Convention Insider (Conventions.net)

I was reading Rachel Wimberly over at Trade Show Network News about the latest in the meetings industry.  A study was done by the Professional Conventions Management Association, American Express, and the PMCA Education Foundation where they surveyed 505 professional meeting planners.  The results revealed that their was in an increase of 15% more meetings booked in 2010 from 2009 and 24% more meeting booked for 2011 over 2010.  It seems that we are climbing out of the economic hardships that the meeting industry has see over the last few years.  This seems to be a trend in other industries as well.

Deborah Sexton was quoted in the article as stating:

“While it’s been a difficult 18 months for our industry, I’m encouraged to see both actual business, as well as business sentiment improving,” said Deborah Sexton, PCMA’s president and CEO. “There continues to be caution in budgets and cost controls, which is to be expected, but if we can stay on this positive trend path there are certainly brighter days ahead for meetings.”

It appears that their is still caution going forward with the meeting industry and companies are not booking at places such as resorts and cruise ships like they once did in previous years.  This is not surprising as the industry begins to creep out of its shell.  Hotels saw the most increase of bookings in the meeting industry as they are a safe investment for any companies out there.  They tend to see the benefits first when a change occurs.

I have been wanting to get to Comic-Con out in San Diego for a number of years now and I was thinking that this would be my year, but alas it appears that the show has once again sold out.  A month away from the ever popular event in San Diego, and I was thinking I could perhaps get in as press to cover the event and that is almost tougher to accomplish than to buy a regular ticket. The event is now closed to any press requests as well.

This from their press room:

The 41st Annual Comic-Con International event will be held at the San Diego Convention Center from July 22 – 25 with a preview night on July 21. The event is SOLD OUT. Comic-Con International 2010 Press Registration is NOW CLOSED. There will be NO on-site press registration.

While I would love to go to the event it would probably prove impossible to find a place to stay or a place to hang my hat for the event.  As I have written in the past about Comic-Con and San Diego, it is the toughest ticket in town to get as far as the San Diego Conventions Center is concerned!  I wonder if my friends and clients over at Graphic.ly could get me in?  They would probably just make me work!  Maybe if I found my costume and showed up as my superhero self…

Tradition – Webster’s tells us it is:

1 a : an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom) b : a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable 2 : the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction 3 : cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions.  It’s something we all look forward to and can count on.

This is exactly how you want people to look at your next trade show or convention.  You want people to count on it year after year so that they make their reservation early and make them every year.  Yours needs to be the first thing they tell their peers that they should attend.  These three tips should make it a convention that is a tradition every year.

• Location – The location of your event is crucial to it being a tradition.  If you have an event every year at a different location it cannot become the go to event everyone looks forward to attending.  I love to hear “I will see you this year in Vegas?” That means they are already thinking of your event and when they give the location where they will see you next it means they are locked in to attending.
• Timing – Having your event every year at the same time makes it a tradition that everyone will remember. I go every year to SXSW in Austin, Texas in the Spring.  I know it is in the Spring because they call it “Spring Break For Geeks”.  I also know that every year they have it in Austin and I can count on making arrangements a year in advance.  I know I will be doing that event in the springtime.
• Program – Having the same type of program year after year allows you to make it a tradition for your speakers and exhibitors and your sponsors.  They love things that they can plan on and love it even more when you make it easy for them to stay in a groove so they can see what works best for them.  Stay with a program of breakout sessions and other typical actions of your event.

These tips will allow your event to become a tradition in your industry.  Becoming a tradition is crucial to making your event a success both financially and in the eyes of attendees, exhibitors and sponsors.  In a sense that makes it cyclical which is also somewhat of a tradition.

[photo via acameronhuff]

I spent most of yesterday out in the beauty of the wild, and some of it was even outdoors and not in the minivan with the kids as we celebrated Father’s Day in Estes Park, Colorado.  I took the shot here as we headed home from a day in the sun and fun.  As we drove along Colorado Highway 7 and at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park and the ever omniscient Long’s Peak I noticed a few conference centers on the route. The highway we were traveling on goes right through the heart of Roosevelt National Park and has breathtaking views.

There are many great locations for corporate retreats and places to get away from the normal grind of convention centers and hotels and regular meeting venues in big cities.  Places like Estes Park, Colorado thrive on summer vacation tourism and the shops and restaurants have their busy season and down time.  They are also finding a way to bring people in to have meetings and corporate retreats.

The Estes Park Conference Center we drove by had a sign out front for a quilting convention and I was not as quick on the draw for getting that picture but you can go to their site and see all they have to offer.  If you have an opportunity to help out a small mountain town like those in and around Estes Park, tell them Jim sent you.  In any case, try to have your next meeting in a place of beauty!

