Successful Meetings - December 2007 - (Page 52)

Technology > Office for Hire Report having the business center on the same floor as all of the meetings saves planners a lot of time.” The Fairmont’s business center and AV work are both handled by Swank Audiovisuals. “Having the AV company provide the business center makes it a seamless process—it’s a one-stop-shop for planners to get all their office needs as well as AV stuff like walkie-talkies.” At the 569-room Beverly Hilton, which hosts 175 celebrity events with red carpets per year, the in-house AVT Event Technology and Business Center offers audio design and staging, cyber cafe stations, video conferencing and web casting, high-speed connectivity, event media web distribution, and wireless capabilities. In the Executive Meeting Center, highlumen network managed projectors cast a bright light on high-level meetings. And starquality video isn’t limited to the meeting cenever you want.” He says that meeting planners tend to set up cyber cafes for delegates with a secure “war room” for the planner, where they get their own phone lines and Internet access. Planners also rent or bring their own printers, copiers, and other equipment, to cut the dreaded “per page” charge. But it’s not just about the money. “Planners often say they need their own office for privacy and information security; there’s no shredder in the business center,” says Goldscher. hundred people and you charge $10 a day for Internet access in their rooms, that’s a thousand dollars. So we don’t charge for it,” he says. A GRAND OLE BUSINESS CENTER Befitting its enormous size (2,800 rooms, 600,000 square feet of meeting space), perhaps the ultimate in full-service business centers is offered by the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Director of Sales Furnish says the property’s business center is primarily aimed at helping attendees, as planners typically set up their own on-site offices. “Delegates are doing the meeting on top of their regular jobs, so you have to make it convenient for them do their normal job. There are knowledgeable employees at the business center who can help you do complex things like lamination, binding, or full color copying. As an attendee trying to get a formal proposal to your own clients, the business center can help you get that done, with the peace of mind there’s someone there who can offer assistance.” At Opryland, there’s both a self-service area and an attended area open from 7 AM to 9 PM. KEY CLUB Smaller hotels often try to offer an even more personal touch. The Ventura Beach Crowne Plaza in Ventura, CA, has 258 guest rooms, 16,000 square feet of meeting space. The newly remodeled hotel, which handles meetings of eight to 200 people, has a self-service business center, with one com- “We’re good road warriors, with our laptops and do-everything phones, but even the best of us needs support." —DAVID FURNISH, GAYLORD OPRYLAND RESORT The Fairmont San Jose AND CONVENTION CENTER Says Furnish, “We’ll extend those hours for groups that need it. We’re moving toward more customized service to hit home puter, one printer, one copier, and one fax, which is run by the hotel’s own on-site audio visual company. “We had an outside company, but it’s all in house now, with our staff all trained to put the technology to use. It’s seamless, and we don’t have to call anyone,” says Monty Criss, director of sales. Delegates can get free access with their hotel key. “It’s a hassle to go to the business center and have to swipe your credit card every time,” he says. “We’re in the hospitality and service business; we’re not here to nickel and dime.” To that end, Criss says, Internet access is free. “Most meeting planners want highspeed Internet access everywhere, and they don’t want to pay for it. If you have a mimegasite.com ter or the ballrooms; AVT can project “dive-in movies” on the cabana walls by the hotel’s famous pool. The Hilton Los Angeles Airport has 1,234 rooms, 55,000 square feet of meeting space, and a small self-service business center, with a couple of PCs, a pair of printers, a fax and a copier—all of which accessed with a swipe of the credit card. But for the hotel’s guests, the set-up is ideal. “There are so many ways for people to check their e-mail now that weren’t there ten or even five years ago,” says Herschel Goldscher, senior sales manager for the property. “Sometimes the need for business centers is not as great as it was before; you can do all those functions wirelessly from wher- runs not just for the meeting planners but also their attendees.” After all, not every attendee group is as savvy as those of meeting planner Charel Morris. Morris, who produces technology conferences like Blackhat and ApacheCon, also produces DefCon, the world’s largest gathering of computer hackers. Although “charges to bring up boxes get a little old,” Morris likes the Las Vegas Riviera’s “very functional” business center, but says attendees won’t be counting on it for computing help. DefCon attendees are do-ityourselfers who delight in hacking into each other’s hard drives. All they need is speed. Says Morris: “The Riviera let us put a dish on the roof for additional bandwidth.” DECEMBER 2007 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 52 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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