Wowing a Tough Audience
New Orleans Salutes New York
From the Field: Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I, Barcelona
Poll: What Is Your Favorite Food?
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

Wowing a Tough Audience

What’s the most difficult audience to plan an event for? How about meeting planners? “They’ve seen everything,” Debbie Culp of Destination Nashville says. “It’s hard to impress them.” But Destination Nashville did impress them and they also impressed the judges of the Association of Destination Management Executives (ADME) Achievement Awards. The DMC won this year’s Best Innovative Event, $50,001 - $100,000.

Destination Nashville played off their city’s most famous attraction, The Grand Ole Opry; used, appropriately, a musical theme; and succeeded in showing off the many charms of their host property – the purpose of it all. Here's how they created the winning Fam-tom of the Opry.

The Big Easy Salutes the Big Apple
Respect and Resilience in Ship Christening Event

One recovering city paid tribute to another as New Orleans celebrated the christening of the Northrup Grumman ship New York (LPD21) earlier this year in a series of fitting events. With attendance as high as 6,000, the two-day celebration was the largest event of its kind in New Orleans post-Katrina and demonstrated that the city has “fully arrived” as a host for major gatherings.

The New York (LPD21) is a billion dollar, 13,000 ton vessel built by Northrop Grumman to commemorate the 2,750 people lost in the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001. Built into the bow of the ship is 7.5 tons of salvaged steel from the World Trade Center Tower Two, as a living monument.

BBC Destination Management faced the challenge of how to observe the christening in a way appropriate to the solemnity of the occasion while demonstrating the resilience of the two cities. Here’s how the spirits of New Orleans and New York were joined in the commemoration.

From the Field: Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I, Barcelona, Spain

It is a business meeting center. It is a resort. And it is a 5-star luxury city hotel. The Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I in Barcelona, Spain, can host large meetings or romantic get-a-ways and do each equally well. In the fashionable uptown district of the city, it is only steps away from shopping, cultural and financial centers.

The hotel has many unique features including its proximity to the Catalonia Palace of Congresses, its gardens, and its on-site amenities. Here’s more on what makes it ideal for meetings and incentives.

Insider Poll: What’s your favorite food?

Italian still topped the list in the most recent Zagat survey of diners’ favorite food, followed by American, French, and Japanese. The results appear to go against what is reported to be a trend toward healthier meals and smaller ones. Have your dining habits changed in the last few years? Or are hearty pastas still hard to resist? We’ll report back on readers’ favorites in the next issue and will also soon publish a review of the latest trends in dining and drinking. Take our poll.

Results of last issue’s poll.
Brainstorming figures pretty prominently as a tool for meeting planners according to the results of the June issue poll. When asked how often they used brainstorming in their work, nearly half said for almost every event while another 41% reported occasional use. Only 6 % said they never used the idea-generating process. Eric Steidinger, executive creative director of August Jackson, gave advice on how to conduct fruitful brainstorming session in articles in the April and June Insider. Here are the specific results:

How often do you use brainstorming?

• For nearly every event 47%
• Occasionally 41%
• Seldom 6%
• Never 6%
• Seldom but I plan to use it more 0%

Around the Industry

• AAA Survey says Honolulu Most Expensive
  According to the 2008 edition of AAA's Annual Vacation Costs Survey, the recommended travel budget for two adults traveling together in North America is $244 per day for lodging and meals. The most expensive city for vacationers is Honolulu, where the average published prices for meals and lodging for two adults total $673 per day, followed by New York City at $606; Miami-Miami Beach, $370; San Diego, $361 and Las Vegas at $358. The most economical choices include Tulsa, Okla., at $179, followed by Albuquerque, N.M, $179; Wichita, Kan., $194; Oklahoma City, Okla., $194; and Fresno, Calif., $207.
  
  AAA recommends those planning a driving vacation go to the AAA fuel cost calculator to determine how much they’ll be paying for gas. Drivers put in their car make, model and year and their starting and ending locations. The calculator then gives distance traveled and the cost of total gas consumed.
  
