Successful Meetings - August 2008 - (Page 48)

Gaming Meetings > Betting On Development Banasinski, who won the 2004 Simply the Best award and is a finalist for this year’s honors. “She brings the same happy, cooperative, and outgoing disposition to this company every day,” says Woods. fit before, but in 2010 they’re having their convention here,” he says. Alexa Swindell, manager of event marketing at MTU Detroit Diesel, has already booked a pair of 300-to-400 person events at the MGM Grand this year, bringing with them attendees from around North America. “They’ve really cleaned the city up, literally— there’s less crime and trash and it’s actually a desirable place to go,” she says. And there are more visitors who, upon departing, leave their preconceived notions of Detroit behind as well. “We had one guy from South Carolina, whose colleagues told him to keep his head down, don’t make eye contact with anyone, and don’t go out at night,” says Swindell. “Afterward, he said this was one of the best trips he’s ever had.” MotorCity’s philosophy on customer and community service. “We honor them for going beyond normal duty,” explains Woods. To that end, Cynthia Banasinski serves as a prime example of how native Detroiters can successfully switch from a manufacturing career into the service arena. With her children grown and gone, she created a second career for herself nine years ago as a food court cashier at MotorCity. “I decided it was my time,” says Banasinski, whose first career—surprise—began back in the 1970s at Chrysler. “In the auto industry we were in the back of the house and not dealing with a person face-to-face,” she says, as opposed to dealing with customers up close and personal at MotorCity. Clearly the change of environment agrees with CHANGING PERCEPTIONS. While still relatively new (less than a year) on Detroit’s hospitality scene, the trickledown effect of the efforts of the casino resorts is attracting the attention of meeting planners and attendees. “We have some conventions booked in the city that were not able to come here before because they could not get enough inventory to fill their room block,” says the MGM Grand’s Hutar, citing, without irony, the United Auto Workers in particular. “Their room block wouldn’t Players Club Detroit isn’t the only destination that is being redefined by a big gaming development. Here are three others of note. Lumiere Place. This $507 million complex, developed by Pinnacle Entertainment in downtown St. Louis, opened at the end of 2007. The property is adjacent to the city’s famed Gateway Arch as well as the America’s Center convention center, the 66,000seat Edward Jones Dome, and the MetroLink light rail system. To highlight the opening ceremony, Pinnacle Entertainment Chairman and CEO Daniel R. Lee and St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay threw an eight-foot light switch and lit the massive light box surrounding Lumiere’s 24-story tower, illuminating the historic riverfront with more than 42,000 feet of LEDs. CityCenter. It’s not like the Strip needs something grand to revitalize the city, but if you’re CityCenter going to build in Vegas you have to Las Vegas build big. This is an unprecedented urban metropolis on 76 acres between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. The project, which is the result of a partnership between MGM MIRAGE and Dubai World, has a price tag of more than $8 billion. The development will feature a 4,000-room hotel/casino; the chic Vdara Condo Hotel, a non-gaming, non-smoking boutique hotel; approximately 2,650 luxury residences; and The Crystals, a 500,000square-foot retail and entertainment disLumiere Place, St. Louis trict. Charting a new course for responsible growth in Las Vegas, CityCenter is pursuing the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for Vdara and the entire development. As planned, the 18-millionsquare-foot, multi-use project will become one of the world’s largest environmentally sustainable urban communities. Casino Arizona Resort & Spa. Opening early 2010, the 497room property will bring a big-time resort gaming experience to the Arizona desert. Guests will be able to enjoy a rejuvenating spa, eight world-class restaurants, Casino 10 entertainment lounges, and Arizona more than 100,000 square feet of Resort meeting and conference space. Other notable amenities at the resort of interest to groups include a themed pool and cabana areas, and championship golf. The gaming venue will include 998 slot machines, more than 50 blackjack tables, 50 poker tables, fast action keno, and OTB. mimegasite.com AUGUST 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 48 http://mimegasite.com

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

Successful Meetings - August 2008 Contents Editor's Note Industry Trends Industry Events On the Record Technology Calendar Websites of the Month Personal Success Technology Talk Food & Beverage Pre-Event On Site Tools of the Trade Pre-Event Crude Awakening Oil’s Well Betting on Development The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of No Spa, No Dice New & Improved Bean Counting Places & Spaces Cleveland Palm Springs, Desert Resorts Midwest Meetings San Antonio Yucatan Peninsula Gurus

Successful Meetings - August 2008

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