An event setup on the beach at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas. Credit: Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Few destinations in the world generate the kind of excitement and motivation that visiting an island creates. Year after year for decades, the Caribbean and The Bahamas have been near the top of the favorite destination list of many planners and attendees, especially for incentive programs.

And for some companies, a Caribbean resort is a perennial go-to choice.

Aimia, a data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company based in Canada but with multiple U.S. offices, plans a total of about 2,200 meetings, incentive trips and events each year. That includes more than 1,000 incentive programs alone, says Tina Gaccetta, the company’s vice president of client services and marketing.

“The Caribbean really offers a sense of different cultures and different experiences from what most people have experienced.” — Tina Gaccetta

They use destinations all over the world for their incentive programs. When they use the Caribbean, key reasons include the fact that “the Caribbean really offers a sense of different cultures and different experiences from what most people have experienced,” Gaccetta says. “And the Caribbean is also very convenient for people traveling from North America. The air access is generally pretty good. And there are some very high-caliber resorts that are perfect for incentive groups.”

In addition, there is the obvious factor of seasonality and warm, beautiful weather from late fall until spring, when much of the U.S. is cold.

“So for most of our programs that take place at that time of year, our people want sun and fun in the winter,” says senior account director Kelli Slonim, who works with Gaccetta on many of the companies most important incentive programs.

And for years, Aimia’s No. 1 choice of resorts has been the fabled Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas.

“And the reason for that is that it can accommodate the larger groups that we do in a single property,” Slonim says.

Aimia often uses Atlantis for multiple programs in the same year. Group sizes range from 100–150 total attendees to 2,400 participants.

Their most recent program was in November for 1,300 attendees. In October, Atlantis hosted a program for 2,400 Aimia participants.

“The key reasons we keep going back to Atlantis include the airlift into Nassau,” Slonim says. “It’s great. And the renovated and expanded airport is very easy to navigate. Atlantis also keeps reinvesting and reinventing itself. They are constantly improving the property. The room product is wonderful. They also have indoor and outdoor meeting space, which gives you a lot of flexibility in planning a program depending on group size. You can scale a program however you want, especially for large groups.”

Another major advantage Atlantis offers is the extraordinary list of activity options. “There is something for everybody to do, no matter what they are interested in,” Slonim says. “There are also a lot of activity options on Paradise Island and in Nassau as well. The convention services team at Atlantis is also wonderful. They are a great partner. And finally, there is always the weather. Even if there is going to be some rain that blows through, you know the sun is always going to come out. The weather there is just beautiful. And very dependable.”

Gaccetta adds that another distinct advantage of using Atlantis is its status as one of the most iconic resorts in the world. “Everybody knows Atlantis,” she says. “Everybody gets excited about going there. As a resort brand, Atlantis is probably one of the easiest properties in the world to advertise and promote. It really motivates people. It really creates a major buzz for an incentive program.”

In addition to superb room product in its more upscale Royal Towers and The Cove, Atlantis also deliver extraordinary dining options, including a Nobu sushi emporium. That means that upscale dine-around programs can be offered onsite with great logistical convenience, just like at one of the big box hotels in Las Vegas.

“The dining product is excellent,” Slonim says. “And the celebrity chefs that are there also add to the excitement of going to Atlantis.”

Yet another factor in the appeal of Atlantis for a growing list of companies in today’s market is its status as a premier family resort. A big portion of its business is family business, and that infrastructure, such as its famous water park and sea life exhibits, make it a perfect choice for groups that include children. “It’s really one of the rare places that can appeal to high-end executive groups who want a luxury resort experience and also to families with children, who want a family experience,” Gaccetta says.

The Exotic Side

Some Caribbean destinations are incredibly exotic and exclusive.

One is St. Maarten, a small island divided between a French side and a Dutch side.

Janet Glynn, corporate events manager at Woodland Hills, California-based BlackLine, a business technology provider, used The Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa last February for the first incentive program the company ever hosted. It was a four-day, three-night program for 50 attendees.

“We knew we wanted to do something tropical,” Glynn says. “And since this was our first incentive program and it was for our top salespeople, we wanted to do something special. One of our top executives, who goes on a lot of cruises, had been to the Caribbean a couple of times. That’s how we ended up settling on St. Maarten. But then the event team found The Westin St. Maarten on our own and decided it was the perfect fit for us.”

Because of the nature of the group, BlackLine opted to make a significant per attendee investment in the trip. “Going into this program, we knew it was going to be relatively expensive,” Glynn says. “But we were okay with that since the trip was meant to motivate and reward our top salespeople. We decided that St. Maarten and The Westin would be a good investment because of who it was designed for. We also felt, after we looked at everything, that not only was St. Maarten the right choice, but that we were getting good value for our money based on the type of program it was. It was designed for our very best salespeople and we wanted to make sure we did something that would really be seen as a reward.”

After experiencing St. Maarten, Glynn and her attendees agreed the company had opted for an ideal choice of destination. “St. Maarten is an interesting place, given the fact that there is a French side to the island and a Dutch side,” Glynn says. “That alone adds some unique interest to the destination and a different kind of experience. And it’s such a small island that you can really get involved in the cultures on each side. It’s also very picturesque. The thing that makes it special is just how beautiful it is.”

What made The Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa hotel so memorable was actually its extraordinary service, Glynn says. “The thing that made the hotel special was the attention and care that the staff gave us. We all just felt so well taken care of. The staff at The Westin also really knows what they’re doing when it comes to groups like ours. They really went out of their way to give us the type of service that you always remember. It was just such a pleasure to get the kind of service you get when everyone at the hotel goes above and beyond what you expect of them.”

The room product at The Westin also was superb, Glynn says. “Everyone had an oceanfront room. And our people just raved about how beautiful their rooms were and the view. The food-and-beverage was also very good. I also loved the fact that they serve local food. That also adds to the island experience.”

She also gives high marks to the hotel’s spa. “We gave all of our attendees one spa treatment,” she says “And that was another thing people raved about. The spa is gorgeous. And the staff there is also nice and very attentive.”

The bottom line for Glynn is that the destination and hotel worked spectacularly well for BlackLine’s inaugural incentive program. “We got a lot of positive feedback. Everyone said they loved it. St. Maarten is a great destination and it worked really well for us. And we loved The Westin.”

Bucket List Destinations

Dustin Sorge, director of national accounts at the Madison, Wisconsin-based Fire Light Group, an independent meeting and event planning company, is another veteran user of Caribbean destinations.

Twice in the last several years, he has used St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Earlier this year, he used The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas for a five-night, four-day incentive program for 55 attendees.

Two years ago, he used Marriott’s Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Beach Resort on St. Thomas for an incentive program.

Given the many options in the Caribbean, why did he choose USVI for those programs in collaboration with his clients?

“One big reason is that the USVI is a U.S. territory,” he says. “That means that you don’t need a passport and that the U.S. dollar is the currency. And English is the language. That makes travel easy. The USVI is also a bucket list destination for a lot of people if they have never been there.”

He believes that what he calls the bucket list factor, and the additional reality that USVI is so well known to virtually all Americans working in the corporate world, makes the destination highly marketable and promotable to groups. “All you have to do,” he says, “is put a couple of photos out there and the average person is going to say, ‘I absolutely want to go there. I need to qualify for that trip.’ ”

In terms of hotel options, Sorge says The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas is a particularly good choice for upscale, exclusive groups because the brand is globally associated with luxury and exemplary service.

“In the case of St. Thomas, it is a good choice because it’s on the other end of the island from the cruise ship port,” Sorge says. “So you don’t get the kinds of traffic and crowds you do around the cruise port.”

For the high-end group he took to USVI this year, he says, “The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas was the only property on the island that would have worked.”

The program included a meeting session for 25 people — half the group — that started with a breakfast on an outside terrace near the meeting room. Then the group convened in one of the smaller meeting rooms for their session. “I love the meeting space there,” Sorge says. “There is a lot of natural light. And the views are great. You can look right out over the bay. It’s just gorgeous meeting space.”

Sorge arranged offsite lunches and dinners, except for a spectacular opening night welcome dinner on the beach.

“For the welcome dinner, we built a bonfire and provided a buffet,” Sorge says. “People thought the food was excellent.”

One highlight of the trip was a full-day excursion to nearby St. John via a ferry whose departure point is close to The Ritz-Carlton.

Another highlight was a dinner at Asolare, which serves contemporary Asian-Fusion cuisine in an elegant open-air environment in an old St. John house with unparalleled sunset views of the Caribbean Sea.

For a memorable final day, Sorge rented two power catamarans and took the group to the British Virgin Islands, where stops included the exclusive and intimate Virgin Gorda.

Based on his two recent experiences in USVI, Sorge will definitely take more groups to USVI in the future.

“It’s just an excellent destination,” he says, “and one that delivers good value.”

Puerto Rico is another Caribbean destination that offers the distinct advantages of not requiring U.S. passports and using the U.S. dollar, which is the official currency.

And given the steady demand for Caribbean destinations among corporate meeting planners over the last several decades, Puerto Rico has worked hard to stay atop the list of preferred options for many planners.

In fact, awareness of Puerto Rico as a meeting destination and interest in it have risen strongly as the meeting market has surpassed even its pre-recession peak of 2008.

“Puerto Rico is once again becoming a popular global brand, known for its culture and authentic experiences, as well as being known as a tech-savvy destination,” says Milton Segarra, president and CEO of Meet Puerto Rico. “We have also learned that experiential travel is still important to groups and that brand identity is critical to a meeting planner’s perceptions about the value and experience of the destination. So, we have concluded that now is the perfect time to capitalize on and reinforce that improved branding and use it as a platform to help us secure more meeting business — especially citywide meetings and others that use our convention center.”

New Development

In that spirit, Meet Puerto Rico has created a more sophisticated and aggressively service-oriented business model that has been rolled out this year.

The centerpiece of the new initiative is the Puerto Rico Convention Center, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2015. The facility is the largest in the Caribbean. Plans to link the convention center to the famous Old San Juan district of the capital are now underway.

A $289 million Puerta de Tierra project also is underway to build a boardwalk that connects Old San Juan to other popular tourism areas and gives pedestrians and cyclists easier access to the convention center district.

Demand for the destination also has led to the development and opening of several major new hotels, including the intimate, 114-room Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, which features a Spa Botanico and a Mi Casa restaurant from Jose Andres and is located along three miles of coastline in the former setting of the renowned Laurance Rockefeller property. The all-oceanfront, 100-room, 14-suite low-rise, low-density Ritz-Carlton Reserve brand property is one of two in the world. The property features three championship golf courses and is the site of Jean-Michel Cousteau’s eco-educational program Ambassadors of the Environment. Indoor and outdoor meeting space include a 4,558-sf meeting room, a boardroom and several private dining areas including Su Casa, a 6,000-sf, four-bedroom villa for private events.

The 416-room The Ritz-Carlton, San Juan is located on prime beachfront in Isla Verde and features dedicated concierge service; five onsite restaurants including Laurent Tourondel’s BLT Steak and Il Mulino New York, as well as a 12,000-sf spa, 24-hour casino and pool area with signature lion-head spouts and lush landscaping. Nine meeting rooms and more than 30,000 sf of indoor and outdoor meeting space may accommodate groups of up 1,300 persons.

Las Casitas Village, A Waldorf Astoria Resort is an enclave of private villas located adjacent to the grand El Conquistador Resort, which offers 157 one- to three-bedroom luxury cottages complete with butler service, ocean views, full kitchens and an exclusive pool area. With myriad meeting and function space options for board meetings to beachfront gatherings, groups can enjoy activities such as golf at the Arthur Hills Golf Course, spa treatments at the Golden Door Spa as well as scuba diving, horseback riding and even taking a plunge at the onsite Coqui Water Park.

The St. Regis Bahía Beach Resort, Puerto Rico, which is nestled between a national rainforest and the sea on the northeastern part of the island, opened in late 2010 and immediately made Condé Nast Traveler’s Hot List. The St. Regis features a Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf course, Remède Spa, as well as Jean-Georges’ acclaimed cuisine at Fern, just one of three on-property dining options. More than 26,000 sf of function space includes three outdoor venues, a boardroom, and the Astor Ballroom, able to accommodate up to 420 guests.

Following a $270 million renovation and expansion project, the 450-room Condado Vanderbilt refreshed the grandeur of the property when it first opened in 1919. The property has 15,000 sf of meeting space including an oceanview ballroom, private lounges and boardroom as well as outdoor oceanview breakout and reception areas.

Meanwhile, a number of the island’s existing properties ­— including the landmark Caribe Hilton, Condado Plaza Hilton, San Juan Marriott Resort & Casino, Wyndham Grand Rio Beach, InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino and Embassy Suites Dorado del Mar Beach Resort — have completed renovations.

Other hotels have stayed abreast of the latest technology flourishes. For example, the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino has introduced an “Energizer Butler,” a new position that assists planners and attendees overcome the inconvenience of a forgotten charger by delivering extra battery life via wireless chargers.

For the group market, Puerto Rico also boasts a culinary scene that includes celebrity chefs and brave culinary twists on local favorite fare, not to mention the abundance of one-of-a-kind activities such as zip-lining through a rainforest tree canopy, kayaking in one of the world’s only bio-luminescent bays, strolling through the living history of Old San Juan, or even a rum-tasting tour of the Bacardi Rum Factory.

All-Inclusives Boasting Beautiful Beaches

An all-inclusive brand wildly popular with meeting and incentive planners is Sandals, which operates several “Luxury Meetings & Incentives Collection” resorts on seven Caribbean islands, including some of the region’s most popular destinations such as the Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados and Turks & Caicos, as well as exclusive and less well known locations such as Antigua and Grenada.

Although each property is distinctly original and tailored to its destination, all the properties offer modern meeting facilities, exceptional resort-style amenities, a vast array of land and water-based activities, personalized service — and some of the Caribbean’s cleanest and most beautiful beaches.

Sandals also offers a superb and innovative value proposition as a result of its all-inclusive pricing, which is further tailored to the unique needs of meeting planners.

Everything is included in a single price, including free transportation from and back to the airport, private group check-in, free meeting space and audio-visual equipment, coffee breaks, one complimentary group dinner for an event such as a welcoming reception or awards banquet, and concessions that start with just five rooms booked.

Kathleen Krawczyk, CMP, event planner at Chicago, Illi­nois-based Lawson Products, an industrial distributor of maintenance and repair supplies, is keen on Sandals and uses them for her meetings every other year. Sandals’ two Bahamas locations, the Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau and Sandals Emerald Bay on Great Exuma, are longtime planner favorites. “We try to offer something people wouldn’t book themselves; something I feel comfortable with that has a wow factor. We don’t like to repeat if we don’t have to, and I don’t mean to keep coming back to Sandals, but I love that property,” says Krawczyk.

“The first thing we look at is something that is truly all-inclusive,” she says. “With Sandals, everything is included from transportation to a welcome reception for two hours and a private cocktail hour. Our coffee break is even included. We look for the most we can get with the dollars that we’re spending.”

