Meeting News - January 7, 2008 - (Page 40)

Incentive Insider: Florida continued from page 38 Ocho takes the group back to the 1950s, when the ﬁrst wave of Cubans built the cigar and piñata factories of the area. Posh and replete with attitude, Palm Beach County boasts some of the most expensive real estate in the United States, along with a sleek accompaniment of the cultural, dining, and shopping amenities. The expectations incentive winners may have of being part of that rariﬁed world on a reward trip can easily be realized through a number of experiences. There is strolling through the pricey shops along Worth Avenue, touring mansions, playing golf on world-renowned courses, or enjoying a gourmet tailgate party while watching a polo match. “And yacht dinner cruises along the Intracoastal Waterway are great for peeking into the world of the opulent homes of Palm Beach,” said Kirkland.“If you want a total ‘wow’, book Ragtops for a special event. It’s a three-story vintage car dealership by day and is perfect for a 1950s-style theme party in the evening.” St. Augustine reclines farther north along the Atlantic coast like a genteel lady who needs no introduction. The oldest city in the United States, her Spanish mission origins are reﬂected in everything from the cobblestone, walking-only passage that is St. George Street and graceful old churches, to the oldest school and the oldest drug store in the nation. According to Harrington, the essence of St. Augustine is captured best by moonlight, either by horse-drawn carriage or on a walking ghost tour. And to fully appreciate the historic city, an incentive program should always include a tour of Flagler College, which began life as the estate of Florida’s founding father, Henry Flagler, and still features the original priceless furnishings he chose. Miles of white-sand beaches (considered among the best in the nation) stretch along Florida’s southwestern coast meeting the calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. There, Marco Island is all about beach and water activities, while Naples is known as an understated playground for the monied class. Vast expanses of lush green fairways meet sparkling waters on the area’s abundance of golf courses—a stone’s throw from luxurious waterfront estates. A collection of boutiques and art galleries with items from around the world dot the courtyards and tree-lined streets of historic Olde Naples. And immersed in the natural surroundings, incentive groups can go deep-sea ﬁshing, enjoy sailing regattas, or paddle kayaks along the Estero River through Koreshan State Park. Seemingly more connected to sea and sky than to land, the Florida Keys scatter southward into the 40 MeetingNews January 7, 2008 ocean at Florida’s tip. Quiet and laid back, the Upper and Middle Keys offer a serene space between the action of Miami and the perpetual party that is Key West.“There is golf, but you really go to those upper areas for the water sports and ﬁshing and to get away from it all,” said Harrington, adding with a chuckle, “And Key West—well, it is its own little nation: The Conch Republic.” A place where everyday most of the locals (and tourists) gather at Mallory Square to watch the sun bid farewell as it sinks eloquently into the ocean, Key West is known for its artistic spirit. Zooming around on a moped, wandering streets lined by 100-year-old “gingerbread houses” to poke through funky shops, checking out the legendary six-toed cats of Ernest Hemingway’s house, or simply contemplating a palm frond against azure blue sky remain the languid pleasures of a visitor’s day in Key West.“What people expect to see when they go there is the laid-back funkiness and they won’t be disappointed, but there is also this new element of expensive homes built by people coming down to claim their piece of paradise,” said Harrington. —Heidi Waldrop Bay Disney: No Sequels Here Disney World teams with Jostens on sports facility; new venues on line New planner-friendly facilities, new entertainment options for groups, and new programs at the Disney Institute are part of a wide range of Walt Disney World options that either have been rolled out in the past year or are on schedule to start in 2008. The biggest bricks-and-mortar addition will be the Jostens Center, part of Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, scheduled to open in the summer. The center will offer 70,000 sf of indoor space for events, including 44,000 sf of ﬂexible competition and event space, plus enough smaller conference rooms and breakout rooms to support the larger event space in a ﬂexible manner, Disney ofﬁcials said. Last June, Disney World rolled out a couple of group-friendly venues. The Grand I, a 52-foot Sea Ray yacht, began sailing from the docks at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, offering private cruises on Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon for groups of continued on page 42 Incentive Report: Miami Assets Entice American Capital Financial management company mixes it up in Miami The weather was perfect. The off-site venues were sophisticated, stimulating, and just plain fun for the attendees. And when the 300-head Miami incentive conducted for the employees of American Capital, a Bethesda, MD-based asset-management company, was over, some of the members of the group paid Samantha Blizzard, American Capital’s director of administration, and the planner of the incentive, a clear compliment—they stayed over or made plans to come back on vacation. “That obviously says something good about their experiences,” said Blizzard, of the February 2007 group, made up of attendees who work in American Capital ofﬁces across the United States.“I think the strong point was the quality of the venues available to us, and the fact that for leisure activities, we were able to give them a broad range of choices and let them do what they liked best.” The group stayed at the 327-room Mandarin Oriental hotel, a ﬁve-star, waterfront property that is near both downtown and Miami’s Brickell Avenue ﬁnancial district. There, the group mixed a few training and educational events with their incentive program. But in the evenings of the three-day event, attendees took off for places like Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, the Miami landmark that is a historic and palatial waterfront mansion that looks like something out of Renaissance Italy. On another night, they dined inside the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens in nearby Coral Gables. The group enjoyed the world’s largest collection of palms and cycads, the sculpted glassworks of Dale Chihuly, and a catered dinner party. During the attendees’ scheduled free time, American Capital offered a menu of activities ranging from deep-sea fishing, to golf, to spa visits, to a bicycle tour through a Miami historic district. “There is a much broader range of activities in Miami than you might think if you have never been there,” said Blizzard.“The ability to essentially have something for everyone was what made this a popular event.” —Rowland Stiteler www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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