Meeting News - July 21, 2008 - (Page 10)

MeetingNews 25 Most Powerful Martin Sirk, CEO, International Congress & Convention Association, Amsterdam “I don’t think of myself as a particularly ‘powerful’ individual,” said Martin Sirk, head of the International Convention & Congress Association (ICCA), “but I do believe that ICCA has become an extremely influential global community.” As head of ICCA, Martin Sirk is a symbol of the international growth of the meetings industry. The association will hold its first education and networking event in Dubai in late August. The number of ICCA members in the Persian Gulf and Middle East has grown from four members in 2000 to 14 in 2007, and Sirk expects to have 20 members in the region by year’s end. “We now have over 850 companies and organizations in membership in 83 countries around the world, covering all the industry supplier sectors,” he said. Wolfgang Puck, Chef and Restaurateur,Beverly Hills,CA “Just like a painter or artist, every chef does something a little bit different to make it interesting,” Wolfgang Puck said at his restaurant opening in MGM Grand Detroit. Famous for affordable, creative fine dining, Puck has raised the bar for banquet F&B, inspiring planners to ask for sustainable, local ingredients when possible. His business enterprises have saturated the meetings industry, catering (literally) to prominent venues like the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center, and to the convention centers of Sacramento, CA, and Washington, DC, and more. His restaurants at resorts in Atlantic City and Las Vegas are favorites among meeting planners for events. This year, Puck was named chef of the year by the Culinary Institute of America. And, earlier this month, Doubletree Hotels began offering in-room Wolfgang Puck Estate Grown Coffee at more than 190 North American properties. 10 MeetingNews July 21, 2008 Gary Sain, President and CEO, Orlando/ Orange County CVB Following on the two-decade legacy of retired CVB legend Bill Peeper is tough for anyone, but Gary Sain has been tackling that job since February 2007, when he stepped in as Orlando’s tourism chief. His tenure so far has not been without challenges: The economic downturn has triggered declines in both meetings and leisure business. But Sain, with his diverse sales and marketing experience and massive budget—will be aggressively singing Orlando’s praises through stepped-up promotional campaigns. The latest of these is “Creative Minds,” focusing on Orlando’s ability to provide unconventional meeting and event spaces—no doubt bolstered by Disney’s offerings. Sain also has been trumpeting the upscale transformation of hospitality product as Orlando’s next evolutionary step, as some $2.2 billion in new hotels and attractions is expected to go onstream in the next few years. Bruce MacMillan, President and CEO, Meeting Professionals International, Dallas Bruce MacMillan has had one global year. Under his stewardship, MPI opened a Singapore office, created a South Korean chapter, and forged partnerships with IMEX (Europe’s largest meetings industry exhibition) and Reed Travel Exhibitions, organizer of the fledgling Gulf Incentive, Business Travel, & Meetings Exhibition (GIBTM), to gain more prominent positions in Europe and the Mideast. MPI overhauled its European education event, renamed it the European Meetings and Events Conference, and held it in London just before Frankfurt’s IMEX for maximum exposure. And, with Reed’s support, MPI piggybacked its new Gulf Meetings and Events Conference onto Abu Dhabi-based GIBTM just days ahead in Dubai. That’s not all. MPI has enacted an alliance with Messe Berlin, organizer of the ITB Berlin travel trade show, in creating the inaugural and back-toback ITB Asia show and Asia Meetings and Events Conference this October in Singapore. Paul Kennedy, Group Exhibition Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions, Surrey, England Managed by Paul Kennedy, Reed Travel Exhibitions runs the formidable European Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (EIBTM) industry trade show held annually in Barcelona. In the last couple of years, however, RTE has entrenched itself in two potentially huge meetings markets: China and the Middle East. Attendance at the second annual Gulf Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exposition (GIBTM), held this past April in Abu Dhabi, grew by more than 30 percent. In China, the CIBTM expo—canceled this year because of the Summer Olympics—has the potential of becoming the country’s top industry show. Add to these the longtime AsiaPacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) and the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) Exhibition, and RTE has a powerful show lineup. Kennedy is also a highprofile figure for Meeting Professionals International, having just completed his service on the 2007-08 international board of directors executive committee, and representing the first-ever European winner of two MPI awards in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Ben Bernanke, Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve, Washington, DC Dollar not going as far as it used to? Home values plummeting? In the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis— the worst financial disaster to hit the nation since the Great Depression, according to Time magazine—one man has been the focus of U.S. economic policy: Ben Bernanke. Bernanke, head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has taken plenty of criticism as he navigates the country through uncertain financial waters, but he also www.meetingnews.com http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/index.jsp http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/index.jsp http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - July 21, 2008

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