The meeting properties include Sandals Ochi Beach Resort, Sandals Whitehouse European Village & Spa, Sandals Grande St. Lucian Spa & Beach Resort, Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa, Sandals Royal Bahamian Spa Resort & Offshore Island and Sandals Emerald Bay, Golf, Tennis & Spa Resort.

Aztec Office in Middletown, Connecticut, has used a Caribbean property for one of the company’s most important incentive programs for each of the last two years, according to Ann Marie Hall, manager of human resources and employee development. Last year, the company hosted 25 attendees at Club Med in Turks & Caicos. This year, the program was held at Club Med Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for 37 attendees. Both were President’s Club outings, which rewarded the company’s top inside salespeople.

She selected a Club Med property for the first time in 2014 for the value.

“One thing that appealed to us about Club Med is that they do their pricing strategy a little differently from most resorts,” Hall says. “We looked at a number of options, and one thing we found with Club Med is that you not only get very good group pricing, but also good offerings for what you pay. And we were specifically looking for an all-inclusive property. So when we looked at the options we chose, we found that Club Med offered the best value. For example, they don’t base their pricing on the premise that the Caribbean is one price and another destination for the same kind of resort is a different price. They offer brand-wide pricing, which tends to make them lower in cost than other all-inclusive resorts, especially in the Caribbean. And in my experience, that kind of brand-wide pricing, no matter which property you’re going to, is very rare.”

Another thing Hall likes about Club Med is that the company “is also very flexible and easy to work with,” she says. “For example, you can call a rep and they can tell you about any Club Med in the world. That means you don’t have to keep calling around to talk to someone at each location to decide which one you want to use. That makes decision-making and planning very easy. It saves a lot of time.”

For the 2014 trip, Hall chose the Turks & Caicos location simply because she had heard good things about the destination.

Adults Only

“And although we’ve done programs in the past that included families, sometimes when you’re doing an awards program it’s a good option to have an adults-only resort.” The adults-only status of Turks & Caicos does not represent a formal policy of Club Med, she points out. It is simply a market-driven reality driven by the exclusive and upscale status of Turks & Caicos as a destination.

Turks & Caicos also has the distinction of often being cited as having the best beaches in the Caribbean, Hall says. “I hear they have some of the most beautiful beaches anyone will ever see anywhere. And we have people that have traveled all over the world on their own, including all over the Caribbean. And they tell us that by far, Turks & Caicos has the most beautiful beach they have ever seen.”

The destination also is safe and clean. “That was another reason we picked Turks & Caicos for the 2014 program,” Hall says. “I looked at the travel advisories from the U.S. State Department, and I saw that Turks & Caicos did not have any warnings. It’s a very safe destination.”

Yet another factor that was important to Hall and her management was the roster of activities available at a Club Med. “They offer so many things, no matter your interest or your individual skill level, there is something that is perfect for you and that you will really enjoy,” she says “There is literally something for everyone.”

Her attendees enjoyed the resort so much, in fact, that Hall is taking them back for the President’s Club trip in 2016.

As a top-rated meeting and event destination, Grand Lucayan Beach & Golf Resort on Grand Bahama Island is renowned for its paradise-like setting, exceptional amenities and excellent venues. With 20 distinct meeting and event areas totaling 90,000 sf of both indoor and outdoor space, they can accommodate any function.

Grand Bahama Island boasts incredible snorkeling adventures and some of the world’s finest collection of beaches such as the private Lucaya Beach or Fortune Beach, where treasure hunters discovered a $2 million shipwreck. Attendees also can find complete privacy in Paradise Cove at Deadman’s Reef or swing by Xanadu beach for an icy local Kalik beer and some spicy local barbecue. Or, they can explore Gold Rock Beach at Lucayan National Park, which is known to many as the most spectacular beach of all.

With its stately Manor House, high-tech convention center and beautifully manicured event lawn stretching to the beach and sea beyond, it’s easy to see why groups choose Grand Lucayan for their most important meetings and events. The Grand Lucayan’s experienced event planners add a dose of Bahamian style, too.

Grand Lucayan has everything to make group meetings and events successful, from cutting-edge audio-visual equipment to a super-helpful staff. The sprawling conference center can easily be reconfigured and themed for formal or casual events. There’s a Grand Ballroom, plenty of intimate meeting rooms and even more space for functions outdoors. It is uniquely infused with a sophisticated Bahamian style — from post-meeting rum tastings to evenings with a local storyteller, right down to the intoxicating Bahamian accent heard island-wide.

Accommodations include Lighthouse Pointe, which is an all-inclusive resort where guests enjoy spacious, stylishly appointed guest rooms and exclusive access to four new restaurants, as well as all recreation, entertainment, meals and premium-brand beverages, gratuities, taxes and service charges.

Additional all-inclusive perks include entertainment such as a weekly Beach Barbecue event, Fish Fry and Bahamian Buffet; unlimited golf; free fitness and spin classes; swimming in the heated lap pool; activities from limbo dancing to yoga sessions; recreation such as ping pong, foosball and billiards; water sports including sailing, kayaking and snorkeling; and much more.

Additional accommodations include Breaker’s Cay at Grand Lucayan, an island-inspired retreat filled with light-as-air colors and crisp white bedding that create a setting of Caribbean-splashed comfort and the Lanai Suites, located in a secluded area of the resort, which boast oceanfront, one-bedroom suites showcasing furnished balconies or patios with panoramic sea views. C&IT

A flawless meeting is every planner’s dream. But dreams don’t always come true. Sometimes, they even become nightmares. Nowadays, hotels and organizations are paying greater attention to the unlikely but possible threat of an active shooter incident. The unprecented number of active shooters is prompting companies to teach employees how to protect themselves using such tactics as run, hide and fight.

What happens if your well-orchestrated meeting is suddenly interrupted by a major emergency? Or maybe a troublesome development, even if not a huge emergency, disrupts the normal flow of things. Do you have a risk management plan in place to respond to such challenges?

Certainly every meeting planner should consider these kinds of questions. After all, the potential damage from any given crisis can be significant.

 “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Without the right preparation, meeting attendees are at risk for injury, and the organizations holding meetings are also at risk for bad press, financial obligations and liability.” — Melissa Hahn

“The mere threat of a crisis or unexpected incident can have a profound impact on our industry,” says Melissa Hahn, CMP, HMCC, account lead, global meeting services for Meetings & Incentives Worldwide Inc. in Caledonia, Wisconsin. Her company implemented a mandatory emergency preparedness plan several years ago to help ensure that staff members are prepared for a crisis. This included identifying common threats to help prepare for worse-case scenarios.

“While organizations can’t prepare for everything, by having a rigorous process and toolkit in place we have been able to have our team prepared for an emergency,” she says. Risk management plans have been developed to cover steps in the case of an earthquake, power outage, tornado, chemical emergency, death, fire, flood, tsunami or food poisoning. For each type of incident, the plans present an easy-to-follow guideline of what to do in different circumstances, from taking roll call, who to call, security breaches and filling out an incident report afterwards to learn from the experience.

Hahn recalls a memorable day when a tornado was spotted in Nashville during a large event at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Fortunately, hotel staff were prepared for the possibility of a natural disaster. “They met with our team, explained where all of the shelter areas were and how their team would direct all of our guests to shelter,” Hahn says. “I have to say, I was amazed how 6,000 people could follow directions and get to the basement in record time.”

Sometimes, a crisis has nothing to do with the potential of a natural disaster but still poses huge challenges, says Nan Dupuy, president of RDS Productions in New Orleans

That was the case when her firm had been preparing for a corporate party for 5,000 guests over a six-month period with a local venue. They had three tastings, at least five site visits, a signed contract and had already submitted a deposit.  A week before the event she delivered the check for the remaining balance.

“We dropped it off with smiles and the usual chit-chat associated with such a large program,” she recalls. “On the way back to the office I received a phone call from the venue telling me that they were going to have to cancel, due to an oversight on their part.”

As it turned out, the venue staff had booked a party for 300 people the year before with a signed contract and deposit, but it hadn’t made it onto their calendar.  That put Dupuy at “second hold” and they were suddenly out.

“Obviously, a venue for the number of people we anticipated is not that easy to come by that late in the game,” Dupuy says. “But we got on the telephone as a team and located a venue that the client hadn’t even considered.”

That venue was the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. It would meet their needs, but there was a complicating factor. The New Orleans Saints had made it to the NFL playoffs. If they won the upcoming game, they would host another game and the facility would not be available.

“We all wanted a win, but at the same time, in order to save our hides, we needed the Dome,” Dupuy says. It was a tough week for all concerned, but the team did lose, giving Dupuy’s firm access to the venue. “It turned out to be the most incredible event our client had ever had, but not without a lot of teamwork, re-planning and revamping the style of the event.”

Two major lessons learned in the process prompts Dupuy to advise planners to always make sure that there are no other events on the books, while planning for the possibility of mistakes. “Make sure you have, in writing, an agreement for how the venue can be held responsible financially for anything that happens like this. We didn’t have that and ended up incurring a lot of excessive, unaccounted costs because of the differences in the venues, both size-wise and style-wise.”

The event also highlighted the need for risk management backup plans.

“Always have a backup plan,” Dupuy says. “The venue could flood or burn down, making it unavailable or rendering it useless. Make sure you have a second go-to-venue, just in case.”

Pam Krebs, director, global communications for Oakwood Worldwide, a global provider of housing solutions, points out that unanticipated events are inevitable.

“It’s typically not a question of if, but rather when, a crisis or unexpected incident will happen,” she says. “By taking the time to prepare and think through possible scenarios before anything happens, an organization can more effectively deal with any situations that occur and help to minimize disruption to daily business activities.”

She notes that as a global organization doing business in 85 countries, Oakwood Worldwide has established a comprehensive duty of care program designed to quickly identify when an issue arises and escalate as appropriate to effectively manage the event.  While her perspective focuses on managing problems from the property owner’s point of view, it can hold relevance for meeting planners as well.

“We have procedures in place to help our associates deal with issues before, during and after they have occurred,” Krebs says.  “They apply whether they are faced with severe weather, a natural disaster, an act of terrorism or an environmental issue, among others.”

Oakwood’s staff walk through scenarios on what to do if a natural disaster affects one of the company’s properties. A dedicated crisis hotline, manned 24/7 by an in-house team trained in crisis response, provides a means for associates to notify the crisis team that something has happened. Guests staying in the affected area are notified via text, voicemail and email. Clients also are notified of the status of their employees, as are associates in any number of locations who may be called upon to help.

“A crisis or significant, unexpected event can happen at any time,” Kreb says.  She notes, however, that rarely are they so significant that all other business operations cease while working through the crisis and the aftermath. “Therefore, preparation is the key to not only helping to ensure the best-case outcome of the crisis happens, but also in ensuring business continuity for the parts of the business that are not directly affected.”

Smart Strategies

Dupuy says that a flexible approach is the key to risk or crisis management.

“Meeting planners are always ready for the unexpected, but sometimes the unexpected can’t be planned for,” she says. “Always be on your guard and ready to do battle.”

In avoiding or dealing with crisis situations, consider measures such as these:

Plan for the worst. In schools and many other organizations, emergency planning drills have become routine.  Such activities may not be practical when it comes to preparing for meetings, but any time spent anticipating possible problems will be worthwhile. If several staff members are involved in planning an event, consider a table-top drill where your team works through an on-paper scenario and discusses each step that might be taken in response to the situation presented. “Conducting crisis simulation training to create muscle memory and identify any gaps will help any company effectively deal with a crisis,” Hahn says.

Develop a who-does-what checklist. Then, share it with all concerned. Ideally, developing the list should be a group effort rather than a top-down process. While overall approaches may vary, a commitment to planning is the key. “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” Hahn says. “Without the right preparation, meeting attendees are at risk for injury, and the organizations holding meetings are also at risk for bad press, financial obligations and liability.”

Communicate clearly. Obviously, any contingency plans that have been developed should be shared with key players. But communicating other information also is important. At a minimum, this might include preparing a list of everyone connected with the event (including those at the event location as well as your own staff) with full contact info. Be sure to list more than one point of contact for the venue and any third-party service providers, and take pains to keep everyone in the loop who might have any reasonable need for the information.

Should an incident occur, clear communication is essential. “Once a crisis is occurring, there may be obvious, immediate steps that should be followed, such as evacuating a building, but what is really key is collaboration and clear communication,” Krebs says. On a local level, this might mean using radios to confirm that everyone is accounted for and safe. On a broader level, it might include making others outside the immediate area aware of what has happened so assistance can be provided.

Participate in walk-throughs. “A great meeting planner will make sure to walk through the emergency plans with the hotel and all the onsite staff,” Hahn says. “This emergency preparedness plan should be available in the command center or your staff office and available at your team’s fingertips.”

Know who you are dealing with. Dupuy urges learning as much as possible about a potential venue before making a commitment. “Some venues are order-takers and are only interested in filling their calendar and sales projections in any way possible,” she says. “Others want to work with you and build a relationship. Make sure you know which type you are working with and make certain you have covered all your bases in the initial planning, just in case something goes wrong.”

Go the extra mile. In addition to basic planning, give consideration to extra measures that might take your emergency preparedness to the next level. For example, Hahn’s company has an in-house air department that allows offering onsite air agents at meetings.  “Having in-house air agents greatly benefits our attendees and planners when there is weather delay, airport or natural disasters,” Hahn says. “Our agents are available to find a solution to get attendees home in a safe and timely manner.” Another possibility: Have all onsite staff undergo CPR training, which sooner or later may be needed. And select venues that have equipment such as automated external defibrillators, which can be operated by anyone with minimal training.

Put things in writing. Being prepared with written risk management policies and procedures in place is vital. “This should include identifying who should be notified, knowing when and how to reach those people, and ensuring the necessary tools and support are in place,” Krebs says.

The same goes for documenting incidents. Once an incident occurs, be sure to document it. And don’t just file the information; use it to inform future planning.

“At the conclusion of the event, always have an emergency incident report to include the description of the incident that occurred, date and time of the event, meeting name and the name of the client,” Hahn advises. C&IT

A ROADMAP FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Jim Hutton, chief security officer at Salem, New Hampshire-based On Call International, a travel risk management company with substantial experience in keeping business travelers safe and secure, offers this advice for dealing with situations that qualify as true crises.

When a meeting is interrupted by a crisis such as a political crisis or natural disaster, clear thinking is critical in executing a response aligned with the best interests of your attendees and your organization. Panic is likely to set in, especially in unfamiliar venues, unless there are clear guidelines in place to deal with emergencies.

Every meeting planner — and meeting attendee — should be trained on a simple near/far exercise, which provides a safety roadmap during any type of crisis as follows:

NEAR

When a crisis strikes, planners should perform an immediate, 360-degree intake of their surroundings and situation: Is anyone injured? If so, is it safe to leave your current surroundings? Is your location secure? Do you have access to immediate necessities such as food, water and medication? When planners find themselves in a crisis situation, the first priority should always be to ensure the immediate safety and health of their charges.

FAR

After taking stock of immediate surroundings, planners should focus on the “far” concerns that await. Where is the closest secure location?

