Gift Trends and How to Generate Gift Ideas
Sundance Resort: Art, Nature and Idyllic Incentives
Poll: Meetings News Sources
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

Gift Trends and How to Generate Winning Gift Ideas

Oftentimes a gift you want yourself may also be just perfect for the guests at your next event. Think about your life and work. What do you wish you had to make things easier or more comfortable? Think about electronics, about the latest public concerns, about travel. And then involve others, especially your promotional gift professional in how to translate all this into gifts that will not only please your audience, but also further your objectives as an organization.

Here are some tips on gifts, including specific gifts that are hot right now, how to best work with a promotional gift professional, and a brief checklist to prepare you for the gift selection process.

Sundance Resort: Art, Nature and Idyllic Incentives

Isn’t it rather refreshing when a resort tells you up front that cell phone service is going to be patchy? A break from your cell phone, can that be all bad?

Next, the place instructs “Leave your heels and Florsheims at home.” Ah, happy feet for a week.



Now, what to take home as a souvenir from this idyllic spot? How about a piece of pottery you made yourself. And, no you don’t have to have any experience.

For some, the greatest take-away will be the pleasure of telling your friends, “I walked in the footsteps of Robert Redford (or the Sundance Kid, if you prefer).”

Sundance Resort offers you a most natural choice for meetings and incentives..


Where do you get your meetings news? Take our poll...

Put “event planning” in quotes in the Google search engine and you’ll turn up more than 1.7 million results? No wonder we feel overwhelmed by information these days. Yet, to do our jobs and enjoy our lives, we need some news. Where do you turn most regularly to keep up with your profession? Take our poll .

Last issue's poll results: Event Interruptions
Mother Nature came in first and human nature second in the poll of what kinds of event interruptions readers have experienced the most. Natural disasters/severe weather was Number 1 at 33%, followed closely by political/civil disturbance at 28%. Fortunately “death” did not rank very high. Complete results are below.

Have you had an event interrupted by any of the following? (Check all that apply.)

• Natural disaster/severe weather - 33%
• Political/civil disturbance - 28%
• Venue evacuation - 22%
• Serious injury - 6%
• Death - 6%
• Group illness - 6%

Around the Industry

• US Looks Good to European Planners
  For Europeans, the United States is very affordable at the moment, advises Rudy Alofs, CEO of Conventus SA, the GEP DMC partner in Switzerland. The weak Dollar versus the Euro could make the US especially appealing as a destination for corporate meetings. “This could all change very quickly, depending on the U.S. Presidential Elections and further Geo-Political strategies” he cautions. Rudy says Switzerland too is likely to do well as the Swiss Franc has been very stable making his country quite competitive price-wise within Europe.
  
   
• On-Line Gift Shoppers Choose...
  Yes, you are right, it’s Amazon.com, which remained the most-visited website in the Hitwise Index the first week in November, receiving 11.49% of visits among the Retail 100 Index. Wal-Mart was second at 6.72%, while Target took third at 4.64%. “iPods” and “Uggs” were the most popular retail search terms for the same November week. Hitwise is an online competitive intelligence service tracking online traffic. Find out more on popular shopping sites ..
  
   
• Help in Managing Your Miles
  Michele Singletary, a personal finance columnist for The Washington Post, recently recommended a book to her readers that would make a good gift for all travelers. Two frequent flier pros joined forces to publish "Mileage Pro: The Insider's Guide to Frequent Flyer Programs" (Copyright 2005, OAG Worldwide, $19.95). Written by Randy Petersen and Tim Winship, the book gives travelers tips on choosing the best program, how to reach elite status, identifying optimum awards, exchanging miles and points among programs, and more.
  
  Petersen publishes InsideFlyer magazine as well as several travel-related Web sites, including WebFlyer.com and FlyerTalk.com. Winship is the publisher of FrequentFlier.com and editor-at-large for SmarterTravel.com.
  
   
• Conference Encourages Graffiti
  EXPO magazine reports that the RSA Conference used a Graffiti Wall to build community among their attendees. Constructed of foam board, the wall invited attendees to share their opinions on a variety of pertinent topics such as “During the next 5 years I think the following will have the biggest impact on the information security industry,” and “I wish I had more budget to.” Volunteers carrying markers encouraged attendees to contribute.” Read some of the interesting responses.

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

* Atlanta, GA
Omni Hotel at CNN Center
Total Rooms: 1,067 with 31 suites
Total Meeting Space: 120,000 sq. feet

* Chicago, IL
Swissôtel Chicago
Total Rooms: 632
Total Meeting Space: 27,000 sq. feet
* Expansion is underway to included 25,000 additional square feet of meeting space - available by June 2009.

