Conference City Gem
Dream Spot in Tuscany
Winning Spouses Tour
Poll: Do you give back?
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

A Conference City Gem Worth a New Look

Where can you book a conference for 750 to 1,000 attendees and essentially have a lively, downtown all to yourself?

Where can you stroll the streets once walked by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?

Where can you view art of the American west and of the French Impressionist movement?

Where can you go to the opera; see a hit show; and witness a cattle drive?

The virtues of this friendly city will expand even more when in January 2009 a sensational new conference hotel opens there. And the city is....

A Dream Spot in Tuscany
A heavenly haven for small groups

In the movie, “Enchanted April,” two British women, weary of the dreary English weather, rent a villa in Italy. They arrive late at night and go straight to bed. In the morning, they arise and fling open their windows to see a magnificent sun-drenched Italian countryside. It is a moment of pure joy and magic.

Borgo Finocchieto inspires similar feelings of near rapture. It is a picture perfect retreat that matches every dream of Tuscany one could ever have. When Chris White, CEO of GEP calls a place “one of the most charming resorts / conference facilities in the world,” that is high praise indeed.

See why this frequent world traveler was so charmed by Borgo.

Winning Spouse Tour
ADME Best Tour Program Award

The wives who accompany their husbands to the annual conference of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry are a well-traveled, sophisticated bunch. So, Atlanta Arrangements was challenged to come up with a three-day GEM (Greet, Eat, Meet) spouse tour that would impress a hard-to-impress group. They aimed not only to entertain and educate but to help the women interact and bond over some unique activities. Combining flower power, local flavor and fashion they won over the women and the judges at ADME. Here’s how.

Insider Poll: Do your events give back?

New Orleans, Iowa, Thailand – thanks to a spurt of natural disasters in recent years, many localities in the U.S. and abroad provide some excellent opportunities for the meetings industry to give back to the community where they may be convening. In other areas, children or even whole villages can benefit from a little special help from visitors. Have you built some projects that give back into your meetings recently? Let us know and we’ll be reporting soon on ideas you may be able to adapt that will do good while making your guests feel good. Take our poll.

Results from the Last Issue’s Poll: What’s your favorite food?
The Event Insider readers agree with the results of the Zagat Poll, Italian is their favorite food, running nearly 10 percentage points ahead of number two – Tex-Mex. It seems that not many planners are vegetarians as it was tied for last with Middle Eastern, and the ringer, Breakfast, that was thrown in. See the complete results below.

What’s your favorite food? (Check your top two)

• Italian -- 25%
• Tex-Mex -- 16%
• Asian -- 14%
• Indian -- 13%
• French -- 9%
• American -- 7%
• Spanish -- 7%
• Other -- 4%
• Middle Eastern -- 2%
• Vegetarian -- 2%
• Breakfast -- 2%

Around the Industry

• Fast Company Names Chicago U.S. City of the Year
  Fast Company magazine named Chicago U.S. City of the Year and London Global City of the Year in its annual fast cities list. The magazine cited Chicago’s growing economy, creativity, environmental policy, politics, architecture, and music as areas that make it stand out. London was cited for its museums, theater, music venues, bars, and public libraries.
  
  Among those on the magazine’s 2008 Cities to Watch were Calgary, Kansas City, Mexico City, Orlando, and Seattle in North America and Abu Dhabi, UAE; Barcelona, Spain; Beijing, China; Doha, Qatar; Hyderabad, India; Kigali, Rwanda; Moscow, Russia, elsewhere in the world.
  
   
• Russia prepares for 2014 Olympics
  The Black Sea resort town of Sochi and the modest Caucasus Ski Resort of Krasnaya Polyana are being transformed in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
  
  Four new airports are being built to accommodate visitors, the Sochi harbor is being expanded to host more yachts and cruise ships, and a high speed train will run from Moscow to Sochi. An artificial island, named Federation Island, is being created and will have a residential area, hotels, restaurants, malls, yacht parking and various sea attractions including an aquarium and oceanarium.
  
  Krasnaya Polyana, which recently had but one ski lift and one international chain hotel, will soon be able to handle 10,500 skiers a day with ample high speed ski lifts, lodging, restaurants, and entertainment.
  
  Thanks to the construction for the Olympics, Sochi offers an increasing number of top facilities for meetings today, reports Ola Kastensson, MPI, SITE, IHM, CHA, MIH, managing director of GEP partner Russkie Prostori . For more on this hot new location, contact your GEP representative.
  
   
• Share Hotel Ratings on Meeting Collaborative
  Meetings Collaborative is a new free website where planners share their reviews of hotels they have used. The site includes listings for 1,200 hotels in 33 major North American meetings markets. Registered users are invited to share comments on these properties based on their experience with groups. All reviews use multiple criteria to render an overall rating, which is based on a 1-5 scale. Unlimited comment space is provided. The site also plans to list 1,100 meeting-related technologies organized in 44 categories. Visit www.meetingscollaborative.com.
  
