Successful Meetings - December 2007 - (Page 60)

Meeting Sites > Places & Spaces regional workshops in the past five years,” says Santa Tim. These have been held in destinations like Pigeon Forge, Branson, San Diego, San Francisco, and New York City. A six-day, five-night workshop in Hawaii is scheduled to take place next September. “An Alaskan cruise is also being planned for early May 2009,” he adds. Perhaps on the Alaskan cruise Santa will reveal the exact whereabouts of his home; after all, between “true north” and “magnetic north,” the North Pole as interpreted is a pretty big place. (Around the holidays, Greenland Travel offers two-day Santa-seeking trips to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, where interested parties can search for Kris Kringle on and around the New Openings MIDWEST ILLINOIS Chicago The 632-room Swissotel Chicago will undergo a $17.5 million room renovation that will include upgrades of all existing guest rooms by Apr. The announcement comes on the heels of the property’s recent announcement of its $47 million meeting and conference expansion plan, comprising 50,000 sf of meeting space, including a 15,000-sf, state-of-theart ballroom. The new meeting space will open June 2009 The Blackstone is expected to reopen in early 2008 following a $118 million showcase restoration that will transform the Beaux–Arts, national landmark Photo Finnish: Santa at work in an undisclosed location in Finland inland ice cap.) That, however, would hardly quell the “Santa’s home” controversy, since practically every nation with a northern exposure vies for the honor. But maybe nationality is not the answer. Certainly Karal Ann Marling, Ph.D., a well-known popular culture expert currently at the University of Minnesota, thinks not. Dismissing the claims of Greenland, Finland, Alaska, and even Canada, Marling states, “Santa lives at the North Pole, which is a spot at the top of the world where he can see who has been naughty or nice. It may move round a little, but it’s in none of those other places. You could say that the North Pole is a state of mind.” —Suzie Amer, Terri Hardin, and Kinley Levack into a luxury 344-room Renaissance Hotel, featuring 13,230 sf of meeting space, a health club, and a business center. MICHIGAN Detroit The 190-room Crowne Plaza Detroit-Auburn Hills recently opened with more than 5,000 sf of meeting space. In Oct, the 400-room MGM Grand Detroit debuted in a new, $800-million property that features signature restaurants by Wolfgang Puck and Michael Mina, nine rooftop VIP suites and 56 opulent corner suites with panoramic views of the Detroit skyline, the first resort-style spa in southeast Michigan, 30,000 sf of new and dedicated meeting and event space, and a casino with 4,500 slot machines and 98 table games. FINNISH TOURIST BOARD NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY Atlantic City MGM Mirage Resorts announced it will build the MGM Grand Atlantic City DECEMBER 2007 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 60 mimegasite.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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