Meeting Industry Education: Giving Back and Receiving
Cook, Cruise, Vroom
Planners and DMCs Talk About Each Other
From the Field: Lansdowne Resort, near Washington, D.C.
Poll: Airports: How can they improve?
Around the Industry: Promote with Postage and more
Krisam & GEP News

Meeting Industry Education: Giving Back and Receiving

“This is an exciting career path. It’s a wonderful life. You can make a good income.” So says Chris White, GEP/Krisam CEO, when he talks to college students about the nature of careers in destination and hotel management. “I believe in giving back,” Chris says, as he explains why he’s been on the college lecture circuit lately.

The hotel and hospitality industry is well represented in university curriculums today, but the specialties of destination management and event planning are rarer mentions. Chris is helping rectify that and invites you to join in. Here’s how to help raise awareness of your field and get help if you want to further your education and skills.

Cook, Cruise, Vroom
Three memorable new activities to experience abroad

Take a friendly cooking class in Florence. Cruise the fabled Nile. Do some easy riding in Portugal. Three countries, three possibilities for memorable group events from GEP partners. The truly adventurous can try their skill at motorcycle racing. The culinarily inclined can learn some new dishes and techniques. While those looking simply to relax can watch an ancient world go by from the deck of a luxury boat. Here are three novel ideas to consider.

Planners and DMCs Talk About Each Other

When it comes to DMCs, planners say their biggest challenge is understanding cost and pricing. As for DMCs, they wish planners could better understand how much time and labor it takes to do their job. It all boils down to the need for straight talk between the two industry partners.

GEP surveyed scores of clients and GEP DMC partners to see what their current thoughts and needs were. The results reveal how DMCs can ease clients’ concerns and make themselves better understood. They also help clarify for clients what they are buying when they work with a DMC.

Why use a DMC? What would you most like to see them offer? What is your biggest challenge in working with a DMC? Are these answers similar to yours?

From the Field: Lansdowne Resort, near Washington, D.C.

“Gorgeous rooms.” “Awesome terrace.” “Great conference center property.” The field reports couldn’t be more glowing for the Lansdowne Resort in the Virginia countryside just minutes from Dulles International Airport. Two golf courses (and a third soon), five swimming pools, a spa, and meeting space for up to 800 are just the beginning of the amenities you’ll find there. How about ergonomic chairs...and skylights and...
Check out Lansdowne Resort.




Poll: Airports - How Can They Improve?

More napping nooks, capsule rooms and healthy snacks were three items on Harriet Baskas’ airport wish list published recently in the USA Today travel section. As a frequent traveler, how do your priorities compare with hers? Please take our survey and let’s hope someone in the industry is listening. After voting, check out Baskas’ column and feedback.

Last month's poll results: What was your college major?
People enter the meetings industry from many different routes, even “science” according to the results of our last survey. Readers were asked to name their college major. Unfortunately, the top response was “other” so we can’t tell what the most common major was. However, “communications/marketing” came in just one percentage point behind at 27%. Hospitality wasn’t a high scorer. Perhaps that will change as more and more universities build strong hotel and hospitality programs that include event planning. See “Meetings Industry Education: Giving Back and Getting” in this issue.

What was your college major?

• Other - 28%
• Communications / Marketing - 27%
• English - 11%
• Business - 11%
• Hospitality - 9%
• No college - 9%
• Science - 5%

