Meeting News - July 21, 2008 - (Page 12)

MeetingNews 25 Most Powerful Amy Spatrisano and Nancy Wilson, Principals, Meeting Strategies Worldwide, Portland, OR Those who are interested in creating green meetings are just playing catch up to green pioneers Amy Spatrisano and Nancy Wilson. They have the book on green meetings—literally. Joint partners in their West Coast planning firm, Spatrisano and Wilson, who also founded the Green Meeting Industry Council in 2003, last year co-authored Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events, and hospitality professors are adding the tome to their curriculums. In December, the GMIC became a member of the Convention Industry Council (CIC), and Spatrisano has been tapped to chair the green panel of CIC’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX). She and Wilson are redefining how the industry impacts the earth. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, DC The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program may only have been on the scene since 2000, but it has redefined the way all public and most private infrastructure is conceived. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED certification, which is by earned by implementing green building design, construction and operations, now accounts for approximately 74 million total square feet of U.S. hospitality infrastructure—with nearly 24 million sf specifically comprising hotels and resorts. Said Lauren Connolly, USGBC spokesperson, “I would say the secret to LEED’s success is that it is a market-driven system, which means it really responds to what the industry is looking for.Also, the fact that it is consensus-based, its ability to evolve to meet market demands is a direct correlation to countless volunteer experts and regular individuals who offer their criticisms and comments in our public comment periods.” Next January, look for LEED 2009, which is expected to combine current commercial ratings sys12 MeetingNews July 21, 2008 tems into one that is “simpler, more elegant, and committed to continuous improvement.” Terri Breining, President, Concepts Worldwide, San Diego Longtime industry leader Terri Breining is more than just the head of a 27person independent planning company. She is also chair of the Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) Commission and a teacher of meeting planning at San Diego State University. This year, Breining co-authored Return on Investment in Meetings & Events and celebrated the 20th anniversary of Concepts Worldwide. As part of the celebrations, she organized an internship program called “20/20 Vision for the Future”, which will give 20 university students from around the country the opportunity to acquire hands-on meeting planning experience in a corporate environment. A few of the leading trends Breining said she sees impacting the meetings industry are the inclusion of corporate social responsibility into meetings; the necessity of measuring the effectiveness and success of meetings; the growing acceptance of the need for standardization; the integration of technology before, during, and after meetings; and the changes brought on by a multi-generation workforce.“To be part of the evolution of the meetings industry is indeed a great privilege, and what’s even more exciting is that we’re far from done in our evolution, which means there’s plenty more to learn and plenty more to contribute,” said Breining. Jack Phillips, Chairman, ROI Institute, Birmingham, AL The author of 50 books, ROI Institute chairman Jack Phillips added more to the list this year: Return on Investment in Meetings & Events, which he co-authored with Terri Breining (see above) and Patti Phillips. He also published a six-book series on developing ROI evaluations, implementing the ROI methodology, and showing the value of a variety of functions and processes. Meeting planners, stressed over how to quantify their value to financially minded executives, have found his guidance invaluable, and his partnership with Meeting Professionals International has propelled the industry further in proving the strategic benefits of meetings management. Colin Rorrie, President and CEO, Convention Industry Council, Washington, DC This year, the Convention Industry Council appointed Colin Rorrie, former president and CEO of Meeting Professionals International, as president and CEO. Rorrie led the association as it selected a new management group and welcomed new member groups, including the Travel Industry Association. CIC now has 34 member organizations from the meetings, conventions, exhibitions, and hospitality sectors. Signature programs like the Certified Meeting Professional designation and APEX continue to grow. There are over 14,000 CMPs, with another 500 signed up for the next certification exam. Looking forward, Rorrie noted that organizations should take a hard look at what types of meetings they plan to have in the future: “Do more work up front, interviewing attendees in order to determine what types of meetings are important to them.” Rossi Ralenkotter, President and CEO, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority Tourism in Las Vegas may have slowed because of the slumping economy, but Rossi Ralenkotter and his bureau won’t be lying down. Not when the Las Vegas Convention Center is getting an $890-million overhaul and modernization, and not when the city is expected to have a 180,000-room hospitality inventory in five years that will need to be filled. Sin City is also 4 million guests shy of the goal of attaining 43 million annual visitors by 2010, with two years to go, and more international visitors beckon due to the weak dollar and the recent landmark group travel agreement between the U.S. and China. Figure Ralenkotter to play a major role in driving Chinese meetings and business tourism in the U.S.; he was appointed to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s travel and tourism advisory board by secretary Carlos Gutierrez. www.meetingnews.com http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/index.jsp http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - July 21, 2008

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