* CruiseOne
Cruiseline Representative

* Newport Coast, CA (Opens Fall 2008)
The Resort at Pelican Hill
Total Rooms: 332
Total Meeting Space: 20,000 sq. feet

* Philadelphia, PA
Loews Philadelphia Hotel
Total Rooms: 581
Total Meeting Space: 45,000 sq. feet

* Sundance, UT
Sundance Resort
Total Rooms: 95
Total Meeting Space: 10,000 sq. feet

* Victor, ID
Teton Springs Lodge & Spa
Total Rooms: 52
Total Meeting Space: 3,500 sq. feet

* Wintergreen, VA
Wintergreen Resort
Total Rooms: 300 unique accommodations ranging from studios to seven-bedroom homes
Total Meeting Space: 40,000 sq. feet

El Dorado, Santa Fe, Offers Special Winter Group Rates
Schedule a meeting in Santa Fe this winter and see the celebrated city in a whole new light. The Eldorado Hotel and Spa has winter group rates starting at $159 and available now through February 29, 2008, for 15 rooms or more. The Four Star and Four Diamond hotel invites you to enjoy:
* Magnificent mountain views
* Relaxing strolls to the historic Santa Fe Plaza
* Intimate shops and restaurants
* Canyon Road's celebrated galleries
* Pampering treatments at the Eldorado's Nidah Spa
* 219 beautifully appointed, newly renovated guest rooms
* Newly refurbished meeting rooms
* Direct flights into Santa Fe from Dallas, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City beginning December 13, 2007

GEP Washington Assists Extreme Makeover
This summer, when a family of four from Wyoming were honored with a getaway to Washington, DC for the TV show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, GEP Washington provided the limo transportation. The Miller family was selected for the show because they are tireless champions of animal welfare. During their stay, the family saw many DC attractions, including a special visit to the National Zoo, which aired on their episode.

Peeps for President of . . . Halloween
Jenny Mathews, and Carrie Heiden, senior sales managers, and Andrew Osborne, CMP, director of sales, GEP Washington, ran by the White House as they made sales calls dressed as Peeps on Halloween. They visited 14 hoteliers in their sugary costumes giving new meaning to trick or treat.



Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, Begins Expansion
Work has begun on the expansion project at the Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, which will include 70,000-sq. ft. of meeting space and the addition of about 900 guest rooms to the property. Renovation has begun on the 64 suites at the hotel with completion slated for the middle of the first quarter of 2008. Late in the quarter, the guestroom renovation will begin and last about four months. Details of the expansion project include:
• Closing Simon restaurant at Thanksgiving and reopening it as Ago by New Year’s.
• Building two new towers, one on each end of the hotel for an addition of approximately 900 rooms and suites. Construction to start around May or June 2008 and should be complete by 4th quarter 2009.
• Doubling the size of the casino.
• Adding a new spa in the south tower.
• Doubling the size of the pool
• Expanding meeting space to about 70,000 sq. ft. and consisting of 19,000 sq. ft., 12,000 sq. ft. and 6,000 sq. ft. ballrooms with about 10,000 sq. ft. in pre-function space. Breakouts will be added to support these ballrooms. New meeting space may be available as early as May 2009.
• Doubling the size of The Joint to accommodate about 4,000.
• Introducing a new high-end lounge called Wasted Space, which should be ready by March 1st 2008.

Fern Tree, The Spa at Half Moon, Jamaica, Opens
The new Fern Tree, the Spa at Half Moon, opened in early October after a 15-month project that saw the conversion of the resort’s signature villa Fern Tree House into a 68,000 square foot indoor/outdoor sanctuary for the mind and body.

In addition to the new spa, Half Moon also unveiled six beachfront spa suites, the very first of their kind in the Caribbean. Each of the state of the art suites has added features that provide for in-room treatments, yoga, etc. further extending Fern Tree’s wellness experience into guests’ accommodations.

Fern Tree, the Spa at Half Moon melds modern spa techniques with Jamaica’s ancient healing remedies of native herbs, fruits and botanicals. The spa complex also houses a relaxation lounge, yoga pavilion, hydrotherapy swimming pool, sculpture garden and several water features. The spa menu includes signature spa treatments, such as the Jamaican Bush Bath and the Jamaican Green Coffee Envelopment, as well as personalized therapies made by the Spa Elder. In addition, options specially created for men, teenagers and kids are also available.

Fisherman’s Wharf Hotel Unveils Dramatic Renovation
The Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf is welcoming guests with a totally new look and a bright new flowing design as it debuts the results of its $33 million renovation. The 529-room hotel is one of the largest hospitality complexes in San Francisco’s most popular tourism area. Its new design features renovated guestrooms and common areas, as well as a unique new ballroom and a landscaped outdoor courtyard for private parties. Among the hotel's enhancements are:
• A new food bar called Spressi where guests can meet at a community table or plug in their laptops.
• Sol, a new breakfast area, providing flexible space just beyond the lobby that may be used for small events.
• An outdoor living room that is an extension of the lobby, with fire pits and seating areas.
• The addition of the 2,731 square-foot Embarcadero Room for meetings. This ballroom offers an outside foyer that also includes an outdoor living room and fire pits.
• An outdoor courtyard adjacent to the 2,196-sq. ft. Marina Ballroom that will be completely re-landscaped with a central grass lawn surrounded by dwarf palm trees.

Mana, Allison & Associates Announce New Sales Staff
Mana, Allison & Associates, Inc. our San Francisco based Global Events Partner, has named Maile Akana Account Executive in their sales department. She joins MA&A from The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas where she was a Sales Manager in the Creative Events Services department. Prior to The Ritz-Carlton she was a Sales Executive for a Las Vegas DMC. Maile is a 2000 graduate of the University of Washington and has returned to her home in Northern California.

Mana, Allison & Associates, Inc. is also pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer Lee Witherington, CMP as Director of Sales. Jennifer has been a sales executive for MA&A for the last five years and is a past President of the Northern California Chapter of PCMA. Jennifer has more than a decade of hospitality sales and marketing experience with DMCs and Hotels including Ritz-Carlton.

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