Bountiful Benefits of Meetings at Sea
Top Five Stories of 2004
Editor's Pick of Top Team Building Ideas
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

Bountiful Benefits of Meetings at Sea
An interview with Nancy Lacy, CEO, OceanMeetings

Surprisingly, 85% of the U.S. population has never taken a cruise. That one fact gives you a great incentive to consider a cruise meeting if you'd like to offer something truly different. "Recently, we planned an education cruise where the client told us to expect about 125 registrants," Nancy Lacy of OceanMeetings, relates. "We ended up with 522. The chance to cruise Alaska was that appealing."

This time of the year when the weather is cold and gray, just the word "cruise" warms the heart and inspires daydreaming. A cruise appeals not only to the passengers, but to meeting planners as well when they learn how hassle-free it can be for them. Challenges such as attrition and menu planning become nearly non-existent. Sound good? Learn more about planning your next meeting on a cruise.

Best Advice from the Top 5 Event Insider Stories
Tipping, wine selection, boosting attendance, gifts, small event themes

You chose them --the top five Event Insider stories of 2004 -- based on how many of you clicked through to read more. As a useful recap, here is one piece of helpful advice from each story. If you read the story, it could be a timely reminder. If you missed the article, you may want to read the whole thing now. Best wishes for a most successful New Year!

Tips on Tipping: Parts I and II
An interview with event planner and author Colleen Rickenbacher
"Be attentive. Listen for clues," Colleen advises, and consider gifts, rather than cash, for higher level staffers such as CSMs, CVBs, and those who can't accept tips." When tipping maids in a hotel, be sure to do it on a daily basis," Colleen recommends, as shifts change and you could miss someone. More on specifics for tipping during meetings and tipping during business travel.

How to Select Wine and Turn it Into an Event Itself
An interview with Mark Jensen, wine director, Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley, California
In a typical six-course meal, Mark explains, you would serve three whites, two reds, and one dessert wine. In this case, plan for one bottle per person, including the reception. (This is based on 3 ounces per glass.) Continue for which wine with what?

10 Creative Ways to Boost Your Conference Attendance
An interview with association marketer Rick Whelan
Brand your conference. Why change the whole design of your conference promotion every year? Stick with one logo and build loyalty with it, Rick recommends. Read more on boosting conference attendance.

23 Novel Gift Ideas Plus Inspiration for More
Give a gift with "staying" power. Make it useful - if giving a food gift, use a unique container that can be used in the office environment - a subtle reminder of your company. EMS and Originality, Inc. offer specific gift ideas and advice.

Three Great Ideas for Small Group Events
Boats, trains, and lowcountry cooking
Imagine returning home with your own skiff - one that you and your colleagues built with a little help from a friendly expert. The Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michael's, Maryland, can launch the skiff-building event for you. What a team building exercise! Learn more about boat building and other small group events.

Editor's Pick: Top 2004 Team Building or Networking Ideas
Seven team-building ideas for indoors and out.

Here is a summary of seven of the best team building and networking ideas we reported on in 2004. Though some are connected to their specific location, most can be adapted with a little creativity to work anywhere. Scavenger hunt. Photo hunt. Curling. Snow golf. Sandcastle building. Take a look.

Question of the Month: How do you plan to spend New Year's Eve?

"What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve" may be a question you'd rather not answer. The pressure is great to go out and paint the town while the instinct may be to curl up and ignore the year-end revelry. Which camp do you fall in? Take the poll and check next month to see if your style coincides with other meeting planners.

Please respond by January 2nd and we'll include the results in the next newsletter.

Last month's poll results: Which medium gets the best results when sending out an invitation? (Select your top two)

• Printed Invitation 15%
• Personal Letter 7%
• Post Card 2%
• E-Vite 13%
• E-Mail 7%
• Phone Call 13%
• Printed Invite/E-mail 18%
• Printed Invite/Postcard 5%
• Printed Invite/Phone call 15%

