10 Creative Ways to Boost Attendance
Tips on Tipping From an Expert
Where to Find Advice on Attrition
Consulting Colleagues on Tough Questions
This Month's Poll
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

10 Creative Ways to Boost Conference Attendance
An interview with association marketer Rick Whelan

Are you among the majority of meeting planners who have seen conference attendance and exhibitor participation drop in recent years? If so here's some down to earth advice on how to reverse the trend from a veteran association membership and conference marketer. Read when you should start promoting, how to find new outlets for conference marketing, how to save money on your mailings, and more. Get ten practical tips to boost attendance.

Tips on Tipping From an Expert
An interview with author and event planner Colleen Rickenbacher

Who do you tip? How much do you tip? When do you tip? How do you tip? When it comes to gratuities, the opportunities and questions seem endless. As an event planner and as a business traveler, you face the quandary much more than most. There are no easy answers but knowing what others do can help give you more confidence in your own tipping style. Here an expert on business etiquette shares with you her approach to tipping and ways to make yours both more personal and budget friendly. Read tipping guide.

Where to Find Advice on Attrition
Attrition is such a key concern of meeting planners that the Convention and Industry Council launched Project Attrition last year. The project includes a web site with ideas from various meeting planners on how to lessen the problem. Tips include

• Be candid on why it's important to reserve within the block
• Give a break on the registration fee to reserve in the block
• Restrict shuttle passes to block residents

Consulting Colleagues on Tough Questions
When you are really stumped, visit the new online Planners Forum brought to you by The Event Insider. It is there for just such occasions. The hour is late. You want to go home but you've puzzled over a problem for a week or so. You must find a resolution. Quick, sign on and ask your fellow planners if they've shared a similar situation and found a way out. Then go home, go to sleep, and maybe tomorrow the answer will await you online. Hey, you can also be the hero by checking out the queries from others and offering them some advice. The more participants in the forum, the more valuable it will be. So tell your coworkers and fellow planners about it. Teach and learn at the Planners Forum. Join a discussion now or start one of your own.

Take Our Poll
This month's poll question is:

How is the low carb diet trend affecting your menu requests?

One survey suggests that half of all U.S. adults will be controlling their carbohydrates within the year. The news on low carbs is everywhere. Just about every food manufacturer and fast food restaurant has jumped on the bandwagon. Is the diet trend just getting terrific press or are the numbers of Americans actually looking for low carb foods significant and growing? Take the poll at left and let us know what you are hearing from your constituencies.

Please respond by April 12. Results will be published in the next newsletter.

Last month's poll results:

Will the new registration system for foreign visitors hurt your business as an event planner?
 

• Not much - 74%
• A little - 21%
• A lot - 0%
• It already has - 5%

Around the Industry

• Today's a holiday? When planning meetings or shipping important documents internationally, you need to make sure you don't bump into a holiday that could lower attendance or delay a delivery. Use FedEx's Worldwide Holidays tool to do a quick check on who's observing a holiday.
• The tall, skinny Zagat guides that give you the inside skinny on restaurants are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. They now publish 28 dining guides covering 30,000 restaurants in 70 cities. In the past few years, Zagat has added volumes that rate golf courses, movies, hotels, music, theater, shopping and nightlife.
• As part of the airline legroom wars, United Airlines recently began offering a 36-inch pitch to Economy Plus buyers and as rewards for Mileage Plus members, according to an informal survey by Omega World Travel. Pay more, get more.
• A new interactive museum opens in April at The National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, on the wonders of science. If you visit the Marion Koshland Science Museum, don't miss the charming statue of Albert Einstein out front.
• Recent numbers from the U. S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) suggest that the airline industry is slowly recovering. While domestic traffic was down 1.2% in December 2003 versus 2002, the last quarter of 2003 showed a passenger gain of 2.8% over the same quarter of the previous year. And, that gain occurred in spite of a 1.3% drop in number of flights. Delta Air Lines carried the most passengers in December 2003 and Atlanta's Harstfield-Jackson International Airport, reported the highest number of passenger boardings. Overall numbers for 2003 showed an increase of 6% in traffic over 2002, and climbing toward the pre-September 11 high levels of 2000.

Krisam & GEP News
Jim Schultenover appointed president of Krisam Group
Jim Schultenover has joined the Krisam Group as the company's new president effective April 5, replacing Mark White, COO, who recently left the company to pursue opportunities outside of the hospitality industry.

Jim brings to Krisam 27 years of hotel sales and marketing experience and extensive client relationships. He most recently concluded 18 months as chief marketing officer of Ian Schrager Hotels. Prior to this Jim spent six years as vice president, sales & marketing for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Previous positions included senior vice president, sales & marketing for Omni Hotels and various roles for Marriott International including vice president of group sales for Convention & Resort Hotels.

Jim's primary role will be to build on current relationships with Krisam member properties and develop new partnerships. He will also direct and manage Krisam's six sales offices and oversee sales and marketing efforts for the Krisam Group organization. Krisam's Chairman & CEO, Chris White, states, "Jim's record speaks for itself. He has a phenomenal background and a flawless reputation that will prove to be invaluable to the role he will fill at Krisam Group. We are very excited to have him on board." Jim also adds, "I'm excited to join a company as dynamic as Krisam Group. Krisam and its sister companies are perfectly positioned for the future based on the three unique offerings we provide to our customers."

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