I am headed out to Chicago this weekend to speak at a social media industry event.  I was curious what is going on in the Chicago area and their recent news about law changes and the McCormick Place Conventions Center.  I saw a news item flash across Twitter and tracked down a story on the Meetings Industry Megasite about the latest in the law changes in Chicago.  The legislature had passed a law making the convention industry more competitive in Chicago and the Governor let it sit on his desk until he was forced to make a decision.  The bill was vetoed and later last week, the legislature voted to overturn the veto.  The law was passed and now Chicago is more competitive as a result.  I think the economy is making a number of the convention centers and other to take a look at the bottom line and searching ways to be more competitive.

There were many associations that had threatened to move their events from Chicago because the center was not competitive and in response to that they needed to make some changes.  Some of the listed changes that were made include:

• Establishes new labor work rules that reduce crew sizes and require less overtime pay.

• Expands exhibitor rights, allowing customers to do their own work, regardless of booth size.

• Appoints a trustee—Reilly—to oversee McCormick Place operations during an 18-month transition period and choose a private manager for the facility.

• Restructures MPEA’s capital debt, which will allow it to further lower costs for customers.

• Allows shows to select outside electrical and foodservice contractors.

• Calls for auditing contracts to ensure savings are passed on to customers.

I think these are some areas that will be looked at by a number of facilities and certainly other convention and visitor bureaus are going to be watching closely at how the new law changes put into place in Chicago are going to change their own proposals.  This is also going to help the third party vendors and suppliers to compete in a market where they may have been locked out.

I am a huge fan of the Starwood Hotels and their resorts.  The latest Starwood Hotels and Resorts experience I had was out in Hawaii, so you can imagine how much that rated on my enjoyment meter.  If you get a chance to stay at the Moana Surfrider it is a one in a lifetime experience.  I also had an opportunity to look over Starwood’s latest campaign to help meeting and conference planners and at the same time give to charity.

The graphic above provides some for the information about their latest offer.  As you can see from the graphic they have also teamed up with PepsiCo on their campaign.  A deeper look into their offer also provides some details:

Starwood Hotels & Resorts and PepsiCo have teamed up to provide more value for your meeting experience. Plus, Starwood is giving you an opportunity to give back to your community. For every meeting booked your company will be entered to win one of four $50,000 charitable grants to be donated to your favorite local cause.

Book by July 31, 2010, and hold your meeting by December 31, 2010. This offer includes:

• - 4% Credit to master
• - Complimentary PepsiCo food and beverage break
• - Up to 100,000 Starpoints^® signing bonus
• - Sweepstakes for one of four $50,000 charitable grants
  

PepsiCo is becoming a driving force in the world of cause marketing and they are leading the way for other companies to participate.  This is a great initiative they are putting together with Starwood Hotels and Resorts.  If you book your meeting or conference with them, let them know that the folks here at Conventions.net sent you, and give them a thumbs up from us.

For those of us wondering how the environment impacts us in the convention and meeting industry or how catastrophes or other problems change how we do business, we only have to look at the recent oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.  We have written about the terrible situation with the flood in Nashville and how it impacted the folks at Gaylord Hotels.

Meetingsnet.com talks about how the spill is leading to cancellations in the Meeting Industry.

A May 18 survey of 50 hotels across the Gulf Coast that host meetings and events found that 42 percent are experiencing group booking cancellations, the report says.

I don’t think that we are going to see a big problem in the Gulf States as it relates to meetings, or conventions or other things that are impacted in that area by things like golf coast hurricanes or other weather issues.  I like how the report states that in some cases bookings for hotels and other facilities are on the rise because they are housing the peripheral industries like emergency people, media and others.  So far the spill is not making much of an impact, but if you have a meeting, a convention or trade show in the gulf coast states, it might be a good idea to reach out to your facility to see if there is any impact.  If you are marketing your event as a beach front or other outdoor ocean view or gulf coast outing, you should make sure you have your own disaster preparedness.

[photo via Yahoo News and AP]

I have done some reviews of hotels in the past and since I am discussing my travel this week I might as well include where I stayed in my travel plans.  I had my nightmare of travel and this is the icing of that cake.  I have never bee to the Custom Hotel and had no expectations.  In addition to adding to the problems with my travel from the last post, I got off the plane at LAX and found the place where I was to pick up the shuttle.  The shuttle is sent after you call the front desk. I pulled out my paperwork and the domino effect being the norm that day, the last digit of the phone number of the hotel did not show up.  No problem I would call information and have the call patched through.  The only problem with that is the information people had no listing for the hotel in their system. "Excuse me", I said in disbelief.  I’m looking at their number I just don’t have the last digit.  You would think I could give them the number and I cold ask them to provide the last digit.  No luck there.

I finally found the website on my smart phone, something I would say all road warriors must have, and finally found the number.  To its credit however, providing a free hotel shuttle is a huge plus when I am staying at a hotel.  I first stay with those that provide this as a value add not requiring a cab ride from the airport is a money saver and a great perk.