Around the Industry

• Use your postage to promote your event. Logos and promotional messages have now been approved for use on create-your-own legal U.S. postage. Such special stamps would be ideal for mailings announcing events and incentives or product launches. With a little creativity they could also be powerfully personal gifts for guests. They can be ordered in sheets of 20 or on production rolls for high-volume mailing. Authorized suppliers of customized postage are:
  * Endicia.com * Stamps.com * Zazzle.com
• Flyers rank airports. Las Vegas McCarran , New York’s LaGuardia, and Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby (tie) ranked highest in overall passenger satisfaction (large, medium and small airports, respectively) in the latest J.D. Power and Associates and Aviation Week study. The 2006 North America Airport Satisfaction Study also found:
  • Average wait times of 13 minutes for check-in and 17.3 minutes for baggage claim
  • 47 % of passengers purchase food and beverage at the airport—a decline from 54 % in 2004.
  • 20 % of travelers indicate they purchased retail items at the airport—down from 37 % in 2004.
  • Passengers traveling for leisure are more satisfied with their airport experience than business travelers.
  • Female travelers are more satisfied with their airport experience compared to male travelers.
  • 16 % of passengers go online and print out a boarding pass—up from just 5 % in 2004.
  • 27 % of passengers use a self-service check-in kiosk—up from 18 % in 2004.
• How to deal with difficult people. Zoo Management: Uncommon Conflict Resolution with Tough Critters This title can’t help but stand out on the MPI website among on-line course offerings. Presented by Philip Chard, the description of the 55-minute class says in part...
  This session will provide ... effective methods for managing conflict with aggressive, manipulative and difficult people in the workplace, both on a one-to-one basis and in group situations. ... being reasonable fails with intimidating, manipulative or narcissistic people. Dealing with the “tough critters” requires creative, high-impact methods that neutralize the psychological power wielded by “impossible people.” Register for the online course "Zoo Management: Uncommon Conflict Resolution with Tough Critters".
• Airlines alter boarding methods. Northwest Airlines has begun offering special boarding lanes for its premium and its Elite status frequent flyers at airports around the U.S. The lanes, which allow the best customers to board whenever they are ready, comes after a switch to “open boarding” earlier in the year. Open boarding for the bulk of tourist class passengers replaces boarding by rows. Northwest says that studies show open boarding reduces congestion and boarding time by an average of 7 minutes. Other airlines are also changing their boarding systems, following various studies including several that show “outside in” (window seats first) to be the most efficient. Here’s an interesting chart from USA Today on airline by airline boarding approaches.
• Maui beach named best. Fleming Beach Park, Maui, Hawaii, took the number on spot in the 16th annual Top 10 Beaches rankings produced by Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research. Fifty criteria are used to evaluate beaches including water and sand quality as well as facilities and management. Rounding out the top five are: 2) Caladesi Island State Park Dunedin, Florida; 3) Ocracoke Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina; 4) Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York; and 5) Hanalei Beach, Kauai, Hawaii. See the rest.
• Light drinks for a slimmer summer. AOL featured five summer drinks that are easiest on calories in a recent report. The pleasing but not-too-filling fares were:
  Mimosa: 130 calories
  Wine Spritzer: about 60 calories
  Sangria: about 80 calories
  Bloody Mary: about 120 calories
  Wine: 125 calories
  Check here for the not-so-hot drinks for summer.

Upcoming sessions include:
August 5: Cocktails and Canapés: Greg Portsche of Sanctuary’s jade bar, joins Chef MacMillan for an afternoon of “cocktails and canapés,” exploring tasty cocktails and culinary delights.
August 12: East Meets West: Ming Tsai, executive chef and owner of the Blue Ginger restaurant (Wellesley, MA) presents a “Shrimp Master Class,” from the Simply Ming television series.
August 19: Olive Oils from Around the World: Perry Rea, owner and master blender of Queen Creek Olive Mill, explores olive oils from around the world. The only olive oil producer in Arizona, Rea and Chef MacMillan reveal the fruit’s complex flavor and show guests how it can enhance a variety of dishes.
Sunday, August 27: Brunch & Bubbles Finale: Chuck Wiley, culinary director for Westroc Hospitality and executive chef of Café ZuZu and Trader Vics at Hotel Valley Ho, and Chef MacMillan will discuss sparkling wines during this special summer luncheon.

Krisam Group adds to Chicago office and opens a new territory
Traci Baxter has joined the Krisam Group Chicago team to expand services in the Central States. She will be working remotely out of Louisville, Kentucky.

Traci brings great experience from hotels AND the customer side. Most recently she prospected, developed and serviced national organizations with Monumental Meetings. Her contact details will be available soon.

Global Events Partners inaugurates a US Tour called GEP WEEK
This spring, GEP and three teams representing 30 DMCs from around the world embarked on a U.S. Tour visiting 1,000 customers in 12 cities in 4 days.

The goal was to address customers’ concerns, exchange business practices, answer burning questions regarding DMCs, and strengthen relationships based on the commitment to partnership within our industry.

Customer profiles covered the gamut - incentive houses, meeting management companies, corporate accounts and major associations.

The overall “tour” revealed that customer’s primary criteria when choosing a DMC were: responsiveness, program delivery, value compared to cost, local market knowledge and expertise, and creativity.

Stay tuned for more information about the next GEP Week.

Atlanta Arrangements adds three to staff
Atlanta Arrangements, Inc. recently named Kathy Gibbons as transportation ops manager, Andrew Morgan as program manager, and Lee Anne Akers as operations assistant.

Kathy brings over 12 years of experience in transportation and meeting management to the position. Most recently, she served as the meeting and travel coordinator for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where she planned, executed and managed nine annual division meetings with attendance ranging from 150 to 7,000 employees. She is a graduate of American University .

Andrew arrives at Atlanta Arrangements after an internship with the BellSouth Classic golf tournament as an assistant to the marketing director. His experience includes responsibility for over $4 million of sponsor merchandise, planning the pre and post tournaments, and coordinating sponsor representatives as a team leader for the Family Circle Cup, the largest women’s professional tennis tournament. Andrew is a graduate of Georgia Southern University.

Lee Anne was most recently the assistant scheduler and director of constituent services for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in Washington D.C. Her previous experience includes social event planning as a summer associate at the Public Forum Institute in Washington D.C., a team leader for the National Senatorial Republican committee, and as a volunteer for the Bush-Cheney campaign. Akers graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Upcoming Industry Events - 2006