Around the Industry

• Ships rate high with ICPA meeting planners. At the recent ICPA Annual Conference in Hawaii, attendees expressed quite an interest in both holding and attending meetings on board cruise ships. The insurance and financial industry meeting planners were polled on a number of topics during an interactive session. Some key results on a range of topics are:
  • Nearly 49% have planned meetings on cruise ships and nearly 27% who haven't would consider it.
  • More than 87% say their company would support their attendance at an annual conference on a cruise ship, while 74% say their company would support attendance at a conference overseas.
  • Only 8.4% report that their procurement area gets involved in sourcing for meetings
  • 67% report using on-line registration and 96.5% of those say it is more efficient. 
    Get more results (PDF format).
• No passport smiles. The State Department has issued guidelines to photographers who take passport photos instructing them not to have their clients smile. Designed to make identification easier, the directions specify: "The photo should show a clear, front view, full face of the customer...The customer should have a natural expression, mouth closed, and eyes open and looking directly ahead."
• Air travel up. Southwest no. 1 U.S. airlines carried 7.5 percent more domestic passengers and flew 3.7 percent more domestic flights during the first nine months of this year than they did during the same period last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported. Southwest Airlines carried the most passengers during that period while Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport was the busiest. July was the most active month. Get the top ten airports and airlines.
• In-air hand-held entertainment. American Airlines has introduced a new hand-held Personal Entertainment Device that offers a wide variety of on-demand entertainment content, including movies, TV shows, games and electronic newspapers and books. This in-flight entertainment concept will be tested on select flights in several markets during the next three months. Free in the First Class cabin, the devices will be rented for $10 to $12 in the Main cabin.
• Outsourcing Advice. A story in the Insurance Conference Planner offers some case histories and good advice on outsourcing some aspects of meeting planning.

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.

Nine Zero Boston offers great December rates
Nine Zero, a luxury, boutique hotel in Boston, is offering a special $99 rate available from Dec. 16 thorough Dec. 31, 2004. A minimum number of 5 guest rooms must be booked to access the special rate, which is net, non-commissionable. Nine Zero, AAA Four Diamond rated, is situated in downtown's Ladder District, just steps away from the Boston Common, the Financial District, Faneuil Hall, the Quincy Market, and the Broadway Theater.

LSO presents winter resort packages
For your next incentive or meeting, LSO International, a leading destination and event management company in France and Monaco, suggests a selection of winter resorts in the French Alps with packages or special offers.

Locations range from the trendy and show business resorts of Courchevel and Megève to the sport oriented stations such as Chamonix and Val d'Isère. Activities include alpine and cross country skiing, snowboarding, husky ride, ice go-kart, bobsleigh, snow shoe hiking, snowmobile as well as spa treatments, scenic flights, and more.

Choose from a selection of chalet style hotels, genuine mountain farm gastronomy, sports and other diversions, and lively night life.

Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa Plans Grand Reopening
The Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa will hold a grand reopening on Feb. 1, 2005, after an extensive interior remodeling, according to Brian Holly, managing director. The bayside resort in Fort Myers, Fla., overlooking Sanibel and Captiva Islands, sustained wind and rain damage during Hurricane Charley. The remodeling includes redecoration of guest rooms, lobby, meeting space and other common areas, as well as a reconcepting of its restaurants and lounges.

The former Tarpon House Inn has been creating memories and providing outstanding service since the early 1900s, with legendary guests such as Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa has earned the AAA Four-Diamond Award for 12 consecutive years.

The resort offers 401 spacious rooms, suites and condominiums, all with breathtaking views of Sanibel and Captiva islands. Amenities include a 45,000 sf waterfront meeting and banquet facility and centrally located business center, a 40,000 sf world-class spa, championship tennis complex, bayside beach and marina, supervised children's programs three restaurants, and the Sanibel Harbour Princess, a private 100-foot yacht featuring nightly sunset dinner cruises.

Susan Henderson named ACVB Member of the Year
Susan Henderson, president, Atlanta Arrangements, Inc. was recently named the 2004 Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) Member of the Year. The award is given to an individual who embodies and promotes the spirit of hospitality. 

Hideaway Report praises The Sanctuary
Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report, the subscription-based guide for the luxury travel connoisseur, has published a glowing front-page review of The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island in its December issue under the headline "A Splendid New South Carolina Seaside Gem."

Andrew Harper has been circling the globe incognito for over two decades to provide his readers valuable inside information on the best luxury hotels and secret hideaways.

The Sanctuary review is unusual for Hideaway Report because of its complete endorsement of the 255-room luxury oceanfront resort, which opened in August 2004. The review includes the following quote:

"Its exceptional amenities aside, The Sanctuary also excels when it comes to understanding what the hospitality business is supposed to be all about. Indeed, the soul of any truly great hotel radiates from its personnel. And that is what is extraordinary about this newly opened property - its attentive and unpretentiously charming house-proud staff offering a level of warmhearted, upbeat service one often associates with long-established five-star hotels."

New DMC in Portugal opens and joins Global Events Partners
Global Events Partners has added the newly created DMC company, Plano - Global Events Portugal, DMC, as its new partner in Portugal. Plano is a brand-new company but its managing directors Manuel Paixao and Carla Martins are long-time former executives of Intervisa Travel, DMC, according to Chris White, chairman & CEO of GEP. Plano will specialize in the meetings, incentives, conferences and events industry and continue to serve clients they have been servicing for years.

New GEP Partner
* Plano - Global Events Portugal, DMC

Upcoming Industry Events - 2005