Successful Meetings - January 2010 - (Page 6)

EDITOR’S LETTER The Authority on Meetings & Incentives The New Frontier t the end of each year, the New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD) announces its “Word of the Year.” For 2009, it was a verb that everyone in our social networkobsessed culture should know: “Unfriend: To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook or MySpace.” While it’s the first Internetinspired term to earn word of the year status, it’s not the first to make it into the dictionary. Unfriend will appear in NOAD’s 2010 edition with other tech-savvy terms, including: • hashtag—a # [hash] sign added to a word or phrase that enables Twitter users to search for tweets (postings on the Twitter site) that contain similarly tagged items and view thematic sets • intexticated—distracted because of texting on a cell phone while driving • netbook—a small, very portable laptop computer with limited memory • paywall—a way of blocking access to a part of a website that is only available to paying subscribers • sexting—the sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by cell phone All of these words will have spell check filling my Word documents with red squiggly lines from now until I get an upgrade. Maybe not even then. Both Facebook and MySpace still show up as spelling errors. Change is difficult. But this month’s cover story, beginning on page 20, is a good example of how no one is too big to avoid the reality of change. The piece, written by senior editor Leo Jakobson, takes a look at how Cisco Systems Inc, supplier of networking equipment and network management for the Internet, transformed its annual sales meeting into a virtual meeting. And the results were impressive. Over a four-day period, 19,000 virtual attendees from 104 countries experienced 58 keynote addresses, 124 executive chat sessions, and 88 hours of educational sessions that crossed 24 time zones. The new event resulted in a 90 percent cost savings for Cisco and a carbon footprint reduction of 211 million air miles not flown. Can it replace face-to-face meetings? Not likely. Cisco is an Internet company and most of those 19,000 attendees are at the high-end of the technology learning curve. Most employees in non-tech industries still feel more comfortable in a face-to-face learning environment. But the Cisco example can be adapted to help reinforce, and extend the reach and life of many face-to-face events. P U B L I S H E R : NE L L A V E L D R A N vice president and group publisher, travel group (646) 654-7325, nella.veldran@nielsen.com VINCENT ALONZO editor-in-chief, vince.alonzo@nielsen.com KINLEY LEVACK managing editor, kinley.levack@nielsen.com ANDREA DOYLE senior editor, andrea.doyle@nielsen.com LEO JAKOBSON senior editor, leo.jakobson@nielsen.com WILLIAM NG contributing editor, william.ng@nielsen.com JENNIFER RUF art director, jennifer.ruf@nielsen.com PRODUCTION (646) 654-7293, Grace Casey, production manager CUSTOM PUBLISHING ALISON GOLUB, executive editor, alison.golub@nielsen.com KAREN GINES, executive editor (performance), karen.gines@nielsen.com SARAH VEIT, associate editor, sarah.veit@nielsen.com JONATHAN CHAN, associate art director, jonathan.chan@nielsen.com TESSA SESTINA, associate art director, tessa.sestina@nielsen.com INFORMATION MARKETING (646) 654-7258 Shelly Patton, manager, audience marketing, shelly.patton@nielsen.com CUSTOMER, SUBSCRIBER SERVICES (800) 697-8859; (847) 559-7533 nsm@omeda.com MARKETING (646) 654-7263 Catherine Marchese, marketing manager, travel group (646) 654-5131, catherine.marchese@nielsen.com ADVERTISING (646) 654-7327, New York office REPRINTS The YGS Group, Diana Sholl, (800) 501-9571, diana.sholl@theYGSgroup.com For one-time use of our content: Dana Parra, (646) 654-4696, dana.parra@nielsen.com LIST RENTAL Nikki Miller, (646) 654-7261 Editorial Offices: 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 (646) 654-7361; Fax (646) 654-7365; www.SuccessfulMeetings.com President: Greg Farrar Seni or Vice President, Human Resources: Michael Alicea Senio r Vice President, Brand Media: Andrew Bilbao Se nior Vi ce President, Media & Entertainment: Gerry Byrne S en ior Vice President, Finance: Sloane Googin Se ni or Vice President, Retail: David Loechner S en ior Vice President, Content: Scott McKenzie S eni or Vice President, Building & Design: Joe Randall S en i or Vice President, Central Ser vices: Mary Kay Sustek Chief Operating Officer, Entertainment: Howard Appelbaum V ice President, M a n u fac t u ri ng & Di st ributi on: Jennifer Grego V ice President, Licensing: Andrew Min V ice President, Client Marketing: Sue Tremblay V ice President, Au di e nc e Ma r k e t i ng : Joanne Wheatley Plea se Re cyc le This M a ga ec y cling zin ns er t Vincent Alonzo, Editor-in-Chief vince.alonzo@nielsen.com s&S amples B r efo I SM I January 2010 I SuccessfulMeetings.com eR eI ov Re m http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - January 2010

Successful Meetings - January 2010
Contents
Editor's Letter
Taking the Reins
Incentive Insights
Meetings Law
Path to Success
Innovative Meetings
Convention Centers
Places and Spaces

Successful Meetings - January 2010