Assess the lines of communication — is the power out, and are phone lines down? If there is still access to phones lines or an Internet connection, can attendees reach their employers to update them on their safety and location? One of a planner’s first calls should be to their travel risk management provider, who can offer on-the-ground help and resources.

In addition to “near and far” considerations, meeting planners have a responsibility to proactively build in broader contingency planning to their event protocols. This may involve coordination with the venue, key suppliers and even local authorities. A good risk management plan that accounts for the overall safety needs of all participants is an essential component of a complete meeting strategy. — MR

Franc Jeffrey is CEO of EQ Travel, with offices in the United Kingdom and Boston, MA. He has over 25 years experience in global corporate travel. Jeffrey can be reached at fjeffrey@eqtravel.com.  For more info, visit www.eqtravel.com.

Ask Americans what first comes to mind when you mention Cuba and you’ll usually get a simple answer. If you were born in 1950 or before you were probably glued to the news reports during those 13 days in October of 1962 and the anticipation of missiles raining down on Miami. But most U.S.-born meeting and incentive professionals are much younger and only know Cuba from their parents talking about the Cuban missile crisis or watching Ricky Ricardo from “I Love Lucy,” a show that will live forever in the black hole that is TV reruns.

The Clock Is Ticking

One thing is certain, that tiny island 90 miles off the coast of Florida is about to undertake an unprecedented tourism boom. And like any explosion, there will be collateral damage, in this case the charm of an old-school world which may soon be washed away by a corporate tsunami. What this means for corporate meeting planners is that the clock is ticking. Now that the floodgates have been diplomatically opened, streets filled with 1950s Fords and Chevys with big fins are sure to be replaced by top-of-the-line Toyota SUVs, and billboards with paintings of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara will soon be covered over by a 30-foot Tom Brady selling Uggs.

Marriot International is one of many companies eager to do business in Cuba, especially as more Americans travel to the island. “With travel to Cuba now surging, existing Cuban hotels are full and hotel companies from other countries are racing to tie up as many of the new hotels as they can before the likes of Marriott and our U.S. competitors show up,” President and CEO Arne Sorenson said in a U.S. News & World Report interview.

“Because it’s been closed so long, there’s still a mystery about Cuba, so the time is right to experience something close to home but still off the beaten path.”

Current hotels may not have as many deluxe amenities that U.S. corporate travelers expect, but Iberostar, the Spanish-based hotel company, has a few properties in Cuba, one of which is the Hotel Parque Central, considered by some the best in Havana. Iberostar also has a five-star, all-inclusive resort in the Varadero Beach area of Cuba.

So for corporate incentive planners tired of sending their top salespeople to local golf resorts, the timing is just right. Travel restrictions have eased, allowing ferry services to Cuba, and Carnival Corp. announced that its new Fathom brand has been granted permission to cruise with U.S. travelers to Cuba in 2016. The line said it plans to provide “cultural, artistic, faith-based and humanitarian exchanges between American and Cuban citizens.”

American, Delta and United have all expressed an interest in operating flights to Cuba and, since early July, JetBlue has operated a weekly charter from New York’s JFK to Havana — the first major airline to do so since restrictions were lifted. You also can book a hotel room or a car through sharing services such as Airbnb. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still time to enjoy perfect beaches, traditional foods and the unblemished hospitality of its people.

Planners also will find that they won’t be annoyed by people chatting on their cell phones at the table next to them while dining out, or get run over by a teenager in the street with her head down and her thumbs doing the texting tango. It’s been estimated that only 5 percent of the population has regular access to the Internet and less than 20 percent own cell phones. But all that will change quickly once telecommunication giants like Verizon and AT&T land on the Cuban shores and cell phone towers start sprouting up like trees. And it will all happen sooner than later. In early summer, 35 public Wi-Fi areas opened across Cuba. Cuban citizens are panting for technology and connectivity, and they will eventually get their wish.

Once Americans are able to travel freely to Cuba they shouldn’t think of themselves as Columbus landing on some previously undiscovered land. According to a recent article in the Miami Herald, Cuba is already the second largest tourism destination in the Caribbean, surpassed only by the Dominican Republic. Last year, Cuba received 3,001,968 stopover visitors — a 5.3 percent increase — and during the first quarter of this year the Cuban Tourism Ministry said it received a record 1.14 million travelers. The Cuban government estimates that if there were unrestricted travel from the United States, annual trips by Americans would increase by 1.5 million, generating an extra $2 billion in revenue.

It’s safe to say that much of that revenue will come in the next few years from big and splashy hotels, corporate skyscrapers, Apple stores and McDonald’s. And how soon before we start DVR-ing “Real Housewives of Havana”? The fear isn’t Cuba turning into Las Vegas but becoming another Atlantis or Dubai, where commercialism has never been reeled in, and the words “bigger is better” might as well be the national motto.

With all we know about Cuba, both past and present, and there are plenty of political warts — some Corporate Travel Management (CTM) companies may still have issues suggesting to their meeting planners and incentive clients that partaking of the old-world charm of Cuba, before it starts to vanish, is well worth their consideration. That perhaps staying in the Hotel Ambos Mundos in Old Havana might be better than holding out in order to stay in a high-rise hotel that could be in Las Vegas or Los Angeles, even though the view may still show buildings withering under decades of neglect.

The Time Is Right

Maybe it’s time to start thinking out-of-the-box, before the box gets covered in shiny paper with a neon-lit bow on top. Because it’s been closed so long, there’s still a mystery about Cuba, so the time is right to experience something close to home but still off the beaten path. And Americans have always liked a good mystery.

In some ways, the opening of Cuba to the United States, and its potential to be the next big “hot spot” for travelers, both corporate and leisure, is almost surreal. The Associated Press has reported that the U.S. Coast Guard has intercepted 72,771 Cubans en route to Florida, many taken to small rafts in order to flee an oppressive regime in a country where Choice Hotels International Inc.’s chief executive Stephen Joyce, tells The Wall Street Journal, “The minute it’s available, we’ll be down there.”

Once restriction-free travel is allowed for U.S. citizens this island nation will fast become the most popular Caribbean destination for tourism and corporate business travel. And once that happens the clock will start ticking if you want to see Cuba as it was and as it is, before everything old is new again.  C&IT

Editor’s Note: Go to www.commerce.gov for a Cuba sanctions fact sheet; and www.treasury.gov for FAQs.

Almost by definition, corporate meeting planners focus on elemental, day-in and day-out practical considerations such as destination and hotel selection, food and beverage choices that fit the budget, convenient airlift and impactful meeting content.

But there is another critically important factor that is often overlooked.

And that is the sometimes complex legal matters involved in executing and hosting a meeting.

In today’s world, however, planners and meeting hosts who pay insufficient attention to those legal matters do so at their peril — and the peril of their organizations.

The Shocker: Sloppy Contracting

Written contracts with hotels are the foundation of every meeting and event. And over the last few years, host companies have exerted more influence on the contracting process by creating their own addendums to the traditional contract templates used by every major flag hotel company and many independent properties.

But it’s shocking to discover that there is often a critical disconnect in that process.

“The legal issue that I see every day is that the hotel sends out its contract, then the meeting client sends out what they call their addendum,” says Phoenix-based meeting industry attorney Lisa Sommer Devlin of the Devlin Law Firm, P.C. “And the addendum is 100 percent the opposite of the hotel contract. Then they slap those two documents together and that leads to disputes if anything goes wrong. It’s just really sloppy contracting. Instead of the two parties just throwing together two completely different documents, they should sit down and actually negotiate clauses that are compromises on key points and which work for both sides.”

“Even if you have a firm contract for the meeting, that does not mean it cannot be canceled by the hotel if they get a better piece of business for those dates.” — Joshua L. Grimes, Esq.

Sloppy contracting and a lack of clear communication and negotiation over key terms are common in today’s harried, go-go meeting industry, Devlin says, with meeting planners overburdened and the booking window for many meetings as short as it has ever been.

“In fact, it’s extremely common,” says Devlin, who often represents hotels. “And it’s bad business for both sides, because what happens is that companies come in and say, ‘You have to use our contract addendum or we won’t even talk to you.’ And that’s just lazy contracting that leads to problems down the road.”

Fundamental causes of the problem include the realities that meeting demand is approaching an all-time high, while many meetings are booked on short notice. As a result, both the hotel and the meeting planner overlook the obvious contradictions and flaws in the contract just to get it done expeditiously — while assuming nothing will go wrong.

“And the vast majority of the time, the assumption that nothing will go wrong is correct,” Devlin says. “But when something does go wrong, like a cancellation or attrition, and both parties look at the agreement, they realize they have one that is ambiguous or confusing or conflicting and they end up in a legal fight over it.”

John S. Foster, Esq., CHME, a partner at Atlanta-based Foster, Jensen & Gulley and another veteran meeting industry attorney, agrees that what Devlin calls sloppy contracting is indeed a serious industry issue.

“I use client addendums all the time,” says Foster, who typically represents corporate meeting hosts. “But the point is, you have to go to the original (hotel) contract and cross out what you disagree with and then reference the relevant provision of your addendum and say the addendum takes the place of the provision deleted from the hotel’s contract.”

As Foster sees it, the reason sloppy contracting happens is that “both parties tend to be lazy,” he says. “And one reason for that is that most corporate meetings are small compared to association meetings. And the company’s legal department doesn’t have time to mess with meeting contracts, so they just slap something together. It’s a time saver in the short run because people are in a hurry, but in the long run it ends up causing problems.”

The legal standard for how such a dispute must be resolved, Devlin says, is that “if there is an ambiguity in the contract, the judge or arbitrator has to try to figure out what the two parties intended their agreement to be and then attend to that intention. The problem is that if you have a hotel contract and a client addendum that were signed without real negotiation, there is no clear intention. There are two different interpretations of what the agreement was. And that’s not easy to resolve.”

And almost always, she says, when such a dispute happens, the legal costs to both the company and hotel are substantial, even if a compromise settlement is eventually reached before the case goes to court.

Devlin cites a related issue she finds almost incomprehensible in today’s technology-driven business world, where virtually anything and everything is just a mouse click away — contracts that include handwritten and initialed changes.

“I see that regularly and it’s shocking to me,” Devlin says. “And with computer technology and e-mails and Microsoft Word, there is no reason a contract with handwritten changes should ever be signed, because those are the kinds of changes that invariably lead to disputes. And the reason for that is that they are often poorly written and too vague. Half the time you can’t even read exactly what they say. You can’t tell who initialed it. It just creates a cascade of issues. And there is no excuse for it.”

The solution to the broader issue? Devlin and Foster agree that the contracting process must be given much more care and attention than it is currently getting in many instances.

Or, in other words, let both buyer and seller beware.

Thanks, but No Thanks

Yet another important legal issue in the robust meeting market of 2015 is the fact that hotels are not shy about canceling a meeting already booked — and often upcoming in a fairly short time frame — if a better piece of business comes along on short notice. Such unilateral cancellations are often aimed at meetings booked back at the tail end of the recession, when planners were able to negotiate sweetheart deals with previously unheard of concessions.

Today, however, those sweetheart deals can render a planner and his or her event persona non grata.

The virtually unprecedented strength of the post-recession seller’s market means that hotels are canceling previously booked meetings to accommodate more profitable groups, even on sometimes disturbingly short notice, says Joshua Grimes, Esq., of Grimes Law Offices LLC, another highly regarded meeting industry attorney.

“Even if you have a firm contract for the meeting, that does not mean it cannot be canceled by the hotel if they get a better piece of business for those dates,” Grimes says.

And such a turn of events is not at all rare these days, he adds.

“Then the issue becomes whether the remedies for damages in the contract are sufficient to protect the group if the hotel indeed chooses to cancel the meeting,” he says.

For example, Grimes explains, “contracts typically have fairly extensive provisions for what happens if the group cancels. But if the hotel cancels, there is either no provision at all, or it says that the group is entitled to its ‘remedies under law.’ Period. And that basically means that after the fact, the group has to prove all of its damages. But even if they do that, very few properties are going to just write you a check. They will go into negotiations with you.”

Therefore, Grimes recommends that meeting planners and hosts carefully examine their contracts to make sure there are clear and actionable provisions for legal and financial remedies if the hotel cancels the meeting. “You must make sure that the damages outlined in the contract are sufficient to cover your event if it’s canceled, meaning that all of your costs to relocate the meeting are broadly interpreted and fully covered,” he says. “And those costs can include the cost of a site visit to the new destination, the cost of reimbursing attendees who have already booked their flights or attorney’s fees for the negotiation of a settlement.”

One important practical detail, Grimes says, is that there is no cutoff date that is presently considered the legal standard for what point prior to its scheduled date a meeting can be canceled. And the closer to the date, the more damages potentially accrue to the meeting host. “And I believe that in some cases, the property may know about the issue coming up further in advance than the time they actually inform the original client,” Grimes says. “And the sooner the client knows, the more options they have for repositioning the meeting than they will if the hotel cancels six weeks before the meeting.”

Devlin concurs that based simply on obvious market dynamics and economics, “more and more hotels are canceling what they consider bad business,” she says. “And that’s why I always stress the fact that both sides should be negotiating contracts that are fair to both sides. If a hotel thinks they’re getting (an upcoming meeting) that is terrible for the hotel and they have another opportunity that’s better, then they might very well cancel the first meeting and pay the company off to get rid of them, and then still make more money by booking the more lucrative meeting for those dates.”

Foster adds that, “You can say it’s unethical for hotels to do that. But it’s not against the law. It’s just about dollars and cents. It’s a business decision.”

Can a meeting planner negotiate a “non-cancellation” clause?

That is a complex question legally, with no clear cut answer. “And even if you have such a ‘no cancellation’ clause, the hotel can still cancel,” Grimes says. “The legal question is what damages it will be liable for and have to actually pay.”

The only practical solution to the potential dilemma, Grimes says, is to negotiate contract terms that are so strict in terms of damages and liability to the hotel that their financial incentive for canceling the meeting are essentially negated.

However, Devlin — who usually represents hotels — challenges that assertion. “Under the American system of law,” she says, “a penalty in a contract is invalid. You can’t penalize someone for breaching a contract or for not going forward with it. No court is going to enforce that.”

Her solution: While there is no way a planner can prevent a cancellation by the hotel, because monetary damages after the fact will remedy your situation, the remedy is often fairly simple. “If the meeting was booked at $100 a night for rooms and the rebooked meeting costs $125 per night, the original hotel will be liable for the difference,” she says. “But those are the only real damages that can be enforced in most cases.”

In addition, a major hotel brand that has multiple properties in the same destination can mitigate claimed damages simply by relocating the meeting to a sister property in the same destination. “And if the meeting planner says, ‘No, we’re not going to do that, we’re going to move to a more expensive hotel,’ ”, Devlin says, “a judge is probably going to say, ‘You don’t get compensated for that, because you had an opportunity to minimize your losses.’ ”

Foster agrees with Devlin that a contract provision cannot be a penalty for cancellation. But it can be calculated as liquidated damages, which must be provable.

“The reality is that either side can breach the contract,” Foster says. “The only question is how much damages they will owe, based on the facts.”

And damage provisions must include a clear formula for calculation and settlement negotiations.

