Successful Meetings - December 2007 - (Page 12)

News & Analysis > Special Report country. Cotaya says The Ivy staff reassured her attendees that they weren’t taking up hotel rooms needed for fire evacuees. Due to air quality issues, the group stayed indoors throughout the meeting. Another Kaiser group that was booked October 24-26 in the Marriott Gaslamp Quarter postponed its meeting. “One of our clients spoke with the hotel, and was told at that time the property was at full occupancy with evacuees,” says Cotaya. “So we decided it was in the best interest to let people keep those rooms.” Cotaya adds that a third Kaiser group, booked into the Coronado Island Marriott Resort, postponed its meeting and donated its banquet meals to evacuees staying in that hotel. Most hotels offered reduced rates to evacuees during the firestorm. The Manchester Grand Hyatt set aside a block of 1,000 rooms to be offered at a rate of $139 (discounted from $239) to families fleeing the fires. Qualcomm Stadium, home to the San Diego Chargers, was turned into an evacuation center immediately after the fires started. It hosted over 10,000 evacuees; most returned to homes or found other shelter before the end of the week. Ron Donoho is the executive editor of San Diego Magazine and a former news editor at SM. Healthcare postponed a large convention due to the fires. The American Society of Human Genetics did not cancel its October 23-27 annual meeting, attended by 6,000 members. Kaiser Permanente had at least three smaller meetings booked in San Diego hotels the week of the fires. Two were postponed and one went on as scheduled. “A group staying at The Ivy hotel had already flown in before the fires made it into the news,” says Emma Cotaya, senior meeting planner for Kaiser Permanente, in the company’s Pasadena, CA, office. She says that 45-person meeting would have been canceled if people hadn’t already flown in from around the Planners: Productivity Prevails at Small Meetings For all of the conventions with thousands of attendees, attendees decided they would rather meet outside, so the extensive educational programming, and elaborate food property moved flipcharts and food and beverage outside, and beverage, it turns out that most meeting planners view cleaned chairs, and quickly prepared for the group’s small meetings as far more producchange of venue. tive than their large-scale counterComing in second in the poll, What is the main advantage parts. According to a poll taken of holding a smaller meeting with 22.7 percent of the votes, during the recent SM-sponsored was the fact that small meetings as opposed to a larger one? webcast, “Bigger Isn’t Always Betare easier to plan than large ter: Learn How and Where to Do meetings. Not only are there Easier to Small to Mid-size Meetings Right,” fewer people to keep track of, but plan No advantage 18.2% 22.7% 55.6 percent of respondents properties are beginning to work Cheaper/realize quicker ROI believe that the biggest advantage hard to make the planner’s job 3.5% More of small meetings over large meeteasier. Panelist Elaine Blazys, productive ings is that they are more producsenior director of global sales for 55.6% tive. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Panelist Laurie Sharp, presiWorldwide, explains that the dent of Sharp Events, in San Francompany launched its redesigned SOURCE: MEETINGNEWS AND SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS cisco, sees other benefits to small StarwoodMeetings.com website WEBCAST POLL OF 494 RESPONDING REGISTRANTS meetings beyond productivity— in February 2007 with the namely the “level of creativity [afforded] in designing the smaller-meeting planner in mind, with tweaks such as an meeting from an architecture perspective” and the degree improved search functionality. Starwood also runs the of personalization and interaction possible. “Meetings in a Moment” program that enables planners to Sandy Biback, founder of Imagination+ Meeting Plan- nail down space for up to 50 attendees, order F&B, AV, and ners Inc., in Toronto, agrees, using a recent strategic plan- other necessities, and reserve everything with a credit ning session for 50 attendees at the Millcroft Inn and Spa card—plans are then finalized with a call from the hotel in Alton-Caledon, Ontario, as an example. On a whim, some within one business day. —Kinley Levack 12 mimegasite.com DECEMBER 2007 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS http://StarwoodMeetings.com http://mimegasite.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - December 2007

Successful Meetings - December 2007 Contents Editor's Note Special Report Research Industry Trends 2008 Meeting Events Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Mouth for Sale Technology Talk Food & Beverage Pre-Event On Site Pre-Event Tools of the Trade Goodbye, Booth Babes Five Tips to Improve Your Golf Events When Crime Pays Office for Hire More Miles for Your Money Places & Spaces South Florida Biloxi / Mississippi Gulf Coast Fort Worth Monterey Beijing Gurus Special Supplement: Hawaii Island-by-Island Guide

Successful Meetings - December 2007

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