One + May 2011 - (Page F27)

Miami A new downtown meeting hotel, the JW Marriott Marquis Miami, opened last October. The 313-room, 41-story hotel offers some unusual amenities, including a sports and fitness center with a 10,000-square-foot NBA-sanctioned basketball court (available for $250 an hour), a virtual bowling alley and the Jim McLean Golf School. The hotel also includes 80,000 square feet of meeting space in 32 rooms, the largest of which is the 18,500-square-foot Metropolitan Ballroom, which can seat a group of 2,350. Also opened at the same time was the Hotel Beaux Arts Miami, a Marriott boutique property that is part of the JW Marriott downtown complex and shares the big conference center with the JW. The Beaux Arts offers 44 guest rooms, 33 of which are suites. All three floors of the Beaux Arts are concierge levels. Also opened in October 2010 was the historic and massively renovated Shelborne South Beach Resort, a property from the Art Deco era that was refurbished with a budget of $10 million. The 200-room hotel, which offers suites and deluxe penthouse suites, also offers five meeting rooms, the largest of which is the Starlight Ballroom, which can handle about 300 for a banquet. And the Olympic-size pool offers a deck area and adjacent bar that can handle receptions for up to 2,800 attendees. And the Olympic-size pool offers a deck area and adjacent bar that can handle receptions for up to 2,800 attendees. Miami International Air- Miami International Air- port’s new Concourse D Sky Train opened in September 2010, bringing the huge North Terminal expansion of the airport to completion. The new, elevated rail system can take passengers all the way from Gate 17 to Gate 60, serving flights ranging from international to commuter, in five minutes. The airport, one of the busiest international gateways in North America, offers 14 nonstop flights to European or Middle Eastern cities, 36 nonstop Central and South American cities, 32 nonstops to Caribbean and Bahamian airports and 53 nonstop flights to U.S. and Canadian cities. iami, like Florida itself, is constantly rolling out new tourism products of interest to meeting and incentive groups. According to Ed Beaman, DMCP, vice president of operations for Fort Lauderdalebased Florida Meeting Services, the new product just continues to increase the value of what’s there already. M “This is something of a nobrainer, but what we have is what’s most obvious: the beaches, the weather—the elements that brought everything here that we have—beachfront hotels, worldclass restaurants and an incredibly diverse tourism experience in an almost seamless region that runs from Palm Beach in the north to Fort Lauderdale to Miami and Miami Beach and South Beach all the way down,” Beaman said. almost seamless region that runs from Palm Beach in the north to Fort Lauderdale to Miami and Miami Beach and South Beach all the way down,” Beaman said. “And any of those places is no more than two hours—and in most cases, even closer—from downtown Miami by car.” Beaman sees the diverse cultural experience in South Florida as an event planner’s best friend. “You’ve got everything from Palm Beach luxury to the Everglades experience to Miami Beach to the Latin cuisine and culture of Calle Ocho (Eighth Street) in Miami to great, self-contained Florida Keys island resorts like the Ocean Reef Club in Duck Key,” he said. “If you can’t put together a great group experience with those assets, what would you need?” And the relatively short distance from Palm Beach County to Fort Lauderdale to Miami and then the Keys offers great transportation opportunities for groups, because the area has three major airports—Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, Miami International and Palm Beach International. Essentially, all three airports compete with each other—Miami International and Fort Lauderdale International are only 20 miles apart. Hollywood andPalm BeachInternational offer lots of lift on budget commuter airlines. The latter two airports are also gateways to the Bahamas and the Caribbean.” “That richness of air transportation assets means planners can find bargains for their groups,” Manfredi said. “Miami International is a major international gateway, and Fort Lauderdale/ Hollywood and Palm Beach International offer lots of lift on budget commuter airlines. The latter two airports are also gateways to the Bahamas and the Caribbean.” SUPPLEMENT mpiweb.org 27

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of One + May 2011

One + May 2011
Contents
Energy of Many
Impressions
Meeting Design Goes Mobile
Picking Brains
Agenda
Ask the Experts
Thoughts+Leaders
Overheard
Art of Travel
Web Watch
Radical Co-creation
Engagement + Innovation = Wunderbar
Top Spots
Connections
Irrelevant
The Business of Being Social
Safety in Numbers
Ads, Sponsors and Patrons
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
It’s Getting Better All the Time
Blame It on Rio
Ride Free
Learning How the Brain Learns
Just Face It
Becoming Mindful with Your Meetings
Group Think
The Mesh Meeting
Your Community
Making a Difference
Until We Meet Again

One + May 2011