Transforming a Public Space into a Magical Place
Budget-saving Advice for Association Planners
Contract Help You Asked For
From the Field: Mohegan Sun
Poll: What is Your Favorite Meeting Location?
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

Meeting Planner's Challenge: Transforming a Public Space into a Magical Place

Pop Quiz
You’ve got an extra special event to host. At the venue, the existing carpet is brown. Your theme is white. What do you do?

A. Ignore the carpet. No one looks at their feet anyway.
B. Call in the Yankee field crew and have them roll it up, and roll out a white one.
C. Shred a little paper
D. Find another venue with white carpet

When faced with the challenge above, Empire Force Events of New York City chose “C”. They brought in 600 pounds of white confetti, which covered the carpet and had people nearly walking on clouds. But that was just the beginning. Learn how they further transformed the Pier Sixty venue into a stunning new world for an important client.

Budget-saving, Audience-building Advice for Association Planners

The association event planner needs to be quite a marketer, sympathizes Jill Cornish, publisher of Association TRENDS. They have to please their boss, their chairman of the board, their board of directors, quite possibly a conference committee, and then they have to sell the conference to their membership, she continues. Planning a meeting and charging people to attend presents a special set of challenges. Jill and others offer some practical advice on planning and marketing.

Contract Help You Asked For...

In the February Event Insider we asked you to check off the topics you wanted to learn more about. “Contracts” was tied with “Food and Beverage” at the top of your list. Now the Professional Convention Management Association has come to your rescue. They have just begun a series of full day programs on “Vendor Contracts and Intellectual Property Rights.” During 2005, they will be offered in 12 cities in the US and one in Canada.

With an emphasis on contracts with convention centers, speakers/entertainers, audio/visual companies, etc., this interactive workshop can teach you how to negotiate a contract to benefit your organization, and identify the key issues to watch out for. Find out more about series details and locations.

From the Field: Mohegan Sun, Uncasville CT

Casinos. Nightclubs. World-class entertainers. Dozens of restaurants from food court to gourmet. Shopping. Nearly endless meeting facilities. One of the tallest skyscrapers in Connecticut, yet way outside an urban setting. The Mohegan Sun is truly different.

Question of the Month: What is your favorite meeting location?

Some planners have the luxury of looking for a new and different location for nearly every meeting. Others must rotate among a series of cities, returning to each every few years. By now you’ve formed your personal and professional favorites. If you had to choose just one location for a meeting, what would it be? Take our poll and let’s see if there is a consensus.

Last month's poll results: How do you purchase air travel?

• Airline Internet Site 45%
• Outside Travel Agency 30%
• In-house Travel Department 10%
• Expedia 10%
• Other Internet 5%
• Orbitz 0%
• Travelocity 0%
• American Express 0%
• Carlson 0%
• Telephone 0%

Around the Industry

• Packing Made Easy. Expert travelers often recommend the “bundle wrapping” approach to packing your suitcase for fewer wrinkles and easy unpacking. For a description of this method plus a charming diagram to illustrate how to make your clothes hug each other, check out the One Bag Website (scroll to the very bottom).
• Technology can help save airlines. Speaking at an Air Finance Conference this month in New York, Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said introducing industry-wide e-ticketing alone would save $3 billion in costs each year. Other plans he cited for simplifying the business, improving service, and reducing costs included:
  • paperless cargo
  • bar coded boarding passes
  • common use kiosks for check-in
  • radio frequency identification for baggage management
• Where to find $398 round trip to Hong Kong. If you checked out The Airfare Report online recently you would have found a $398 round trip fare to Hong Kong. The site calls itself “Your Inside Guide to the Airlines' Secret Fare Wars and Other Bargains.” It claims that “every day, airlines lower a few, or a few hundred, fares to amazingly low levels. No one knows why. The airlines won't talk about it, and they don't advertise them. How do you find these fares? By checking this site frequently, every day.” The site originally quoted fares only from New York but now covers other major cities. Take a look at what’s offered today.
• Swiss Air and Lufthansa join forces. The Lufthansa Group has reached an agreement with Swiss International Air Lines AG for the takeover and integration of the Swiss airline into the German-based one. Benefits of the merger, the airlines cite, include more destinations, better connections, comprehensive frequent-flyer programs, mutual lounge access, and a stronger Star Alliance partnership. Gradual operative integration is expected to begin in October 2005 and be complete by 2007 at the latest.

Krisam & GEP News
Updates on Krisam member properties & GEP partners. For more information on any of the partners below, contact your Krisam or GEP representative directly or email us today.

GEP opens new DMC in South Florida
Chris White, chairman of Global Events Partners (GEP) announced the opening of a new South Florida Destination Management Company (DMC): GEP South Florida. The Miami based DMC will also serve Naples, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Boca Raton, Palm Beach and Marco Island. Karen McKenna heads the sales and operations of GEP South Florida and has 15 years experience in providing DMC services in the region, most recently as a senior executive with PGI Miami.

GEP South Florida becomes GEP’s third company-owned DMC partner, following the acquisition of GEP Washington in 2001 and the start up of GEP Philadelphia in 2002.

Catamaran Resort Hotel opens new spa
The Catamaran Resort Hotel in San Diego will open a new luxurious full service Spa and health club in May. The Spa features a complete line of restorative treatments including therapeutic and meditative massages, facials, body wraps, Vichy shower and hydrotherapy.

The new health club offers the latest in cardio and strength training equipment including top-of-the-line treadmills, elliptical trainers, stationary cycles, and weight training equipment.

Making the most of the Catamaran’s waterside setting, the Spa offers an outdoor whirlpool with 360-degree views of Mission Bay. At the health club, guests enjoy state-of-the-art training equipment on a luxurious outdoor patio as well as in elaborate indoor facilities. Fresh-air yoga and Pilates classes will be offered on a secluded lawn that adjoins the beach.

Other spa highlights include:

• 9,300 square feet of space
• 10 treatment rooms, a Vichy shower room, a Ritual room, a couples treatment room
• Full-service salon
• Retail Area with logo and private label
• Full-service restaurant
• 4,000 square foot beachside lawn
• 10-mile boardwalk for walking or running

Combining art, music and history, The Mansion on Forsyth Park, a new luxury hotel, is now open in Savannah, Georgia.

• 8,000 square feet of meeting space
• The Viennese Ballroom which accommodates up to 300 guests.
• The Marble Garden courtyard, ideal for intimate receptions, with palm trees, 200-year old pink Verona columns, a removable tent with chandeliers, and a swimming pool with a water wall.
• The full-service Poseidon Spa and 24-hour fitness center.