reorganized. Don’t forget to wrap up the event you have been working on. Have a wrap-up celebration, do your wrap-up calls/meetings. Gather and analyze event data. Take some notes or maybe translate your previous notes so you can understand them later. Set some new goals. Enjoy the process of preparing for that next event.
• Relax and recover. As event planners, we tend to consider ourselves last. Make sure to give yourself time to rest and recover from the long, stressful hours. Get in touch with nature. Go for a hike. Go camping. If possible, consider an “epic win reward” and take a vacation or go to the spa.
• Reward yourself. You did it! You deserve a reward! What should you choose? These rewards should be very personalized and can be anything that makes you happy.
• Reconnect with family. Remember those family and friends who took a back seat as your days got progressively busier? Reintroduce yourself to your family — they probably have not heard from you in a while. Unless they are in the industry, your family and friends may not understand why you feel low about being done with something that seemed to cause you so much stress. Talk with them and share your thoughts.
• Rediscover yourself. Think about the things you used to enjoy doing that you did not have time for while your event planning ramped up. I always go back to a knitting project that was put down as my days became busier. When I pick it back up, the purpose of my crocheting project returns and I feel better. Maybe you like gardening, running, playing scrabble or going to concerts. Whatever it is, get back to doing it.

In Conclusion

Each year, event planning is consistently rated as one of the most stressful jobs. Even if you absolutely love your job like I do, you have to find a way to manage the stress that comes with it, which could be contributing to the occasional post-event depression feelings. The topic of depression is widespread and has a tremendous amount of variations. If this feeling does happen to persist or worsen, please seek professional assistance.

One of my favorite aspects of meeting and event planning is how we have the opportunity to be a part of the lives of so many different people and get a small peek into their different worlds. Don’t forget to be thankful for those opportunities. Don’t lose the understanding that the next meeting or event will bring even more connections, bonds and new experiences. Though our jobs can be stressful, focusing on the positive parts and remembering to take care of ourselves makes all the difference. C&IT

Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared on www.EventMB.com.

When stakeholders call a meeting to discuss site selection, planners better come to the table prepared with more than a random wish list. Being able to identify destinations with the best meetings infrastructures is the key, of course, and the most meaningful are those with peer-to-peer recommendations.

For example, surveys conducted by Watkins Research Group to find “The Best,” the “Most Improved” and the “Highly Recommended” asked planners to rate destinations based on eight “key attributes,” including hotels, accessibility, convention services and facilities, and having a “superior” CVB or DMO. Preferred meeting destinations often have several characteristics in common. For example, they are renovating and/or expanding their convention centers, building new hotels and renovating existing ones, and offering more unique venues that celebrate the local culture. They are expanding airport terminals and runways as well as enhancing the airport services and amenities. In addition, they offer their own destination-specific unique attractions. And lastly, they compete fiercely for meeting and convention business and are posting increased meeting and convention business and hotel occupancy.

Here are some cities that rank high on some planner preferred lists.

Austin

Austin offers much more than one of the nation’s most diverse and liveliest music scenes — a huge draw for groups including National Instruments, a test, measurement and control solutions company in Austin, which held its annual customer and sales conference attracting about 6,000 attendees from the United States and abroad. The conference was held in the Austin Convention Center (ACC).

Rod Siebels, senior group event manager – Americas, National Instruments, says that Austin’s music scene makes it an attractive meeting destination without being a resort city. “We have an evening allotted for conference parties, which last year used several downtown 6th Street music venues to create a music experience for all attendees,” says Siebels. “We have also done a local band at a single venue in the past at locations like the ACL Moody Theater, Palmer Event Center, The Long Center, Brazos Hall and others.”

Siebels also touts the capacity and service of the ACC, where the group held most of its events. “We chose the ACC due to our size requirements,” says Siebels. “We have an extensive number of speakers and 18-content track rooms, and they go above and beyond in helping my team plan and execute. As Austin has grown, the ACC has kept up its level of dedication and professionalism. The working relationship among the ACC, ACVB and hoteliers is world class. They come together to meet the challenges that a group like mine present.”

Siebels also cites Austin’s properties. “The new and renovated hotels are fantastic additions,” he says. “The proximity of the ACC to the hotel inventory is fantastic.”

New properties include the 1,012-room, 34-story JW Marriott Downtown, the largest hotel in Austin, and the 366-room, 20-story Westin Austin Downtown Hotel. The Westin features 15,000 sf of meeting and event space and is located a few blocks from the Austin Convention Center. A dual-brand, 33-story Aloft and Element project is under construction and scheduled for completion in mid-2017.

Boston

Boston, already a popular meeting and convention destination, is broadening business by attracting major sporting events. The international sporting events that Beantown will host over the next few years include the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, the IndyCar series Grand Prix of Boston, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball East Regional and the Tall Ships Festival as part of the Canada 150 Tall Ships Regatta.

New projects include the Loews Boston Hotel’s $10 million renovation, which includes upgrades of all 225 guest rooms and suites, free Wi-Fi, six meeting rooms and a mini-ballroom with a 100-person capacity for receptions.

The 418-room Boston Marriott Burlington finished a multimillion-dollar renovation that expanded meeting space to 14,570 sf and includes a new restaurant.

The Hotel Commonwealth completed a $50 million renovation, adding 96 rooms and 7,500 sf of meeting space, doubling total meeting and event space to 14,000 sf, including an outdoor terrace overlooking Fenway Park.

The Boston Park Plaza completed a $100 million upgrade of its 1,054 guest rooms, six restaurants and 50,000 sf of meeting space.

Chicago

Chicago offers a range of unique venues and meeting facilities, headlined by McCormick Place, one of the nation’s foremost meetings and conventions facilities. McCormick Place, which offers 1.2 million sf of meeting space and 2.6 million sf of exhibit space, is located within a five-mile radius of more than 33,000 downtown Chicago hotel rooms.

Looking to attract even more meetings and conventions, McCormick Place has made several improvements that include faster Wi-Fi, a rooftop garden and a 10,000-seat event facility. A new 1,200-room Marriott Marquis is under construction next to McCormick Place. The property joins the onsite Hyatt Regency McCormick Place with 1,260 guest rooms and a 25,000-sf conference center.

In other hotel news, the Chicago Hilton is undergoing a $16 million restoration of 658 guest rooms and 10 meeting rooms. The Renaissance Chicago Downtown is undergoing phase two of its renovation, which includes 4,000 sf of additional meeting space and a new ballroom overlooking the Chicago River.

Cleveland

Cleveland, once an afterthought when it came to meetings and conventions, has transformed itself into a competitive destination with expanded meeting space, nightlife, arts and increasing hotel capacity.

Cleveland plans to increase the number of available hotel rooms by 15 percent before 2017. More than 20 hotel projects representing more than 3,400 rooms are either under construction or are scheduled to break ground this year.

The projects include a 280-story, 600-room Hilton that will be connected to the 225,000-sf FirstMerit Convention Center of Cleveland, which opened last year and will host the 2016 Republican National Convention. Properties that have opened over the past two years include the 494-room Westin Cleveland, a conversion of a former Crowne Plaza; and the 135-room Aloft Hotel.

Columbus

Twenty years ago, Columbus was not among the nation’s most popular meeting destinations. In recent years, however, Columbus has gradually ramped up its meetings infrastructure and is an up-and-coming meeting destination.

Numbers tell the story. During the last quarter of 2015, Columbus hosted 126 groups, citywide events, conventions and sporting events. In 2014 (the latest year available), hotel occupancy overall increased 3 percent, the average daily rate (ADR) grew 5.5 percent and RevPAR rose 8.7 percent, according to Smith Travel Research.

The rising number of groups meeting in Columbus includes a company that recently held a meeting for 200 members of its nationwide corporate leadership team.

The company chose Columbus because of all the improvements in the city’s meetings-related infrastructure. “New hotels have really added to the attractiveness of the destination,” says the company’s planner, a CMP who wished to remain anonymous. “Downtown Columbus has really been revitalized over the last few years, everywhere from the outdoor event space at the Columbus Commons and Scioto Mile — a riverfront park system featuring interactive fountains, a 3-D installation and a cultural arts center — to the restaurants and shopping at Short North and Easton Town Center.”

The planner, who says Columbus now offers a better selection of meeting hotels, has held meetings at the Hilton Polaris, Northpointe Hotel and Conference Center, and Embassy Suites Dublin.

The meeting for 200 attendees took place at the Sheraton on Capitol Square (403 rooms, 16,500 sf of meeting space) for several practical reasons. “We were able to take over most of the meeting space,” says the planner. “The ballroom could accommodate the entire group in rounds, plus we needed seven additional breakout spaces for five days. They could offer separate meeting space for lunches with nice outdoor views. Also, the downtown location was great for guests since it is close to both our office and restaurants for guests.”

New projects in the city include a $125 million renovation and expansion of the Greater Columbus Convention Center (GCCC). The project, which began in September, will result in 373,000 sf of contiguous exhibit space and a new 800-car parking garage that will connect to GCCC by skywalk.

New properties include a new Courtyard by Marriott with an accompanying 13,000-sf Grand Event Center that offers three meeting rooms and a ballroom that accommodates up to 400 people. The 135-room hotel will open by summer 2016.

A new dual-branded Marriott and Renaissance Inn will open with a 240-room, full-service Marriott and a 114-room Residence Inn, and include 12,000 sf of meeting and event space.

Denver

Denver offers much more for meetings than views of the Rocky Mountains and a pristine natural environment. The mile-high city provides everything a planner needs for successful meetings including several neighborhoods popular among visitors.

LoDo (Lower Downtown) is a 26-square-block area offering more than 90 restaurants, rooftop cafés, breweries, music clubs and sports bars. LoDo also features the nation’s largest concentration of restored turn-of-the-century Victorian brick warehouses.

Meeting and convention venues are headlined by the Colorado Convention Center (CCC). In November, Denver voters passed a special initiative that approves expansion of the CCC. The expansion will add up to 85,000 sf of new flexible meeting space, 120,000 sf of new prefunction space and increased capacity for Wi-Fi and streaming video.

Like many top destinations, Denver is attracting more meetings. The number of people visiting Denver for conventions and business travel in 2014 (the latest figures available) increased 5 percent, or 2.4 million, over 2013, according to a report commissioned by Visit Denver, the city’s CVB.

Denver offers roughly 44,000 hotel rooms citywide and almost 10,000 rooms within walking distance of the CCC. These properties include the Hyatt Place/Hyatt House hotel, which opened in November two blocks from the CCC. Other new downtown properties include the 221-room Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center, and the 150-room Aloft Hotel Denver, downtown.

In addition, the 519-room Westin Denver International Airport opened in November with 27,500 sf of meeting space. The hotel is one of only four in the nation directly attached to an airport terminal. The Westin Denver will have its own station on the 23-mile electric commuter rail that will open April 2016 and run from the airport to Union Station downtown. Properties under construction include the dual-branded AC Hotels by Marriott and Le Meridien Hotel, scheduled to open downtown in early 2017.

Indianapolis

Indianapolis boasts one of the best collections of meeting spaces in the nation, led by the Indiana Convention Center (ICC), which was almost doubled in size and is now the 17th largest in the nation.

The ICC offers 566,600 sf of exhibit space, 71 meeting rooms and three ballrooms. The ICC is connected via walkway to Lucas Oil Stadium, a multiuse facility with 12 meeting rooms named “Best Stadium of the Year” three consecutive years by Stadium Journey Magazine. Together, the two facilities offer 749,000 sf of exhibit space and connect via enclosed skywalks to 4,500 hotel rooms and 12 hotels. More than 300 restaurants, shops and attractions are within walking distance of the facilities.

Unique venues include the Grand Hall & Conference Center at Historic Union Station, built in 1888. The facility now offers more than 55,000 sf of space covering 30 breakout rooms and five ballrooms, including the Grand Hall seating 850 people and the 300-seat capacity Illinois Street Ballroom. Another venue, the European-styled Indiana Roof Ballroom, is a 15,700-sf facility that includes a 3,000-sf bar and 8,700-sf ballroom encircled by a 2,500-sf promenade area.

Milwaukee

Planners are attracted to Milwaukee’s convention and meeting “campus,” which consists of the Wisconsin Center (WC), the Milwaukee Theatre and the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The WC offers 188,695 sf of contiguous exhibit space and the 37,506-sf Grand Ballroom. Meeting space includes 39,640 sf that can be divided into 28 meeting and breakout rooms. The Milwaukee Theatre accommodates up to 4,086 people.

There are more than 16,000 hotel rooms in the Greater Milwaukee area that offer more than 120 meeting rooms. Properties include the renovated 729-room Hilton Milwaukee, 481-room Hyatt Regency Milwaukee and the upcoming Springhill Suites Milwaukee Downtown Marriott, which collectively offer 1,200 guest rooms and are connected via skywalk to the WC.

Nashville

The city’s meeting business received a big boost since the opening of the downtown Music City Center (MCC), which includes 60 meeting rooms totaling 90,000 sf, a 57,500-sf Grand Ballroom and a 350,000-sf exhibit hall. So far during fiscal 2016, MCC has hosted 164 events with 324,167 attendees, according to Nashville’s Convention Center Authority.

Nashville’s hospitality industry has achieved an unprecedented milestone: 60 straight months of year-over-year record number of hotel rooms sold and hotel taxes collected. No other Top 50 destination city in the United States has ever reached 60 consecutive months of record growth, according to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. and based on research by STR.

Helping set the record was Ingram Micro Inc., which held their first-ever Nashville event — a conference for 1,900 sales and marketing employees as well as customers — at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, which offers 600,000 sf of meeting space.

