Meeting News - November 10, 2008 - (Page S10)

40 Asheville Greensboro 85 95 Boone Winston Salem Durham High Point Chapel Hill Raleigh 77 85 Pinehurst 64 NORTH CAROLINA Standardizing Southern Hospitality Raleigh unites to teach, learn customer service The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (GRCVB), in Raleigh, NC, is schooling front-line hospitality workers on the art of Southern charm, aided by a new partnership with Wake Tech Community College, the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, and area businesses. According to GRCVB executive vice president Loren Gold, the goal of the Wake County Community Hospitality Partnership is to train local hospitality employees across all sectors to deliver a consistent customer service experience that will help Raleigh grow its meetings and tourism industries through positive word of mouth. “The hope is that visitors see a consistent product through all channels,” Gold said. “We want people to understand that when they come to Raleigh, they’re going to get genuine Southern hospitality.” In order to get hospitality workers in restaurants, hotels, and other businesses to deliver consistent service, the GRCVB has been sponsoring a three-hour training course each month since June, when the Community Hospitality Partnership debuted. So far, it’s trained more than 200 individuals, not counting hundreds more that have received private training Charlotte Fayetteville 40 Wilmington Wrightsville Beach Cape Hatteraas through courses commissioned by employers for their entire staffs. The buck doesn’t stop with customer service training, however. The Community Hospitality Partnership is also planning two additional initiatives, both of which are designed to help Wake County—which is in the midst of a $3 billion redevelopment—adapt to its rapid growth. The first initiative is a destination education effort that will use non-traditional materials like DVDs and microsites to keep hospitality workers up to date on tourism developments in Raleigh. The second initiative will be an outreach program at state colleges and universities in order to recruit new talent for Raleigh’s growing hospitality segment. NASCAR Hall of Fame Revs Up to Open in 2010 with Groups in Mind Set to open in early 2010, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, in Charlotte, will feature a 40,000-sf ballroom for groups wishing to meet there. The 130,000-sf museum—situated beneath a 390,000-sf, 19-story office building—will be adjacent to the 280,000-sf Charlotte Convention Center. The two buildings will be connected via skywalk, giving meeting planners a function space complex with unusual venues that can be used in various configurations. “What this does is it gives us a new ballroom that in essence is part of the convention center,” said Mike Butts, executive director of Visit Charlotte, the city’s convention and visitors bureau. In addition to the ballroom, which will accommodate up to 2,000 people, groups will be able to rent out the Hall of Fame for meetings, receptions, and special events. According to Butts, the benefit to planners is a unique meeting venue with a built-in theme, possibly giving them the ability to realize savings on decoration. Events will be held alongside interactive exhibits featuring historic cars, racing simulators, and other super-charged stimuli. “One thing the Hall of Fame provides that’s unique is a theme for your convention or event,” said Butts, “whether it’s around speed or winning or goals. It expands [Charlotte’s] availability for meetings, and we’ve had some groups book it.” Among the first events booked at the Hall of Fame’s ballroom are the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting, in May 2010, and the Shriners of North America, gathering there in July 2012. www.meetingnews.com Racing Fans’ Mecca: NASCAR Hall of Fame will have a 40,000-sf ballroom. S10 MeetingNews November 10, 2008 http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - November 10, 2008

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