The Force Majeure Dilemma

A third legal issue that has becoming increasingly significant since 9/11 — and especially since incidents like the Ebola scare and SARS epidemic more than a decade ago — is the force majeure provision in contracts.

Tyra Hilliard, Ph.D., JD, CMP, of Hilliard Associates in St. Simons Island, Georgia, is a speaker and multipreneur as well as a respected meeting industry attorney. Hilliard says that force majeure clauses are currently a hot topic of interest and concern to both meeting planners and hotels.

And history over the last 14 years, beginning with 9/11, has forever altered the perception of the importance of force majeure provisions.

“For example,” Hilliard says, “when the Ebola cases came to the U.S., interesting issues arose in Dallas and Cleveland, where people were afraid to come to those cities because there were Ebola cases. And I had meeting planners calling me to ask if they could invoke the force majeure clauses in their contracts. Well, the fact is there were only a couple of cases, so there was no state of emergency declared in those cities by the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control. So what that meant, in reality, is that people were just afraid. But fear does not constitute a force majeure issue.”

There was also a case in San Francisco, Hilliard notes, where a company wanted to cancel a meeting years ago because hotel workers were on strike and the company refused to have attendees cross picket lines. As a result, they also tried to claim force majeure. “And again, the answer was no, that is not force majeure,” Hilliard says, “because the hotel would likely have a new contract with workers by the time the meeting happened.”

The point? Almost anything can be put in a contract if it is agreed to by both sides. But the provision must be clear. Therefore, if the company holding the San Francisco meeting had included in its force majeure clause its refusal to cross union picket lines in the event of a strike, it would have prevailed.

Foster note that there are three standards in the law that define force majeure. “And those are impossibility, commercial impracticability and frustration of purpose,” he says. “What the hotels want to do is eliminate the last two of those from the force majeure provision in their contracts. What they want to say is you can only terminate the contract — not cancel, but terminate, which means there can be no damages due either side — if it’s impossible to perform. And that’s a high bar. And there is also a lot of space between impossible and commercially impracticable. Impracticability means substantially and materially more difficult for one of the parties to perform due to unforeseen facts that are outside the control of the parties that occurs after the contract is signed.”

As an example, Foster cites the SARS epidemic and its headline generation in the spring of 2003.

He had a client booked into Toronto for a major medical meeting that included use of the convention center. SARS hit the news two weeks before the meeting. As a result, many registered attendees canceled.

“So it wasn’t impossible for them to hold the meeting,” Foster says. “But it was impracticable because people said they were not going to show up.”

The CVB got together with booked hotels and sent the client a bill for $6.5 million as a cancellation fee. “The client had taken out cancellation insurance with a major insurance company, but the company denied the claim,” Foster says.

Under threat of litigation, the company ultimately paid the claim, based on the premise that the SARS epidemic was unforeseen at the time the meeting contract was signed. But the hotels got paid.

And the insurance company changed its policy so that epidemics would no longer be included in event cancellation policies.

Foster’s best advice: A force majeure clause today should include a clear provision that covers “any threat to the safety, health or wellbeing of attendees. And I’ve been using that ever since the SARS incident in Toronto.”

Although sloppy contracting, sudden cancellations of meetings by the hotel, or the complexity and uncertainty of force majeure provisions are the three issues the attorneys agree are currently timely and important, there are many others. And new ones, such as risk to a company’s intellectual property or proprietary information presented at the meeting, or the risk implicit in relatively dangerous teambuilding activities, or the legal liability involved in alcohol-related incidents or even an attendee death from a food allergy — all issues noted by one or more of the attorneys — the message is to be aware of the breadth of legal risks and act accordingly.

“I think what’s most important is that the law, and contracts in particular, are about allocating risks,” Hilliard says. “So there is no perfect contract because neither party can totally eliminate their risks. That would mean shifting all of it to the other party, and neither one would ever sign a contract like that. That means the issue then becomes understanding the risks you’re facing and making an informed decision about how much risk you’re willing to take on.” C&IT

The Waldorf Astoria New York has been the site of major political events and notable guests such as President George H.W. Bush and Presidents Carter and Reagan at the 1980 Alfred E. Smith dinner in the Waldorf Ballroom. Credits: Waldorf Astoria

The day after President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft passed away, the March 9, 1930 edition of The Milwaukee Journal ran a piece on his frequent visits to Milwaukee. The article describes his reaction on the day that the World War I armistice was declared: “Sitting up in bed at 4 a.m. at the Hotel Pfister on November 11, 1918…the pajama-clad justice declared: ‘This is the greatest day in history.’ ” The Pfister also hosted Taft in 1915 for a meeting with the local Merchants and Manufacturers association and has welcomed every U.S. president since Truman.

A hotel’s background in catering to such dignitaries bodes well for the planner bringing in top-tier executives, who will surely experience the same level of service and decorum. Beth Waters, director of corporate customer experience, with Milwaukee-based Direct Supply, which services the senior living profession, notes that “We use the Pfister a lot when we bring in VIP guests, our board members or some of our really high-level customers. We have an Executive Operators Forum that we put together, and that is essentially the highest-level customer that we work with; they operate all the buildings. It could be the CEO or COO or the V.P. of operations. And we have historically put them at different hotels, and this year we made the decision to step it up a little bit and put them at the Pfister. It was extremely well received.”

“This year we made the decision to step it up a little bit and put them at the Pfister. It was extremely well received.”
— Beth Waters

The 307-room “Grand Hotel of the West,” as it was billed when it debuted in 1893, houses 25,000 sf of meeting space and still retains the “traditional look and feel,” Waters remarks. Complementing that visual appeal is a staff that is versed in “old school” hospitality. “On the second day of our meeting, they provided the box lunches we had arranged for, but as we were all sitting down to eat they brought out these warm chips that are just amazing. And instead of putting them on the buffet line the server went around to every table and made sure everyone had some; it was just a personal touch,” she recalls.

Apart from the white-glove service that is so second nature to hotels that have welcomed presidential guests, their political history can serve to engage meeting attendees. Planners can stage galas themed after a famed political event, work with the staff to provide attendees private historical tours of the hotel, or at the very least, offer attendees mementos tied to the history. The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, Washington, for example, published “The Olympic: The Story of Seattle’s Landmark Hotel” in celebration of its 80th anniversary in 2004.

Waldorf Astoria New York

George H.W. Bush was known to favor the cuisine at this iconic hotel, which made Waldorf Salad, Eggs Benedict and Red Velvet part of the national culinary tradition. And the resplendent Presidential Suite at the Waldorf has hosted and pleased every president since FDR (interestingly, none of the six presidents depicted in bas relief on the hotel’s 1893 lobby clock have stayed in the Presidential Suite). Among the suite’s Georgian-style furnishings are an upholstered rocking chair that belonged to John F. Kennedy, wall sconces donated by Richard M. Nixon and a desk owned by General Douglas MacArthur.

The 1,232-room Waldorf has also been the site of major political events, including the World War II Peace Treaty. Companies can create memorable and influential events of their own in the hotel’s 8,000-sf Executive Meeting Center, located on the 18th floor with accompanying panoramic views of the Big Apple. The center’s 13 rooms are part of the Waldorf’s overall 60,000 sf of function space. Groups also may engage in the hotel’s Historic Tours, showcasing the landmark’s New York City legacy, including the famed Grand Ballroom and rooftop space with apiaries and garden.

Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara

Classic West Coast hotels such as the 181-room Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara has been noted as a frequent lodging choice of Ronald Reagan and site of his press conferences. The Biltmore also has been a hub for corporate events, and regularly hosts meetings for the board of directors of Sage Publications Inc. Dana Graham, associate director, corporate events and community relations, for the Thousand Oaks, California-based academic publisher, describes a “cultural synergy” between the Biltmore and her company. “Since this is our board of directors, it’s a very sophisticated group of people. They’re there for business purposes and they want to be in a really dignified, professional environment that is attuned to service,” Graham explains. And the service at The Biltmore, like that of The Pfister, has that personal touch. “They know our attendees very well and treat us like a family,” she adds. “If we have a board member arrive ahead of schedule, they will do everything they can to get that board member into a guest room. If someone leaves something in their car, the valet staff is happy to run and get it. Or they’ll call you a cab if you happen to be stranded somewhere in Montecito,” she relates. “So when I am not onsite for the meetings I have complete trust and faith in the staff there. They’re a fine-tuned operation, and if we have last-minute things that come up, such as adding a champagne toast if there’s a special occasion, they’ll be able to make that happen flawlessly as if it had been planned for weeks.”

The hotel houses 15,000 sf of meeting space and offers its tropical gardens for Garden Games such as bocce. During Sage’s 50th Anniversary Celebration at the resort earlier this year, “over 200 guests enjoyed an outdoor cocktail reception prior to hearing our featured guest speaker, Sir Ken Robinson, in the Loggia Terrace,” Graham says. “This coming February, we are eagerly anticipating hosting our esteemed founder’s 75th birthday celebration in the newly remodeled La Pacifica. It’s going to be a wonderful occasion.” The 4,200-sf La Pacifica is the resort’s oceanfront ballroom and terrace.

Originally built in 1927, the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara’s “history is part of the draw of the hotel,” she says. “We go to historic hotels, such as The Hay-Adams (profiled below) in DC. We’re academic publishers, so that is very meaningful to us.

Ojai Valley Inn & Spa

Presidents Reagan, Ford and Carter have all stayed at this oasis-like central California resort. Used as an Army training camp in the 1940s, today the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa is decidedly an idyllic environment in the midst of mountains, oaks and a George C. Thomas-designed golf course that dates from 1923. Attendees can decompress at the 31,000-sf Spa Ojai, with its newly introduced Somadome Personal Meditation Pod. Other new features of the Ojai include the Indigo Pool & Bar, opened this summer, and the signature restaurant Olivella and Vine, opened in September. The AAA Five Diamond, 308-room resort offers 35,000 sf of function space.

Hotel Del Coronado

About seven miles from the San Diego Airport, planners can find one of California’s most visibly iconic resorts, the Victorian-style Hotel Del Coronado, which has welcomed presidential guests such as Harrison, Taft and Roosevelt. The latter even flew the presidential flag at the Hotel Del, marking it his official temporary residence. When Roosevelt and his wife visited the hotel in 1935 for San Diego’s California Pacific International Exposition, a local newspaper reported: “The chief executive enjoyed an inspiring view of the broad Pacific, where a goodly part of the United States fleet rode at anchor, the lights from the warships shedding their glow over the temporary White House.” On September 3, 1970, President Richard Nixon hosted a state dinner in the Hotel Del’s historic Crown Room for Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz. Former President and Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, and Governor and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, not to mention celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and John Wayne, were among the hundreds in attendance.

Although dating from 1888, the Hotel Del is no mere relic; a recent $13 million, two-year renovation has revitalized the property, which features 679 guest rooms and 65,000 sf of indoor and outdoor meeting space.

The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square

Among historic California hotels, The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square has a claim to offering the most cutting-edge meeting technology with its Cisco TelePresence videoconferencing room, part of 56,000 sf of function space. The 1,195-room hotel has hosted events for dignitaries that would inspire confidence in any planner bringing in a high-profile group. Examples include a Barack Obama fundraiser, a celebration for Nancy Pelosi’s one-year anniversary as the first woman Speaker, the Third Annual Pros for Kids with first lady Nancy Reagan as guest of honor, and a United Nations Delegate Banquet in 1945. Some of the other major political figures to have lodged at the St. Francis include General Douglas Mac­Arthur in 1951, President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon in 1962, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito in 1975, Queen Elizabeth II in the Presidential Suite in 1983 (with the Reagans staying concurrently in the London Suite) and President Clinton in 1998.

Hilton Chicago

Opened in 1927, the Hilton Chicago has certainly lived up to its billing as “Midwest White House.” The 1,544-room hotel has hosted every U.S. president since its opening for a function in the pillar-less Grand Ballroom, while the two-story Conrad Suite has housed every president from Harry Truman to George W. Bush. President Obama himself has a long history with the hotel, having held eight press conferences in the Continental Ballroom during his election season, and appointed many members of his cabinet in that ballroom. Obama also held his first-ever cabinet meeting in the Waldorf Room. These rooms are part of an overall 234,000 sf of function space that, like the rest of the hotel, exudes historical character with elements such as French-crafted fixtures, Czechoslovakian crystal chandeliers and Fresco-style oil paintings. Next spring, the Hilton Chicago will unveil a property-wide renovation that aims to modernize while preserving historical integrity.

The Hay-Adams

Located in Washington, DC, The Hay-Adams is named after John Hay, who served as a personal secretary to President Abraham Lincoln and historian Henry Adams, the descendant of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Developer Harry Wardman bought the original pair of Romanesque homes designed in 1884 (an intellectual hub that welcomed figures such as Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain) and replaced them with The Hay-Adams House, an apartment-hotel that opened in 1928. Today the 145-room Hay-Adams makes a stately site for corporate meetings, surrounding groups with Elizabethan and Tudor architectural motifs. More than 16,000 sf of meeting space includes nine meeting rooms, a private dining room and the Top of the Hay, with panoramic views of the White House. Boasting Washington’s first air-conditioned dining room in 1930, the hotel drew many high-profile politicians, and its political pedigree continues in modern times: Obama and his family lodged at The Hay-Adams prior to his first-term inauguration.

The Mayflower Hotel

Dubbed “Washington’s Second Best Address” by President Truman, The Mayflower has been the site of numerous high-profile events in America’s political history, and some that were significant but not so high profile. Just four years after its 1925 debut, the property welcomed heads of state to a private room where they worked on continuing relations between North and South America. The room was later dubbed the Pan American Room. Eventually it became the Cabinet Room, where Reagan’s former aides and presidential library volunteers gathered in 2004 following his death to prepare and distribute the 1,000 funeral invitations. On March 3, 1933, Roosevelt stayed in guest room 776 on the eve of his inaugural address and wrote the famous line, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

The Mayflower’s culinary staff has a tradition of serving foreign and domestic dignitaries: Winston Churchill attended a state dinner there in 1945; King of Morocco, Mohammed V. hosted a dinner in 1957 for the Eisenhowers; and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover reportedly ate the same meal at The Carvery Restaurant (now Edgar Bar & Kitchen) nearly every working day for 20 years until his death in 1972. The 657-room Mayflower offers 42,577 sf of meeting space and recently completed a $20 million renovation.

Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa

The Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa Commander in Chief suite is an opulent space with features that include dramatic ocean views, sprawling living space with a floating wall that can be drawn to create two private spaces, and an installation of miniature shoe sculptures.

As envisioned by shoe designer Robert Tabor, an entire wall in the oceanfront suite serves as an exhibition space for miniature pairs of shoe sculptures dedicated to the first ladies and female dignitaries throughout history. Tabor’s Shoe Wall features designs modeled after Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Evita Perón, Imelda Marcos, Margaret Thatcher, Marie Antoinette, Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth. President Obama has spent a night in the same presidential suite.