Jennifer Pace, senior manager, event services, of the Williamsville, New York-based Ingram Micro, says the company chose Nashville for several reasons. Most important, Nashville has expanded its downtown meetings infrastructure, says Pace. “Nashville has focused on the meeting and event industry, and by that I mean continuously building hotels with large numbers of rooms and meeting space to capture business for big meetings and conventions. The MCC is a great example. Other cities are looking at Nashville’s success and thinking they can make changes and have the same kind of success.”

Pace cites Nashville’s top-notch meeting space and value. “We chose the Gaylord because of its vast amount of meeting space, which allowed us to keep the entire group under one roof,” says Pace. “The value was also a driving factor as Nashville is still a great bang for your buck. We see it slightly changing with the popularity. As a planner that sees budgets staying stagnant, I hope that Nashville doesn’t price itself so that repeat business can’t afford it for their future meetings.”

No other destination offers Nashville’s unique musical culture. “It was a major focus during our meeting,” says Pace. “We hired a local songwriter to write and perform a custom song about our event. It was a huge hit. We also hired a lot of local bands to entertain at our evening functions. We rented out the Wildhorse Saloon located downtown and brought our attendees there for the last night celebration.”

Pace notes that Nashville also has a good selection of meeting hotels, including the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. “The Gaylord Opryland provides exceptional service no matter what, but the hotel went above and beyond with their overall flexibility and managed our last-minute requests with success,” says Pace. “They also took wonderful care of the event planning team, helping us to keep sane during the program operation. Gaylord also worked closely with us on budget and was able to get us discounted pricing for the offsite evening event at Wildhorse Saloon.”

This may not be the last time that the Ingram Micro group meets in Nashville. “We will absolutely consider Nashville as a meeting destination again,” says Pace. “We will also consider the Gaylord for future business as well as some downtown hotels for smaller events.”

New York

The Big Apple, a prime international destination, is in a class by itself when it comes to offering everything that a meeting needs to be successful. No other city in the world offers New York’s immense range of hotels, unique venues, restaurants, attractions, entertainment and shopping.

New York added about 6,000 new sleeping rooms to its hotel inventory last year, bringing the total to approximately 107,000 rooms.

Hotel inventory is a big reason why New York City welcomed a record number of meeting and convention attendees, 6.1 million, in 2015, according to NYC & Company, the city’s CVB. Overall, New York welcomed an estimated 58.3 visitors in 2015, up 1.8 million visitors from 2014.

Fred Dixon, president of NYC & Company, stated, “We are pleased to see a sixth year of tourism growth in New York City as we welcomed 58.3 million visitors last year. The city continues to evolve, always offering fresh reasons to visit again and again, with more new developments on the horizon. However, with the continuing pressure on the global economy and the strengthening dollar, we will all need to work even harder in 2016 to sustain our competitive edge.”

San Francisco

Ask planners to name the top meeting cities in the U.S. and San Francisco is often at the top of the list.

San Francisco attracts a range of meetings from small to citywides to some extent because of its diversity. The city offers several unique neighborhoods, art and cultural venues and one of the nation’s best dining scenes.

Meeting space is headlined by the Moscone Center, one of the nation’s premier convention facilities. The center is scheduled to complete its expansion in 2018, adding more than 170,000 sf of meeting space, including a 50,000-sf ballroom. An enclosed pedestrian bridge will connect the center’s North and South building.

The San Francisco Travel Association hopes to draw more meetings with the recent introduction of its “Meeting Neighborhoods” concept. Hotels and venues in unique neighborhoods will cooperate to provide more meeting spaces and guest rooms than a single property can provide.

No wonder visitors continue to flock to San Francisco, giving it one of the highest hotel occupancy levels in the nation — about 84 percent. The city continues to add new rooms and improve existing ones.

New and improved San Francisco hotels include the 1,195-room Westin St. Francis, which opened in 1904 and has renovated 50,000 sf of meeting and special event space in the Landmark and Tower buildings. Improvements include art deco architecture, fresh paint, new carpeting, crafted chandeliers and energy-efficient LED lighting.

Hyatt and San Francisco International Airport have agreed to co-brand and co-manage the 350-room Grand Hyatt San Francisco International Airport, which is scheduled to open in mid-2019.

The Palace Hotel has completed a $40 million renovation, which includes redesigned guest rooms and public space, including the Garden Court.

San Diego

This West Coast gem offers perfect year-round weather for meetings accompanied by an expanding infrastructure of hotels and meeting space. As a result, San Diego is booming with hotel and meeting growth.

Citywide hotel occupancy was 74.6 percent in 2014 and was projected to increase to 77.7 percent in 2015 and surpass 78 percent in 2016 and 2017, according to a San Diego study by Tourism Economics. Downtown hotel occupancy exceeded 80 percent. ADR was estimated to increase 6.1 percent in 2015 and REVpar was projected to rise 10.5 percent.

According to reports published in February 2016, more than 2,000 hotel rooms are under construction in San Diego after years of drought, with roughly 7,400 more in the pipeline.

Two midrise properties within Liberty Station are under construction, as is a 300-room luxury hotel downtown, and a highrise on Lane Field is nearing completion. In Oceanside, there are multiple mid-sized projects in various planning stages, and Legoland proposed a second themed hotel.

Other projects include a new 400-room InterContinental Hotel on the waterfront at the site of a former ballpark. The project is expected to debut in early 2018. Kimpton’s 235-room Hotel Solamar plans to update all guest rooms, the event center and lobby space in a “high-end Mediterranean style.” The completion date is set for spring 2016. Meeting rooms and the ballroom also will get new carpeting and new lighting. C&IT

As the world changes with breakneck speed, so, too, does the meetings world. Many of us are finding it difficult to keep pace with the incredible number and variety of changes that bombard us on a daily basis — not to mention the ever-present information overload accompanied by the dizzying feeling that we can never catch up.

And so it is with the sharing, or peer-to-peer economy, which has rapidly evolved in part due to all the new devices and downloadable free apps that have inundated the market. Billion-dollar lodging and ride-sharing companies, such as Airbnb and Uber, did not even exist a decade ago, and are now emerging as genuine competitors to long-established traditional providers.

“The sharing economy certainly isn’t going anywhere. In many ways, it’s what we as meeting planners have been doing for a very long time.”
— Debbie Friedman-Hueller 

Perhaps not surprising for a trend of this magnitude, opinions vary on the long-term impact on the transportation and hospitality sectors — and the meetings industry that depends on them. Some see an inexorable move toward increased collaborative consumption or sharing of resources in new ways. Others are less convinced.

At the same time, traditional providers are feeling great pressure to compete effectively against a wave of emerging collaborative alternatives for services — especially in the lodging and transportation arenas.

One fact that can’t be denied is the growth of the companies leading the charge in the sharing economy.

A report for 2015 just released by travel and expense management software provider Certify reveals that Uber accounted for 41 percent of total ground transportation transactions compared with 20 percent for taxi service and 39 percent for car rentals. Prior to the fourth quarter of 2015, only San Francisco and Boston reported Uber as having a greater percent of rides than car rental.

Also in the ride-hailing space, Lyft experienced an increase of 712 percent in 2015 from the previous year, although the second-largest provider represents just a small part of total rides overall.

Is Sharing Really New?

“The sharing economy certainly isn’t going anywhere,” says Debbie Friedman-Hueller, senior meeting and event planner at dairy cooperative Land O’ Lakes Inc. in St. Paul, Minnesota. “In many ways, it’s what we as meeting planners have been doing for a very long time.” She explains that this includes providing shared rides based on convenience, matching individuals as roommates based on shared interests and repurposing space. “This formula of looking at the ebb and flow of traffic to create a pattern to maximize use — think breakout space — is now being picked up mainstream for housing, ride service, even renting pets,” she says.

It’s important for meeting planners to understand how meeting attendees view options provided through the sharing economy, according to Friedman-Hueller. In considering how attendees view the value of, for example, hotel room blocks at destinations, planners should realize they may prefer staying in a nearby home with the luxury of at-home amenities such as a kitchen, full bathrooms and living spaces. Similarly, these kinds of choices may appeal to travelers’ personal preferences for how money is spent.

“People tend to like to give their money to people, rather than to large corporations,” Friedman-Hueller says. As an example, she cites an alternative to paying $1,000 to a large hotel chain for a week-long stay. “People feel better about giving a thousand dollars to a young couple to stay in their house for a week, and if that means knowing that this couple is going to Europe on that money, they feel like they are now part of contributing to that dream.”

Planners also may find themselves becoming advocates of the shared transportation services. In her own case, Friedman-Hueller encourages attendees to download the Uber app prior to arriving onsite and lets them know the radius in which the company operates.

“It’ll be interesting to see how long it is before we stop providing airport shuttles and instead offer an Uber credit for the amount of an airport run,” she says. “This will allow the attendees to take more control of their own travel plans, and also take the huge burden off the shoulders of planners in trying to organize travel manifests and shuttle runs.”

Friedman-Hueller recalls a meeting in Miami last May when local cab drivers went on strike.

“This could have put a huge damper on the overall attendee experience because they would have been relegated to the hotel and to the scheduled bus times that we had in place for offsites and to the airport,” she says. But instead of getting anxious, she says attendees simply asked if Uber was still up and running. “Indeed, Uber was still in play and attendees couldn’t have cared less that all cabs were out of use.”

Demographics Count

Meeting planners also should keep in mind that the demographics for the meetings industry marketplace are changing, says Rebecca Sanicki, sourcing solutions manager for Balboa Meeting & Event Solutions in San Diego. She notes that the new target audience for meeting planners is quickly becoming the fast-growing millennial generation, a generation that seeks engagement and is all about sharing experiences.

“Understanding what’s important to millennials during the meeting experience and being able to put these new ideas and expectations into play is essential for the success and future of the meetings industry,” she says.  “One way to do so is by embracing the shared economy and figuring out how to leverage it to our advantage, while keeping the meetings industry current.”

Sanicki points to Uber and Airbnb as leaders in this movement.

“Transportation and housing are big logistical pieces of most meetings,” she says. “Getting creative to promote shared experiences with Uber and Airbnb can encourage attendee engagement, and it will help meetings to stand out from other, more traditional meetings.”

She adds that experiential-based companies such as Airbnb want to partner with meeting planners, and there can be some definite advantages to doing so. “Increasing room block size, which increases overall attendance and promotes a meeting community for your event, is just one plus,” Sanicki says. “Essentially, this means opening the door for expanding your reach and your audience — and theirs.”

Planners also should be aware of potential weaknesses, notes Carolyn Davis, owner of Strategic Meeting Partners in San Diego.

“On a personal level, I am a big advocate of the shared economy and use those services whenever possible,” she says. “It’s a great concept in the fact they allow underused resources to be put to their best use.”

At the same time, she acknowledges the challenges that may be faced in planning meetings.

“On a professional level, I do have some reservations,” she says. “With the shared economy model, in many cases you will never truly know the quality of service until it’s too late.”

Davis recalls an incident where a colleague who regularly flies into town via private aircraft decided to try Uber for the first time.

“Instead of a late model Cadillac Escalade pulling up to his plane as the engines were spooling down with a driver ready to pull bags, he and his passengers had to drag their bags to the curb and wait for the Uber driver to arrive,” she says. “Once Uber did arrive, he noticed the vehicle was not clean and the driver not professionally dressed.” She adds that on the positive side, the vehicle was black and the driver was personable, but the overall result was somewhat lacking.

“The shared economy model is an excellent concept,” she says. “But at this point, I’m not willing to risk my professional reputation.”

Targeting Business Clients

In growing their companies, sharing economy providers are reaching out more aggressively to businesses rather than just individuals.

Airbnb, which labels itself as the world’s leading community-driven hospitality company, has made it clear that the public at large is not its only target audience. Since its 2008 founding, the San Francisco-based company has grown to provide accommodations in more than 34,000 cities in more than 190 countries.

Recently the company upgraded its services to appeal more to business travelers. Improvements include a new product suite that not only reduces the complexities hosts face in accommodating guests, but also helps in attracting those traveling on business while expanding the Airbnb for Business program. Hosts now can add a badge noting that their listings meet specific expectations of those traveling on business.

Listings that are identified as “business travel ready” will feature business-friendly amenities such as Wi-Fi, a designated workspace, iron and hair dryer. Travelers also can take advantage of 24-hour check-in and a policy of no-host cancellations within seven days.

Originally not considered much competition for traditional hotels, Air­bnb seems to making significant inroads as it attracts more business travelers. According to the Professional Convention Management Association, the trend is especially significant in larger cities. Not only does this represent unwelcome competition from the hotel viewpoint, but it may also offer challenges to meeting planners. In tasks ranging from negotiating contracts with hotels (with smaller numbers of meeting attendees staying at a given hotel, for example) to advising participants about transportation to the meeting site, planners will need to take this option into account.

According to the Certify report, the popularity of Airbnb is increasing. Data from Airbnb found that compared with hotels, on average corporate travelers stay twice as long in Airbnb accommodations, and they have rated their satisfaction with Airbnb an average of 4.3 stars compared with 3.79 stars for hotels.

And in November, American Express announced a first-of-its-kind integration with Airbnb and created an on-platform loyalty program. Key elements of the program include:

Signup: American Express card members will be able to create an Air­bnb account by using their existing americanexpress.com user ID and password. This will allow them to quickly sign up and put a card on file, so booking is fast and easy in the future.

Verification: Similar to the way Air­bnb community members can verify via LinkedIn or Facebook, card members who set up an Airbnb account with their Amex login or choose to “Verify with Amex,” will have an “American Express Card Member” badge on their Airbnb profiles. This gives hosts and guests more information about each other and further builds trust within the community.

Membership Rewards Points: Card members now can use membership rewards points for all or part of their booking — directly on the Airbnb site.

