In This Issue

Selecting Successful Speakers
10 Reasons to Host a Meeting in Canada
Meeting Planners and Hazardous Waste Workers
You've Got a Lot to Give
Where Do You Find Speakers?
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

Selecting Successful Speakers
Advice from Gwendolyn King, president, Podium Prose

It's the convention organizer's worst nightmare, and it happens more often than it should. Convention attendees eagerly await the keynote speech, to be delivered by a well-known figure, someone who's seen with a degree of regularity on the television talk shows. A few minutes after the speech begins, though, the aura of excitement in the ballroom gives way to audible murmurs of discontent.

"I don't think he knows anything about our issues."

"Why is he talking about subjects that don't have anything to do with us?"

"This speech sounds canned. Does he even know who we are and what we do?"

If this situation feels too familiar to you, here's help on how to book successful speakers every time.

Ten Reasons to Host a Meeting in Canada, and more.
Dix raisons pour organiser une réunion au Canada, et plus

Looking for something new and different in the way of a meeting location? And wouldn't it be nice if the place had an international flavor but cost less than most domestic locales? How about a bustling city for a large conference? Or a quaint city for a select group you really want to impress? Or a spectacular resort for a private retreat?

Check out two of many possible Canadian scenarios:

1. Roam the cobblestone streets of Quebec City and French accents surround you. "Moules et Frites" signs cry out from numerous tempting sidewalk cafes. Every building is historic. You can imagine yourself in an ancient city in France. Yet, your flight didn't cross an ocean and nearly everyone speaks English to you. The best of all worlds.

2. On a free afternoon from your conference in western Canada, you head to the golf course where the distractions are incredible, but as rewarding as shooting par. The Rockies surround you with views that define the word breathtaking. You share this cultivated wilderness with regal elk who remind you how far away you are from your office.

Read on for ten more reasons to visit Canada, five distinct locations, and ten creative activities.

Meeting Planners, Hazardous Waste Workers, and the Mob!

In case you haven't heard, meeting planners are part of an exclusive group in the American workforce. They are in one of only five job categories where women earn the same or more than men. According to the Census Bureau, the comparisons are as follows: hazardous material removal workers, women earn $1.09 for every $1.00 earned by a man; telecommunications line installers and repairers, women earn slightly more; and meeting and convention planners, dining room or cafeteria workers, and construction trade helpers, women earn exactly the same as men. In all job categories, women earned less than 74 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

The profession landed in even more curious company in the season finale of HBO's, "The Sopranos". It seems Tony Soprano's college bound son has expressed an interest in event planning as an occupation. The new and final season is 18 months off, so we'll all have to wonder.

Download the "Earnings by Occupation" Census Report (PDF).

You've Got a Lot to Give

The Event Planners Forum is getting lots of visits, but, you all are being too shy. You've got some good advice to give. Please join in the discussion. Tell us how you solved a problem, or tell us what to avoid. Or ask a tough question and see if you get a rousing debate going.

The forum is easy to use and can be completely anonymous. To register all you have to give is a screen name, a password, and an e-mail address which can be kept private. To participate, you simply click on a subject, then on "reply" to add your wisdom. Or click on "Start new subject" to introduce something new.

Two hot topics currently in the Forum are discussions on food and beverage guarantees and attrition. Take a moment now to add your two cents in the Planners Forum. It's free.

Question of the Month: Where Do You Find Speakers?
This month's poll question is: How do you find speakers for your meetings? They can make or break a meeting. They may be terrific talkers, but so irrelevant, the audience gets bored anyway. Take the poll at left and let us know how you find speakers.

Please respond by July 15th. Results will be published in the next newsletter.

Last month's poll results:

What is your wine of personal choice?

• Cabernet Sauvignon 15%
• Merlot 19%
• Chardonnay 15%
• Sauvignon Blanc 13%
• Pinot Gris 6%
• Other 12%
• Don't drink wine 2%