   

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

* Burj Al Arab – Dubai, UAE
202 guest rooms; 5,965 square feet of meeting space

* Jumeirah Beach Hotel – Dubai, UAE
600 guest rooms; 19,580 square feet of meeting space

* Madinat Jumeirah – Dubai, UAE
867 guest rooms; 98,000 square feet of meeting space

* Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa – Dubai, UAE
113 rooms; 1,440 square feet of meeting space

* Jumeirah Emirates Towers Dubai – Dubai, UAE
400 guest rooms; 24,000 square feet of meeting space

* Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate – ChampionsGate, FL
720 guest rooms; 83,300 square feet of meeting space

* Mondrian South Beach Hotel – Miami, FL
Opening December 2008, 2,400 square feet of meeting space

* Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel – Hollywood, CA
300 rooms, 14,000 square feet of meeting space

* Pan Pacific Orchard – Singapore
206 guest rooms; 2,475 square feet

* Pan Pacific Singapore – Singapore
775 guest rooms; 31,969 square feet

* Pan Pacific Seattle – Seattle, WA
160 guest rooms; 6,501 square feet

* Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside – Whistler, Canada
121 guest rooms; 650 square feet

* Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre – Whistler, Canada
83 guest rooms; 950 square feet

* Pan Pacific Vancouver – Vancouver, Canada
504 guest rooms; 42,000 square feet

* Salamander Resort – Middleburg, VA Opening early 2010
168 guest rooms; 10,000 square feet

* InterContinental Harbor Court Baltimore – Baltimore, MD
195 guest rooms; 10,000 square feet

Download a complete listing (PDF format) of Krisam Member Hotels & Resorts.


New GEP Partners

* 1001 Events serving Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman & United Arab Emirates
* IDG - India Destination Group serving India
* Motiv Prague serving Czech Republic
* @dmire Meetings Incentives Conferences Events serving Belgium


Laurel Rhoads-McCarthy Heads MPI Chicago Chapter
Laurel Rhoads-McCarthy, CMP, director of sales, Krisam Group, Chicago office, has assumed the presidency of the Chicago Chapter of Meeting Planners International. With 1,400 members, the Midwest Chapter is the largest in the world.

Destination Nashville and GEP Philly Receive ADME Certification
Destination Nashville has earned the coveted accreditation certification of Charter ADMC (Accredited Destination Management Company), and GEP Philly the ADMC designation from the Association of Destination Management Executives.

GEP Philly is the only DMC in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware with the designation. Destination Nashville and GEP Philly join a small number of DMCs worldwide (only 33 companies) that have been accredited. GEP Partners Atlanta Arrangements and Destination King, Memphis, also hold the accreditation.

ADME's Destination Management Company Accreditation program is designed to elevate professional standards and designate firms that demonstrate advanced knowledge and experience in their field and assist the meeting planning community in identifying the highest quality DMC providers.

Empire Force Wins Two Top ISES Awards
Empire Force Events won two top honors at the 7th Annual Big Apple Awards from the International Special Events Society (ISES) New York Metro Chapter in June.

They received Best Table Top Design for “Coming to Life” and Best “Green Initiative” for “C.O.R.E. Initiative.”

Also during the 20th Anniversary Gala celebration, Empire Force’s Jaclyn Bernstein, DMCP, and Robert W. Hulsmeyer, CSEP, CMP, DMCP, were among 20 recognized for their support and contributions to the overall events industry through education, advanced industry standards and best practices.

Glamour Destination Management Rebrands and Expands to the Caribbean
Glamour Tours, Jamaica’s leading destination management tour company, recently launched operation in Cayman and Turks & Caicos offering service to the wider Caribbean. Noted as a pioneer in destination and transportation management service in Jamaica, the 21-year-old company has changed its name from Glamour Tours that highlighted its tour services to Glamour Destination Management, to reflect its status as a full service DMC.

Krisam Group & GEP Partner with IEP
Krisam Group & GEP have formed a new partnership with IEP, Innovative Event Productions, with headquarters in Laurel, MD. For over 15 years IEP has worked with Fortune 500 companies, associations, governmental agencies and non-profits. IEP is a full-resource, award-winning production company. They provide Event Consultation, Creative Services, Audio, Video, Lighting, Audiovisual services and Headline Entertainment.

Affinia Chicago Opens New Restaurant and Bar
Affinia Chicago has recently completed construction and announced the opening of C-House and C-View, their restaurant and rooftop bar. C-House was rated number one out of the “Top 10 Most-Anticipated Openings” of 2008 by CS Magazine. Created by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, the restaurant delivers traditional seafood in a sleek, yet rustic setting. These finishing touches make the sophisticated, urban hotel of 215 rooms and suites an ever better location for meetings.

Crowne Plaza Times Square $90 Million Redo Nears Completion
Crowne Plaza Times Square is undergoing a $90 million renovation that will include all public space, guest rooms, and meeting and event facilities. Renovations will be completed September 15, 2008 and the Times Square property will serve as the prototype for the reinvented Crowne Plaza brand.

The 46th floor will be a butler floor providing traditional butler services and a lounge with breakfast, lunch, snacks and a mini-bar. Included with the services provided for guests of the 46th floor are round-trip airport transfers. The 45th through 40th floors will be concierge level floors and the property will have 24-hour room service and a 24-hour Bistro.

Half Moon Receives Three Key Honors
Half Moon Resort, Jamaica, has received key honors from a trio of magazines in both the consumer and business markets.

Half Moon received the distinction of being the only resort in Jamaica to be named among the top ten luxury hotels in the Caribbean, on Celebrated Living Reader’s Choice Platinum list. Celebrated Living is American Airlines first and business class magazine. It reaches approximately 3.1 million luxury travelers.

The resort captured The Gold Tee Award, given to the very “best of the best” meeting properties worldwide, based on overall professionalism and quality as voted by Meetings and Conventions readers.

Travel + Leisure has named Half Moon to the magazine’s 2008 World’s Best List. Amassing a score of 82.86%, Half Moon ranks among the best resorts in the Caribbean, Bermuda and the Bahamas.

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