Amex Express Checkout: Card members now can fly through checkout on Airbnb by using Amex Express Checkout, a technology that Amex launched in July, which enables card members to use their Amex login to check out faster by autofilling their card and billing details in just a few clicks.

Less well-known but also reaching out to the corporate world is HomeAway, which offers more than a million vacation rentals in 190 countries around the world. In addition to the primary purpose of vacation housing, the company offers properties for business applications such as workshops, company retreats and teambuilding activities. Offerings include thousands of homes featuring 10 or more bedrooms, as well as access through a mobile app to concierge-type services ranging from Uber cars to childcare and grocery delivery. Some upscale rentals also include access to caterers, private chefs, assistants and event planners.

Similar movement can be seen with transportation providers such as Lyft. According to company reports, Lyft is the country’s fastest growing rideshare platform, completing 7 million rides per month in more than 190 cities and exceeded 40 percent market share in Austin and San Francisco.

Recently, Lyft has been garnering attention with the addition of major investors. In early January, the company announced a $500 million investment from General Motors. GM will have a seat on Lyft’s board, and the two companies will collaborate in creating an autonomous on-demand network and in offering a series of national rental hubs where Lyft drivers can rent short-term vehicles. That new wrinkle will mean even those who do not own a car could potentially join the ranks of the company’s drivers.

Lyft markets “Lyft for Work” as a set of options that includes not just daily commutes and supplements to public transportation, but also as an option for business travel whether transportation is needed for a meeting across the city or out of town.

Of course there is no bigger name in the sharing economy than Uber, which now operates in more than 300 cities in 56 countries.

The company advertises its services as up to 40 percent cheaper than a taxi, potentially saving as much as $1,000 per employee yearly.

For businesses, Uber ensures that only trips that follow a company’s policy can be charged to its account. It also allows corporate clients to add or remove employees readily from their account and review trip information for each ride. With trips billed to one payment method, all expenses are maintained in one place. Details for each business ride include the expense code, cost, vehicle type and route.

Emerging Providers

Uber, Lyft and Airbnb may be grabbing most of the headlines, however, as trust builds within the sharing community other companies are finding a niche within this emerging economic model.

In Indianapolis, the Blue Indy electric car-share service offers business travelers a cost-effective alternative to taxis or car rentals. Launched in September, the station eventually will include 500 cars and 1,200 charging stations at the airport, convention center, hotels and other locations around the city.

In Miami, miRide is a new luxury black car app/service promoted as an affordable alternative to traditional options. It has acquired more than 3,000 users since its August 2015 launch, averaging nearly 400 rides a day. For business professionals and corporate clients, it offers fixed-price rides that can be obtained promptly or scheduled for future pick-up.

Offering booking via a smartphone app, the service provides chauffeur-driven luxury sedans, SUVs and sprinter vans. At the same time, it operates as a state-certified and fully licensed and insured fleet.

Meeting planners should stay on top of the latest news about peer-to-peer apps such as TaskRabbit, a mobile marketplace that finds people to hire for various and sundry jobs and tasks, such as office work and messenger services.

Also, there’s DogVacay for attendees who need a place to house their dog while at a conference. They offer a comfortable host home and claim the service is less expensive than a kennel.

As attendees can’t travel to meetings with their bicycles, Spinlister provides a way to “rent a bike from someone like you.”

Did a meeting-goer forget his business suit? Try Poshmark’s mobile app, which is for people to buy or sell their clothing.

Final Thoughts

Looking to the future, perhaps the most significant factor for meeting planners is simply adjusting to the changes in expectations of those who will be attending meetings.

“Dive deeper to get a good understanding of what your target audience is seeking and expecting from their meeting experience and then embrace their mindset,” Sanicki says.

This should include connecting with them via the technology they use in their daily lives such as mobile apps and social media, and using this knowledge to create meeting experiences where attendees are truly engaged.

“Don’t fear all this,” she concludes. “Embrace the shared economy and get creative with the ways you can leverage it.” C&IT

Perhaps no topic of debate in the meeting industry today is more important than how, precisely, an organization and its meeting planners create what will ultimately become recognized as a successful meetings and events. And, of course, not all meeting hosts or planners will agree on just what constitutes a successful meeting. But there does appear to be a reasonable consensus about the practical considerations that are involved in the process of addressing key issues.

“Building a meeting or an event is like building a house,” says Gregorio Palomino, CDMP, CEP, CMP, the CEO of the San Antonio, Texas-based meeting and event planning firm Cre8ad8. “The first thing you need is a great foundation, because no matter what the finished house is going to look like, the foundation is what will support it.”

When it comes to a meeting, Palomino says, the basic building blocks of the foundation are pretty obvious — your budget, the purpose of your meeting, your dates, your destination, your hotel and all of the other ‘practical’ things that go into planning the meeting. But those are only the things that frame the house, he notes. “Once you have those things as your foundation and framing, then you have to build the actual house,” Palomino says. “And every house — and meeting — is different.”

“Building a meeting or an event is like building a house. The first thing you need is a great foundation, because no matter what the finished house is going to look like, the foundation is what will support it.”
— Gregorio Palomino

After the most fundamental decisions about basic building blocks are made, “that’s when you start looking at all the various choices that really go into determining whether you have a successful event,” Palomino says. “Those decisions involve your content, your speakers, the informational materials you need. Those are the things that are most important. Everything else is really just decoration.”

Most important in the era of ubiquitous strategic meetings management programs and ever-increasing scrutiny of meeting budgets is a clear purpose or objective for the meeting, Palomino says.

But given such broad consensus about the critical importance of a precise goal and strategy, it’s surprising that Palomino sees so many companies fall short of successfully defining those elements. “I’d say that based on my observations, only about 60 to 70 percent of companies really have a clear goal for their meetings,” Palomino says. “And that surprises me, because there is nothing more important than that in terms of building a foundation for your house.”

A Broader Perspective

While she agrees that a clear business purpose for a meeting is a critical factor in its success, Kelly Burns-Gaoiran, the San Francisco-based director of business development at CWT Meetings & Events, a specialized division of global corporate travel management company Carlson Wagonlit, has a broader perspective.

A simple formula for a well-planned event is in keeping with Palomino’s “foundation for the house” analogy.

For Burns-Gaoiran, the essential elements of that foundation are destination and hotel selection; an effective social media platform; the use of mobile technology and apps onsite for an optimal attendee experience; attendee engagement before, during and after the meeting; and stakeholder engagement to ensure consensus that the meeting was indeed successful.

Like most of her peers, she also places enormous value on relevant and effective meeting content.

And her practical considerations apply to all meetings and events, regardless of type or size, she says. “The thing I always say is that an event is never too big or too small to warrant not looking at all of those kinds of details, because it’s all about execution,” she says. “And execution comes down to those basic components of what a successful meeting means. So all of those building blocks have to be in place. Everything has to be right.”

Burns-Gaoiran also views the planning process as an exercise with three distinct phases — pre-event, the onsite experience and post-event follow-up.

But she considers the pre-planning process the most important element of a successful meeting. For her, it is careful pre-planning that serves as her foundation.

“In the pre-event phase, I want to make sure I have defined the meeting properly — its purpose, the business goal, how success will be measured,” Burns-Gaoiran says. “And when it comes to measuring events, I want to know whether we’re judging it based on ROI or ROE. I want to know, in terms of the business goal, what are the real drivers of the event.”

The weakness she often sees in the execution of meetings can be traced back to an inadequately detailed pre-planning process that leads to a faulty foundation for even a modest house. “And a big part of that weakness sometimes,” Burns-Gaoiran says, “is having a weak engagement strategy for attendees or stakeholders, or having the wrong engagement strategy.”

Engaging Attendees

It’s well known and widely accepted today that attendee engagement is arguably the single most important factor in the success of a meeting, after a clear business goal. And the two are very much related.

After the goal of a meeting and the nature of the audience are assessed, an attendee engagement strategy specific to that meeting can be created, Burns-Gaoiran says. “Then you can determine a communication strategy,” she says. “And that strategy and the execution of it will vary from meeting to meeting. It needs to be very precisely planned based on the initial assessments you’ve done.”

A foundational element of the communication strategy that promotes effective attendee engagement includes a technology platform. “And to develop that, you have to address questions such as how is your content going to be presented?” Burns-Gaoiran says. “How is the attendee onsite experience going to be managed? Are you going to have mobile apps? How and why will they be used? Those kinds of considerations and decisions are a very important, because there are so many options out there.”

A Very Simple Formula for Successful Meetings and Events

Jacqueline Bidanec, CMP, the Tampa, Florida-based global account director for independent meeting planning firm HPN Global, has a simple formula for the creation of successful meetings and events.

“The way my clients define a meeting as successful is if they can stay within their budget, and that their attendees walk away happy,” Bidanec says.

And as a result of that simple guideline, Bidanec practices some time-tested and equally simple rules, particularly with respect to happy attendees.

“One thing is food and beverage,” she says. “I always tell my clients to feed their attendees well. Hungry stomachs make for unhappy people. And F&B budgets are one of the things many companies look to cut in their budgets, because they have so little control over room rates. But I tell them to spend the money to give people good meals if you want an attentive and happy attendee.”

For Bidanec, the other most important consideration is carefully crafted and hyperfocused content. “Content is important because an attendee needs to be able to walk away having learned something new, because when they learn something new, they are able to do their jobs better,” she says. “It’s really that simple. And for the kinds of meetings I do, such as sales meetings, learning to do something better means attendees will be putting more money in their wallets as a result of the meeting. So to me, from the perspective of attendees, I can’t think of a better definition of a successful meeting than people learning to do something that will make them more money. And making money always makes for a happy attendee.”

The Stakeholder Challenge

While attendee engagement is typically a fairly straightforward undertaking, stakeholder engagement is considerably more challenging, simply because it is a more complex process.

As a result, Burns-Gaoiran says, a consistent shortcoming in the arena of corporate meetings is weak or nonexistent stakeholder engagement, primarily because it is so complex and often such a daunting process because different groups of stakeholders have entirely different perceptions of what they want and what they expect.

“I see that all the time, Burns-Gaoiran says.

How does she explain that? “It’s more of a problem in bigger companies, because it’s so hard to get people on the same page,” she says. “Marketing sees things one way. Sales sees them another way. Procurement sees them another way. And they all want what they want from their own point of view. That is a consistent issue and challenge when you really are trying to engage all the key stakeholders. So as part of identifying the business purpose of the meeting, you also need to understand whose initiative it is. Is it a marketing initiative? A customer service initiative? An internal communication initiative? Then once you figure that out, you can do a better job of identifying the most important stakeholders and engaging them. But that is always a struggle. It’s not easy. But it’s also critical to a successful meeting.”

Service Excellence

Not surprisingly, another factor that is extremely important to the success of a meeting is excellent service. In fact, it is the little details of a meeting as it unfolds that often help determine the perception of whether an event has been successful. “And the reason those details are so important is that in large part, it’s the service you get onsite that will determine whether your attendees think the meeting has been successful,” Palomino says. “And that’s one of the areas where meeting planners sometimes drop the ball. They don’t pay enough attention to the minute-to-minute level of service their people are getting until something goes wrong.”

Among the things that most often go wrong and impact how a meeting is perceived, Palomino says, is audio-visual services, which are critical to the effective presentation of content. “If something goes wrong during one of your most important presentations, that is obviously going to have an impact on the event,” Palomino says. “So the kinds of things that are directly related to the presentation and distribution of your content at the meeting or after it are very, very important. So that is another place on the “roadmap where you have to make sure nothing can go wrong.”

Snooze Fest or Fun?

While a large majority of meeting planners are well aware of the practical factors that go into the creation of a successful meeting, one that many of them do not want to talk about is the fact that their meetings are boring, Palomino says.

Therefore, he says, no other practical consideration is more important than the excitement level surrounding the meeting beforehand and the level of enthusiasm expressed at the meeting. Somewhat surprisingly, he uses the infamous formula multilevel marketing companies notoriously invoke for their events as a good example of how to generate excitement at a meeting. “Their meetings are fun,” Palomino says. “They’re exciting. They generate a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for their attendees. They get you pumped up. And I think that’s a model that more companies should follow in terms of how they think about their meetings. I hate to say it, but a lot of corporate meetings today are just boring. I’d say more than 90 percent of them are just a snooze fest. There’s nothing exciting about them. But you’re stuck there for six or eight hours a day. To me, there is just no excuse for that in today’s world — not if you want your meetings to be successful and memorable.”

Bidanec concurs wholeheartedly that a successful meeting should be fun. “I stress to clients that they should have a fun agenda,” she says. “We can all sit in a classroom and take notes and then go home with some takeaways. But if the agenda has some fun in it, if there is some humor in the presentations, like a few jokes here and there, that makes the meeting fun and enjoyable. And that contributes to people feeling like it was successful. In other words, to be successful, a meeting has to be memorable. And to be memorable, there has to be some fun in it.”

For her events, such as sales meetings, Bidanec also agrees with Palomino that many companies can learn something valuable from organizations such as multilevel marketers. “Many of my meetings are also ‘rah rah’ sessions,” Bidanec says. “And if people go away from those meetings pumped up and ready to take on the world and make more sales, the company thinks of that as a successful meeting.”

As for Palomino, one of the reasons so many meetings are boring is that the content is boring. “It’s unfortunate but true that the content at so many meetings is just not exciting,” he says. “Everybody talks about how important content is, but then the content they actually present at their meetings is just not compelling. It’s not exciting. It doesn’t motivate people. So again, many companies could learn a positive lesson from MLM companies, because they’re experts at presenting content that gets people excited and motivated.”

