Successful Meetings - May 2008 - (Page 56)

Conference Top Association > The Magnificent Seven Centers Meetings Growth Spurt GROUP: American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons SITE: Long Beach, CA ATTENDEES: 1,200 group was split into separate hotels for the first time. Being housed in one hotel, it’s very easy for people to find meeting sessions, because it’s all under the same roof. But in our convention center, the group used multiple hotels, some a couple of blocks away. So they put decals on the sidewalk, shaped like feet, directing people to their events. It was such a small touch, but it had a big impact on their attendees.” With over 3,300 room-nights, the group divided into three hotels in Long Beach, a move that had an unexpected benefit, Burke says. “People were able to stay at their favorite brand hotel instead of being forced into one hotel.” The group also benefited from Long Beach’s willingness to use the convention center parking lot as an impromptu breakout space, says Mahaffey, when device manufacturers brought two mobile wet labs housed in vans, and held demonstrations on cadavers in them. In all, it was a successful move into a bigger venue. “We considered the Long Beach site a perfect fit,” Mahaffey says. “Our baptism into a convention center couldn’t have been in a better situation.” What do you do when your event has gotten too big for its old home? J.C. (Chris) Mahaffey, executive director of the Chicago-based American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS) dealt with this issue. His answer? Move it to a bigger one, of course. Growth of the ACFAS annual meeting had pushed it to a point where he was considering moving it out of a hotel and into a convention center. “We use about 80,000 square feet,” he explains. “Our meeting has lots of breakout sessions, plus general sessions in an exhibit hall. We’re too big for 95 percent of the hotels in the country.” So last year, Mahaffey brought the event to Long Beach. “When the association was considering Long Beach for a site, our challenge was selling the convention center, with three hotels for housing, because they had never done “Our meeting has lots of breakout that before,” says Mary Lou Newbold, national sales sessions, plus general sessions in director at the Long Beach CVB. an exhibit hall. We’re too big for But the challenge was overcome, and Mahaffey’s 95 percent of the hotels in the group chose to meet in Long Beach. His team had to country.” contend with a few differences in using a convention center versus a hotel, says Jenni Burke, senior con—J.C. Mahaffey, American College of vention services manager at the CVB. “One of the Foot and Ankle Surgeons things that came up had to do with the fact that the 56 mimegasite.com MAY 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS http://mimegasite.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - May 2008

Successful Meetings - May 2008 Contents Editor's Note Industry Trends Destination News Destination News Suppliers Destination News Calendar On the Record Websites of the Month Management Matters Mouth for Sale Meetings Law Planner's Spotlight Pre-Event On Site Tools of the Trade Pre-Event Counting Change Giving Them the Business The Magnificent Seven All-American Gift Guide Green Lights Places & Spaces Anaheim & Orange County Upstate New York Cincinnati Detroit San Diego Phoenix Gurus

Successful Meetings - May 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.