Crowned Florida’s Top Resort in the 2015 Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards, Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa recently debuted a new oceanfront restaurant and lounge, a celebrity-chef-led culinary program with fresh menus and exciting gastronomic events, a bespoke Cultural Concierge program and more. Situated on a secluded private beach on seven acres of the Atlantic coast with breathtaking ocean views and lush tropical gardens, the AAA Five Diamond Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa boasts more than 30,000 sf of meeting and event space.

The Omni Homestead Resort

Planners themselves, not only attendees, can become enthralled with the history of a hotel such as The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia. The Allegheny Mountains resort opened in 1766 and has hosted Washington, Jefferson, Taft, Roosevelt, Reagan, Bush Senior and many other presidents. “As a history minor in college, it certainly peaked my interest that the property had such history,” says Courtney Richardson, executive assistant to the TeaEO of Honest Tea, Inc. “What a privilege to stay where such important figures had and to know that certain rooms and halls had once heard conversation about the development of our country.”

“We wanted it to feel more like a retreat than an actual meeting, and no place seemed more fitting. The Omni Homestead Resort has certainly been able to maintain the historic charm.”
— Courtney Richardson

Richardson planned Bethesda, Maryland-based Honest Tea’s annual three-day company meeting at the Omni Homestead. “We wanted it to feel more like a retreat than an actual meeting, and no place seemed more fitting. The Omni Homestead Resort has certainly been able to maintain the historic charm. We have never held our company meeting offsite before, so being at such an amazing property was a treat all in itself. Our attendees took tours, read about the resort and were amazed at its history.”

The very father of America, George Washington, awarded Captain Thomas Bullitt the land grant that allowed the construction of the first Homestead property, an 18-room mountain lodge. In the course of hosting 23 U.S. presidents — from Thomas Jefferson’s 1818 vacation to George W. Bush’s 2015 golf trip — the Omni Homestead has grown to 2,300 acres and 483 guest rooms. Today, planners have more than 72,000 sf of meeting space at their disposal, including the 13,485-sf Grand Ballroom and 10,368-sf Regency Ballroom. That’s a wealth of opportunity to convene in what is arguably the resort that is closest to America’s roots. C&IT

On a clear day, attendees can see forever from the Pinnacle Club’s perch on the 38th floor of the Grand Hyatt Denver.

Numbers can be crunched, products marketed, hard work honored and new ideas vetted in any room in any city or town anywhere. But when a meeting takes place in a destination offering an authentic sense of place, attendees are engaged in surprising ways, and outcomes can soar beyond expectations. From Denver to Colorado Springs to Rocky Mountain towns tucked into humbling landscapes, Colorado offers groups a powerfully engaging sense of place.

THE CITIES

Denver

Denver was built at the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, where the amber waves of the Great Plains crash into the base of the Rocky Mountains. Long a conduit between the two geographical areas, Denver is neither a city of the plains nor of the mountains. Its history derives from both, and its energy and spirit follow suit.

Denver is not lacking in historic hotels and venues that capture the long-ago essence of the city, but no lodging more completely connects Denver’s past to its contemporary sophistication than The Crawford Hotel, which opened July 2014 inside historic and meticulously renovated Denver Union Station. That made it appealing to Nicole Pribble, who planned the February senior leadership meeting for Nelnet Inc. About half of the 16 attendees came from headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska, the rest from the company’s south Denver location. As one attendee put it, “The Crawford maintained the history aspect of the hotel including historic photographs behind the check-in desk. This really gave a sense of preserving the history while incorporating a modern flair!”

“The Crawford had a great energy from Union Station and gave the feel of being really connected to the city.”
— Nicole Pribble

In addition to being a new and uniquely Denver location — elements the group wanted — The Crawford stood out for service. “The staff was amazing,” Pribble says. “My first contact was with Michelle Baca, area senior sales manager. She was unbelievably nice, pleasant and answered all of my questions patiently. She walked me through the whole process from start to finish, including meeting-room requirements, parking and options for meals outside The Crawford. I mentioned one other hotel I had called, and she was so friendly and helpful about it because she had worked there previously. I thought that was such great customer service to be so positive about all the options in Denver.”

That level of service, Pribble says, continued throughout the two days of the meeting. “The second day, we had not ordered snacks because it was a short day but the group decided they did want them so I called our event manager, Taylor Niceforo. She was immediately on it even though she had other meetings and site tours going on. We also had a few rooming-list changes that were immediately accommodated, and I never felt like I was putting anyone out by asking. We also changed the start time to earlier than we had originally planned. Again, no problem whatsoever.”

The Crawford’s location within walking distance of many restaurants and bars was a plus. “Our group had dinner at Venice Ristorante, & Wine Bar across the street,” Pribble says. “It was amazing. The staff was very accommodating and reserved a perfect table overlooking the window for the whole group.”

Most meals and snacks came through the hotel and eateries in Union Station that service the hotel. “The items were very ‘local,’ which is exactly what we were hoping for,” Pribble says. “The food consisted of items such as elk jalapeno cheddar brats, Colorado pork green chili and chicken spinach sausage for breakfast. We had the Mountain Standard menu option for lunch and the Horizon Continental Breakfast, which includes whole-grain oatmeal and delicious sweet breads.”

For Pribble and her colleagues, the only downside was not discovering The Crawford sooner. “If planners want a unique Colorado experience, this is ideal for that,” Pribble says. “The Crawford had a great energy from Union Station and gave the feel of being really connected to the city, yet was still comfortable and allowed the group to get a great night’s sleep — something that doesn’t always happen at hotels!”

Perhaps no venue exemplifies the moniker Mile High City better than the Pinnacle Club — former home of the storied and private Petroleum Club — located on the 38th floor of the Grand Hyatt Denver. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, visitors to the Pinnacle Club can see from the mountains to the prairies for an estimated 7,500 square miles. The view from the club’s 17,000 sf of conference rooms and ballrooms is even more magnificent — spanning 10,600 square miles of snowcapped peaks and prairie, taking in 200 named mountains, including Pikes Peak more than 100 miles away. The Pinnacle Club, which can accommodate 650–700 attendees, is currently under consideration by The Guinness Book of World Records for designation as the greatest view event facility in North America.

In September, the Grand Hyatt Denver completed a makeover of its two largest ballrooms, accompanying foyers and 11 breakout rooms as part of an estimated $5.4 million redesign of the hotel’s 30,000 sf of meeting space. The update follows a $28 million renovation of guest rooms and public spaces. Sister property Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center, which redesigned all 1,100 guest rooms in 2014, also completed a renovation of 100,000 sf of meeting and function space this fall, including the Capitol and Centennial ballrooms. The design for both renovations evokes the textures and hues of Colorado.

Denver voters recently gave approval for the expansion of the Colorado Convention Center and construction of a new National Western Center, a year-round facility for events and entertainment. Suggested improvements, with input from more than 120 meeting professionals, include the development of new flexible meeting space of up to 85,000 sf and the addition of 120,000 sf of new prefunction and service space, including a 50,000-sf outdoor terrace, all to be located on the roof of the existing convention center.

Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs history is rooted in the Gold Rush of 1858 and in the great age of railroads — seven met here in the 1800s. As a center of patriotic spirit, Colorado Springs is hard to beat. Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to pen “America the Beautiful” after standing at the top of Pikes Peak. Today, the city is the location of the U.S. Olympic Training Center and of the U.S. Air Force Academy and NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command), which provide another kind of patriotic vibe. The city’s sense of place is also defined geologically in the magnificent Garden of the Gods with its soaring red-rock formations and archaeological evidence dating to 1330 BC.

Hotels and lodges offering meeting venues and a palpable sense of place, either for their location or well-preserved history, include Cheyenne Mountain Resort, The Broadmoor, The Cliff House at Pikes Peak in neighboring Manitou Springs and The Mining Exchange, a Wyndham Grand Hotel, located downtown. For exclusive VIP and executive retreats, The Broadmoor offers offsite wilderness experiences for small groups at its Ranch at Emerald Valley; Cloud Camp; The Broadmoor Fishing Camp; and Seven Falls. Available for private events, Seven Falls features Restaurant 1858 and The Broadmoor Soaring Adventure — a course of 10 zip lines, rope bridges and a rappel. Other Colorado Springs VIP options include the intimate Garden of the Gods Club and Resort, and The Lodge at Flying Horse, now partially open. Four villas opened in May and 40 hotel rooms will follow this fall.

THE MOUNTAINS

Each of Colorado’s resort mountain towns has a distinct personality, history and contemporary presence. Some have roots in mining, others in ranching. All offer a full menu of invigorating outdoor activities, not the least of which is exceptional skiing. Culture, too, is embedded in the mountain experience.

Aspen

Historic home to globally recognized leadership conferences and tucked into one of Colorado’s most dramatic settings, Aspen capitalizes brilliantly on its combo of rugged nature and extraordinary luxury.

In March, 35 incentive qualifiers from Health-Mor Inc.’s FilterQueen Thousand Council Program met at St. Regis Aspen Resort. For Andy Bountogianis, in charge of worldwide sales promotions for Health-Mor headquarters, high expectations were definitely met.

“We wanted to go to a ski area and city with a lot to offer,” Bountogianis says. “We also wanted a hotel with service and amenities second to none. The St. Regis Aspen Resort offered that and more. The staff, led by General Manager Heather Steenge-Hart, Anita Savanyu, Kim Pantages, Sean Clark, Tamara Ische and others, treated our guests and staff spectacularly. The attention to detail was superb.”

The hotel served as the group’s primary venue. “All was fantastic, from the spa to the meeting rooms to the farewell gala dinner,” Bountogianis says. “The food was fantastic for all of our group functions. The breakfast buffet was wonderful as well — a lot of food and value for a good price.”

The group also experienced Ellina Restaurant +Bar in town, which Bountogianis calls “fabulous,” and spent a day skiing, which included eating at Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro at Aspen Highlands, one of the four ski areas.

In some ways, Aspen was a surprise. “I had never been to Aspen prior to my site visit,” Bountogianis says, “but I can tell you that I truly enjoyed everything Aspen and the St. Regis had to offer. Our group had a memorable experience and we would surely go back. The people who work and live there were so friendly and down to earth — not what stereotypes of Aspen suggest. Everyone as a whole made our experience a great one.”

Typically, the town can accommodate groups up to 500 attendees.

Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek is intimate and secluded with excellent skiing, fine dining and dramatic settings galore — with all that Vail famously offers just 10 miles away. Although founded only in 1980 as a ski resort, pioneers settled in the valley a century earlier. Frank Bienkowski, aka Beano, arrived in 1919. His homestead on the mountain is still visible and inspired what may be Beaver Creek’s most notable dining and event venue, Beano’s Cabin, available for up to 150 attendees. Groups of up to 98 can also book Allie’s Cabin, named for the wife of one of the first settlers in the area.

The resort accommodates groups up to 500 across small lodges, condo units and the 167-room Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort, which features more than 20,000 sf of flexible indoor/outdoor space. Nearby, The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch offers 180 guest rooms and 26,000-plus sf of indoor/outdoor space.

A bonus for planners is that the Beaver Creek community works together to manage village-wide meetings. Groups of up to 500 might have a general session at the Park Hyatt or Vilar Performing Arts Center and take advantage of dining, conference facilities and function options throughout the resort’s partner properties and venues. Even the village ice rink can be tented as event space. The goal is a campus environment that makes multiple options within Beaver Creek accessible and easy to book.

Breckenridge

Breckenridge has 100,000 sf of meeting space, 40,000 of it at Beaver Run Resort & Conference Center, and can accommodate groups up to 1,000. Like other mountain resorts, it offers a ton of activities, dozens of restaurants and diverse accommodations, from resorts and lodges to spectacular private homes. Breckenridge was founded in 1859 to accommodate miners flocking to the area, and its colorful boom-and-bust history is part of the town’s ambience. Breckenridge is the only municipality in the world to own a 27-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, and it’s one of the highest towns in Colorado at a lofty 9,600 feet above sea level.

Breck’s reputation as a center of craft brewing makes it a draw for attendees who can hop on free in-town transportation to access stellar local breweries. Multiple festivals throughout the year, including an international snow sculpture championship, pro cycling championship and Oktoberfest, provide an energetic backdrop — and affordable entertainment — for groups in every season.

Keystone

Keystone’s location 90 miles from Denver International Airport means attendees can be on the slopes, in meeting rooms or gathering for a function in under two hours via scenic drive. A ski resort since 1970, Keystone retains evidence of its mining and ranch history, including historic buildings integrated into Keystone Ranch Golf Course.

Amenities include a range of lodging and dining experiences and activities, as well as attributes that first-timers to the resort might not expect, such as the freestanding Keystone Conference Center with 60,000 sf of meeting, exhibit and event space. Across the resort is another 40,000 sf. Keystone accommodates groups up to 2,000, with three ballrooms providing reception space for 400–2,066 and theater-style setup for 400–2,250.

As for activities, CBST Adventures offers teambuilding experiences such as orienteering, bike challenges, winter Olympics and road races, and Keystone’s two stellar golf courses offer the best in mountain play, including group tournaments. A highlight of any meeting here may well be the dining, especially at Alpenglow Stube, highest AAA Four Diamond restaurant in North America, accessed via two gondolas.

Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs’ ranching heritage is matched only by its Olympics heritage — it’s been hometown to more Olympians than any other U.S. town. Both aspects are celebrated, giving groups an only-in-Steamboat experience.

Together, The Steamboat Grand and Sheraton Steamboat Resort (which saw $24 million in upgrades last year) offer more than 38,000 sf of flexible space and a mix of hotel rooms and condo units. Additional accommodations include two recent luxury options, One Steamboat Place and Edgemont Condominiums. Steamboat has more than 100 restaurants and bars — 21 new in the past year — where attendees can gather together or on their own.

Steamboat is the epitome of the work-hard, play-hard ethic, perfect for mixing meeting time with adventure, from hiking, biking, rafting and hot air ballooning in summer to ice climbing, dogsledding, night skiing and Olympian-led ski clinics in winter. When it’s time to kick back, the weekly summer pro rodeo draws crowds, but there are also several ranches where attendees get a hands-on feel for the lifestyle that helped shape the West.

Vail

There’s no mistaking Vail’s European-inspired upscale aesthetic. Amy Dowell, vice president groups, meetings and events for ARTA Travel, brought 60 incentive qualifiers to The Lodge at Vail, a RockResort in 2014, with another trip already planned for 2016. The group wanted a ski resort and chose Vail for many reasons. “It’s a quaint town and the lifts are convenient — you can’t get any closer unless you’re in a full ski in/ski out resort,” Dowell says. “Restaurants in town are outstanding, there’s lots of shopping and activities are diverse in nature so there’s something for everyone.”

“People and service go hand in hand and Lodge staff members genuinely care about making the client happy. ‘No’ was not in their vocabulary.”
— Amy Dowell

The Lodge at Vail was also a standout, especially the staff. “People and service go hand in hand,” Dowell says, “and Lodge staff members genuinely care about making the client happy. ‘No’ was not in their vocabulary. If we needed something that was not quite possible, the staff offered a feasible compromise. They accommodated all our needs with a smile and a rare ‘no problem’ attitude. The venues are beautiful and certainly a plus, but the staff and service level provided was amazing.”