In reality, Palomino says, there is some content that by definition is not going to be very exciting. “That’s just the way it is,” he says. “But you can still make the presentation of that content, the delivery of that content, exciting. That’s what so many companies fail to understand and act on. And I really don’t know why that is. It’s not that hard to figure out once you’re aware of the challenge.”

Even if your content is compelling and it addresses the business purpose of your meeting effectively, it should be brief and pointed, Palomino says. The time-honored 60–90 minute keynote speech or CEO presentation is a dinosaur headed toward final extinction, he notes. Today, the TED talk model is becoming more and more universal — presentations that are short and crisp, and which allow for spirited interaction between presenters and attendees.

In the end, Palomino says — and Burns-Gaoiran and Bidanec agree — a meeting only can be deemed a success if the attendees consider it a success.

And the only way to find out if attendees truly consider the meeting a success is to ask — clearly and courageously — in a post-event survey.

“There are a number of technologies available now that allow you to do that and get the answer to that question,” Burns-Gaoiran says. “But to get that answer, you have to do more than just poll your attendees. You really have to listen to what they have to say.”

Palomino corroborates that view. “With the technologies we have today, it’s possible to know with certainty whether your content was absorbed, whether the goal of your meeting was met, what your ROI will be,” he says. “And a growing number of companies now make those efforts. But many still do not. Or they do a very poor job of it. If you really want a roadmap to a successful meeting, you have to be able to look at the map you created after the event and say, ‘We got there. We arrived at our destination in terms of objective and results. We had a successful meeting.’ If you do not do that, you’re just guessing. Or fooling yourself.” C&IT

The Chattanoogan hosted WordSouth’s StoryConnect conference last year. Credit: WordSouth

Last October, the International Association of Conference Centres confirmed the vitality of the industry in its 2015 edition of Trends in the Conference Center Industry, which reported that IACC members have seen occupancy and rates rise over the previous year. In particular, the study indicated that conference centers with more than 200 guest rooms projected a 6.5 percent increase in annual occupancy over 2014.

In the same month, it became clear that IACC itself was poised for growth with a newly elected dynamic leader: Alex Cabañas, CEO of Benchmark Hospitality International, who began his two-year term as global president. Cabañas is spearheading the IACC 2020 task force, which is developing the organization’s strategy for the next five years. At the time of his appointment, Cabañas noted that “our members support and learn from each other. There is a kinship within IACC like no other association that I’ve been affiliated with.”

“We planned an event offsite and Lansdowne was wonderful in taking care of the transportation for the group. …They just say, ‘Tell me what you need and I’ll take care of it.’ ” 
— Glynnis Judy

Among IACC’s 400 global members is The Chattanoogan, the only IACC-certified hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where Cabañas gave a speech at WordSouth’s StoryConnect conference last year. A communications company for the southern U.S. telecom industry, WordSouth welcomed about 80 clients to The Chattanoogan to discuss and experience “the power of story and storytelling in marketing,” explains Andy Johns, vice president for telecommunications. “We had Alex Cabañas as one of our speakers because Benchmark is a company that obviously embraces storytelling.” Apparently, the speaker choice was a success. “Previously, my sessions were always the highest rated, and Alex took that away from me last year. But I forgive him for that,” Johns quips.

Partnering in Success

WordSouth’s first StoryConnect was held at The Chattanoogan in 2014, and “the conference center difference” started to become apparent to the organizers at that time. Johns relates: “We had never done the conference before. We went to a couple of different places around town looking for space, and we thought all we needed was to rent some space and then do it. But when we arrived at a couple of the hotels I remember specifically they had forgotten we had an appointment to tour the space, and that kind of set the tone before we got to The Chattanoogan, which was a conference center-type environment. We walked into the main auditorium, and they had our name and company logo (displayed). They knew all the details about our conference and were there as a partner in making our first conference successful, not just a company we were renting space from.”

Besides the meetings-focused attitude of the staff, the 199-room hotel offers meeting facilities that excel in both variety and quality. More than 25,000 sf of high-tech conference space includes a 16-seat Executive Boardroom, five general session rooms, 12 breakout rooms, a 7,752-sf newly renovated ballroom and an 85-seat amphitheater. “The amphitheater is built exactly for (meeting groups) with all the lighting and sound options and comfortable seats,” Johns remarks. “We’ve all been to places where the space is not inviting for the attendees to listen to sessions for hours.” And given the property’s Benchmark management, planners can be assured their group will enjoy all the services that “high tech” entails, including videoconferencing, webcasting and complimentary wireless Internet throughout the hotel.

Similarly, Dolce enjoys a strong brand recognition and reliability in the conference center industry, and that was a motivation for Wyndham Hotel Group to acquire Dolce Hotels and Resorts’ portfolio of 24 properties back in February 2015. “Dolce is a terrific strategic fit for us,” said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO, Wyndham Hotel Group, in a statement at the time of the acquisition. “With over three decades of established brand equity, Dolce is a respected leader in the group space with outstanding destination properties and some of the best meeting product offerings available in the market today.”

Dolce Devotée

Among the clients who respect the Dolce brand is Roshan Bharwaney, associate director for worldwide training at WPP, a major advertising and marketing services group with agencies in 112 countries. His team runs training programs for WPP’s leaders and high potentials globally. “I’ve been working with Dolce since I started in my role a little over 10 years ago,” says Bharwaney, “and where possible we do try to use Dolce properties in the U.S. and in Europe.”

In the U.S., for example, WPP has brought groups of 20–70 participants to properties such as Dolce Norwalk, Dolce Basking Ridge, Silverado Resort & Spa, Dolce Hayes Mansion, Q Center and IBM Learning Center. Dolce is the pioneer of the CMP (complete meeting package), and Bharwaney finds that it “simplifies things so much for me when I know how many people are attending and how much the total cost is going to be just by multiplying it with the CMP. And then if there’s anything we need to add on to the program, it’s just easier to reconcile that with the total budget. We have almost never had unanticipated extra charges.”

But the real conference center difference, as Bharwaney describes it, is a stronger focus on the meetings aspect. That includes the nature of the other events in-house, not just the facility and its staff. “When we go to these kinds of mixed (use) hotels, we tend to get a lot more distractions, more noise, parties and weddings going on,” he relates. “When we’re at Dolce it’s quieter, and we can focus on what we’re there to do. (Other groups) are also there to work, to discuss ideas, to learn if it’s a training program, so it’s all a similar kind of sensibility.”

In addition, the meeting rooms lend themselves to the training style of his groups, which is very display-oriented. “One of the things I really appreciate is that all of our breakout rooms are very well equipped; they’re very close to the main meeting room, and they’re very versatile. You can write on the walls or stick things up on the walls; it’s very easy to work there,” Bharwaney explains. “But when we’re at a regular hotel, usually they don’t have enough breakout rooms for us, so we have to convert guest rooms, and it’s more limited. There are not as many wall surfaces you can work on because of the guest room furniture.”

Meetings Focused

Such advantages result from the fact that “conference centers put a lot of focus on the place where you spend most of your day, which is in a meeting,” notes Randy Turner, director, marketing communications with Walker and Associates Inc., a national distributor of network products. The company has utilized the 86-room Graylyn International Conference Center for more than 15 years for product training and sales meetings. “The meeting rooms are much more comfortable; more thought is put into the seating and positioning of AV, which is normally installed permanently so nothing has to be brought in,” Turner observes. “And stations for cell phones and laptops are everywhere in a conference center, whereas in a nonconference center, you’re often going to struggle to have them in convenient locations or without significant additional costs.” Thought is also put into breaks that will support productivity: Graylyn “constructs breaks so that they are conducive to effective meetings rather than distracting from the meetings,” Turner observes, and offers F&B that is light and nutritional “to keep attendees more alert and engaged.”

Customer Focused

In terms of customer service, Turner finds that “it’s much more seamless” at conference centers than at the typical hotel. “There tend to be fewer people to deal with, one or two contacts vs. four or five.”

Glynnis Judy, corporate meeting event specialist at Touchpoint Energized Communications, also has observed a high level of customer service at these facilities, specifically Lans­downe Resort, a Destination Hotel, in Leesburg, Virginia. Last year, Judy staged two client-facing meetings at Lansdowne for a multinational developer and marketer of networking products. The staff at Lansdowne, Judy recalls, has the motto, “We don’t do customer service, we are customer service,” and that attitude came across in their performance.

“When you work with a large client there are always going to be last-minute changes. For example, we planned an event offsite and Lansdowne was wonderful in taking care of the transportation for the group. And you always have people at the last minute who have changes in their travel arrangements. Then you wonder if the bus is big enough, and when you call (your contact) they don’t send you over to the transportation person; they just say, ‘Tell me what you need and I’ll take care of it.’ ”

The best staff not only take requests, of course, but fulfill needs without being asked, when possible. Johns gives a case in point from his experience at The Chattanoogan: “I made an offhand remark at a session that I had lost my nametag, and within 30 minutes (the CSM) had a heavy-duty vinyl Chattanoogan-branded nametag for me. Without my asking for it, she just heard that and (responded). That shows that not only are they listening when you know they’re listening, but they’re listening all the time.”

Seamless Event

That staff proficiency transferred to WordSouth’s offsite reception and Mediterranean buffet at the nearby Tennessee Aquarium, which has a partnership with The Chattanoogan. “It was like they were a part of the aquarium staff and really made the whole event seamless for us,” Johns recalls. “An event like that makes a strong impression on folks coming in from the rural areas we serve.” It also illustrates that conference centers are not just meeting facilities; they are destinations with a variety of dining and recreational resources, both onsite and off. Graylyn, for example, offers more than 25 teambuilding opportunities on its expansive grounds, from a scavenger hunt to a chili cookoff. The Lans­downe boasts 45 holes of championship golf and lies at the gateway to Virginia wine country.

Speaking of wine, Bharwaney recalls a very distinctive offsite event WPP held as part of its meeting at the Dolce Frégate Provence, a 133-room, IACC-certified property located in the South of France. “We had a very nice group tour and dinner at a nearby vineyard. That part of the world produces some of the best rosette in the world.” While the conference center difference lies in optimizing business meetings, those meetings need not be all business. C&IT

Meeting Package Trends

The International Association of Conference Centres recently polled 378 member conference center properties regarding CMP (complete meeting package) trends influencing meeting planners and venue operators. Some findings:

• 95 percent of venues have offered non-traditional (flexible) meeting packages for over 5 years.
• 55 percent reported that meeting planners wanted to tailor a package specifically to meet their needs.
• 65 percent reported that planners are starting to request new inclusions beyond the normal meeting room, F&B and tech inclusions. The top additional items requested were teambuilding, local cultural trips, coaching and facilitation. Although many IACC venues offer free attendee Wi-Fi, the inclusion of high-bandwidth Wi-Fi to support the use of collaborative technologies was highlighted as a growing trend. The survey also indicated that the inclusion of collaborative technologies, such as audience participation and meeting apps, had potential for future packaged pricing.
• Food & beverage enhancements lead the list of the top components included in customized packages, with 76 percent of those surveyed reporting they tailor packages with non-standard F&B items. Indoor teambuilding and meeting room configurations were second at 70 percent, and outdoor teambuilding was fourth. Also included in the list of components used to customize delegate packages were AV, Wi-Fi and culinary teambuilding activities. C&IT

Dan Ruch is the founder and CEO of Rocketrip. Dan founded Rocketrip in 2013 after 10+ years in the ad tech space. Prior to founding Rocketrip, he was V.P. of Europe for Tremor Video, a leading provider of technology-driven video advertising solutions and ran Tremor’s business development efforts in the U.S. Early on in his career, he worked at Tacoda until its successful exit to AOL and at Mindshare and Maxus Global — GroupM’s agencies. www.rocketrip.com

This year is poised to be a good year for business travelers who want more options and better value. The maturation of the sharing economy, airline consolidation, and tension between online travel agencies (OTAs) and vendors will fuel this year’s travel trends. In short, we will see more sharing, less loyalty (more “cheating”) and more direct booking.

Before diving into each of the travel trends though, let’s paint the scene. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) reports that U.S. spending on travel increased 3.1 percent in 2015 and will grow only 3.7 percent in 2016. Growth is slow in large part because airfare inflation is nonexistent.

“The sharing economy will continue to challenge legacy travel services as millennials increase their share of business travel spending.”

Nonetheless, trip volume will grow over five percent in 2016, which is a sign that face-to-face interaction still matters. Indeed, the GBTA reports that 57 percent of millennials believe technology can never replace face-to-face business meetings, and millennials are two times more eager to travel for business than baby boomers. This matters because millennials will soon be the dominant business travel demographic, if they aren’t already.

