Conquering Crisis with Creativity
Creative Brainstorming Part II: Winnowing Ideas
From the Field: Naples Grande Resort
Poll: Do you brainstorm?
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

Conquering Crisis with Creativity
Association of Destination Management Executives (ADME) Achievement Award Winner

It wasn’t much of a challenge: design an upscale casual event for 1,100 people, including 300 children, that encourages networking and keeps a broad range of guests entertained. And, by the way, compensate for a fire one month before the event that eliminated one of the venue’s key selling points.

JPdL Destination Management Toronto pulled it off so well that they not only won top honors in the ADME competition but also had a hard time getting guests to leave well past the event’s ending hour. Grant Snider, JPdL Toronto president, attributes much of the success to his DMC’s skilled operations team that partnered with the venue to save the day after the fire, and ensure the event was a success.

This $200,000 plus insurance company networking event overflowed with creative activities worth stealing or adapting. Here’s more on the Toronto Urban Dock Party.

Creative Brainstorming Part II
Generating Ideas, Zeroing in on the Winner

Need a theme for your next event? Struggling over the best location to meet? Are you stymied by what kind of entertainment you should offer? All these sorts of decisions lend themselves to creative brainstorming to help you find the best fit. Properly done, the brainstorming process produces innovative ideas that are happily doable.

Eric Steidinger, vice president and executive creative director of the August Jackson Company, discussed how to define your audience and goals at the start of the creative process in the February Insider. Now he outlines how to generate a raft of ideas and narrow them down to the winner.

From the Field: Naples Grande Resort, Naples, Florida

The spa gets glowing reviews and is a first on the East Coast. The golf course is ranked among the top clubs in North America. Restaurant critics describe the steak house in such sensual terms, it makes one blush. And even the bartender has been cited as one of the best in the area.

There has been no end of praise in the last year for the Naples Grande Resort, Naples, Florida, following its multi-million dollar revitalization. Consider also the meeting space, 45,000 sq. ft. of it including 26 column-free meeting rooms. And that’s just indoors. Yet to be mentioned are the three miles or pristine white-sand beach overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s more on why the Naples Grand is drawing such praise.

Insider Poll: Do you brainstorm?

Getting a group of brains to think as one can generate a raft of ideas for themes, sessions, teambuilding and more. In the past two Insiders, Eric Steidinger has been describing how to make sure your brainstorming produces ideas that fit your goals, how to generate lots of ideas, and then how to winnow them down to the winning one. (See above.) Is brainstorming a tool you normally use? Take our poll and let us know.

Results of last issue’s poll.
It seems that many of you may have couches in your office to allow you to work longer hours to get your job done. No one claimed that their budget had expanded to help ease the greater workload, and almost no one (5%) said their workload hadn’t increased. If the results below are representative of the industry, meetings professionals sure are a hard working bunch. Here are the results.

Which response below best describes how you are handling an increased workload?

• I am working much longer hours 45%
• I never go home 23%
• I have hired new staff 14%
• I am outsourcing more 14%
• My workload hasn’t increased 5%
• My budget has been expanded to meet my needs 0%

Around the Industry

• DC area airports top on-time arrival/departure lists
  Reagan National in Washington DC was ranked No. 1 in on-time departures with more than 84% of flights on schedule in January, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Baltimore’s BWI/Marshall topped the list for on-time arrivals with 80% of flights landing as scheduled.
  
  For arrivals, Reagan National ranked 2nd with 78.83% landing on time. Baltimore wasn't too far behind in departures either as it ranked seventh in January with 80.16% of flights leaving as promised. Washington Dulles International Airport was further down the list for both arrivals and departures.
  
  Other cities that ranked in the top ten for both arrivals and departures include Cincinnati, and the Florida cities of Tampa, Orlando, and Fort Lauderdale.
  
   
• Switzerland, Austria and Germany Top World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Report
  Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the second annual Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008, released last month by the World Economic Forum. Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, Canada and France complete the top-10 list.
  
  Countries are scored on travel & tourism regulatory framework, business environment and infrastructure, and human cultural and natural resources.
  
  Croatia climbed four places in the poll to 34th, making it more attractive than new members of the European Union from Central and Southeastern Europe. GEP has DMC partners serving all top ten countries and Croatia.
  
   

Krisam & GEP News
Get updates on Krisam Member Hotels & Resorts and GEP Partners here. For more information on any of these Members or Partners below, contact your Krisam or GEP representative directly or email us today.

New Krisam Member Hotels & Resorts

* Livingston, NJ
Westminster Hotel
16,000 sq. feet of meeting space, 231 rooms (including 183 luxuriously appointed guestrooms, 10 Executive suites, and 38 concierge level rooms)

* Singapore, Malaysia
Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd.
(Sister property of The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino) 2,643 sleeping rooms and 1,200,000 sq. feet of meeting space, largest meeting room 80,000 sq. feet. * This property will open in 2009.

* Red Lodge, MT
The Pollard Hotel
40 guest rooms and 3,070 sq. feet of meeting space (three meeting rooms, largest, 1,200 sq. feet).

* Asheville, NC
The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa
512 sleeping rooms Group size max 400 room nights. 53,000 sq. feet, meet and feed 400, largest ballroom is 17,982 sq. feet.

* Vernon, NJ
Grand Cascades Lodge at Crystal Springs
250 guest rooms, studios, and 1- and 2-bedroom suites. 31,286 sq. feet of meeting space and six indoor/outdoor catering venues. Meet & feed, midweek group ceiling is 150-200 rooms.

New GEP Partner
GEP Utah serving Utah and Wyoming


Book a Meeting with Select Krisam Members and Receive an Airfare Credit!
Krisam Group is doing its part to boost the economy with our Economic Stimulus Plan. For newly contracted business booked in 2008, you will receive a $30 airfare credit for every flight you book for your meeting. This offer is available for a limited time only and you must contract with the participating hotel before May 15, 2008. If your meeting qualifies, the credit will be applied to your Master hotel bill upon completion of the meeting and all that is required of you is a copy of your flight manifest!

Restrictions: Business must be contracted by May 15, 2008 and operate before December 31, 2008. Offer cannot be used in conjunction with other promotions. Blackout dates may apply. Two-night minimum required. Only new business for 2008 is eligible. Only one flight credit per attendee, based on single occupancy.

From Cancun to Chicago, San Francisco to New York, click here to see the list of fabulous properties you can choose from to qualify.

Spaces still open on Fam trips to Chile
GEP Partner, Condor Travel Chile, along with several partners, is organizing Fam trips during the months of April and May. A few spaces were still open as of this writing. If you are interested in any of these, please contact your GEP sales representative for more details.
April 25 – May 1 Santiago & Explora Atacama
May 25-31 Santiago & Easter Island

GEP member DMCs win top honors at ADME
GEP member DMCs walked away with four awards and a host of finalist nominations at the ADME Annual Meeting's Achievement Awards ceremony last month in New Orleans. The winners, whose stories will be featured in The Event Insider, are:

• Atlanta Arrangements (2 awards): Best Tour Program and DMC Professional of the Year (Susan Henderson)
• Destination Nashville: Best Innovative Event, $50,001 - $100,000
• JPdL Toronto - Best Innovative Event, $200,001 and above (See story above)