Meeting News - October 20, 2008 - (Page 2)

O c t o b e r 2 0 , 2 0 0 8 Vo l u m e 3 2 , N u m b e r 1 8 Perspectives Trick Or Treat! As if the world isn’t scary enough right now, Halloween is just around the corner. Stores are filling up with costumes, supermarkets are filling up with candy, and, from what I hear, it’s been an outstanding pumpkin season. We’re in autumn, that time when our biological clocks are telling us to get the harvest in and hibernate. But instead of restful sleep, we’re approaching the busiest time of the year, when we struggle to balance family and work while winding up our fiscal affairs. Thankfully, Halloween is an irreverent holiday that—like Mardi Gras—has always been a time to loosen one’s inhibitions and party. (Perhaps for that reason, former New York governor Eliot Spitzer and that shorts-wearing cop on Reno 911! appear to be the favorite local costumes this year). In our Exclusive Research, Gretchen Kelly explores the pros and cons of having Halloween take the place of the traditional holiday party, which has Terri Hardin, come under political-correctness scrutiny (see Editor-In-Chief page 18). While most planners are OK with Halloween, some had surprising insights. Like everywhere else, the main trend in our industry is coping with all the curveballs pitched by the economy. In this downturn, taxi drivers are seeking relief from gas prices through fuel surcharges and conference center suppliers are reaching out to new markets (see cover). In Florida, resort destinations are folding condos back into their guest room inventories (page 24), making them available to groups. And, though the Wall Street rollercoaster inevitably still has a few loops to loop, one possible side effect may be hot deals and room for negotiation as properties try to go into the new year on a high. Speaking of scary, by the time our Nov. 10 issue rolls around, our nation will have decided on another president. The election has been amazing, setting all kinds of precedents. The new president will have the task of guiding the country through a bewildering number of challenges—challenges that will affect us. Will it be trick, or treat? r Editorial Editor-In-Chief, Terri Hardin (646) 654-7364; terri.hardin@nielsen.com Executive Editor, Rayna Katz (646) 654-4421; rayna.katz@nielsen.com Managing Editor, 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 Corporate/Sales Nella Veldran, Vice President Travel Group Phone: (646) 654-7325 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 Gretchen Kelly, Robert Carey Matt Alderton, Marshall Krantz Phillip Hennessey, Rowland Stiteler Marc Boisclair, Edward Schmidt Jr. Bob Curley, Heidi Waldrop Bay, Julie Barker 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 Digital Sales Jared Smith, National Account Manager 770 Broadway, NY, NY 10003; Phone: (646) 654-5520 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 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: 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 terri.hardin@nielsen.com IN THIS ISSUE ® ® ® ® ® ® ® Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 People Making News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Transportation & Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Conference Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Live from the Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 2 MeetingNews October 20, 2008 www.meetingnews.com http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/index.jsp http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - October 20, 2008

Meeting News - October 20, 2008 Contents Letters to the Editor What's Up @ MeetingNews.com People Making News Transportation & Services Conference Centers Advertisers Index Live From the Forum

Meeting News - October 20, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.