Keep in mind that the business travel ecosystem is dealing with stagnant growth and demographic change. With that said, here are my predictions for 2016:

1. The sharing economy wins a giant chunk of business travel spending.
   The sharing economy, led by Uber and Airbnb, has struck home with business travelers. Certify, a provider of travel and expense management software, reports that 55 percent of business travelers now choose Uber, outpacing taxis for the first time ever. The sharing economy is here to stay.
   Millennial travelers are accustomed to using the sharing economy in their personal lives, so they expect to use it in business, too. This is good news for employers because sharing economy vendors are usually more cost-effective than their traditional counterparts. For example, at my company Rocketrip, we find that travelers who use Airbnb beat their projected hotel budget by an average of $110 per night. Likewise, Certify finds that the average cost per Uber ride is $30.03 versus $34.38 for taxis.
   In 2016, expect to see sharing economy services roll out more perks and partnerships for business travelers. A good example is “Business Travel Ready,” a new Airbnb certification for hosts that offer business-friendly amenities such as Wi-Fi and a designated work space as well as 24-hour check-in and a policy of no host cancellations within seven days. Another good example is the new partnership between Airbnb and American Express (a corporate travel powerhouse) that allows cardholders to spend American Express reward points on Airbnb bookings.
   Uber and Airbnb get all the attention, but don’t underestimate other sharing economy players. HomeAway, a sharing platform for vacation rentals, was acquired by Expedia for nearly $4 billion. There’s no reason why they can’t pivot towards business travelers, taking advantage of Expedia’s reach and reputation.
2. Less loyalty, more promiscuity.
   Over the past seven years, the airline industry experienced a string of mergers that have changed the dynamics of loyalty. Delta picked up Northwest Airlines (completed in 2010); Continental merged with United (2012); and most recently, US Airways joined American Airlines (2015). For business travelers who were loyal to the legacy brands, it was like waking up next to a stranger. With fewer airlines but just as many frequent travelers, airlines had to address what journalist Josh Barros coined “Elite Bloat.”
   Consequently, most of the airlines have debased their reward programs, and they have added more levels of elite status while raising minimum eligibility requirements. Whereas frequent flyer earnings and elite status used to be based on the distance and frequency of travel, they are now based on revenue. The old model favored road warriors; the new model favors cost-insensitive travelers and folks who spend heavily with airline credit cards. In November, American Airlines became the last major U.S. carrier to switch to a revenue-based reward program.
   As a business traveler, why be loyal if it doesn’t pay off? It makes more sense to “swipe” airlines, a la Tinder, until you find the best combination of price and in-flight comforts. Southwest and Virgin understand this. They have aggressively wooed business travelers by expanding their coverage network and adding premium cabin amenities such as fast Wi-Fi and live streaming. With loyalty dying and travel spending stagnant, other airlines will likely follow in their footsteps.
3. Travel vendors versus OTAs: the “frenemies” get feistier.
   Hotels, airlines and rental car agencies will vie to reclaim direct bookings in 2016. This is the only way to cut down on the fees they pay to online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Expedia and Priceline. It’s a “frenemy” situation because as much as vendors hate paying OTAs, they do drive a lot of transactions. Generally, OTAs have much better booking sites and mobile apps, which are a draw for those tech-savvy millennials.
   This vendor versus OTA conflict isn’t new — it’s just getting more aggressive. For instance, in September, Lufthansa Airlines introduced a surcharge of €16 on all tickets booked through global distribution systems (referred to as GDSs — essentially virtual networks that facilitate travel-related transactions between buyers and sellers). They believe this will encourage travelers to book directly on Lufthansa.com instead of with OTAs. It’s not an absurd idea — budget airlines such as Southwest have managed to thrive without OTAs. This strategy keeps their flights off the major travel agency sites, and, in theory, has enabled them to offer cheaper fares by eliminating agency fees and commissions.
   Cutting out the middleman can backfire, however. In October 2014, Marriott started offering free Wi-Fi to guests who booked directly. Understandably, travel agents were angered. So in August 2015, when Marriott ran a global YouTube campaign encouraging guests to book directly, they caused a true uproar among travel agents. The backlash forced Marriott to pull the video ads.
   This tug-of-war between vendors and travel agents will continue to fuel a spree of mergers and acquisitions on the OTA side. In 2015 alone, Expedia has acquired Travelocity, Orbitz and HomeAway, as I already mentioned. In the last two years, Priceline Group picked up Kayak and OpenTable, among other companies. The OTAs want to grow to a scale where they can’t be ignored, and they seem to be succeeding. Search “book travel” on Google and you’ll find that Kayak and Expedia own the first five results, or half the first page of listings.

In Competition, Travelers Win

2016 will be defined by competition. The sharing economy will continue to challenge legacy travel services as millennials increase their share of business travel spending. Airlines, all vying for loyalty amidst stagnant growth, will realize that perks have to extend beyond points and elite status. OTAs and vendors will try to one up each other in the booking wars. This is all great news for business travelers who can share, “cheat” and directly book their way to better deals, perks and experiences. C&IT

Originally built in the late 1800s, Atlantic City’s famous Boardwalk stretches for more than four miles.

Atlantic City is making waves these days with a host of new expansion projects and developments that are attracting meeting groups not just regionally, but nationwide.

The projects primarily responsible for boosting business include Harrah’s Atlantic City Waterfront Conference Center, Resorts Casino Hotel’s new conference center, The Playground entertainment venue, Borgata Festival Park, Gardner’s Basin marina district and a renovated and revitalized Steel Pier.

“We increased booked business by 39 percent year over year,” says Jim Wood, president and CEO of Meet AC. “Our objective is to increase future booked business by an additional 15 percent this year. Our goal is also to grow the group market while continuing to build on improving Atlantic City’s perception nationally. The casino resorts have a strong commitment to growing the group market by the addition of meeting space.”

“Our goal is also to grow the group market while continuing to build on improving Atlantic City’s perception nationally. The casino resorts have a strong commitment to growing the group market by the addition of meeting space.”
 — Jim Wood

Under Wood, Meet AC also is expanding its online presence to aid in marketing to groups. The organization launched three new websites in 2015, and is introducing three more this year. The three new available websites are www.meetiniac.com, www.atlanticitysports.org and photos.meetinac.com. This year, Meet AC will introduce three more sites for group motor coaches, the Atlantic City Film Commission and one that focuses on market research.

Atlantic City could possibly have some in-state competition in the future. New Jersey may expand casinos beyond Atlantic City. In November, the state will vote on whether to approve construction of new casinos in northern New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Wood is pleased with the progress that Atlantic City is making in transforming itself into an increasingly popular convention and meeting destination. “I am very pleased with the accomplishments that Meet AC and the Atlantic City Sports Commission have achieved in a short amount of time,” says Wood. “The meeting and convention industry is vital and helps support the overall tourism industry in Atlantic City.”

Value and Service

While Atlantic City seeks to boost the number of groups from outside the Northeast, the city still has plenty of room to grow its market from the region. A company based in Philadelphia recently held an incentive sales meeting in Atlantic City for the first time. The meeting for 250 attendees took place at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

Location and cost were two prime reasons for choosing the hotel and the destination. “The group found that the location was ideal since it was near its headquarters in Philadelphia, and the overall rates for rooms and food and beverage were low,” says Larry Huttinger, CMP, owner of D. Lawrence Planners and Destination Philly A.C., a DMC with operations in Atlantic City and Philadelphia. “The group did receive concessions that involved suites and upgrades, and also received access to areas in the hotel that added diversity to their program. This included restaurants and other unique spaces inside the hotel.”

The group enjoyed many activities within the Borgata and at offsite venues. “The activities included after-dinner gaming (poker, blackjack and craps using funny money with dealers and legal tables) for fun in meeting space at the hotel, along with a private dinner booking offsite at the Landshark Bar & Grill Restaurant,” says Huttinger. “They also used the hotel’s Mixx nightclub for an event. They enhanced the space with décor and branding with the company logo for signage.”

The group raved about the Borgata’s service. “The company believed the hotel offered the best amenities for their employees,” says Huttinger. “The group felt they received top level services and were able to host this event during a great time of year that included activities during the weekend.”

The group would consider returning, partly because of value, says Huttinger. “One of the significant gems about Atlantic City is that its price point is as much as 25 percent to 35 percent lower than other convention destination locations in the Northeast including rooms, food and beverage.”

All-Inclusive Surprise

Value is a big reason that one corporate group found Resorts Casino Hotel’s combination of a new conference center and all-inclusive package to be very attractive. The company held a two-day meeting in January this year for 21 area managers and sales representatives. The group met at Resorts Casino Hotel for the first time after having met at other Atlantic City properties three times over the last four years.

The meeting’s corporate planner began her search for a property online, looking at several hotels. “When I found Resorts’ meeting page, I was shocked to see that they offer an all-inclusive package,” says the planner. “I kept reading through everything the package included and was blown away by the overall price. I immediately requested more information and received a call shortly after from the senior sales manager. I gave her the (meeting) logistics, and we picked a date that I could come down and check everything out.”

The site visit was impressive. “The meeting rooms are newly renovated and high-tech,” says the planner. “The overnight rooms have also been renovated and are bigger than any rooms in Atlantic City. The package included all meals throughout the day as well as things like valet parking, early check-in and free Wi-Fi.”

The group held all of its functions, entertainment and activities on the property. The planner wanted it that way. “As a group, we don’t have to worry about going out, getting a taxi and meeting up somewhere for dinner,” she says. “It makes more sense to run upstairs after a meeting, freshen up and meet downstairs at a restaurant. Then the group can break up and go have fun within the same property. As the planner for my team, I like to keep it fun and always have something to do instead of staying at any hotel just because they have a conference center.”

The group’s experiences at Resorts Casino Hotel’s restaurants were memorable. The first night, the group ate dinner at Gallagher’s Steakhouse. “Since the dinner was included in our all-inclusive price, any additional items we purchased like drinks were billed to my master account. This was another small perk that made a great impact (in value and convenience.)”

Attendees raved about Gallagher’s service. “With a large group, sometimes you have to wait for food,” says the planner. “But they were waiting for us when we arrived. The waiter was unbelievable. He was quick and got everything just right. The food melted in your mouth. Many people in our group came to me after dinner and praised Gallagher’s.”

The attendees received similar service when they dined onsite at Capriccio’s restaurant. The planner also was pleasantly surprised during breakfast each day at Breadsticks. “I assumed it was a grab-and-go type of restaurant but, to my surprise, I was completely wrong,” she says. “They had a table waiting for us each morning, and we were able to order whatever we wanted. Our team really enjoyed that since breakfast is usually served buffet style or grab-and-go.”

The planner was impressed by the several ways that Resorts’ staffers went out of their way to provide excellent service. “It’s a very important area for me,” says the planner. “They made us feel special. When we needed a refrigerator on hand for a new mother, our request was answered immediately. When we needed a bellhop, one was there within two minutes. Each night at dinner, the senior sales manager checked to make sure everything was running smoothly. We had a personal catering assistant checking every 15 minutes during meetings to refresh our snacks and beverages.”

The excellent service and all-inclusive package combined to provide great value. “I let the hotel know that the all-inclusive package and pricing is such a great idea,” she says. “Not only does it make things easier for someone like me who has to plan several events throughout the year, but also the price point cannot be beat.”

Attendees had a memorable experience at Resorts Casino Hotel. “Many have already said, ‘We know where we want to have our next meeting,’ ” says the planner. “I have no desire to look anywhere else.”

Convention Center Success

Many planners feel the same way about Atlantic City in general. A planner for a private manufacturer has held several meetings at various Atlantic City hotels over the last seven years because it offers so much for attendees. “The availability of first-class restaurants within walking distance of hotels and the convention center contribute significantly to after-hours activities,” says the planner. “It’s easy to get to whether you drive, fly, or take a train. Atlantic City provides a destination that allows (drive-in attendees) to park their car and not have to use it again until they head home.”

In February, the manufacturer held a meeting and conference for about 2,000 managers, salespeople and contractors at the 600,000-sf Atlantic City Convention Center (ACCC), the largest facility of its kind in New Jersey.

The ACCC was the perfect choice for the meeting. “The state-of-the-art facility along with the ease of working with the staff is a combination for success,” says the planner. “The ACCC provided for every need, from the amount of meeting space and easily accessible exhibit halls to the extensive service and attention to details. Department managers were visible and became a part of our team. They reported in regularly to make sure that our needs were met.”

Facilities at the ACCC were a good match for the meeting’s needs. “They offer an area called the Tree House (a meeting room with gorgeous views of Atlantic City) where smaller receptions were held,” says the planner. “This area offers a fabulous view of the city at night and the ocean during the day, and the receptions were always popular events.”

New and Noteworthy

Atlantic City’s eight major casino hotels are upping their game to appeal to the East Coast meetings market and beyond.

Harrah’s Resort’s new Atlantic City Waterfront Conference Center expanded the property’s meeting space from 20,000 sf to 170,000 sf while adding two 50,000-sf ballrooms and a 25,000-sf ballroom. The expansion made Harrah’s, a Caesars property, the largest hotel conference center complex from Baltimore to Boston and paid immediate returns. The facility’s opening last September generated 90,000 additional guest room bookings for Harrah’s for the ensuing 12 months.

Bally’s, another Caesar’s Entertainment Atlantic City property, offers 1,760 guest rooms, many with ocean views, and 147 guest rooms in Bally’s Tower have recently been renovated.

The 1,144-room Caesars Atlantic City, which has 28,000 sf of meeting space, will complete renovation of 286 guest rooms in the Temple Tower in May.

Debuting in summer 2015 was the multifaceted convention and event space at Resorts Casino Hotel that added 12,000 sf of meeting space and 12 more conference rooms all on one level. The 12 completed meeting spaces, named the Atlantic Rooms, include mobile partitions, modular lounge areas with outlets and USB ports, prefunction spaces with snack and coffee areas, and state-of-the-art AV and lighting controls. The showpiece of the conference center is the Atlantic Ballroom, a 6,500-sf function room with a multiuse prefunction area and views of the Atlantic Ocean. The new conference center brings the total offerings at Resorts to 24 meeting and function rooms with more than 64,000 sf of usable space.

Tropicana Atlantic City recently announced a $25 million renovation that primarily will encompass upgrades to 500 guest rooms in the Havana Tower. Completed last year was a $50 million renovation that included Boardwalk façade improvements, hotel room upgrades and property-wide expansion. The property recently opened the multimillion-dollar AtlantiCare LiveCenter, which the Tropicana touts as the most advanced gym facility in Atlantic City.

