Successful Meetings - March 2008 - (Page 8)

Editor’s Note > By Vincent Alonzo vince.alonzo@nielsen.com Nobody’s Perfect As a native New Yorker, and a long-time fan of the New York Giants, naturally I was thrilled about the team pulling off the upset of the century (so far at least) and not only winning the Super Bowl, but preventing the New England Patriots from making history with a perfect season. But the ticker tape from the victory parade in the Canyon of Heroes was barely swept up when the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) pulled off an upset of its own. Just one week after the Super Bowl, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Union announced it would hold its 39th international convention at the BCEC in summer 2010, pulling the convention from New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. After the Super Bowl, the pundits pointed to the Patriots aging offensive line as the area most responsible for the loss. Similarly, the Municipal Employees Union stated that the group moved the large, biyearly event after plans to expand Javits fell through. The BCEC, which came online in 2005 as the result of a huge investment by the city of Boston, was in perfect position to recover the fumble and bring it in for the score. This is a great example of how investing in infrastructure is one of the best ways to achieve sustainable success. But infrastructure is only half the equation. The other part is performance. If you’ve held an event at a great hotel, resort, or conference center, or received outstanding service from a CVB that you feel is worthy of an award, nominate them for a 2008 Pinnacle Award. The three award cateVisit www.mimegasite.com and vote gories are broken into six regions: Northeast/Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, West, and International. The ballot enables you to rank the nominees on four criteria designed to reveal the quality of the product and the organization’s commitment to service. Ranking will only take a few moments of your time, but the result will make it much easier for everyone in the meetings community to identify the suppliers who are closest to offering perfection. Polling is open until April 1, so visit www.mimegasite.com and click on the 2008 Pinnacle Award Ballot EDITORIAL and EXECUTIVE OFFICES: 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, (646) 654-7381; fax (646) 654-7367; www.mimegasite.com VINCENT ALONZO editor-in-chief, vince.alonzo@nielsen.com SUZIE AMER managing editor, suzie.amer@nielsen.com TERRI HARDIN destinations editor, terri.hardin@nielsen.com KINLEY LEVACK senior editor, kinley.levack@nielsen.com JENNIFER LEVEY online editor, jennifer.levey@nielsen.com NANCY LAZARUS research director, nancy.lazarus@nielsen.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: ROBERT CAREY, RAYNA KATZ, MARSHALL KRANTZ, WILLIAM NG, MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN, TOM MCDONALD CORRESPONDENTS: NEELAM MATHEWS (ASIA); ED SCHMIDT JR. (FLORIDA); HEIDI WALDROP BAY (WESTERN U.S.) ART (646) 654-7348 DON SALKALN art director, don.salkaln@nielsen.com PRODUCTION (646) 654-7293 GRACE CASEY production manager; PHYLLIS JEFFERSON production director special projects SPECIAL PROJECTS (646) 654-7360 BETH WEST editorial director; ALISON GOLUB executive editor; LORI MORRIS associate editor; AMY BOTHWELL creative director; DENNISTON BROWN art director; MICHELLE TROPIANO associate art director INFORMATION MARKETING (646) 654-7256 KWAFO group director, audience marketing, kwafo.anoff@nielsen.com SUBSCRIPTIONS: (847) 763-9050 MARKETING (703) 488-2739 JOHN TOLER marketing manager, travel & performance group, john.toler@nielsen.com ADVERTISING (646) 654-7327 FOR THE NEW YORK OFFICE REPRINTS For advertising/editorial: The YGS Group, Jenny Kintner, (800) 3242930, e-mail: successfulmeetings@theYGSgroup.com. For one-time use of our content, as a full article, excerpt, or chart: Barbara Grieninger, (646) 654-4675, email: barbara.grieninger@nielsen.com LIST RENTAL (646) 654-7220 MICHELLE WIESNER Vice President, Manufacturing and Distribution: Jennifer Grego Vice President, Audience Marketing: Joanne Wheatley ANOFF and cast your vote. 8 mimegasite.com MARCH 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS http://www.mimegasite.com http://www.mimegasite.com http://www.mimegasite.com http://mimegasite.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - March 2008

Successful Meetings - March 2008
Contents
Editor's Note
Suppliers
On the Record
Research
Associations
Planner's Spotlight
Management Matters
Mouth for Sale
Meetings Law
Pre-Event
Pre-Event
Tools of the Trade
On Site
Quick Tip
Critical Conditions
A Family Affair
Conference Centers We Love
CSM of the Year
Places & Spaces
Luxury Las Vegas
New York CIty
Houston
New Orleans
Quebec
Bahamas
Oahu & Big Island
Florida Keys
Gurus

Successful Meetings - March 2008