Successful Meetings - October 2009 - (Page 9)

NEWS UPDATE Tackling H1N1 With flu season looming, planners go on the offensive he popular pillow gift this season may be a bottle of hand sanitizer. As flu season approaches, concerns about the H1N1 virus are on the rise and meeting and incentive planners are going on the offensive. But as planners seek a balance between caution and crisis-mode, there is concern that some may not be doing enough. “It’s beyond washing your hands and sneezing into your sleeve— as someone that is going to convene a group, much more has to be done,” says Joan Eisenstodt, consultant with Washington, DC-based Eisenstodt Associates LLC, which advises meetings and incentive groups, as well as hotels and CVBs, on event planning. “There are a handful of us who are thinking about it, but when I ask various clients and groups what they are doing, I’m hearing that they really think this is a little bit like SARS—overblown and not really a big deal.” Eisenstodt worries that swine flu will be downplayed by an industry that has already faced significant struggles over the past year and is not eager to take on a new one. She sees it as a substantial enough concern that she will be teaching a risk management course for a group of meeting planners this month, using H1N1 as Benefits of Travel USTA Study Offers Proof T an example. Among the precautions Eisenstodt mentions are providing participants with hand sanitizers and antibacterial wipes as part of the pre-trip gift package, knowing the health department contacts for the area, and encouraging participants to get vaccines prior to the trip. She also advises that planners prepare for more significant events like the quarantine of a cruise ship, or a situation where the planners themselves contract the virus. “The safest thing to do is close your doors and sit home, but there’s a certain amount of calculated risk that everyone has to take,” says Jody Huber, director of business development for Dallas–based SEI Meetings and Incentives. Huber was running a 500-person incentive program in New York in April when the last outbreak of H1N1 hit a fever pitch. Caught by surprise at the level of concern and coverage about the outbreak, her team cleaned out the local drug store of its 500or-so bottles of hand sanitizer. Huber even offered to allow participants to drop out of the program if they were uncomfortable. “We said ‘If you’re really concerned, and you don’t want to come, we understand and study commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association and conducted by global research firm Oxford Economics establishes the first clear link between business travel and business growth. According to the study, for every dollar invested in a company meeting, the return on investment is in the range of $15 to $19.99. Conferences and trade shows are in the $4 to $5.99 range; in order to achieve the same effect of incentive travel, an employee’s total base compensation would need to be increased by 8.5 percent. According to these figures, the incentive trip yields a return of more than four times the investment, not including any broader motivation the incentive opportunity provides to those who do not meet award criteria. Other findings indicated that for every dollar invested in business travel, businesses experience an average $12.50 in increased revenue and $3.80 in new profits. Visit http://meetings meanbusiness.com/valuemeetings for the full study. —Andrea Doyle SuccessfulMeetings.com I October 2009 I SM I 9 http://meetingsmeanbusiness.com/value-meetings http://meetingsmeanbusiness.com/value-meetings http://meetingsmeanbusiness.com/value-meetings http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - October 2009

Successful Meetings - October 2009
Contents
Editor's Letter
Tackling H1N1
Management Matters
Incentive Insights
The Big Time
Green in More Ways Than One
Not Another Whitewash
Place + Spaces
Austin
New Orleans
Reno/Lake Tahoe
San Jose
Colorado
Mexico

Successful Meetings - October 2009