Catering stood out as well, according to Dowell, who typically doesn’t rely on standard banquet menus. “I like to use our budget and ask the chef to be creative and come up with a specialized menu for our functions,” she says. “We had unique menus and the staff offered flexibility in working with our budget and strict dietary needs.”

The group also checked out Vail’s highly regarded restaurant scene, including La Tour and Mountain Standard, which Dowell calls easy to work with. Direct flights into both Denver International and Eagle-Vail airports gave the group flexibility. Dowell worked with Colorado Mountain Express to transport attendees from airport to resort. “They are great to work with and offer fair pricing,” she says.

Getting everyone on the slopes, of course, is crucial on a ski-resort trip and Dowell says Vail made it easy. “Lift tickets were arranged through the hotel and rentals were super easy; the group came to our welcome dinner, fitted everyone and delivered all the equipment by the time our participants were ready to ski the next day.”

Other activities included spa time, a snowmobile tour with Sage Outdoors that Dowell calls fabulous, “and the hotel helped me put together a private beer tasting/cheese-making class, which was really cool,” she adds.

One of the best aspects of the meeting for Dowell was working through the hotel for everything. “I didn’t have to go through multiple vendors,” she says. “I had a lengthy and detailed conversation with my conference manager, who helped to complete my activity ideas and went above and beyond by contacting vendors to put it all together. She simplified my job and at the same time helped maintain the unique elements specific to this group. It was a fantastic experience and I look forward to working with the Lodge at Vail again and again.”

Whether planners choose the cities or mountains, it’s impossible to go wrong.

Colorado’s core essence is a heady combination of history, incredible nature and urban and resort sophistication that meets and exceeds the needs of today’s discerning and tech-savvy groups. C&IT

Berkshire HorseWorks specializes in equine-assisted personal development programs designed to help employees learn how to work together toward a common goal and/or to adapt to a new management style. Credit: Berkshire HorseWorks

To an outsider, corporate teambuilding activities may simply look like fun and games, but in reality, they can play a significant role in helping an organization reach important goals such as improving communications, fostering a better sense of cooperation or learning to overcome challenges. And the choice of teambuilding activities now available is as diverse as the organizations that engage in them.

Equine Insights

When Antoine Alston, owner of Berkshire Functional Fitness in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was getting ready to launch an innovative new fitness concept, he wanted to find a teambuilding activity that would take his employees out of their comfort zone. Alston chose Berkshire HorseWorks, a nonprofit organization located in Richmond, Massachusetts, to guide his group of 14. Berkshire HorseWorks specializes in equine-assisted personal development programs designed to help employees learn how to work together toward a common goal and/or to adapt to a new management style.

Contrary to what some people may assume, the Berkshire HorseWorks program does not involve horseback riding. The goal of the program is to have participants learn about themselves and others by connecting with the horses and then observing and discussing the experience. All sessions are led by professionals trained and certified by the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA).

Berkshire HorseWorks “gave me a really good assessment of who was willing to get out of their own comfort zones, take charge and be comfortable being uncomfortable.”
— Antoine Alston

“Horses are innately intuitive,” explains Hayley Sumner, founder and executive director of the program. “They give feedback in the moment. Because they are fight or flight prey animals, they’ll make a decision in a split second as to what they’re going to do in reaction to those around them.” She says that horses can sense whether someone is being true to themselves. “If there is an incongruity between what you’re saying and how you’re acting, they will call you out in a moment. You have to adjust your thinking and think out of the box. When the horse feels that there is a connection, and that the person has come to a place of acceptance and openness, the horse is more apt to work with them.”

One exercise that the facilitators at Berkshire HorseWorks conducted was to have each participant choose the horse that is most like them. “The alphas of the group picked what they thought the alpha horse was, which was completely incorrect,” Sumner explains. She says that the lesson taught here is that people should not make assumptions about others on their team, because those assumptions may turn out to be false.

In another exercise, the participants were asked to self-identify themselves as to whether they’re natural leaders or less inclined to speak up. Next, an obstacle course was created to represent the challenges the participants typically had to navigate during the course of a work day. Then the tables were turned. The self-described leaders were blindfolded and had to follow the verbal directions of a non-leader in order to lead their horse through the obstacle course successfully. This exercise helped the non-leaders step up and feel what it was like to be a leader, and taught the leaders what it felt like to be vulnerable and have to rely on their teammates.

After each exercise, the group discusses what they learned from the experience. Sumner said that the leaders talked about how uncomfortable it was to feel vulnerable and that they had to be able to trust that they were safe with this person leading them. This led to a discussion about what the options are when a person feels vulnerable and whether there’s a way for them to spread out responsibility.

“It was a very unique approach to many things, from communications to teambuilding to cooperation to problem solving,” Alston explains. “It was something different, and it still spoke to the things that I need in my company and the interpersonal relationships that we had to work on. I basically wanted people to forget some of the old-school thought processes and get them out of their (regular) environment.

“(The Berkshire HorseWorks program) was a nice way to do some icebreakers and work together on a situation that none of us really was familiar with, which is kind of what I’ve been asking them (to do in my business) anyway. Second, you have these big, beautiful horses, and these obstacles,” he adds, explaining that the members of his group did not have previous experience with horses. “I thought, OK we’re going to be uncomfortable together and walk this through together. What a great environment to do it in and to have it be facilitated by professionals, at that.”

Since Alston was looking to his team to take his company into uncharted territory, the Berkshire HorseWorks program gave him a unique opportunity. “It gave me a really good assessment of who was willing to get out of their own comfort zones, take charge and be comfortable being uncomfortable. When you’re doing something that kind of goes against many other standards in the industry, you’ve got to be ready for it and be strong in what you’re doing.”

Alston said that the full-day program definitely helped him achieve his goals. “I learned a lot about my team, and my team learned a lot about me. We also had fun, which was actually very important because no one was in their comfortable place. It definitely disclosed some things I wasn’t prepared for, but it also disclosed many things I was extremely happy for.”

Western Adventures

When Sandra Ramirez, administrative assistant for the global trade compliance division of the electronic technology distributor Avnet in Phoenix, Arizona, needed to find a location for a teambuilding event for an international group of 10, she chose Fort McDowell Adventures. This unique venue located east of the Phoenix metro area offers multiple settings for private events and allows groups to enjoy a variety of Wild West experiences while taking in stunning mountain and desert views.

In addition to offering guided outdoor adventures such as kayaking, mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding, Fort McDowell Adventures offers a number of options for teambuilding programs, including the Whip Crackin’ Chili Cook-Off and the Salsa-Margarita Challenge. It also offers the Moooving Along Cattle Drive, where the group receives expert instruction on how to move a herd of cattle across the Sonoran Desert while learning the language of the open range. It lets city slickers become cowboys for a day, while they also likely round up plenty of stories to take back home.

Pink Adventure Tours, a company well known for its tours of Sedona, the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, recently established its Scottsdale base at Fort McDowell Adventures. Up to 20 of the bright pink vehicles will be available at all times to handle groups and special events.

“The objective of the meeting was to host the event in a relaxed location where executives would be able to brainstorm and collaborate on strategy for their respective business units.”
— Lorena Cicciari

Ramirez describes her event at Fort McDowell Adventures. “We arrived at 4:00 p.m. to an open bar with refreshing beverages and light snacks before taking a jeep tour. We then loaded up into two jeeps for a beautiful tour of the desert, seeing wild horses, various birds and even an eagle. As we completed our tour and arrived back at the stables, there was a wonderful steak dinner cooking for us. We were able to enjoy our dinner while enjoying the beautiful sunset.

“Our team truly loved the event,” she continues. “Normally, when our international folks attend meetings here in Phoenix, they don’t get a chance to enjoy what Arizona has to offer in scenic beauty. This event allowed our team to network and bond on a different level. It really gave our team a chance to unwind and enjoy the true beauty of Arizona.”

Spicing Up the Event

Another Phoenix-area venue Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley was the site of a teambuilding activity planned by Lorena Cicciari, executive assistant for Ask.com. The event was part of an executive leadership and strategy session.

“The objective of the meeting was to host the event in a relaxed location where executives would be able to brainstorm and collaborate on strategy for their respective business units,” she notes. “I was also looking for a property that could accommodate fun and engaging teambuilding activities.”

Cicciari explained that they originally had planned to do an offsite teambuilding event, but that rainy weather required a change in plans at the last minute. “The staff (at the Sanctuary) quickly made arrangements for our activity to take place at the resort.” The teambuilding activity they organized was a salsa and margarita making competition. “Each team was given the ingredients and a certain amount of time to prepare their salsa and margarita. Halfway through the competition, each team had to move to another team’s station. They then had to pick up where the other team left off. The activity was lots of fun and really forced each team to work together to finish the project. My attendees were very engaged in the activity. …They all enjoyed the margarita and salsa making competition!”

Teambuilding After Dark

Sometimes, a meeting agenda is simply too packed to work in a teambuilding activity during the day. Château Élan Winery & Resort, located 40 miles north of Atlanta, offers an after-dark golf group activity that attendees can participate in after the meetings are wrapped up for the day. Played on the first eight holes of the property’s executive par course, the event can begin with cocktails and evolve into a fun evening where glow-in-the-dark golf balls, flagsticks and tee markers light the way for avid golfers and non-golfers alike.

Barrels of Fun

Château Élan also offers wine-inspired teambuilding activities such as the Grape Race where corporate groups stomp, strain and load grapes into barrels. Then they race off to a wine tasting, stack corks to a prescribed measurement, then participate in a traditional Italian barrel race where the first team to roll their barrel across the finish line wins.

Greening the Experience

Planners also can put an eco-friendly spin on their teambuilding event when they hold it at The Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta. The hotel now offers Go Green Racing where groups are tasked with building one solar car and one car made only from recycled materials. Then the race is on to see which vehicle can outpace the other.

Making Cultural Connections

The Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu offers a teambuilding activity that embraces an important part of the Hawaiian culture. “Groups are looking for more localized experiences,” explains Mike Murray, CMM, CMP, CASE, senior vice president and director of events at Waikiki Beach Activities, the exclusive pool and beach operator at the resort. “With canoeing being a big historic sport in Hawaii, Hilton Hawaiian Village offers canoe races for groups of up to 30 people. They are unique because they are led by licensed canoe captains (there are only eight licensed canoe captains on the island of Oahu) and it builds camaraderie and trust. The groups meet on Duke Kahanamoku Beach at Hilton Hawaiian Village where Hawaii’s legendary Ambassador of Aloha, Duke Kahanamoku, learned to surf and grew into the Olympic champion that he was. The races start with storytelling about Duke and his achievements. After going over basic techniques and a 10-minute lesson in the water, groups split into teams and race.”

Murray also described several other Hawaiian-themed teambuilding events that are available. “If groups want to be out of the water, there are Hawaiian games such as Hawaiian bowling and Hawaiian horseshoes. For the very competitive group, there is boat building consisting of the group’s using materials such as plastic and cardboard and building a boat. This is great for communication and creativity. The handmade boats will take off from the lagoon — some will immediately sink and others will make it to the center of the lagoon and back.”

Teambuilding With a Community Spirit

Groups also can choose a teambuilding activity that not only helps them build a sense of community among their members, but also gives back to the local community. “Hilton Hawaiian Village will set groups up with local environmental organizations that take them to a place taken over by invasive species, such as algae, to help restructure,” Murray notes. “Beach cleanups are very popular, as well.”

Over on the Big Island, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel is collaborating with the Mauna Kea Forest Restoration Project and the eco tour and adventure company Hawaii Forest & Trail to offer a program called My Mauna Kea. It’s a stewardship program designed to help restore the native habitat of the palila bird, which is only found on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea and is critically endangered due to centuries of land transformation.

As a teambuilding activity, groups can sign up for an “Adopt an Acre” volunteer work day where they’ll learn about the forest and its birds, plant trees, collect seeds and perform trail work to help restore the palila’s natural habitat.

Meeting Objectives

Successful teambuilding involves establishing clear objectives, then finding an activity or program that can help the group meet them, like Alston did at Berkshire HorseWorks. “It was a really good bonding experience and it let people really get to know each other on different levels,” he sums up. “We were able to apply what we learned to what we were looking to accomplish (in the workplace).” C&IT

The pendulum is not likely to swing back from the seller’s market in the near future, at least according to CWT Meetings & Events’ 2016 Meetings and Events Forecast. The study predicts a 4.3 percent increase in lodging costs next year in North America, along with higher F&B prices and less flexible hotel attrition and cancellation policies, particularly in high-demand markets. The same study suggests strategies planners can use to cope with this challenge, the first one being “consolidate for control and cost savings” via a strategic meetings management program (SMMP).

Companies that have SMMPs in place are better positioned, even in this seller’s market, to realize savings and more favorable contract terms since they know precisely their meetings history with hoteliers on a company-wide scale.

“If you don’t have an established SMMP with really strong relationships in a seller’s market, how are you going to trust that you’re getting really good deals in a buyer’s market?” — Carolyn Pund, CMP, CMM 

“It’s a challenging market now, and having a vision of what meetings we are doing year over year enables me to take multiple meetings to a supplier table and be able to negotiate better dates, rates and terms,” notes Kathy Hastings, CMP, CMM, senior manager events with technology solutions company Teradata, based in Waxhaw, North Carolina. The idea is echoed by third-party planner Deborah Borak, CDS, CMM, SMMC, director of global accounts with ConferenceDirect: “Being able to go back to the same hotels we’ve used in the past and show what we’ve booked with them helps immensely.”

Knowledge Is Power

Thus, the slogan “Knowledge is power” certainly describes the value of an SMMP. Especially in today’s market conditions, planners need full knowledge of their company’s meetings activity to optimize negotiating power with suppliers. They need data that is on par with the kind of information travel departments have on transient business travel, and in fact, the combination of both data sets further improves leverage.

Strategic meetings management at Cisco Systems includes that best practice, notes Carolyn Pund, CMP, CMM, global events, strategic meetings management. “Cisco has major chain partnerships for their transients, and we piggyback on that volume to get the best value for Cisco meetings and events.”

Of course, SMM is not merely about knowing what the pattern of supplier use has been, but actually identifying and driving business to preferred suppliers in order to forge and maintain partnerships. Those vendors will usually be happy to partner with the client’s SMMP “because they know that the next program that’s going to come along is going to be steered to them because of the partnership,” Pund explains.

Valuable Partnerships

And such partnerships are valuable to planners not only in a seller’s market. “Anybody who has been around in business (long enough) understands that everything is cyclical,” she says. “We’re in a seller’s market now, and in eight months we could be in a buyer’s market,” she says. “But if you don’t have an established SMMP with really strong relationships in a seller’s market, how are you going to trust that you’re getting really good deals in a buyer’s market? So I think it needs to be equally strong in a buyer’s market; the relationship and the business is based on trust either way. And the SMMP should be in it for the long haul.”

The extreme of a buyer’s market took place during the recession when companies were canceling meetings, and during that time, Cisco’s SMMP was valuable in softening the blow of cancellation fees, Pund feels. “We still paid a lot, but not to the point of what we would have paid had we not had those relationships, because as soon as that business came back, it went directly to those partners where we had had cancellations.”

