Meeting News - July 21, 2008 - (Page 13)

MeetingNews 25 Most Powerful Ray Burger, President and Founder, Pineapple Hospitality, St. Charles, MO When hotels want advice on how to “green up,” they go to Ray Burger. As a Certified Hotel Administrator and Master Hotel Supplier with over 30 years of experience in the lodging industry, Burger knows the supply side of things. His company, Pineapple Hospitality, which advises hotels on green practices, is a vendor partner of the Florida Green Lodging Program, a member of Boston Green Tourism, a member of the New Hampshire Sustainable Lodging Program, a member of the Green Meeting Industry Council, and an Energy Star partner. Pineapple also offers green products, such as Green Key Card, a recyclable and biodegradable alternative to the traditional plastic hotel keycard. Burger is a past member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Environmental and Engineering Committee; in 2007, his company launched the green certification programs EcoRooms & EcoSuites, and founded and co-hosted the first Green Hospitality Conference, in Dallas. With planning for the 2008 conference under way, Burger is optimistic about the future: “The meetings industry is going green—the only question to be answered is, ‘How green and how fast will it occur?’” Joan L. Eisenstodt, Eisenstodt Associates, Washington, DC With more than 35 years in the business, Eisenstodt has been an executive member of Meeting Planners International, the American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership, the Professional Convention Management Association, the Convention Industry Council, and so many more. She was one of the first four recipients of the Pacesetter Award from Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International and the Pyramid Award from the International Association of Conference Centers, both for her contributions to education in the meetings and hospitality industries. She is an inductee in the Convention Industry Hall of Leaders, the meetings industry’s highest honor. In 2006, she was named Planner Partner by the National Speakers Association, and in 2008, she was www.meetingnews.com honored by the PCMA Education Foundation for her lifetime achievement as an educator in the hospitality and meetings industries. As she accrued her recent honors, Eisenstodt was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. But that hasn’t stopped her from continuing to moderate MiForum, MeetingNews’ online community; blog at the MeetingsCollaborative; and contribute to numerous other industry lists while keeping up her consulting clients. Eisenstodt continues to challenge the status quo—from the inside. Ray Bloom, IMEX, Frankfurt, Germany In six years, IMEX, the trade show for incentive travel, meetings, and events held in Frankfurt, Germany, has gone from a fledgling competitor of Reed Travel Exhibitions’ EIBTM, as well as the Motivation Show, to arguably the most important show in Europe, if not the world. This April, IMEX, launched by Society of Incentive & Travel Executives veteran Ray Bloom in 2002, welcomed more than 8,500 buyers to Messe Frankfurt. Approximately 42 percent were hosted buyers, and of these, long-haul buyers had tripled in number from the previous year. Bloom has formed partnerships with the International Congress & Convention Association to foster participation from associations (Association Day) and with Meeting Professionals International to engage young talent (Future Leaders Forum). Bloom promises that IMEX 2009 will offer its exhibitors a chance to use green energy. Social Media The power of consumer generated media (CGM), created when anyone talks online about something, lies in the belief that word-of-mouth testimony is more credible than any other form of endorsement. In February, Meeting Professionals International launched social media inititatives, collectively called MeetDifferent, at its Professional Education Congress in Houston. And, the meetings industry has two major planner user groups: MiForum (hosted by Nielsen Business Media, the parent of MN) and MeCo. Add new industry blog, the MeetingsCollaborative; planners and suppliers staking out real estate in Second Life; and innumerable MySpace, FaceBook, and LinkedIn pages and blogs, and the industry is entrenched in CGM.Whether it all makes sense is anybody’s guess, but it’s clearly the future. Christine Duffy, President and CEO, Maritz Travel, Philadelphia During her 2005-2006 term as chairwoman of Meeting Professionals International—when she arguably oversaw more new initiatives that any other chair in MPI history—Duffy often spoke of the need for those in the meetings industry to have a seat at the table. Today, as Duffy continues to build upon her importance in the field, she’s being invited to an increasing number of tables and gaining even more recognition. Most recently, Duffy was tapped to the Philadelphia CVB’s board of directors (see People Making News, p. 9). The bureau’s president called Duffy’s industry expertise “unmatched in the country.” No small praise for this big-thinking executive, who founded MPI’s Women’s Leadership Initiative. Also one of St. Louis Business Journal’s 25 Most Influential Business Women, and on the influencers list of MN sister publication Business Travel News, Duffy doesn’t appear ready to sit anything out. Christopher Nassetta, President and CEO, and Steven Goldman,President of Global Development and Real Estate,Hilton Hotels,Beverly Hills,CA There aren’t too many people who could shake up a whole industry with one move—even this list’s power players earned our nod through a series of efforts. But Nassetta and Goldman did that last month, when each yanked one leading executive away from Starwood Hotels’ W brand. Essentially the driving forces behind both W’s innovative concept and its successful spread across the world, those two brand leaders are now expected to catapult Hilton in both the luxury and lifestyle hotel segments. Sure, Hilton already has inroads into the luxe market, with its Conrad and Waldorf=Astoria brands, but you can bet the company will soon make a much bigger splash in the niche and in the all-important lifestyle arena. r July 21, 2008 MeetingNews 13 http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/index.jsp http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - July 21, 2008

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