I arrived at the hotel and while I waiting to check in I surveyed the land.  Not too bad a hotel for a room under $100.  They had a restaurant that served a pretty good chicken avocado and it was clean and fairly quiet.  The only issue I had was the decor.  I am a guy and decor means as much to me most of the time as curtains in the garage, I don’t really care.  The problem with this decor however, was black carpet, black walls, black ceiling and hardly any light.  It was like entering a lava cave I saw in Hawaii.  Spooky.  To add to the comedy of the issue was the vending machine selling Halloween masks.  No I am not kidding.

The room was nice, clean the bathroom was great ad the shower was sufficient.  I had a great room and I don’t want to detract from people staying here, but I am wondering why they had a flock of sheep in the lobby.  No, not a real living and breathing flock, but stuffed animal sheep.  The bizarre of this trip continues it seems.

Tags: Travel, Los Angeles, Custom Hotel, Conferences, Trade Shows, Hotels

I don’t want to turn this into a blog about crazy travel stories, as that is another blog for another place, but when I travel as much as I do it is part of what keeps me looking inside the convention centers, hotels, meeting venues and other places.  Part of that has to do quite a bit for travel and how I do it.  I had to get this story out as it seems that not even I cold make this up.

It began easily enough with the need to fly to Los Angeles to speak at an event to a group of people in my network.  This was the fifth time for this presentation to this type of group so it is a no brainer. That is until I have to get there.

I headed out with my usual time allotment to getting to the plane.  This usually means I am running late, but for some reason today was different.  Today I was early.  I was about 10 miles from my house on the way to DIA when I discovered the error of my thinking.  I did not have the boarding pass I worked so hard to get printed 24 hours in advance to give myself the early seating.  I quickly turned the car around knowing that I was now very late, which is okay because I am used to being late.  Back to the house and back to the airport.  I am officially late, as per usual.

Then thinking about being late and thinking about my presentation and going over in my head all the things I had to do caused my next adventure.  I missed the turn to the airport.  This is a toll road, there would be no turning around easily and getting back to the original turn.  I know this is an emergency I will use the emergency turn around in the median.  Yes, I am probably going to jail on top of being late.  I found the turn around, but in doing so it cause my laptop bags and most of its content to end up on the floor.

Then finally I found a parking spot in the shuttle parking because i am a frugal traveler.  I park in the cheapest place possible.  I would have to hope that there was not many stops for my shuttle. At this point there is problem of being very late, but I can manage.  Then I noticed that my bag that had dumped out all over the floor of the car, was sans my wallet.  Yes, I need to have the ID in the wallet to get through security, otherwise no bid deal I could somehow manage. I yelled to the bus driver to stop so I could ru back to the car to get my wallet.  He pleasantly obliged and sped off as soon as I got off making me have to wait for the next shuttle.  I headed back to the car, and bent down to grab my keys…yes, you guessed it right, the keys were now on their merry way to the terminal with the original shuttle.  I have not yet screamed but I was close.  I flagged down a supervisor that told me he would radio ahead and when the shuttle made its stop at the terminal he would ask the driver to search for my keys.  I could see the shuttle from where I was standing and knew it was a few miles to the terminal.  I guess having him stop for two minutes and having the supervisor run me over there in his air conditioned vehicle was asking too much. I waited. Then I waited some more, and then even more.  Soon (relative term at this point), I saw the shuttle we were looking for.  He pulled up sheepishly handing me my keys and sped off again, not waiting for me to get the wallet from my car.  I would have to wait for the next available shuttle.

Suffice it to say I was the last guy on the plane which was too bad as I worked very hard to get that early on pass.  It became moot and I got to sit at the back of the plane between two linebackers and in front of a screaming toddler.  I thought myself lucky for making the flight although late, right up and until the man next to me said, "flying makes me sick sometimes."  No you could not have ended this any better.

Tags: Travel, Conferences, DIA, Denver, Road Warrior

I am headed to a couple of cities this week with Houston on the first stop and then rounding out the week with a presentation at an event in Los Angeles.  I have been used to the travel schedule and working my way in and out of airports.  To me it has become second nature to go through the security checkpoints and sitting on a flight taking notes, doing expense reports and in fact even typing blog posts.  My daughter on the other hand is not so used to the idea of "travel".

I had to first explain the idea of falling from the sky at 5,000 fee or 35,000 feet.  It doesn’t really matter once you hit earth from either elevation.  I think she is still wrapping her head around that concept.  So much for the laws of physics.  It is her birthday which is why she gets a chance to travel on a quick overnight and a short time with her grandmother in Houston. 

I love travel and I get a chance to see a number of different places.  It looks as tough my year will end somewhere like it began with a trip to Las Vegas.  I am also looking forward to getting back to Hawaii.  I will be headed there in November and this time I have no choice but to include my wife on the trip. I wonder if she too will grasp the idea of what happens when you careen into the earth from either 5,000 feet or 35,000 feet.  Let’s hope I never have to try the theory.

Tags: Travel, Houston, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Conferences, Conventions, Trade Shows