   
• Salt Lake City Downtown Redevelopment Underway
  City Creek Center, a sustainably designed, walkable urban community of residences, offices and retail stores is rising on approximately 20 acres across three blocks in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City. Upon project completion in 2012, the city will be one of few in the nation with a vibrant, mixed-use development at its core.
  
  The project includes:
  • Up to three national department stores anchoring a complement of nationally recognized in-line retail tenants
  • New and refurbished and renamed office towers
  • New residential buildings
  • A full-service grocery store to serve a growing downtown population
  • The reopening or extension of historic downtown streets as pedestrian walkways through two of the blocks — Richards Street, Regent Street and Social Hall Avenue
  • Fountains and man-made streams to represent the historic South Fork of City Creek supplemented by approximately six acres of gardens and open space
  • All underground parking to accommodate some 5,600 vehicles
  
  "This park-like mixed use development, with proposed 650,000 sq ft of shopping anchored by Nordstrom and Macy’s, residential towers, office towers, restaurants, etc. all across the street from the convention center, will breathe additional new life into an already vibrant downtown Salt Lake City," reports Ellen Birrell, CMP, President/CEO, GEP Utah. Learn more more about the City Creek Center.
  
   
• American Airlines Lets You Vote on Movies
  Deep within the American Airlines web site is a place where you can vote on which movies you would most like to view in the air. The voting helps AA select four main screen movie title which will play on Domestic flights each month. Selection of movies must be done at least 60 days prior to a movie playing on board. The polling is open for seven days each month. At the end of the polling period, AA works with Inflight Productions to incorporate the results into the selection process for main screen movies.
  
   
• 10 Best U.S. Walking Cities of 2008
  Cambridge, MA, is the Best Walking City in America, with more residents walking to work and more parks per square mile than any other city evaluated, according to a just-released study by Prevention magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA). The full top ten best cities are:
   
  1. Cambridge, MA
  2. New York, NY
  3. Ann Arbor, MI
  4. Chicago, IL
  5. Washington, DC
  6. San Francisco, CA
  7. Honolulu, HI
  8. Trenton, NJ
  9. Boston, MA
  10. Cincinnati, OH

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

* Affinia Chicago
Chicago, IL
Rms. 215
Mtg Space. 3,000 sq ft
Largest. 1,900 sq ft

* Affinia DC, The Liaison Capitol Hill
Washington, DC
Rms. 343
Mtg Space. 10,000 sq ft
Largest. 4,400

* CPS Events at the Plaza Hotel
New York, NY
Event venue
Mtg Space. 15,000 sq ft
Largest. 4,800 sq ft

* Dolce Hayes Mansion
San Jose, CA
Rms. 214
Mtg Space. 33,000 sq ft
Largest. 6,660 sq ft

* Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I Business & City Resort
Barcelona, Spain
Rms. 433
Mtg Space. 109,167 sq ft
Largest. 19,654

* The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel
Macau, China
Rms. 3,000
Mtg Space. 1,000,000 sq ft
Largest. 65,000 sq ft

OPENING SOON!

Fall 2008
* Eden Roc, A Renaissance Beach Resort & Spa – Miami Beach, FL
* Fontainebleau Miami Beach – Miami Beach, FL
* InterContinental Chicago O’Hare – Chicago [Rosemont], IL
* The Resort at Pelican Hill – Newport Coast, CA

Late 2008
* Omni Fort Worth Hotel – Fort Worth, TX

2010
* Fontainebleau Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
* Marina Bay Sands - Singapore
Rms. 2,643
Mtg Space. 1,200,000 sq ft
Largest. 80,000 sq ft

New GEP Partners
* Egypt - Excel Travel S.A.E.
* Ireland - Odyssey International Incentives & Meetings
* Palm Springs - Destination Concepts inc


Krisam Extends Air Fare Credit Plan through June 15
Under the Krisam Economic Stimulus Plan, any new business generated and contracted with participating Member hotels by June 15, 2008 for meetings held before December 31, 2008 will receive a $30 airfare credit toward every booked flight. 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! Here’s more on participants and details.