Meetings Spend Data

Negotiating leverage and strong supplier partnerships are among the results of a successful SMMP, and they are motivations to engage in the significant amount of data collection needed to start a program. A company first needs to get a handle on the numbers and types of meetings being held across the organization, and the spend in the different categories. For Teradata, it started with a request for the former information: “They wanted one global calendar capturing all the meetings and trade shows,” Hastings recalls. That led to the purchase of an enterprise software solution that included that function, and the SMM journey began from there.

For Cisco, in the early days of the SMM program, there were requests for company-wide meetings spend data, Pund relates. The first step to capturing meeting spend was consolidating the related general ledger meeting codes. “Over a period of about a year we worked with the finance and other stakeholder teams to come up with very tightly defined general ledgers codes to categorize all related spend. So if you were opening a PO, any type of expense that had to do with a meeting or an event, it would align to a meetings GL code. It’s since expanded to about 12 GL codes.” The GLs correspond to all the different types of meetings, from trade shows to sales conferences, advisory boards and much more. “We also established a Global Meetings portal driven by a Global Meetings & Events Policy that requires everyone to register their meetings in the portal, which for a company the size of Cisco is a pretty daunting task,” says Pund. Seven years later, “I would say that we are in a better place than we ever have been at close to 85 percent compliance. SMM is a long journey, especially with a multinational operation.”

SMMP Champion

A major challenge with any company-wide initiative is getting buy-in from the many stakeholders. Helpful in that regard is to have a high-level “champion” of the SMMP, a “leadership voice,” says Hastings. But given the length of time it takes to get company-wide acceptance of the program and education in its protocols, a planner should not depend on the same champion staying the course throughout. “We had many roadblocks in our journey. Our champion changed jobs, and it was difficult to find a new champion,” Hastings relates.

Thus, anyone involved in backing the SMMP should be capable of making a case for its benefits to various stakeholders. Victoria Johnson, CMP, CMM, global manager, strategic meetings management with safety science company Underwriters Laboratories LLC, currently works with Borak on the sourcing piece of the company’s SMMP. But her role in founding the program goes back to 2006 when she earned her CMM, and designed the program toward completion of the degree. In her view, it’s key to show the distinct value to each different stakeholder in order to get buy-in. “We have a lead-with-carrot vs. beat-with-stick culture, so you have to show people the benefit of why you would use this (program), the ‘what’s in it for me,’ ” she explains.

For example, the legal department should understand the risk mitigation features of the program, with its control over who reviews and signs supplier contracts. The C suite, and particularly the CFO and procurement, should be made aware of the cost savings potential through strategic supplier relationships. Buy-in from leadership also can be furthered by showing them how SMM has benefited similar companies.

“We looked at companies that were even larger than our company, and we were very interested in companies who are in the technology arena, whose portfolio of meetings and trade shows is similar to ours,” says Hastings. “I knew that some of those names would draw attention to our leadership, and mostly they were companies who had mature SMMPs in place.”

And as data become available from expense tracking as well as the cost savings through preferred supplier relationships, the C suite can be further “reassured” as to the SMMP’s ROI. “I believe that data reporting that we’ve done in the last 60 days has really opened eyes, and now leadership is very eager for what the next steps are going to be,” says Hastings.

Cost avoidance also should be showcased — for example, where a cancellation penalty at a hotel has been avoided or ameliorated by a rebooking effected through the SMMP’s centralized oversight.

Buy-in from marketing and sales is achieved by focusing more on the improved customer relations and brand representation across meetings. For example, UL’s SMMP will enable an “understanding of what customers have we invited to which events,” Johnson says. “Business unit one might ask a client to go to their golf outing, and the client may say to them, ‘I’m not allowed to accept that.’ Well then along comes business unit two and says to the same client, ‘Hey, would you like to come to our golf outing?’ So it starts to look a little silly when we have no central place for understanding (customer-facing meeting and event data).”

Control Over Branding

The quality of the meeting experience and branding also can be kept consistent when there is control over who does the planning. “Each and every meeting may look different if we’ve got different planners,” says Johnson, “and furthermore the planners are not professional planners but employees who lack the expertise a professional planner has and do it as a secondary part of their primary role, which we call ad hoc planners.”

Preventing this is clearly of interest to marketing representatives as well as C-level executives who are concerned with the company’s image. In fact, the focus on brand delivery through meetings can be more important to “selling” the concept of SMM than the cost-tracking and savings benefit, says Pund, whose team sits within Cisco’s global marketing organization. The corporate brand and values are not only represented to clients at external events, but also to supplier partners.

“Everything about an event in part represents your brand: The way that you source, contract, show up onsite, treat the convention staff, reconcile your bill and pay them,” she says. Ensuring that valuable supplier partnerships are maintained is not just about identifying them as “preferred” and bringing business to them, but also about how the business is conducted. An SMMP helps to preserve that integrity across all of a company’s meetings by having protocols in place.

Selling the Program to Planners

Apart from upper management, legal, procurement and marketing, those on the front line of meeting planning clearly must also be on board with the program and its development. That process “includes continual communication, because people forget (the protocols),” Johnson says. “So I’ve done a lot of lunch-and-learns.”

They also may lack the time to do the reporting on each event they plan as dictated by the SMMP, and this is an issue that should also be addressed. “I think the biggest (problem) is that companies don’t take the time to go back in and actually put in what they spend at every meeting, including F&B, AV, etc.,” Borak observes. Resolving such issues needs to be motivated by re-emphasizing the value of the program, the reason these planners bought into it initially. At the lunch-and-learns, for example, Johnson stresses “what’s in it for you, making it relevant to the executive assistants, because they plan a lot of meetings themselves. I ‘sell’ them on the fact that by coming to this process you can report to your boss that you saved a certain amount of money and show your value.”

It’s also important to convey to these planners that they are not relinquishing control over meetings under the SMMP, but rather aligning to protocols of meeting registration, approval, sourcing, reporting and so on.

“Many times the planners don’t want to give away what they’re doing; they think somebody is going to come in and take over and they won’t be needed anymore, and that’s not the case whatsoever,” says Borak.

In certain ways, the SMMP makes their planning work easier. For example, many hotels now want advance deposits in addition to setting up direct billing, and one of the protocols of the SMMP can be that all planners are provided with the appropriate credit forms, Borak suggests.

Internal planners and meeting managers also are important to retain under an SMMP as they are the best advocates for its success and the company overall, Pund maintains. Cisco’s global SMMP, she notes, is directly managed by Cisco employees, no matter the location. “Corporate America respects vendors and consultants, but at the end of the day, they’re not coming from a place of ‘we’re all stakeholders together and doing this because it’s the right thing for our company,’ ” she says. A reason why some SMMPs are struggling, she holds, is that they are being overseen entirely by third parties, as opposed to company employees. Just as a program needs an internal “champion” to get it off the ground, it arguably needs company representatives doing the “maintenance work”: driving adoption, educating on policy compliance, having stakeholder meetings with new acquisitions and so forth.

Supplier Partners

External partners, including hotel­iers, DMCs, transportation and AV companies, also need to be on the same page with regard to the SMMP. “Your external partners are the people who are ‘policing’ and helping you with your policy for all the people that think that the policies don’t apply to them,” says Pund. For example, “when somebody (from the company) calls the hotel and says, ‘I want to do a meeting,’ that hotel partner’s first comment would be, ‘Great, do you know what your Cisco url is for the meetings portal so you can register your meeting and get a meeting ID? Then we can get your program contracted.’ ”

Cisco also conducts biannual reviews with its external partners. “We collect information about how our programs operate and what our volumes look like, how many times RFPs are denied, etc., and we provide feedback as to their hotel performance on our program, what planners liked or didn’t like, and how they can improve in operations,” Pund relates. In turn, the suppliers report on any contracting issues, use of rebookings based on cancellations and so on. That deep level of communication with suppliers comes with their partnership in the company’s SMMP, as opposed to their merely being used for one-off meetings.

Mature SMMP

While an SMMP may begin with a “champion,” a mature program should not depend on any one catalyst, or even just a few. It should maintain itself through the best practices of all the internal stakeholders and external partners.

“My goal is for the business practices of SMM to become part of the DNA of how Cisco does their meetings and events,” says Pund, “so that if I’m not in the driver’s place in six months everything doesn’t fall apart. The infrastructure needs to be set in place between finance, governance, travel, event marketing and other parties, so that it’s not dependent on a name or personality anymore.”

Such a well-grounded SMMP will preserve the efficiency of a company’s meetings operations through staff changes, new acquisitions and any pendulum swings of the market. C&IT

Many participants at MPI’s 2015 WEC, held in August in San Francisco, earned certificates at pre-conference sessions. Attendees at WEC learn about certifications, certificates and designations in the meetings and event industry and how they can help propel one’s career. Credits: Orange Photography

Continuous learning is essential for everyone, but especially in the meeting industry as meeting professionals face increasing demands from their clients and employers to prove their skills in a constantly changing industry.

Just ask Joanna Oliver, CMP, CMM, manager of business travel and conference planning at EmCare in Dallas, Texas, who participated in the first CMM program in November 2014, which was jointly sponsored by MPI and GBTA at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Riviera Maya. Professors from the Darden School of Business presented three full days of intense training in topics such as negotiation, operational and financial performance, leadership strategies, flexible budgeting, balanced scorecard, continuous improvement programs and root cause analysis.

 “In our industry, there are always new, improved and more efficient ways of doing things. Keeping abreast of these things will in turn, make us as planners more valuable employees.” — Heather Borneman, CMP, CMM

Oliver believes it is very important for meeting planners to participate in certification programs and continuing education to enhance respect for the profession and advance individual careers.

“Choose the programs that relate directly to your job and you will have more success at retaining the knowledge,” Oliver says. “However, also choose some programs that are outside your knowledge base to stimulate your creative thinking. Just one nugget from a seminar or webinar can spark a wealth of new ideas that could be applied to your programs.”

Continuing education, including certification programs, helps meeting planners stay abreast of the latest trends, technology and regulations. Programs with designations such as the Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM) and the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) allow meeting professionals to showcase their skills and knowledge, putting them ahead of their competition in the job market.

Today’s programs are far more learner-centered, innovative and relevant to immediate meeting planner and company needs than ever before. No longer simply a reward for high-potential planners or a chance to renew an individual’s knowledge base, certification programs are increasingly harnessed as strategic tools for companies and their employees to stay ahead of the game. At the same time, these programs also have been undergoing profound changes — resulting in leaner and meaner training options.

In August 2015, Meeting Professionals International (MPI) formally introduced the new MPI Academy, an entity that encompasses and connects all of the education and learning experiences MPI delivers within the meeting and event industry and beyond. In addition, the association has unveiled enhancements to its professional development offerings, including a variety of new certificate programs and experiential events.

The MPI Academy aligns with the Meeting and Business Event Competency Standards (MBECS) and is designed to provide multifaceted learning opportunities for meeting professionals at all levels. Its portfolio is comprised of training courses, certificate programs, streaming sessions from MPI events, webinars and tools such as the new MPI Professional Development Roadmap, which helps individuals map out their career, pursue continuing education, and supplement their professional development.

According to Stephanie Arehart, senior director of professional development at MPI, the MPI Academy is an exciting new entity that showcases professional development and educational opportunities in the meeting and event industry.

“It was started to provide an easy way for those in the industry to gain access to the certificate programs, training courses, webinars and other education — both MPI-developed as well as partner offerings — that will help them with their individual learning goals,” Arehart says. “The MPI Academy makes it very easy to identify professional development options that make that most sense for each individual.”

Currently, the CMP, CMM and Healthcare Meeting Compliance Certificate (HMCC) are the most popular certification and certificate programs available to meeting professionals at the MPI Academy.

As Arehart explains, the CMP allows meeting planners to demonstrate that they are certified on the basics of meeting and event planning. The CMM provides a more distinguished designation for senior level meeting professionals and provides education offered at an MBA level. And the HMCC is crucial for those meeting professionals working with medical meetings as this certificate program provides knowledge regarding related government regulations.

“Stacked credentials and specialized certificate programs are current trends for all adult learning, and that includes meeting professionals,” Arehart says. “As the industry evolves, meeting professionals want to demonstrate specific expertise, and certificate programs such as the Sustainable Meeting Professional Certificate (SMPC) are a great way to do that.

Stacking credentials allows learners to take various pieces that eventually add up to a higher-level designation. The MPI Academy is currently exploring some options including four certificates in the MPI Experiential Events Series where meeting professionals could achieve a higher designation by obtaining all four.

Heather Borneman, CMP, CMM, manager of meetings, events and trade shows at Teleflex in Reading, Pennsylvania, recently attended a multiday training session for her CMM, along with 20 or so other meeting and event professionals.

“During that training we heard from industry experts, examined various case studies and financial statements, completed multiple teambuilding exercises, and learned to look at obstacles from the point of view of others in order to determine better, more efficient ways of doing things,” Borneman says. “We also completed a Darden 360 exercise where we learned a lot about ourselves and what our managers/colleagues thought of our capabilities. After the group training sessions, we were tasked with completing a number of online classes. Following that, we had to complete a project, utilizing what we learned and how to implement moving forward.”

Expanding Your Reach

Laura Bell Way, CMP, CMM, senior manager, global customer events at Autodesk, applied for the CMM program in the first year of taking on a new strategic meetings management role at her company. She had already passed the CMP exam more than 10 years earlier, and felt that this was the time and the job role in which the CMM certificate process would help her succeed in her job.

“After my application was accepted, it took me over a year to start the course, as there were some changes in the structure of the CMM program taking place, as well as limitations of my time due to travel schedules,” Bell Way says. “The first stage of the process was a week-long program run by the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. It was long days of business strategy, process and real-life scenarios that are helpful for planners to craft and communicate their programs and goals to the corporate executive level.”

The second stage of the process was done in a virtual environment,  reviewing industry sessions in the GBTA online portal and submitting takeaways on each one. The third stage of the CMM was to create a project using the skills and strategy learned through the program, and put them into a thesis paper to be presented to the CMM board.

“Beyond what is learned in the sessions offered, the networking offers opportunities to hear from planners and managers who may share some of the same challenges — and may also share great recommendations on destinations, venues and vendors. It is such an important part of ‘staying on your game’ in your job role,” Bell Way says.

Lynnette Offen Gerber, M.A., CMP, CMM, manager of global accounts at HelmsBriscoe in Adams, Minnesota, stresses that the biggest trends regarding certification and continuous education involve taking key general business subject matter and principles and applying them specifically to this industry — whether it is ROI, social media marketing, app development, participative (versus passive) learning, financial fitness and multigenerational participants.

Indeed, while the above topics are applicable to this industry, Bell Way, also advises planners to look outside the immediate hospitality industry for certifications that really can help in a job role. “Certification and education in procurement or project management, for instance, would be great additions to a planner’s resume and help vault a planner into a higher level role,” Bell Way says.

In the Know

Borneman believes it is important for meeting professionals to continue their education in order to keep up on current trends and technologies.

