Meeting News - October 6, 2008 - (Page 1)

Perspectives Who’s Up For A Thrill Ride? Years ago, I went to a theme park in Sydney, Australia, where the main attraction was a ride based on the movie Titanic. For this particular ride, you had to choose whether you wanted to live (get in a rowboat and float to safety) or die (get trapped in the boiler room and drown, after which Celine Dion sang and a movie screen showed a jewel floating to the ocean floor). Needless to say, I chose to die, because it was only a thrill ride and I wanted my money’s worth. But that’s nothing compared with the thrill ride Wall Street is taking us on at the moment. At press time, as the Fed, the White House, and Congress seek remedies for failing investment banks, wouldn’t we all like to be in the lifeboats, rowing to safety? At the precise moment that we were surveying our readers for MeetingNews Outlook 2009, planners were not anticipating much difference between this year and next. Yes, prices would rise; yes, the airlines were being troublesome. But just as school-teachers are always concerned about students running in the halls, meeting planners brooded over their usual stable of woes without any sense of the extraordinary events to come. Now, however, planners are well aware of the Terri Hardin, scope of the economic crisis confronting them, Editor-In-Chief and are thoughtfully trying to come to terms with it, as William Ng’s cover story demonstrates. Difficult times are ahead. As a boomer who has lived through several downturns, I know that there will be major course corrections before things smooth out. But if we have tried to employ best practices in business and in private life, then those practices will serve as the guidelines through which we can navigate the future. The green trend is a sign of going in the right direction; with retail giant WalMart greening its packaging and delivery (Green Beat, p. 16) and Chicago hoping to put the “Green Seal” on a record amount of hotel inventory by December (Destination Insider, p. 18), we can look forward to a better world through environmental awareness, at least. Now, if only the Fates would settle down and stop rocking the boat. r Editorial O c t o b e r 6 , 2 0 0 8 Vo l u m e 3 2 , N u m b e r 1 7 Corporate/Sales Nella Veldran, Vice President Travel Group Phone: (646) 654-7325 Editor-In-Chief, Terri Hardin (646) 654-7364; terri.hardin@nielsen.com Executive Editor/Hotels, Rayna Katz (646) 654-4421; rayna.katz@nielsen.com Managing Editor/International, William Ng (646) 654-4451; william.ng@nielsen.com Research Director, Nancy Lazarus (646) 654-7272; nancy.lazarus@nielsen.com Editorial Fax: (646) 654-4428 Editorial Address: 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-9595 Southeast/Mid-Atlantic/Ohio Larry Mischik, Ad Director/Account Manager 3054 Four Oaks Drive, Atlanta, GA 30360 Phone: (770) 604-9641 NY/NJ/New England/Bermuda/Caribbean Diane DiMaggio, International Advertising Director 770 Broadway, NY, NY 10003; Phone: (646) 654-7332 Contributing Editors Sara J. Welch, Robert Carey Gretchen Kelly, Marshall Krantz Leah A. Zeldes, Julie Catalano Florida/Cruise Arthur Hyman, Associate Publisher/Account Manager 1267 Via Fiume, Boynton Beach, FL 33436 Phone: (561) 736-5374 Art Art Director, Richard Prestia (646) 654-4424; richard.prestia@nielsen.com Midwest/Texas/Louisiana Patrice Carman, Account Manager 200 West Jackson Blvd., 27th floor, Chicago, IL 60606 Phone: (312) 583-5522 Marketing Sr. Marketing Manager, Jennifer Pepper Stam (646) 654-7263; jennifer.pepperstam@nielsen.com CA/HI/Colorado/Arizona/Nevada/NM Sharon Freeark, Account Manager 2950 31st Street, Suite 100, Santa Monica, CA 904053037; Phone: (626) 578-0700; Fax: (626) 578-0720 Production Production Manager, Adam