Around the Industry

• Overseas Travel to Canada Increases: Travel to Canada from overseas countries jumped 5.0% in April 2004 compared with March. This was the highest month for overseas travel to Canada since February 2002, according to Statistics Canada. Total travel increased in 8 of Canada's top 12 overseas markets. Visitors from South Korea led the way with a 19.8% jump compared with March; Taiwan followed with a 14.4% increase. Other positive April results suggesting a slight recovery for the travel industry:
  * 1.6 million overnight visitors came to Canada, an increase of 2.6% and the highest monthly total since January 2003
  * overnight trips by Americans increased 1.8%
  * travel to Canada from the U.S. increased 4.4% from April 2004 over April 2003
• Great Lakes High Speed Ferries: Both Lakes Michigan and Ontario were scheduled to get new high speed passenger and car ferry service this month. The Lake Express providing a two and a half hour trip between Muskegon, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, premiered on June 1, avoiding traffic snarls through Chicago. Meanwhile The Breeze was set for its first public run on June 19 between Rochester, NY and Toronto, Ontario, with a crossing time of 2 and 15 minutes. Get more information on either the Michigan-Wisconsin ferry or the Toronto-Rochester ferry.
• Reducing Summer Delays: You can't carry a baseball bat onto an airplane, but you can check it. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is trying to get the word out on prohibited items and passenger behavior that add to delays during the busy summer season. To help travelers help themselves, the TSA has a website full of advice. Check out the prohibited list and more. By the way, they continue to intercept more than 500,000 prohibited items each month. That's one reason your line is so long.
• Airline Fares Up from 2002: The Air Travel Price Index (ATPI) rose 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003 from the same period in 2002, the second consecutive year-to-year increase, the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported. Kahului, HI, experienced the largest year-to-year fare increase among major cities at 23.2 percent, while Milwaukee showed the biggest drop at 6.2 percent. Get additional information on indexes for foreign-origin itineraries, the top 30 air travel markets, and more.
• Flight News: Seattle airport expands. Sea-Tac Airport has opened its new 2,102-foot Concourse A which includes 14 airline gates, a dozen new restaurants and shops, and the airport's first moving sidewalks. Continental wins. The annual Official Airline Guide Airline of the Year results are in with Continental taking the top honor. Check out winners in other categories. But Midwest wins. Meanwhile in a survey done by Travel & Leisure magazine of its subscribers, Midwest won the 'best-in-USA' award. For other honors in that competition including world's best city, island, hotel, and tour operator, see Travel & Leisure magazine. O'Hare wins and loses. In its continuing effort to reduce delays at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, The FAA has cut in half the distance between planes landing and taking off on two intersecting runways. The move increases by 10 the number of flights that can be handled in an hour.

Krisam & GEP News
Updates on Krisam member properties & GEP partners.

New Krisam West Coast Office Opens.
Christie Post has officially opened the new Krisam Portland office in Oregon, serving the Northern California, Seattle, and Portland region.

The office's new director of sales, Christie is a former sales manager of the Krisam New York office, and most recently worked with the Ritz Carlton-Huntington Hotel & Spa, Pasadena, California.

Contact Information for Krisam Portland:
Christie Post, Director of Sales
Krisam Portland
P.O. Box 2370
Portland, OR 97208-2370
Phone: 1-503-635-6760 and 1-800-813-9297
Email: christie_post@krisam.com

Kerzner Properties Win Reader Kudos.
The summer 2004 issue of Celebrated Living Magazine (American Airlines Premium Class Passengers) features their Reader's Choice Platinum List. Three Kerzner/One & Only properties won honors, according to Katrina E. Jacob, national sales manager. The following accolades were bestowed:

Top 10 Caribbean Hotels - Atlantis, Bahamas - FIRST PLACE
Top 20 Worldwide Golf Courses - Ocean Club Golf Course, Paradise Island, US - TENTH PLACE
Top 10 Mexico/Central & South America Hotels - One&Only Palmilla, Los Cabos/San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico - SIXTH PLACE

New Restaurant Opens at Keswick Hall.
Keswick Hall at Monticello, near Charlottesville, VA, has opened a new 70-seat restaurant, Fossett's, named in honor of Thomas Jefferson's chief cook at Monticello, Edith Fossett (1787-1854). During the mild weather months, Fossett's will offer al fresco terrace seating overlooking the Arnold Palmer signature golf course.

Fossett's will also feature an adjacent bar, set to open in late summer, offering a tapas menu, signature and specialty drinks, and terrace seating. Special culinary wine weekends are planned for 2005, which will include accommodation, wine tasting, cooking classes and gourmet tasting menus.

The 48-room Keswick Hall and Keswick Club includes a private helipad and hot air balloon expeditions of the estate and area vineyards. Keswick Hall is an Orient Express Hotels property.

Pointe South Mountain Resort Adds High-Speed Internet Service.
Pointe South Mountain Resort, Phoenix, is now offering high-speed Internet service with Wayport, the leading provider of Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless and wired high-speed Internet access, according to André Fournier, regional director of sales and marketing for Destination Hotels & Resorts of Englewood, CO.

The high-speed Internet access will be available in all of the resort's 640 guest suites with 510 suites with Wi-Fi. In addition, guests can connect to Wayport's wireless high-speed Internet service in the resort's lobby and common areas.

The 640-suite Pointe South Mountain Resort, is a 220-acre mountainside resort with a AAA Four Diamond resort rating.

New GEP Partners
* Road West serving Western Canada - specifically Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Kananaskis, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria
* AGL Alliance Group Limited serving Malta

New Krisam Members
* Mandarin Oriental, Washington DC - Washington, DC
* Inn at Rancho Santa Fe - Rancho Santa Fe, CA
* Melrose New York City - New York, NY

Upcoming Industry Events