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa recently announced plans to invest more than $50 million into the improvement of its property throughout 2016: Borgata Festival Park will be transformed into an outdoor pool beginning this summer, featuring more than 400 chaise lounges, daybeds and cabanas, a full-service canopied bar, entertainment stage, and a variety of lawn games and activities, all centered on a 3,200-sf Roman-style pool. Debuting this spring is Premier, an 18,000-sf nightclub offering “a theatrical experience for partygoers.” Also coming are a casual dining area and a new fine-dining concept by chef/partner Michael Symon. The hotel also will add 25,000 sf of conference space by the end of 2016. Still in the planning phase, the space will include two levels, with a 7,000-sf ballroom, four meeting rooms, one boardroom, one office and a prefunction area on each level.

The Golden Nugget Atlantic City added 78 new slot machines that join four blackjack tables, a roulette table, bar and eight TVs. The property also introduced a new menu and head chef, Carmine Favuzzi, for Grotto Ristorante, an Italian restaurant.

The iconic Steel Pier will reopen March 26 after a $14 million restoration. The amusement park will feature a 220-foot-high observation wheel offering riders views of Atlantic City and the ocean from inside climate-controlled gondolas.

Gardner’s Basin, located in the marina district, will launch an expansion and redevelopment project by the end of this summer. The project will include additional restaurants, shops and entertainment venues. In addition, the Boardwalk between Gardner’s Basin and Revel will be reconstructed.

The Playground, a 464,000-sf entertainment venue featuring eight live entertainment clubs and restaurants, plans to add more amenities including a bowling alley, sports bar and outside pool on the beach with cabanas.

In addition, Boardwalk Hall, a multipurpose facility located on The Boardwalk, features a 14,770-seat arena and the 23,000-sf Adrian Phillips Ballroom with 3,200-person capacity.

Atlantic City continues to offer even more of everything that planners need for the perfect meeting or incentive. Planners can expect more meeting space, entertainment, meeting venues and attractions as Atlantic City continues to strengthen its reputation as a top meetings destination. C&IT

Revelers in Bourbon Street in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras — the annual Carnival celebration. Credit: Cosmo Condina and NewOrleansOnline.com

There has never been a better time to meet in New Orleans, asserts Stephen Perry, the revered, longtime president and CEO of the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau (NOCVB). “New Orleans is and always has been one of the ultimate destinations for business and leisure travelers alike. With several billion dollars’ worth of economic development and construction underway, New Orleans has entered a new era of growth and prominence. The culinary scene is richer and more diverse than ever, the music world is thriving, and the culture of the Crescent City is beyond compare as we approach our tricentennial in 2018.”

Perry continues, “This authentic city continues to reinvent itself with the latest upgrades and enhancements at state-of-the-art venues and the overall infrastructure of the city, which ultimately provides a better business and cultural experience and a world-class business climate.”

“New Orleans is and always has been one of the ultimate destinations for business.” 
— Stephen Perry

Perry and his award-winning team encourage meeting planners and attendees to “come and immerse themselves in the passionate spirit of New Orleans and enjoy our truly one-of-a-kind visitor experience as they get immersed in one of the world’s most captivating destinations.”

Few would disagree with Perry that the Big Easy is, by far, one of the most popular meeting destinations. Another fan is Cindy Hayes, who was born and raised in New Orleans, and is the enthusiastic director of sales for AlliedPRA New Orleans. “New Orleans is on fire. It’s very appealing to corporate groups. It’s affordable. Group rates vary by season, which makes it attractive to all types of budgets. The destination is centrally located and offers a warm climate without having to leave the U.S. We also have one of the fastest growing airports in the nation,” says Hayes.

Statistics illustrate New Orleans’ continuing resurgence since Katrina struck. During 2014, New Orleans hosted 9.5 million visitors, a 2.6 percent increase over 2013, according to the 2014 New Orleans Area Visitor Profile study by the University of New Orleans Hospitality Research Center for the NOCVB and New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation.

The 9.5 million visitors spent a record $6.8 billion, a 5.3 percent increase over 2013. About 58 percent of business and convention visitors extended their stay an average of two nights, up from 55 percent in 2013. Many of the visitors were on return trips. According to the study, 62.6 percent of respondents who offered open-ended comments were repeat visitors.”

First-Time Group

New Orleans is attracting its share of first-time meetings. A company based in Austin, Texas, held its first seven annual business summits in its headquarters city of Austin before deciding to hold the eighth one in another destination — New Orleans. “We wanted our first meeting outside of Austin to be in another city that was as unique as Austin, and New Orleans fit the bill,” says the company’s director of events. “It was our first and only choice.”

The three-day summit, held at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, attracted about 500 employees and clients from about 10 countries. The planner infused every event with New Orleans flavor, starting with a group of 50 European clients who arrived at the business summit a day early.

Many of the 50 clients had never been to New Orleans before and received an introduction to the city through tours. “We put together a bicycle tour of the French Quarter and downtown,” he says. “We also took them on a gumbo tour by bus. They sampled different types of gumbos at several restaurants.” Also, the client advisory board went to John Besh’s August restaurant, which is located in a historic 19th century French-Creole building in the Central Business District. The group dined in a private room and had an opportunity to chat with chef John Besh.

Evening events included a party at the House of Blues where the group enjoyed music, food and “everything about New Orleans in the party,” says the planner. “We had a zydeco band inside and another band outside in the House of Blues Voodoo Garden. As people were leaving, we had the iconic Lucky Dogs food carts — which are unique to New Orleans — in front of the House of Blues handing out hot dogs,” he adds.

Authentic Experiences

The meeting’s general session featured “jazzed-up” décor. “We tried to make it feel like you were walking into a small jazz club,” says the planner. “There was a stage in the round and small tables that seated four people. We had gobo lights on the tables with jazz music playing. The colors purple and gold were reflected in the lighting, décor and images projected onto the walls.”

The planner applauded the Hilton New Orleans Riverside for its expertise in helping to provide an authentic New Orleans experience. “I’ve done a lot of events there over the last 30 years,” he explains. “It’s a unique property because they really understand customer service. They try to make sure you have a unique perspective on New Orleans with the food and service they provide.”

Attendees of the business summit were happy with the group’s first meeting outside of Austin. “The survey of our group rated the experience in New Orleans very, very high,” he says. “More than 85 percent said they would want to come back to New Orleans again.”

CSR Programs Are Popular

Many groups visiting New Orleans, especially incentive programs, seek opportunities to contribute to the city’s continuing recovery through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. “We get many requests for community service outreaches,” says Hayes. “We adapt a company’s mission to achieve some of our local community goals. We make sure the company spends its dollars to give attendees a customized experience while giving back to our city.”

A group of 600 attendees recently spent a half-day improving Joe W. Brown Memorial Park. “It was the first event of the first day of the incentive,” says Hayes. “They mulched and trimmed plants and spruced up the park, which was located in New Orleans East and rebuilt after Katrina. The park relies solely on private and corporate donations to keep it running. Attendees found it very rewarding.”

Groups mix rewarding experiences with a broad array of activities. “The activities and tours in New Orleans appeal to all ages,” says Hayes. “We offer museums, swamps, historic cemeteries and homes, jazz clubs, motor sports, restaurants and plantations. People also love to walk. We are known as one of the most walkable cities in the U.S.”

The popularity of New Orleans is reflected in the awards the city continues to accumulate, including Condé Nast Traveler’s top “U.S. City for Business Travelers” and one of Tripadvisor.com’s “2015 Traveler’s Choice Destinations.”

Expansion Plans

New Orleans plans to boost its popularity even more by expanding the city’s meetings-related infrastructure.

The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is embarking on an ambitious new venture that will revitalize the city’s riverfront. The Convention Center District Development Project, situated on 47 acres upriver from the center, calls for construction of a new “headquarters” hotel needed to accommodate the current demands from meetings and conventions, and the projected increase in visitors to the city leading up to its 300th anniversary in 2018. Other key features under consideration include a linear park along Convention Center Boulevard, outdoor entertainment, fine dining and casual restaurants, arts and cultural venues, and new retail and housing options.

The project also includes a plan to ease traffic on Convention Center Boulevard by modernizing intersections and creating a linear park with a moving walkway for convention-goers. Meanwhile, the convention center — the sixth largest convention center in the world with 1.1 million sf of contiguous exhibit space — continues to make upgrades.

Another popular venue, the National World War II Museum, is undergoing a $320 million expansion that will quadruple the facility’s size when completed in 2017.

Getting Around

In transportation developments, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is undergoing an $826 million expansion that includes construction of a new, state-of-the-art airport terminal, which will debut in 2018. The new terminal will feature 30 gates, a 2,000-car parking garage, a central utility plant and a ground transportation staging area. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport served an all-time record-breaking 10,673,301 passengers in 2015, an increase in 9.1 percent over 2014. The airport is now served by 14 airlines with 52 non-stop destinations, the highest number of non-stop destinations in the airport’s history.

The Port of New Orleans handled a record 1,023,700 cruise passengers in 2015, topping the million-person mark for the second consecutive year. The Port is set for another robust cruise season in 2016, with a 34 percent expansion in cruise capacity when the Carnival Triumph replaces the Carnival Elation. American Cruise Lines will add a third riverboat, America, to its New Orleans home-ported fleet in 2016, accommodating 185 passengers on Mississippi River cruises.

In 2015, Viking announced that New Orleans would serve as the European river cruise line’s first North American homeport, with six new ships scheduled to set sail beginning in 2017.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is expanding the French Quarter streetcar route.

The Outlet Collection at the Riverwalk, just steps from the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, recently opened its doors with $80 million in renovations and is the first outlet shopping center to be located in the heart of downtown.

New and Noteworthy

The historic Orpheum Theater has reopened for the first time since 2005 in the city’s Central Business District following a $13 million renovation that includes an expanded lobby, reconstructed acoustic shell, larger seats, and more bathrooms and bars. The theater, which opened in 1918, is on the National Register for Historic Places.

The Orpheum is an intimate concert and performance space with perfect sight lines and unparalleled acoustics from each of its seats, which range in number from 1,500 to 1,800 due to the customizable floor seating. Three levels of seating, private VIP boxes at the gallery level and six bars round out the audience space, while six green rooms and a full-service kitchen are available behind the scenes.

The new adjustable floor allows the space to be utilized for meetings and banquets. The floor plan can accommodate receptions for 800 guests or seated dinners for 300 guests. The theater is equipped with state-of-the-art sound and lighting, a projection screen and displays for presentations or branding, green rooms that can be used for small meeting breakouts and VIP spaces for a fully adaptable event experience. The space can accommodate live music, private parties, corporate meetings and events, comedy acts, Mardi Gras balls and more.

New Orleans hotels have been improving since Katrina hit. As Hayes noted, “Hotels have upped their games. They are renovating, repositioning and rebranding to keep up with each other.”

Here is a rundown of recent hotel developments.

The renovation of the iconic Royal Sonesta New Orleans, long a favored hotel in the heart of the French Quarter, is complete as the 483 guest rooms are newly reimagined.

In addition to guest rooms, other public spaces also underwent renovation. Upon entrance to the hotel, guests will find that while it maintains the same grandeur as before, it is now adorned throughout with elegant furnishings, warm colors and delightful artwork. A new fitness center is well equipped with free weights and state-of-the-art equipment. The hotel’s R Club Level has been expanded from 29 to 58 rooms and features a new R Club lounge.

These hotel renovations are the culmination of enhancements that began with the re-imagining of Desire Oyster Bar, the hotel’s casual restaurant on world-famous Bourbon Street. The hotel features other local venues all under its roof including Restaurant R’evolution, the award-winning innovative eatery and Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse — where legendary musicians jam daily.

The Omni Riverfront Hotel, formerly the Wyndham Riverfront New Orleans, has completed an $8 million renovation. The property, located a short walk from the convention center, features 202 guest rooms and 4,000 sf of meeting space. It’s Omni’s third hotel in New Orleans.

The Wyndham New Orleans French Quarter has completed a multimillion-dollar renovation that included 374 guest rooms as well as the property’s exterior and parking garage.

The 285-room Loews New Orleans Hotel has completed a $4 million renovation that included guest rooms and suites, corridors and Café Adelaide.

Le Meridien New Orleans, a Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. property, has completed a $29 million renovation. The property features 410 redesigned guest rooms and suites; an additional 1,600 sf of meeting space bringing the total to 20,000; three new food options; and a refreshed front desk and valet entrance.

The Omni Royal Orleans Hotel has finished a $15 million makeover, which includes refreshed guest rooms with custom furniture, 24 wrought-iron balconies and improved lighting. The project also included refurbished meeting rooms with new furniture, carpeting and window treatments. The 346-room AAA Four Diamond property includes 14,000 sf of flexible function space including the 5,284-sf Grand Salon and 17 meeting rooms.

The 188-room Aloft New Orleans Downtown opened earlier this year in the Central Business District with 2,500 sf of meeting space.

The Homewood Suites by Hilton New Orleans Downtown has renovated the property’s 166 suites, meeting spaces and public areas. The project includes new furniture, a sleeper sofa and appliances in each guest room.

Historic French Quarter hotel Chateau LeMoyne has completed its eight-month renovation, with updates to the hotel’s 171 guest rooms, lobby, event spaces, courtyard and pool.

Named for founder of New Orleans Jean Baptiste LeMoyne, the hotel features 30 rooms with balconies overlooking the French Quarter, 11 historic suites and 2,000 sf of versatile event space.

The Hyatt House New Orleans/Downtown debuted in the Central Business District in November 2015, bringing 194 extended-stay hotel rooms to the downtown area.

Situated along the expanding Loyola Avenue streetcar line, the hotel is at the heart of the Sports and Entertainment District and is also just steps away from the French Quarter and burgeoning BioDistrict. C&IT

Caribbean Princess’ dockside charter housed attendees at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad. Credit: Joyce Landry, Landry & Kling

The question is not why would you hold a meeting or incentive program at sea—it’s why wouldn’t you? There are so many advantages, including cost and time savings, that planners owe it to themselves to at least consider convening on a cruise ship.

