Prevue July-August 2017 - 8

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Napa, California
"Ground zero" culinary experiences woo MGM Resorts International incentive attendees
Michael Dominguez
Chief Sales Officer
MGM Resorts International

M

GM decided to take its top sales
performers on an incentive trip
to get to the heart of what the
entertainment company is all about: food
and beverage.
"We tell our customers that there's
no greater form of entertainment then a
good culinary experience with a story and
a thought process behind it, so we wanted
to showcase and live and breathe what we
show them," says Michael Dominguez, chief
sales officer for MGM.
Dominguez decided there was no
place better to "live and breathe" that F&B
experience than Napa, Calif. "When you talk
about food and beverage, Napa is ground
zero," he says. "There's something very
spiritual about Napa. The ability to not only
have great food and wine, but for it to be
educational and memorable made it the
perfect combination."
The group of about 70 (including
employees and their guests) stayed three
nights at the 141-room Andaz Napa in

Michael Mina at Silver Oaks

8 | prevuemeetings.com

downtown this past March-a purposeful
move so attendees could experience Napa's
blossoming urban scene. After a welcome
reception at the hotel, the event team sent
attendees an amenity of two wine bottles
and a box large enough to ship 12 bottles of
wine home.
The next day, half the group visited
Merryvale Vineyards and the other half
went to ZD Wines for educational tours and
tastings. They reconnected for a lunch at
Merryvale on the porch of an old Victorian
house located next to the winery. Then,
the group swapped spots before dinner
at Celadon restaurant in downtown Napa.
The restaurant's tented patio overlooks the
Napa River, creating a rustic ambiance with
exposed brick and a wood-burning fireplace
in the middle of the room.
A similar program ensued later at
larger local wineries-Peju Province Winery
and Cakebread Cellars-for wine tastings.
Lunch in the middle of Peju's HB Vineyard
consisted of salads and pizzas created
in pizza ovens before the group again
swapped to opposite venues.
Dominguez booked MGM chef Michael
Mina for the final award's dinner in the

private outdoor dining area overlooking the
vineyards at Silver Oak Cellars. Mina created
a menu of dishes-octopus risotto, ragu
di funghi and Yemenite-spiced American
Wagyu beef-that are currently being tested
in his San Francisco test kitchen. Instead of
the typical sales trophy, attendees received
Silver Oak bottles that included a logo with
the year and the award winner's name.
"[The entire event] was just an incredible
experience all the way," says Dominguez. "It
kept building energy and momentum. The
first day included smaller wineries at a slower
pace, while that second day had more
energy as wineries got bigger."

"There's no greater
form of entertainment
then a good culinary
experience with
a story
Picture caption
and a thought process
behind it."
Dominguez admits that Napa was a
risk for a group that typically requests a
beach destination, but he says he doesn't
think the F&B experience could have been
replicated outside of Napa.
"When I look at Napa, I wanted to
try to make a memorable experience that
attendees will continue to talk about when
they return back to their offices. That
couldn't have been accomplished without
the destination, and it's the destination as a
whole that brought to life the F&B. The wine
I had during those experiences just tastes a
little different compared to when I open the
same bottle at home. It just tastes better
when you're in that type of environment."
-Jessie Fetterling
visitnapavalley.com;
napa.andaz.hyatt.com;
mgmresorts.com


http://www.visitnapavalley.com http://napa.andaz.hyatt.com http://www.mgmresorts.com http://www.prevuemeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue July-August 2017

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