Atlantis Paradise Island Resort Offers Fall/Spring Discounts Rooms as low as $149 a night and a rebate as high as $20,000 are now being offered by Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, Bahamas, for the Fall of 2008 and the Spring of 2009. The luxury resort features 200,000 sq. ft. of indoor meeting space, a 30,000 sq. ft. spa, and a waterscape of adventure. Here are details and dates. View the latest from more Krisam Hotels.

GEP Washington Handles Logistic for Pope’s Mass
GEP Washington was selected as the logistics management team for Pope Benedict XVI’s public Mass at Nationals Park on April 17th. The DMC worked with the Archdiocese of Washington, Nationals Park and the U.S. Secret Service, to coordinate the Mass, the first major event at the new ballpark.

Organized by Lauren Beegal, operations manager of GEP Washington, the request to coordinate the 46,000-person Mass was received from the Archdiocese of Washington in October.

GEP Washington partnered with Showcall to produce pre-Mass entertainment—including Denyce Graves and Plácido Domingo—to encourage people to arrive at Nationals Park and get to their seats well before the 10 a.m. Mass.

News from Half Moon, Jamaica
New Video Conferencing
Half Moon has introduced a new Video Conferencing System (VCS) in its newly refurbished boardroom that will allow guests to connect with participants around the world. The new VCS is remotely controlled and includes a camera that can pan, tilt, zoom and be pre-set to over 100 different positions.

Displayed on a 50” high-definition plasma monitor, the VCS can show video clips, audio clips and data image with a high-powered audio system. A tabletop conference phone allows video calls to be dialed directly. The conference phone microphone lets users speak naturally up to 20 feet away and still be heard clearly. The VCS is available 24 hours a day and allows the user to videoconference with three different sites at the same time.

The boardroom features a large conference table, plush executive chairs and seats 14. In addition to the boardroom, the adjacent meeting rooms, Montego, St. James and Rose Hall meeting suites, were also refurbished. The suite of rooms totaling 3,675 square feet features retractable air walls allowing the option of one large meeting room that seats 295 theatre-style or three smaller breakout rooms for more intimate gatherings.

Half Moon also offers a 12,000 square foot ballroom, a 4,600 square foot conference centre with stage, sound and lighting capabilities and other indoor function and meeting space for a total of 27,000 square feet. The resort also offers an array of outdoor event locations.

Honors for its Spa
Half Moon's newly opened Fern Tree spa is one of the world's 76 hot new spas say the editors of Conde Nast Traveler. The magazine recognized Fern Tree's intimate atmosphere, the Spa Elder's extensive knowledge of indigenous remedies, unique Jamaican treatments, and the spa's spacious layout that includes a labyrinth, yoga studio, pools and sculpture garden.

Conde Nast Traveler's Hot List recognizes restaurants, spas, night spots, hotels and resorts worldwide that have been opened since January 2007 and represent the finest in hospitality as judged by Conde Nast Traveler reporters from anonymous visits. Fern Tree, the Spa at Half Moon has received much acclaim since opening in October 2007 with its 68,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space.

Emory Conference Center Hotel holds only Green Seal in Georgia
The Emory Conference Center Hotel, Atlanta, the only Green Seal approved hotel in the state, has expanded its earth friendly ways even further by developing an organic menu for environmentally conscious groups. Conveniently located at the Emory University Campus, the hotel was inspired by the architectural design of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Green Seal, an independent, nonprofit environmental standard setting and certification organization, certifies hotels as "green" based on a very stringent list of environmentally protective policies. This list includes state regulatory compliance, as well as specific requirements such as waste minimization; refuse and recycling; water and energy efficiency; and conservation management.

Visit Florida Web Site Features Saddlebrook Resort
“Saddlebrook is a multifunctional canvas upon which planners can create events,” reported Visit Florida in the first in a series of "Ellen On-Site" articles, where Editor Ellen Thomas conducts site inspections from a planner's perspective of properties around Florida.

“As a planner,” she continued, “ I was impressed by the convenience and ease of flow throughout the conference area, especially how all 95,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor function space is located just steps from the lobby area.” Ellen went on to mention the many creative ways meetings, receptions, and dinners can be held al fresco at Saddlebrook.

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