Small or large, corporate meeting or incentive program, today’s cruise industry is ready to accommodate business at sea. Planners may be surprised at how efficient and cost effective cruise meetings and incentive trips can be to plan and execute. Cruises offer flexibility in terms of itineraries with sailings from three days to two weeks, and in destinations, with ships sailing in nearly every corner of the globe.

The Advantages of Meeting on a Ship

According to Jo Kling, president of Landry & Kling (landrykling.com) — the first travel company focused exclusively on meetings at sea and corporate charters — meeting and events on ships is a growing part of the meetings industry, and has been for many years.

Cruise-based meetings also are high value. Kling says the cost of programs aboard ships is typically 20–30 percent less than those at hotels of comparable quality. “Ships offer much more budget flexibility than hotels, as meals and entertainment are included in the cruise fare,” she says. “And there’s no added cost for use of a ship’s AV equipment and no need for linens, risers, plants, florals, lighting, labor, etc.”

 “If you let a cruise be what a cruise is, you’ll provide a great diversity of experiences that are certain to please the broad range of your attendees.”
— Eldon Gale

There’s also little or no added cost for onsite transportation, often a large budget item. Transportation is either built into shore excursions or unnecessary for attendees getting to and from all the activities, dining and entertainment venues onboard. There is a lot, in fact, for attendees to do on ships, which speaks to another saving for planners.

“While ships have a resort environment,” Kling says, “there are no resort fees and there’s no charge for use of shipboard fitness facilities.”

All of that underscores the ease of planning a shipboard experience. “There’s no menu-planning or budgeting required for meals,” Kling says. “And special diets are easily accommodated with no extra planning.” Likewise, delivery of room gifts is typically easier and less expensive on ships than in hotels.

Cruise lines have already lined up many of the best activities at each port, so planners don’t have to find and vet those. And with all the activities onboard, creating itineraries and schedules is less complicated and less work than at comparable land destinations.

Eldon Gale, director of events for Scentsy, a global direct sales fragrance company, has booked five programs at sea including a combined leadership training and incentive program in the Caribbean for 1,100 Scentsy leaders and consultants. The group cruised on Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas in January, which included two days at sea and one port of call in Mexico. Like Kling, Gale says that ship-based programs offer much to attendees and planners that land-based programs can’t match, perhaps especially entertainment options.

“You can hire entertainment on land, but cruises have it all built in,” he says. “Band for your general session? Check. DJ with killer lighting and special effects for your dance party? Check. Broadway-style shows? Check. Multiple bands playing multiple genres of music so your attendees can listen to what they prefer…all at the same time? Check. Built-in kids programs? Check. You do have to be flexible and work with what the ship has to offer, but generally speaking, cruise ships are going to have something to fit every age group and every interest level — and it’s all included. Try achieving that on a land program!”

Gale also points out that ships often have extras not available at most hotels, giving planners added creative power. “Oftentimes ships will have things you’d never have on land, like a theater with full theatrical lighting; different drapes, drops and backgrounds; a movable orchestra pit; and special effects such as fog.”

Gale used the ship’s theaters for two general sessions for his group in January. ”It’s a great way to have a meeting because all the AV you need is built into the ship,” he says. “We augmented it a bit with TelePrompTers and confidence monitors, but when you consider that you’re not paying for lighting or sound, it really saved us quite a bit of money over a land program. We also had smaller special-topic meetings in the ship’s conference center.”

As for dining, Gale notes that while land programs generally offer a set plated menu or basic buffet to meet attendees’ needs, cruises provide significantly more options. “Attendees get to choose exactly what they are eating every meal of the day, often ordering off of a menu with dozens of choices. If that’s not enough, all ships have extensive buffets that are much larger and more diverse than anything you would get from a hotel banquet team. Still not enough? Most ships now offer multiple specialty dining outlets where you can get some of the best food you’ll find anywhere. There are surcharges for specialty restaurants, but the charge is a fraction of what you would pay for the same experience on land.”

Because the group of 1,100 was too large for one seating, Gale had tables at both of the ship’s seatings and let attendees choose which they wanted when registering. “Other times,” he notes, “we’ve had enough people to take over a whole deck of the dining room so the seating was open, and they could rotate tables from night to night. We’ve bought out specialty dining as well, and that’s always a nice experience for smaller or VIP groups.”

The biggest advantage to a cruise setting may be the inherent flexibility. “Your attendees can make the experience what they want it to be. Chances are you would never plan bingo, an art auction, games of name that tune or adult scavenger hunts as part of typical land programs,” Gale says. “The beauty of a cruise is the diversity of activities onboard. There truly is something for everyone on board, and your guests can do as much or as little of it as they want.”

Working Through the Challenges

There are some challenges as well. “It is what it is,” Gale says, and planners will only end up frustrated if they don’t accept that framework. “Cruises are designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of people. (Cruise lines) do this week in and week out and they are very good at it. Unless you are chartering a ship, you need to be flexible and not try to micromanage the experience. Just let the cruise be what the cruise is and you’ll have a much easier time.

“If you try to take the same land program you have always done and force it onto a ship, you’re going to be disappointed,” Gale continues. “Cruises require you to revisit things a bit, to work what you typically do into what they offer. Don’t make the mistake of not letting your attendees enjoy what cruising is really all about. The more you over-program and try to change things up, the more frustrated you’ll become. Look for ways to maximize what the cruise experience is for your attendees, and they’ll have a great time, and you’ll be a lot more relaxed.”

The notion of working with what ships offer is echoed by many experts. Jeanna Steele, partner with Sea Planners Group (seaplanners.com), which plans, manages and promotes group programs at sea, says, “You are sharing space with 1,000 other people and standard programming. You may want to do your awards show on the third night at sea at 7:00 p.m., but that may be the night the ship does its production shows. You will have to find an alternative time or date. It is all about advance planning.”

Kling puts it this way: “Your meeting at sea will be more successful if you create a fresh new agenda, built on using the ship’s facilities, activities, teambuilding opportunities, entertainment and dining options. In other words, fit your business agenda to the ship environment rather than trying to fit the ship into your same old traditional agenda just because it’s familiar.”

Planners can minimize problems by making requirements clear early in the process, and being flexible enough to work with what ships offer and can do.

Internet access has been a stumbling block for many groups wanting to book conferences and other types of meetings onboard ships, especially meetings for which conducting work is part of the agenda. The Internet has not been comparable to what’s available on land — but that is changing.

“Due to current bandwidth limitations onboard ships, you do not see complimentary unlimited Wi-Fi offered to groups very often,” Steele says. “More likely contracts include a certain number of minutes of Wi-Fi per passenger or something like that. But I see this evolving quickly in the industry. IT gets better every day, and every cruise line is making strides. I am on five-plus ships every quarter, and every quarter it gets better.”

Steele says that one of the biggest trends in the cruise industry today is more technologically advanced ships. New ships are being built with high-end technology, including high-speed and accessible Internet, and older ships are being retrofitted with better technology — all good news for planners.

Another challenge planners may face is a client’s hesitation about meeting on a ship. “That’s natural when considering an unusual venue,” Kling says. “It’s their responsibility to ensure maximum return on time and budget invested.” Her advice to planners is to find out what those hesitations are before presenting a full proposal. “That way,” she says, “you can get some assistance from your cruise adviser so you can easily and confidently address those concerns.”

Sailing Overseas

For groups wanting an overseas destination, an exotic destination or multiple destinations in one trip, cruise lines can deliver — and offer savings over hotel-based programs in foreign countries.

Steve E. Some, president of IME Connect, which provides incentive, meeting and event logistical planning services for a wide range of companies, chose Royal Caribbean for a program for 740 incentive qualifiers from a large HVAC distributor. The group sailed in the Mediterranean on Allure of the Seas last September. Cruise programs represent about 15 percent of IME’s total programs.

When it comes to running programs in foreign destinations, Some says there are advantages to basing a group on a cruise ship. “Cruise pricing is in U.S. dollars so you don’t have the worries of a fluctuating exchange rate as you do in a land-based program.”

He also points to the cruise advantages of visiting multiple destinations without unpacking and repacking multiple times or paying for added flights or other travel between destinations. But it’s more than simple logistics. “For this particular group,” he says, “they were able to experience the beauty, culture, history and culinary experiences of three different countries in six different ports, yet have that ‘U.S.’ level of comfort and the same accommodations nightly.”

And that’s exactly what many incentive groups are looking for.

Some chose Royal Caribbean based partly on it being able to accommodate a group of 740, but there were other factors as well. “Due to the size of the group, it came down to two cruise lines,” he says. “RCCL came through with very aggressive pricing and concessions, which was very attractive to the client. In addition, the outdoor venues for cocktail receptions were much larger than those offered on other cruise lines’ vessels.”

Like many planners, Some chose to book air for his groups independent of the cruise line. “We handled that ourselves,” he says. “It allowed us more control with the flights, access to all the airline records and allowed simplicity with name changes.”

Foreign destinations are a major draw, especially for incentive groups looking for the newest destinations and that ever-important wow factor. Cruise lines continually up the ante with new ports and itineraries. Kling says there are many new and exotic ports in play and on the horizon, including in China, which she says is booming, South America, Europe, Antarctica and Cuba. That makes cruises “great for the ‘been there, done that’ incentive qualifiers and top-tier groups,” she says.

Planning, Contracts and Negotiating

Planning a program at sea is different than planning on land, which is why many planners turn to a broker or other third-party expert for help.

“The pre planning can be a challenge,” Gale says. “You plan everything through the cruise line’s corporate office and never meet the team that will execute your event until you set foot on the ship. Even doing a site sailing — which is essential — won’t guarantee you’ll have the same crew for your sailing that you did for your site. Crews change regularly, which is why all your planning is done through corporate. A broker can be very helpful. Brokers know the ships, the shore-side team, and they know what has been and can be done onboard. They can be a tremendous advocate for you as well as an oftentimes needed source of reason.”

There’s also the question of comparing ships and site visits. “It’s important to understand the differences between the cruise brands,” Gale notes. “You need to understand the differences between the total ship offering and the target demographic and how that relates to your group. This is where a broker is incredibly valuable. Yes, you could do site inspections on multiple ships to see them physically, but to truly understand the experience and personality of each ship, you need to sail them. This would be a monumental task on your own. A broker can help you identify what’s important for you and select a ship that meets those needs, be it dining or entertainment or luxury accommodations. No ships out there are going to tick all the boxes for everyone, so you need to narrow down what’s most important to you and go from there.”

Gale worked with Shari Wallack, president of Buy the Sea, a Florida-based cruise brokerage company, for his January meeting.

In terms of contracts and negotiating, cruise lines and hotels have similarities and differences. “In theory,” says Steele, “the concepts are the same — room block, space, amenities, cancellation, attrition, force majeure — but the detail is much different. Planners need to understand their pricing and amenities, and they will find that many of the things that are negotiated for in hotel contracts can also be requested in cruise contracts, such as complimentary Internet access.”

There also are differences, and some of them, Gale says, favor planners. “Generally speaking, ships have very generous cancellation clauses. I’ve booked five programs at sea and in each case, we had a cancellation schedule that allowed us to walk away four to six months prior to sailing without paying a dime. I don’t advocate taking advantage of this; however, because of it you have more peace of mind that if something changes, you have flexibility and options. Hotels would never give you such flexibility. And if your numbers don’t come in where you thought they would, you can easily adjust your room block.”

Kling points out that cruise ships typically charge a single supplement if only one passenger will be in a stateroom, which can be hefty, and that single rates may be limited to a fixed percentage of the group size. She also notes that because cruise lines don’t have “walk-in” clientele and can’t make up for cancelled reservations as hotels can, there are typically no refunds once the final payment has been made, usually 60 to 90 days in advance of the sailing. It’s also important to note that ships have tight security, and passport and other personal information is typically required by cruise lines no later than two weeks prior to sailing, so planners have to make sure clients and attendees understand this.

There’s no question that there’s much to learn when putting a corporate program on a cruise ship. But the fact is that cruise lines want corporate business, and they’re able to offer meeting venues and services that can save companies money and draw attendees.

“Cruises have a high perceived value for a lot of people,” Gale concludes. “They are a ‘bucket list’ item for many people, so qualification and interest is often quite high. If you let a cruise be what a cruise is, you’ll provide a great diversity of experiences that are certain to please the broad range of your attendees. And it doesn’t hurt to mention that it makes the planner’s job a whole lot easier as well.”

Cruise News

Oceania Cruises’ big news is the launch of their newest ship, the 684-passenger Sirena. The fourth Oceania ship of its capacity, Sirena will be christened this April following a $40 million refurbishment and feature a new specialty restaurant, Tuscan Steak, and Red Ginger, a favorite from the Marina and Riviera ships. A new lunchtime experience called Jacques Bistro will feature dishes from legendary chef Jacques Pépin. During its inaugural season, the ship will sail on Mediterranean and Caribbean itineraries.

Regent Seven Seas is launching Seven Seas Explorer in July, “the most luxurious ship ever built” and the largest in the fleet. New specialty dining options, a new Culinary Arts Kitchen and a one-of-a-kind, $10,000 per night ultra-luxury suite are just a few of the highlights. Also just announced is a two-year $125 million refurbishment program for the entire Regent fleet designed to align with Explorer’s offerings, providing passengers with a consistent look and feel in public spaces and suites on all ships. Seven Seas Navigator, the line’s most intimate ship carrying just 490 guests, will be the first to receive the upgrade, followed by Seven Seas Voyager in late 2016 and Seven Seas Mariner in the spring of 2017.

