Successful Meetings - January 2008 - (Page 47)

> Tennis, Anyone? tennis clubs can easily set up a traditional, serious activity for those individuals—with or without tennis pros. “Sometimes you’ll hear, ‘Well, we have a couple of ringers in our group.’ No problem; we have a couple of ringers on our staff,” quips DiDonato. Resort Meetings EVERYBODY WINS For the most part, tennis pros recommend striving for a fun, social event over an aggressive competition, to make beginner and intermediate players comfortable and keep competitive players from becoming mean-spirited and confrontational. Because the sport is based on one-on-one or two-on-two competition, social round-robins keep emotions in check and attendees from feeling that they are being singled out or bullied, which would defeat the purpose of the activity. “We don’t want to intimidate them. The competitive environment is what turned a lot of people off from these corporate outings, so we try to minimize that,” says Brandner. “Our goal is to make it a social event,” adds DiDonato. “I have people stay and watch after their match is over. We’ll have beer for the spectators, maybe do the wave, so it’s fun for them to stay.” Prizes help too. “Make sure that everybody gets a prize,” recommends Howard Moore, program director at the Saddlebrook International Tennis Center in Tampa, FL. Most planners give each player a T-shirt or baseball-style hat and opt for a gift certificate to the pro shop for winners. “In a run-of-the-mill, organized tennis activity, people worry, ‘I don’t know who I’m going to be paired with’ or ‘I haven’t played since last summer; I don’t know how good I’m going to be,’ ” says Moore, who advocates incorporating something unexpected into a tennis event—be it a clinic, some carnivalstyle games, or a noncompetitive “cardio tennis” activity that involves music SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS JANUARY 2008 and a lot of running around, but “you don’t have to be particularly good at hitting the ball. “What you’re doing with the guests for an hour and a half or two hours is saying, ‘You’ve just gotten out of meetings and instead of going to the gym and walking on a StairMaster, by golly we’re going to get you outside on the courts Pointers From The Pros MEETINGS AND INCENTIVES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. resorts.hyatt.com Your complete online planning tool, featuring: Searches based on activities, space, rooms, locations and other options Robust high-resolution photo galleries for use in presentations and program brochures Planning resources and incentive checklists Fact sheets, detailed ﬂoor plans and capacity charts Links to additional destination information The way a tennis activity is presented makes all the difference in terms of attendee interest. You will get far more participants for a “high-energy, noncompetitive afternoon on the courts” versus a “scheduled tournament for interested attendees.” —Howard Moore, Saddlebrook International Tennis Center where everyone can bond, sweat, and have a good time, and then we’re going to go have dinner together,’ ” says Moore. Group clinics can accommodate a range of ability levels, and for neophytes an introduction-to-tennis clinic is an easy, nonthreatening way for attendees to get a feel for the game. To accommodate beginners and travelers, many tennis clubs will rent tennis shoes in addition to rackets and balls. As Brandner says, “Most travelers throw in one pair of [athletic] shoes, and if you do that you’re going to throw in your running shoes,” which, she says, do not provide good support for tennis, and are bad for the courts. mimegasite.com For more information, visit resorts.hyatt.com. http://resorts.hyatt.com http://resorts.hyatt.com http://resorts.hyatt.com http://mimegasite.com

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Successful Meetings - January 2008 Contents Editor's Note Associations Research Events Suppliers Associations On the Record Associations Suppliers Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Management Matters Meeting the Law Personal Success Mouth for Sale Food & Beverage Professional Development On Site Pre-Event Tools of the Trade Veggie Power Tennis, Anyone? Seeing is Believing The Wild Green Yonder Game On Places & Spaces Galveston & Texas Beaches Greater Seattle Singapore Gurus

Successful Meetings - January 2008

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