Meeting News - November 10, 2008 - (Page 38)

Cover Story AIG continued from cover 22-30, would have trouble imagining a worse one. And, the fact that it wasn’t an executive junket but an incentive program for independent insurance agents who outsold all their competitors— and that it helped drive sales whose profits likely exceeded the cost substantially—doesn’t make it any bit better, said Bill Boyd, president and CEO of Dallas-based Sunbelt Motivation and Travel. “You’ll never get your day in court on the ROI,” said Boyd, past president of the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives.“It’s not for the meeting planner to decide, but a CEO should say,‘We are accepting government money. Cancel everything.’ If attrition would cost more, pay it.” scientious CEO will look at [AIG] and say,“Holy cow, we are not going to be in this position.’” Boyd added that he had one client, which held an extravagant cruise in Europe, say it is now staying domestic. That executive, Boyd said, wants to be able to face his shareholders. Richard Gaeta, president of Marblehead, MAbased Premier Incentives, added, “We in this industry are not doing a good job of explaining the value of these programs as a marketing and ROI tool. During every downturn, this is the classic replay: the image that [incentive programs] are boondoggles. Anything that drives revenue is positive. That is the message we have to get across to Washington, to Wall Street.” This time, however, the incentive industry does have a response mechanism in place, or nearly so. The Incentive Federation recently brought a number of leading incentive companies together to form the Industry Leadership Council, with the charge of increasing industry outreach to both business and government. H AD INDEX Advertiser Page Advertiser . . . . . . . . . Page Palace Resorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 www.palaceresorts.com Paradisus Resorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 www.paradisusresorts.travel Riviera Hotel & Casino. . . . . . . . . . . 9 www.rivierahotel.com San Antonio CVB . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC www.visitsanantonio.com Savoya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 www.savoya.com Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 www.seminolehardrockhollywood.com Singapore Tourism Board . . . . . 26-27 www.visitsingapore-usa/mice Starwood Convention Collection. . . IBC www.StarwoodConventionCollection Veracruz CVB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 www.veracruzturismo.com.mx Wyndham Hotels & Resorts . . . . . . . 3 www.wyndham.com/amexmeetings Associated Luxury Hotels International. . . . . . . . . . . . 17 www.alhi.com Atlantis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15 www.atlantis.com Concorde Hotels & Resorts. . . . . . . 10 www.concorde-hotels.com Conference Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 www.conferencedirect.com Famous Dave’s Catering . . . . . . . . . 37 www.famousdaves.com Grand Sierra Resort & Casino . . . . . 11 www.grandsierraresort.com Greater Cleveland CVB. . . . . . . . . . 31 www.clevelandmeetings.com Guadalajara CVB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 www.guadalajaramidestino.com Harrah’s Harveys Lake Tahoe . . . . . IFC www.harrahstahoemeetings.com Hotel Nikko San Francisco . . . . . . . . 8 www.hotelnikkosf.com Hyatt Meetings Take Two . . . . . . . . 13 www.taketwo.hyatt.com Kalahari Resorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 www.kalahariresorts.com Leaders Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 www.build-a-bike.com Incentive industry braces for the fallout “I am very concerned,” said Fay Beauchine, executive vice president of global engagement and events at Minneapolis-based Carlson Marketing. “The right to reward employees for a job well done is different than executive compensation packages for failed strategies. Keeping employees engaged and happy is a good investment for the company and for the economy.” And yet, they are being penalized already. In a joint statement, AIG and New York State attorney general Andrew Cuomo announced that the insurer “agreed to immediately cancel all junkets or perks which are not strictly justified by legitimate business needs…[including] more than 160 conferences and events, some exceeding more than $750,000 per event.” This specifically includes a $750,000 “best operator” conference in Las Vegas, a half-million-dollar conference that was to have been held last month at the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay in California, and a $350,000 sales conference that was scheduled for this month at the Sea Island resort in Georgia. In total, more than $8 million worth of AIG conferences and events have been canceled. And, as Beauchine predicted, Cuomo’s office pushed AIG’s new leaders to make these cuts while eliminating or demanding the return of executive golden parachutes and bonuses. “This will absolutely have an impact on the [incentive] industry,” predicted Boyd. “Any con- The Index to Advertisers is published for the convenience of our readers. Every effort is made to list advertisers’ names, web addresses and page numbers correctly. The publisher is not liable for errors or omissions. Preview the entirely new Williamsburg Lodge at 38 MeetingNews November 10, 2008 www.meetingnews.com http://www.palaceresorts.com http://www.alhi.com http://www.paradisusresorts.travel http://www.atlantis.com http://www.rivierahotel.com http://www.concorde-hotels.com http://www.visitsanantonio.com http://www.conferencedirect.com http://www.savoya.com http://www.famousdaves.com http://www.seminolehardrockhollywood.com http://www.grandsierraresort.com http://www.www.visitsingapore-usa/mice http://www.clevelandmeetings.com http://www.StarwoodConventionCollection.com http://www.guadalajaramidestino.com http://www.veracruzturismo.com.mx http://www.harrahstahoemeetings.com http://www.wyndham.com/amexmeetings http://www.hotelnikkosf.com http://www.taketwo.hyatt.com http://www.kalahariresorts.com http://www.build-a-bike.com http://colonialwilliamsburgmeetings.com http://colonialwilliamsburgmeetings.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - November 10, 2008 MN Exclusive Research Green & Social Responsibility: The Year that Was in Meetings Incentive Special: Recovering from AIG Perspectives What's Up @ MeetingNews.com Letters to the Editor Inside the Meetings Industry South Africa Supplement Newsmaker Q&A People Making News Hotels & Resorts Starwood Hopes E-Portal is Small Meeting Utopia Intercontinental O'Hare Puts Art at Forefront Convention Centers Dallas and Philadelphia Move on Their Projects CVBs Jacksonville Markets to Medical, Cultural Groups International Jamaica's Rose Hall Area Blossoms with Resorts EIBTM Puts Together an Ambitious Program Transportation & Services Meeting News South Technology Green Beat Destination Insider Fort Lauderdale Cleveland Incentive Report Mexico MN Webcast Report Ad Index Live from the Forum

Meeting News - November 10, 2008

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