Carnival Cruise Line’s new 3,936-passenger Carnival Vista, the largest in the fleet, will launch in May 2016. New ship features include: SkyRide, an open-air cycling experience; the world’s first Imax Theater on a ship; an expanded water park; Seafood Shack, a New England-inspired eatery; RedFrog Pub, including the line’s first onboard brewery. Beginning in the fall, the ship will sail from its home port of Miami. Carnival’s new fathom brand, designed exclusively to bring community service volunteers to countries in need, embarks on its maiden voyage in April from Miami to the Dominican Republic.

Debuting in May 2016 is Royal Caribbean’s third Oasis-class ship, Harmony of the Seas. The megaship, which spans 16 decks and offers 2,747 staterooms with capacity for 5,479 passengers double occupancy, features seven neighborhoods, 20 dining options, three multi-story waterslides including the tallest waterslide at sea, faster Internet speed and more.

Celebrity Cruises continues to upgrade its Millennium-class ships, the most recent being Celebrity Infinity, which received a new Rooftop Terrace venue in December 2015 — the first in Celebrity’s fleet — which features a large outdoor film screen and stereo surround sound. The project also included renovations to the Penthouse and Royal Suites, as well as conversion of the ship’s specialty restaurant to the signature Tuscan Grille. Celebrity Summit will receive similar upgrades during a dry-dock in March 2016.

Norwegian Cruise Line also is upgrading its fleet. The Norwegian Edge program will invest $400 million in upgrades over two years through 2017. The centerpiece of the program is an extensive ship refurbishment initiative that began in October 2015 with a full refresh of Norwegian Epic, followed by Norwegian Gem in November. A total of seven additional ships will go into dry-dock for both guest-facing and technical enhancements: Pride of America and Norwegian Sun in spring 2016; Norwegian Dawn in summer 2016; Norwegian Spirit, Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Pearl in winter 2017; and Norwegian Jade in spring 2017.

Princess Cruises recently announced a $450 million multiyear product innovation and cruise ship renovation campaign called The Come Back New Promise, intended to enhance the line’s onboard guest experience. Recent new initiatives include: “Crafted by Curtis” menu items by award-winning chef and restaurateur Curtis Stone, available in the main dining room on all ships; new luxury beds installed in staterooms across the fleet through 2018; the new Salty Dog Gastropub, available on select ships. Previous initiatives include: new original musical productions; onboard festivals; Discovery at Sea activities and shore excursions developed through a partnership with Discovery Communications; and a mobile messaging service for passengers to connect with one another onboard. C&IT

This spread for the Global Skillsoft Perspectives conference combined healthful and tasty fare in a fun setup that included ingredient labeling for folks with food allergies. Credit: Lester Austin/Universal Image

The playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, “There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” And if he were to go to a meeting today, he’d very likely see that planners, chefs and other food and beverage professionals are helping make sure that meeting attendees can take their love of food to a whole new level.

“I’d say the biggest trend we are seeing in food and beverage is the need to have healthier options and more attention to gluten-free items,” explains Melynda Hilliard, MBA, CMP, who is director, events for Skillsoft, an online learning company with U.S. headquarters in Nashua, New Hampshire. “Having restrictions really forces event professionals to think more creatively while planning meals and breaks.

“Our attendees are becoming more educated about the amazing gourmet options that are available on a regular basis,” she adds, “therefore, we have to be open to make our chicken something different and present the potatoes in a way that isn’t just mashed. Yet, while being creative, we also have our budgets that provide further restrictions to these options. It’s no longer the simple buffet with basic items; it’s the fancy, yet reasonable options that have people walking away feeling like they ate a good and healthy meal that didn’t clog their arteries.”

Special Orders Don’t Upset Us

One ongoing trend is that hotels and conference centers are doing a much better job of accommodating attendees who have special requests such as entrées suitable for vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free diets or if they have allergies to certain food items such as nuts or shellfish.

Chef Mike Jackson, director of food and beverage for the Deloitte University Hotel and Conference Center in Westlake, Texas, which is managed by Benchmark Hospitality International, “reminisced” about the days when meeting attendees who were vegetarian often would be served the same thing: pasta primavera. Luckily for them, those days appear to be long gone. “We’ve really had to up our game on our banquet menus,” he says. “We really have to take (special dietary requests) into consideration and make sure that each one of these guests has an interesting and unique dining experience.”

Jackson explains that he and his team take these special requests into consideration when planning plated banquet meals as well as buffets. “I want to make sure that there’s a lot of vegetarian choices. I want to make sure that there are a lot of choices that I can label as gluten free. That really starts with your basic preparation in the kitchen, and there are some simple things that we do at Deloitte University. Instead of using roux as a thickener, we’ll use cornstarch or arrowroot or vegetable purées. A lot of things that might not have been accessible to guests in the past because of the gluten, suddenly are available, and, if anything, we’re making the dishes a little bit lighter and healthier.”

He adds that the more advance notice the food and beverage team receives about guests with special dietary requests, the more prepared the team can be, and that 72 hours’ notice is a good guideline. That being said, even if no one requests, for example, a vegetarian meal in advance, his team still will be prepared to meet last-minute requests.

Since there could potentially be a wide variety of special menu requests within a single group, it takes some skill and planning to identify those guests. Jackson describes the system he uses. “We give our guests that register with special dietary needs a special card that has a purple dot on it, and whenever they sit down, they put it by their place setting. It’s not very obvious to any of their dining companions, but that alerts us, and especially our wait staff, that that guest has a special dietary need, and so the waiter is going to discreetly ask them what we can do to make sure they have a good dining experience. We want them to have a seamless dining experience like everyone else. We don’t want everybody else at the table to be enjoying dinner while they’re waiting for us to scramble and prepare a plate for them.”

A Treat for the Senses

Tom Garcia, vice president of food and beverage for Benchmark Hospitality International, explains that when planning breaks for meeting attendees, his company likes to involve more than just the sense of taste. “It’s the music, the ambience, the smell, the lighting. As we put our breaks out there, we’re trying to enact all of the senses.” He shares an example. “We have an apple break where you have that cider smell as you walk in, and the colors that we use focus on reds, and the music is jazz. We have dried apples, a fresh baked apple tart and other items like that.”

“We also did a tea break that really engaged all of the senses,” Jackson adds. “We were steeping some very aromatic teas and had some food items that were going along with it. Oftentimes, meetings are very heavy with a lot of information in your face, so we’re really trying to make the break more of a relaxing period so (attendees) can softly recharge and reinvigorate themselves before going back in for more meeting content.”

As Hilliard notes, many meeting attendees are trying to focus on eating more healthfully. But there are still plenty of people who enjoy a special treat now and then. “We’ll still have those fun foods out there,” Garcia notes. “If somebody wants an M&M or a gummy bear, they can have them.”

“Talking with other planners, we are ready to find out what’s coming. …We survived the recent cupcake trend, are wading through the farm-to-table trend, and are really ready to see what clients come up with next.” — Emily Boykin

Creative Cocktails

Jackson notes that there is now more of an emphasis in using fresh products in the creation of cocktails, including the use of custom-made bitters and mixers. “People now tend to be a little bit more adventuresome with their dining, and they’re doing that with their beverages, as well. They’re not necessarily stuck in that rut that ‘I’m a chardonnay person.’ We try to create craft cocktails that are a little bit more seasonal in nature that go along with the more traditional beverages that we would serve in a private banquet event.”

Garcia says that Benchmark is bringing techniques used in freestanding restaurants to the banquet room, such as hiring the right staff. “We’re especially looking at bartenders that are emotionally connected and that are invested in what they’re doing. Instead of going to the Boston guide for drinks, they’re creating their own. We’re just trying to have that connectivity. Whether it’s a gathering for upwards of 200 or a smaller, intimate one with 15 or so, guests still like to have that interaction with the people that are actually serving them.”

Connecting With the Chefs

Garcia also says that having action stations, where chefs prepare food in front of attendees, also fosters that sense of connectivity. They give attendees an opportunity to interact with the chef and ask questions about how the food is prepared, and it also gives them a chance to connect with nature if the event is being held outdoors. Garcia gives a few examples, such as Benchmark’s Eaglewood Resort & Spa near Chicago that offers golf course views or Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where attendees enjoy being next to the mountains.

For planners who haven’t used action stations lately, it’s time for another look. “To me, one of the biggest things that has happened over the last five years is that the technology has changed,” Jackson explains. “That gives us a lot more versatility to do the action stations, especially in a banquet setting. You used to have those little butane burners where you were pretending to be cooking, but you really couldn’t do serious mass production out there. Now there are people like Evo that make the electric griddles that will get up to 550 degrees. You can do induction woks that could easily produce food for a couple of hundred people at a time.

“Right now, where I am,” he continues, “we’re looking at a ventless convection oven that we can actually put out at our coffee breaks, so we’re baking our croissants and muffins and cookies in the afternoons right in front of the guests and pulling them out of the oven. It has a built-in filtration system and a built-in fire suppression system, so it meets all of the codes, and really your only limitation on where you use it is having the power source. Those are the things that really help us take the kitchen into the ballroom, so to speak. In the past, it was more that we would be doing these things for show. Now, with the new modern equipment, we can actually be cooking and creating complex dishes in front of the guests.”

Blasts From the Past

Garcia also says that in terms of food and beverage, what’s old is new again. “That’s going to continue out there as a trend. “We’ve been kicking around ideas like it would be cool to experience a chateaubriand, or it’s pretty cool to have those old chef salads.”

Says Jackson, “From a chef’s perspective, I think a lot of the classic cooking techniques are really having a resurgence.” He mentions an upcoming James Beard dinner that he and several other chefs from Benchmark are participating in. “Part of our theme for our dinner is ‘preserving the past,’ and all of the chefs are making a play on classic food preservation techniques like making charcuterie.

“A lot of the steps that for a long time were being outsourced are now being craft made in-house like smoking your own bacon and creating specialty condiments — ketchups and steak sauces, things like that,” he explains.

Global Trends

Mark Cooper, CEO of the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC), notes the major trends his organization is experiencing worldwide. “Not just destination-themed food, but locally sourced food (and knowing the provenance of it).” He gave the use of local microbreweries as an example. “You feel like you’re experiencing a little bit of the region you traveled to for the conference.”

He adds, “On the drink side again, the trend at the moment is to use tea in cocktails. We’ve seen tea as a popular drink from a health perspective and how it’s been embraced around the world, and we’re seeing tea-infused cocktails for drink receptions.”

Food That Inspires Networking

Another trend Cooper identifies is the use of food to support networking. “This is probably the most important trend. The objective around meetings is to meet people, share ideas and build relationships. The time you do that is generally outside of the sessions of the meeting itself, which is during your food and beverage events.” He says that the scenario of sitting around a 6-foot round table and only meeting the people immediately to your left or right no longer works. “This is especially true for the people now who come together for meetings who are remote workers working from home,” he describes. “They’re not meeting their colleagues that they’re talking to every day in the corridor in the office anymore, so these are important times to get together to build relationships and share ideas.

“The way that food can influence that is to offer easy, accessible, unplated food so that people can reach out and eat and drink while talking and walking and meeting other people.” Cooper continues. “There’s nothing worse than having a reception where the food that’s on offer is food that you can put on a plate and you walk out into the room and realize that it is totally impractical — you need to cut it up to eat it or it’s got rice in there and there’s no chance of eating it. It’s about food and service almost like Spanish tapas where you can sit there and be talking and the waiter or waitress is continually bringing options to you. Without knowing it, before the night is done, you’re almost through a starter, a main course and dessert, and you’ve met 20 great people in an hour and a half. That’s where I think food is really important. It brings people together, and great relationships are born in that way.” Like the other experts, Cooper also notes that the focus on health is a key trend. “Small portion sizes are important,” he states. “It’s ‘in with the flavor, out with the fats.’ ”

Finessing the Finale

Cooper mentions another trend: “The change from having big gala dinners to now having more finale events where they’re innovative, more imaginative and not just your sit-down, three-course plated gala dinner at the end of the conference.”

He gave an example that was very close to home — a recent conference for his own association, IACC, where they had an awards ceremony followed by food station buffets with a chef presence. “We had different types of seating areas to suit different people. There were some chairs at rounds and other areas with sofas and others with high stools and (bar-type) tables. We provided different styles of food in different areas of the room and different styles of seating for people to come together in different environments, and we even had a dance floor in the corner, as well. We had all of that going on. It was a finale instead of making it a gala dinner.” He explained that this format is also more comfortable for those attendees who feel they can’t leave when they’re ready to because they don’t want to be the first ones to leave the table.

“These are all global trends,” Cooper stresses. “We have over 400 conference venues in 22 countries, and we’re seeing these all the way through Asia, Europe and the Americas. Food and beverage trends are key. They’re very important.”

Creativity Counts

“One of the biggest, longest-standing trends I’ve been seeing in food and beverage is that clients want to have more of a creative element in their selection,” explains Emily Boykin, CMP, meeting planner for Onyx Meetings and Events in Overland Park, Kansas. “They really want to wow their guests with the latest and greatest, unique ideas. Thanks to sources like Pinterest, clients are really pushing the boundaries on food and making chefs break away from their standard menus and embrace the opportunity to show off. I would often show clients a basic menu as a drawing board, more or less, and work with them and the chef to create their ideal display/option instead of forcing them to pick from a normal, basic selection. You want each guest to have an authentic, memorable hospitality experience, and food and beverage is a great way to make that happen.”

The very nature of trends means that they are guaranteed to change over time, and Boykin wonders what the next trend will be. “Talking with other planners, we are ready to find out what’s coming. …We survived the recent cupcake trend, are wading through the farm-to-table trend, and are really ready to see what clients come up with next.” C&IT