“Having that knowledge will help show your company or organization the value you bring to their organization,” Borneman says. “In our industry, there are always new, improved and more efficient ways of doing things. Keeping abreast of these things will in turn, make us as planners more valuable employees.”

Kelly Bishop, CMP, CMM, manager, meeting and event strategy for Liberty Mutual Insurance in Boston, Massachusetts, agrees. “Our industry is constantly being challenged with the latest trends and new ways of doing business. The education piece that is learned from these certification programs is valuable and helps support the day-to-day work,” Bishop says. “For example, in the CMM course I recently attended, we learned about root-cause problem-solving. My company is moving into a ‘lean type’ workplace environment in which the practices I learned at the CMM training have helped me embrace the implementation here at work.”

Bishop’s advice to corporate meeting and event planners is to target a certification. Understand what you need to possess to qualify for the certification and ask your manager to help create a plan with you that can give you the right tools needed to apply and qualify for the program.

“There is never the perfect time — select a certification and go after it,” Bishop says. “Make the time you need to invest in yourself, because no one else will.”

Offen Gerber recently earned her CMM designation and believes corporate meeting planners need to pick a certification program that they are passionate about and want to learn about.

“Then it becomes not something else on your to-do list, but rather something that inspires you and motivates you to learn,” Offen Gerber says. “Remember that it’s very important to keep growing and expanding your knowledge base and staying on top of industry trends. It’s important to always evolve as a meeting professional. If you don’t, you will become extinct. Even if you have been in the industry for 20 years and think you know it all, the learning process itself is good for your cognitive abilities and there are always new avenues to explore in our ever-changing industry.” C&IT

Pepper won’t be dusting like Rosie the maid did on The Jetsons’ animated television series of the 1960s. No domestic functions for Pepper, who instead is designed to tug at our heart strings and create emotional connections. Credits: Aldebaran Robotics; meunierd/www.Shutterstock.com

For as long as any meeting planner can likely remember, the wow factor has been a key ingredient in the success of meetings and events, with superior onsite service ranking right alongside it. In the hotel of the reasonably foreseeable future, both of those cherished elements will very possibly be taken to a higher level by “smart” robots.

And this is reality, not science fiction.

Hotels are already beginning to use robots to do jobs once done by human beings. And all indicators suggest the emerging trend will become very mainstream over the next decade.

“The future has arrived,” says New York City-based futurist and emerging technology expert Gray Scott. “And so have robots.”

For example, last July the 72-room, modestly priced Henn-na Hotel, which translates as Strange Hotel, opened in the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo, Nagaski, Japan. The hotel is staffed with robots. Porter robots carry guest luggage. Housekeeping robots make sure the property is spotlessly clean at all times. A ‘smart’ robot holds court in the cloak room. The landmark hotel was designed by Kawazoe Lab, the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo and Kajima Corporation. Its other amenities include keyless room entry via facial recognition technology and self-service check-in.

“Hotel operators are looking…for new ways to offer technology-enabled hotels to those tech-savvy customers. And the use of robotics will become just another example of that. And as they offer more of that, millennials will want even more.” — Umar Riaz

In the U.S., Silicon Valley and the San Francisco area have become the testing grounds for robot technology in hotels.

In August of last year, Aloft Hotels made history when its Cupertino, California, property became the first to deploy a robot butler, dubbed a Botlr. Earlier this year, it added a new one, and shipped the original off to properties in Miami and New York to prepare the hotel world and Aloft guests for the future of hotel service.

In August, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) rolled out a “relay robot” named Dash, from Santa Clara, California-based manufacturer Savioke, at its Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon Valley property. When Dash, approximately three feet tall, rolls up to a guest’s room with a delivery such as bath towels, it phones the guest to announce its arrival.

Not to be outdone by its Silicon Valley neighbors, the new Axiom Hotel, set to open in San Francisco this fall, announced in mid-September it will do “pop up” events in the area featuring BeamPro robots from Palo Alto-based manufacturer Suitable Technologies. The pre-opening displays of robotic technology will reinforce Axiom’s commitment to cutting-edge technology in its hotels.

There are currently a number of robots capable of doing various tasks in hotels, Scott says.

He cites the Care-O-bot 4, a “modular service robot” whose key target markets include hotels. The Care-O-bot 4, created in Germany by Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, can provide reception desk assistance and room service, according to the company’s website.

In the foreseeable future, Scott says, Care-O-bot 4 units will function as bellhops and take guests’ bags to their rooms. “It could then deliver room service to your room,” he says. And unlike a human bellhop, a robot bellhop will never forget to transmit your order to the room service department. “And all of that can happen before the robot even leaves your room,” Scott says. “Then another robot could be on the way to your room with your drinks or food. That is a clear improvement from a guest services point of view.”

The most interesting aspect of the Care-O-bot 4, Scott says, is that its modular design means “a hotel can choose the configuration it wants for the tasks it wants done. For example, you can buy just the component that would function as a bellhop and carry luggage. But you can also configure it in other ways for other functions.”

In the next few years, Scott says, hotel robots will be programmed to go to the bathroom and get a towel for a guest or clean the room on demand. “And the more progress that is made in being able to program robots to perform specific tasks like that, the more you’re going to see robotic technology being used in hotels,” Scott says. “And creating the algorithms and writing computer code to manage specific tasks is more advanced than ever before. And with each iteration, robotic technology is getting smarter and smarter.”

The FoldiMate 5000 robot, designed for the simple chore of folding clothes or laundry, will eventually be used by tech-savvy hotels in their housekeeping departments, Scott says.

The current generation of robot technology that most excites Scott is the Pepper model from SoftBanks Robotics Corporation.

Since July, three consecutive production runs of 1,000 units have each sold out in one minute, according to the company’s website.

“Pepper is designed to read facial expressions and respond to your emotions,” Scott says. “So if you’re not happy with your hotel room, Pepper can see your frustration or disappointment and respond with empathy.”

In terms of meeting and event applications, Pepper represents a significant advance over robots that can simply perform a mechanical function, Scott says. It can actually interact with meeting attendees in a calculated, purpose-driven way.

And it also creates the ultimate wow factor at an event.

“Pepper is designed to emotionally engage an audience. So imagine Pepper running around a conference where he is having serious conversations with people, but also understanding how they feel about the conversation. And if they see that someone is excited, then they can give the person more information about a product or the company that makes the product. The potential is really limitless.” That implication has enormous ramifications for how robots can be deployed at meetings as much more than a gimmick or novelty.

As the technology evolves, Scott says, robots also will be able to offer various kinds of onsite services to meeting attendees, such as facilitating or helping attendees navigate among meeting rooms. More important, such robotic functionality is closer to reality than most people think. And in business terms, it’s simply a matter of a hotel brand analyzing the cost-benefit ratio in terms of how they want to present their brand.

Jane Scaletta, general manager of major destination management company AlliedPRA Orlando in the country’s No. 1 meeting destination, believes robots will indeed play a role in the hotels of the future. But she’s skeptical of their direct value to the high-touch process of hosting meetings.

“I agree that we will see robots in the near future in many customer service-related positions,” Scaletta says. “With regards to meeting and incentive programs, I think the most important aspect for the success of a program is the memorable aspect the attendees come away with. I think ‘front of the house’ positions need to stay human and emotional, while many ‘back of the house’ positions could be automated with robots, for instance, in housekeeping, laundry, dish washing, and even valet parking. The auto industry is so far ahead of the game using robots that I can see cars being moved and parked in efficient, space saving, multi-layered garages.”

 “I think ‘front of the house’ positions need to stay human and emotional, while many ‘back of the house’ positions could be automated with robots, for instance, in housekeeping, laundry, dish washing, and even valet parking.” — Jane Scaletta

As an event planner, Scaletta says, she “can work with both and welcome the efficiencies of automated rooming lists and flight manifests, or even efficient automated airport check-in and security. But for incentive attendees especially, the interactive experience at a new destination or hotel has to be emotional, elating and memorable. Something you cannot accomplish with robots because humans are unpredictable and exciting. As Andrew Martin, a character in the 1999 movie “Bicentennial Man” said, “As a robot, I could have lived forever. But I tell you all today, I would rather die a man, than live for all eternity a machine.”

Hotel Industry Implications

Extreme innovations in the use of robotic technology in hotels is not just good for guests, says Umar Riaz, managing director of the hospitality and travel services practice at global consulting firm Accenture in New York. It also is good for the hotel industry from a business perspective.

For example, Riaz says, there is a timely and important demographic element to the topic.

“A lot of hotels now talk about targeting millennials as customers,” Riaz says. “And they have begun looking at hotel design or the on-property experience as something that must appeal to younger customers, who are very tech-savvy. And those younger customers are going to be much more comfortable with new technologies like robotics. And meanwhile, hotel operators are looking, in a broader sense, for new ways to offer technology-enabled hotels to those tech-savvy customers. And the use of robotics will become just another example of that. And as they offer more of that, millennials will want even more.”

From a bottom-line business perspective, the appeal of robotics is tied to logical assumptions about the practical economic benefits of robotics, such as lower costs and more standardized consistency for the same functions or services provided by a human. And robots will not call in sick or have family emergencies or require health insurance or 401k plans. That could lead to significantly reduced operating costs — savings that theoretically could be passed on to meeting clients.

That would transform robotics from a gimmick or millennial-focused marketing ploy into a genuine bottom-line business benefit of significant importance, Riaz says, just as the technology has done in other fields, such as the automotive industry.

“As these technologies mature and the costs go down, you have to think that at some point, there will be tangible business benefits to using the technology in hotels,” Riaz says. “And as the technology becomes more affordable in the future, there will be a strong business case for using it.”

The other key benefit is an increase in the level of guest services — meaning that robots can do the same thing over and over again with more precision and consistency than humans, Riaz says.

That also will eventually become a tangible business benefit.

“The other thing that is happening in the hotel industry, especially in North America, and is really fueling the industry is the growth of limited service hotels and the economy brands,” Riaz says. “So robotic technology is really tailor-made for those kinds of brands and properties. For example, those properties could provide ‘self-service’ cleaning. You just push a button and a robot cleans your room for you. And as you start to look at it, you start to see a lot of examples like that — the ways robotics could be used in hotels. The key will be the adoption process and how well guests respond to the use of the technology.”

Other Tech Frontiers

As robots assume new and prominent roles in hotels, other futuristic technologies such as keyless entry via facial recognition, will start to become mainstream in their deployment, Riaz says. Today, keyless entry via a smartphone or Apple Watch is a good example of science fiction becoming reality, he says.

“It is more than a novelty now,” he says. “It is a clear improvement in customer service and the guest experience.

Marriott, Hilton and Starwood have led the way so far in pioneering innovative uses of futuristic technology such as remote check-in and keyless entry via a smartphone, Riaz says. And in some properties, mobile check-in has gone beyond the pilot phase and is now considered an emerging mainstream practice. The next step will be the accelerating spread of keyless entry.

“The real challenge for the hotel industry will be to keep up with all this new technology and really understand how using it could impact their brand,” Riaz says. “One of the big trends in the hotel industry now is segmentation, as major hotel companies create more and more individual brands that try to set themselves apart from everyone else and target a particular customer. So you have to think that the evolution of these new technologies and creative ways to use them will become a way that certain hotels can segment their market and appeal to a particular customer, such as millennials who love technology.”

Given that, he says, hotels will start to think more in terms of a “technology platform” that includes a multitude of elements tailored to their brand based on functionality and guest appeal. “Understanding all that and making the right decisions for their brands, Riaz says, “is going to be the big challenge for the industry going forward.”

Futurist Scott agrees that a truly transformational wave of astonishing technological innovation is about to take place in the hotel industry and that it will have dramatic and important impact on meetings and events.

“In the future, you’re going to see all kinds of new technology implemented in hotels,” he says. “And they have to do that, because as our homes become ‘smarter,’ we will expect the same kinds of technology and convenience in hotels. And the first places we will start to see it is in the mega-convention centers and the major hotels in the convention industry. And that will happen because meeting planners and the people who attend meetings know now about technology that they want their meetings to be ‘smart.’ That’s the next logical step in the evolution of meetings.”

At the same time, the general pace of technological evolution is faster and more dramatic than ever before, Scott says. Therefore, the innovations and new technologies of the next 10 years will far exceed those of the last decade. “We’re going to see exponential growth now in the things technology can do,” he says. “And that’s especially true in terms of ‘smart’ devices.”

One example now being developed is next-generation, in-room technology.

“Stepping into the hotel room of the future will be like stepping into virtual reality,” Scott says. “Everything in the room will be ‘smart.’ Walls will be digital displays, so you can have any view you want, whether that’s a serene beach or anything else you desire. Imagine hotel beds that use gentle haptic vibrations to wake you in the morning. These kinds of technologies will eventually be ubiquitous, and they will forever change the way we travel and how we relate to a hotel room or a meeting room.”

Using OLED technology, convention centers, conference facilities and major meeting hotels also will be able to create event-specific “smart walls” that offer a full spectrum of services for both planners and attendees, Scott says. In effect, the meeting will become a fully immersive technological experience, which will greatly accelerate and facilitate more impactful and successful meetings. And part of that will be much more dramatic such as technology-driven presentations that will render traditional audio-visual technology and PowerPoint obsolete.

The mission of Suitable Technologies, the developers of BeamPro and Beam+: Smart Presence technology products, is to give people of the world broader access to each other through face-to-face interaction. Their products enable users to move about, speak, see and interact with others — regardless of their location. Beams allow employees to be remote attendees at conferences all over the world, attend keynotes, network, explore the expo halls, and even give a keynote on stage.

The Ultimate Future

“And the ultimate use of the technology will be that for the duration of a meeting, using a fully developed technology platform, meeting hosts and planners will literally be able to transform a hotel into a manifestation of their brand,” he says.

Scott expects that the full transformation of hotels will take seven to 10 years.

Meanwhile, Riaz says, consumers will become increasingly excited about futuristic applications of technology in hotels.

“From a service point of view, I think what you’ll find is that the consumer will have a lot more choices in terms of what type of experience they want in a hotel,” Riaz says. “For example, if you prefer an experience where you do not have to talk to or deal with a front desk agent and you can just check in with your phone and go to your room and open the door, you will be able to have that experience. And there is no doubt there are now consumers who want that kind of service.”

The business challenge: “It’s difficult to make a giant leap in the hotel industry because there is so much real estate that is already established,” Riaz says. “So I think what we will see is a gradual shift toward these new kinds of technology. Ten years down the road, the way you interact with a hotel is going to be very different from the way you do it now. As more and more new technology gets introduced, the experience of staying in a hotel will be transformed dramatically. And then that change will be segmented, according to brand and type of customer.”

Based on the rapid evolution of modern robotics and automation over the past decade, in the future it is possible — and perhaps even likely — that in order to reduce costs and simultaneously increase the consistency of customer service, robots will largely replace humans as hotel staff members, Riaz says.

“I think it’s very possible that at some point in the future, you will see a hotel that has only two human beings working in it,” he says. “The rest of the work will be done by robots. Based on what we’ve seen with the new hotel in Japan, for example, I think it’s possible that within five to 10 years, we could see such an automated hotel.” C&IT