Schaffer (646) 654-7295; Fax (646) 654-7318 adam.schaffer@nielsen.com Subscription Information: (847) 763-9050 Subscription Fax: (847) 763-9037 Single Copy Sales: (847) 763-9050 Asia/Pacific/Southwest/Colorado Edie Garfinkle, International Advertising Director 2510 G Las Posas Road, #505, Camarillo, CA 93010 Phone: (805) 383-1326; Fax: (646) 654-4456 Custom Media Editorial Director, Marilyn Moore (305) 884-0295 Executive Editor, Alison Golub Executive Editor (performance), Karen Gines Associate Editor, Sara Veit Creative Director, Denniston Brown Art Director, Michelle Tropiano Associate Art Director, Jonathan Chang Associate Art Director, Tessa Sestina Digital Sales Jared Smith, National Account Manager 770 Broadway, NY, NY 10003; Phone: (646) 654-5520 International CANADA: Wayne St. John, President; Penny Dickenson, VP Sales; Alex Kinninmont, VP Sales/Admin.; Francoise Chalifour, Cyndy Fleming, American Publishers Canada Phone: (416) 363-1388; Rosalind Genge, Western office, Phone: (604) 988-0730; MEXICO & LATIN AMERICA: Veronica Castro; CASS Media; Phone: 52-55/5605-1757 EUROPE/AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST: Diane DiMaggio, International Advertising Director, Successful Meetings/MeetingNews; Phone: 646-654-7332; Fax: 646-328-0218; Cell 914-299-4394; Spain Luis Andrade, Luis Andrade Publicidad Internacional; Phone: 34-91-441-6266; Fax: 34-91-441-6549; Portugal Paulo Andrade, Ilimitada Media International; Phone: 351-21-385-3598/45; Fax: 351-21-388-3283 ASIA/PACIFIC: Singapore Lavendar Tan, Al Media, 733 Bukit timah Road #03-05, Singapore 269748; Phone: (65) 469-9321; Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines Annie Blanchard & Associates, Phone: (632) 532-6827; Fax: (632) 584-2110; Korea Mr. Jung-Won Suh, President, Sinsegi Media Inc., Phone: +82 2 3275 5969; Japan Etsuko Ichinohe, Pacific Business, Inc.; Phone 81-3-3661-6138; Fax: 81-3-3661-6139; Macau, Hong Kong, China Stephen Hutton, Hutton Media Limited, International Media Representatives, Suite 2102 Fook Lee Commercial Centre, 33 Lockhart Road, Wanchai Hong Kong; Phone: 852 2528 9135; Fax: 852 2528 9281 Information Marketing Associate Director, Audience Marketing, Tracey Dwyer (646) 654-5879 tracey.dwyer@nielsen.com Reprints The YGS Group Barb Karmilowicz (800) 290-5460 x106 MN@theYGSgroup.com List Rentals For postal mailings: Julius Single, (845) 731-2731 For emailings: Nicole Guarascio, (845) 731-3828 Group President Sabrina Crow Business Manager Leslie Musick President, Greg Farrar Senior Vice President, Human Resources: Michael Alicea Senior Vice President, Marketing: Mark Hosbein Senior Vice President, Finance: Derek Irwin Senior Vice President, Entertainment: Gerry Byrne Senior Vice President, Marketing, Media & Visual Arts: terri.hardin@nielsen.com Sabrina Crow Senior Vice President, Retail: David Loechner Senior Vice President, Online: Linda McCutcheon Senior Vice President, Building & Design: Joe Randall Senior Vice President, Central Services: Mary Kay Sustek Vice President, Licensing: Howard Appelbaum Vice President, Manufacturing & Distribution: Jennifer Grego Vice President, Audience Marketing: Joanne Wheatley IN THIS ISSUE ® ® ® ® ® What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 People Making News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Green Beat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Live from the Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 www.meetingnews.com October 6, 2008 MeetingNews 1 http://www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - October 6, 2008

Meeting News - October 6, 2008
Contents
What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com
People Making News
Green Beat
Ad Index
Live from the Forum

Meeting News - October 6, 2008