Meeting News - May 5, 2008 - (Page 24)

Destination Insider: Orlando MeetingNews Q & A: One Destination Suits Groups of All Sizes Despite Orlando’s massive meetings infrastructure, small groups are welcome A big destination like Orlando is always coming up with something new. We checked in with Tammi Runzler, vice president of convention sales at the Orange County/Orlando Convention & Visitors Bureau, to hear about the latest additions of venues and services for planners. While Orlando is one of the most popular meetings destinations in the U.S., certainly there are plenty of planners who have never brought in a group. What would surprise them? Blue Man Group Brings More Group Options to Universal Orlando Resort A collection of new offerings at Universal Orlando Resort further expands the possibilities for meeting and incentive groups at the central Florida theme park. In June, Blue Man Group will take to the stage, permanently occupying a newly created live performance theater. Groups will be able to buy out a section or all of the 1,000-seat theater, along with arranging a Blue Man Group-themed reception in conjunction with the performance. The park’s new nightly high-tech lagoon show, Universal 360, can be customized with a themed reception or a buyout of the performance. The show revolves around vast (30-by-36-foot) “cinespheres” floating in the lagoon that are used in conjunction with 300 outdoor speakers, an original music score, lasers, and pyrotechnic effects to place the guests in the midst of their favorite movies. During a buyout, the cinespheres can be used to project a company logo, video footage, or meeting-specific message. The three on-site Loews Hotels properties at Universal Orlando—Portofino Bay Hotel, Royal Pacific Resort, and Hard Rock Hotel—have just introduced a new menu of themes for meetings. Groups can incorporate Fear Factor, Retro Hollywood, and Jurassic Park themes throughout their meetings or incentive programs, including teambuilding and food and beverage events. The Hard Rock Hotel also has renovated 650 guest rooms with a new urban chic style. The rooms have 32-inch flat televisions and MP3 landing stations that connect to an in-room stereo system. Q A New venues seem to open almost every week in Orlando. What’s on the horizon for planners? Q A Probably the fact that we’re a good fit for small groups. With our big convention center and 1,000-room-plus meetings hotels, I think a lot of planners for small groups fear their groups would just get swallowed up here. The majority of the groups that come to Orlando have 300 attendees or less, and our services are free to groups—large or small. But the big surprise for smaller groups likely would be that a lot of the large convention hotels love to have a small group in when the majority of the house is booked up with a citywide. The attendees of the larger meeting are likely going to spend all day at the convention center and won’t be using the hotel’s meeting space. So it’s a great opportunity for a small group that needs more meeting space than the number of room nights they book would normally make feasible. The Pointe Orlando has massively upgraded with new venues. There are half a dozen new restaurants and clubs there, like Oceanaire Seafood Room and B.B. King’s Blues Club, which have private rooms for groups of 60 and 30 people and are available for buyouts for groups of up to 700. The Pointe is an easy walk from the convention center, so planners don’t have to worry about transportation. A big group can do a dine-around with half a dozen restaurants available. Q A What advantages can be had through your services to planners? We realize that we are an unusual market because there are so many venue choices, and a planner can get overwhelmed. But we can help them avoid information overload and provide focus on what suits their needs. Event Report Simply Successful An incentive program works by not adding bells and whistles No trophies or plaques were presented. No big awards dinner or teambuilding exercises were held. In fact, there was only one function at an Allstate Insurance regional incentive trip last year in which everyone was present, but that simplicity was the event’s biggest asset, according to Shannon Butterfield, senior event coordinator at the company. “We wanted to give our incentive winners plenty of free time to relax,” said Butterfield, who plans events for Allstate’s Midwest region. This was particularly important because trip winners brought their families. “We took them to the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort and let them do 24 MeetingNews May 5, 2008 2012 Performing Arts Center To Serve As Meetings Venue A new performing arts center downtown—with three halls totaling 400,000 sf—is scheduled to break ground next year and open in 2012. The center will be home to Orlando’s philharmonic orchestra, opera, and ballet, and it will also host traveling Broadway theater performances. The largest hall will seat 2,800 people, while the two smaller halls will seat 1,800 and 300 patrons, respectively. The new facility replaces the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, which has been made available to private events for some time. Local officials expect the new center to provide the same option. H —Section written by Rowland Stiteler www.meetingnews.com whatever they wanted. That was the game plan.” Based on input from attendees on their preferences, Butterfield decided to skip big group banquets and award ceremonies. Instead, she opted for only one group meal—a breakfast at the beginning of the three-day event last August. That gave attendees just enough time to greet each other and form their own leisure time plans, she said. Most elected to spend the majority of their time in Universal’s theme parks, she said. The theme park venue and the structure of the incentive program—or lack of structure—seemed to make it a big hit: The incentive will be repeated this August, but at Walt Disney World Resort. http://www.meetingnews.com

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