PYM: Plan Your Meetings
Features
State of the Mexican tourism industry
Tourism is Mexico’s third-largest source of revenue and foreign exchange. Its recent decline has greatly impacted the four million Mexicans employed by the industry. From the economic downturn to the Influenza A H1N1 outbreak, Mexico is still weathering a financial storm, but wants everyone to know it’s open for business.
Crafting a crisis management plan
Over the last eight years, the meeting, travel and tourism industry has experienced a number of global incidents that have put crisis management plans to the test. From crises such as 9/11 and the current influenza A subtype H1N1 outbreak (”swine flu”), meeting planners have learned how to enact last-minute contingency plans. These unexpected events [...]
News Briefs
Delta to reinstate its meeting fares program
Since Delta Air Lines acquired Northwest Airlines last year, corporate travel buyers have been wondering if Delta would eliminate Northwest’s discounted fares for people flying to meetings and events. After all, when Delta eliminated its Delta Meeting Network in 2005, it inspired many other airlines to do the same.
Instead, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports, Delta [...]
Virtual pass available for World Education Congress
Addressing economic concerns, which are keeping many people from traveling and attending conferences this year, Meeting Professionals International is offering people the chance to attend its World Education Conference (WEC) virtually.
Virtual access passes are available through the MPI Web site. Educational sessions will be available for viewing from July 11-Oct. 15. Cost is $79 for [...]
New Treasury rules for TARP recipients
The U.S. Treasury issued new regulation guidelines for companies that have received taxpayer assistance on June 10. After 90 days of public commenting and review, the rules will be finalized. Industry leaders do not predict the final regulations will differ much from those proposed by the Treasury Department, which call for companies receiving taxpayer assistance [...]
Hoteliers warn value-added tax will stunt economic growth
If a value-added tax (VAT) is enacted to pay for universal health care initiatives, it will destroy the nascent growth the meetings industry is seeing, warned Marriott International Chairman and CEO J. W. “Bill” Marriott and President Arne Sorenson on the June 2 episode of “Your World with Neil Cavuto.”
The VAT, which is common in [...]
Best practices: the IACC’s green commitment
The International Association of Conference Centers (IACC) released a rigorous Code of Sustainability to its members. Though it is not a requirement for all members, the code is intended to promote a more sustainable way of doing business. Organizations that agree to sign the policy must already have active green measures in place, or be [...]
Work, then play
Nothing relieves stress quite like sandy shores and pristine waters. Help your attendees relax, relate and release by planning your next event near the coast. Here are Dr. Beach’s top 10 U.S. beach destinations. Explore and enjoy.
Names in the news: June 2009
New hires and promotions throughout the meetings and hospitality industry.
Spotlight
Green gadget
What’s compact, handy and sun-powered, and makes a great gift for techno-savvy attendees? The Solio Hybrid 1000, a universal portable solar charger that lets you juice up all those necessary gadgets, without cord clutter. One hour of sunshine equals 15 minutes of talk time or 40 minutes of MP3 music; energy can be stored for up to a year.
Town Hall
Updated March 2009.
Suppliers: What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing right now? What are some solutions? PYM Town Hall: State of the Industry luncheons bring together PYM partners to discuss current economic challenges and potential solutions. Held regularly in Atlanta and Dallas, the findings from each provide a snapshot of what’s going on and show how industry leaders are adapting to current market demands. Visit the Town Hall site for video clips, summaries and downloadable documents filled with the best solutions your peers on the hotel, CVB, restaurant, entertainment, transportation, products and services side have discovered.
Win Big by Sharing Your Successes.
Fill out our survey and automatically be entered for a chance to win a $200 VISA gift card. Our next drawing is June 30, 2009.
Advice from PYM
Building a business in a bad economy
Many meeting planners who get laid off decide to go into business for themselves or join third-party planning firms. For them and anyone trying to grow a business during these turbulent times, Dan Adams, author of “New Product Blueprinting: The Handbook for B2B Organic Growth,” has some choice words of advice.
“If you’re trying to grow [...]
Timing is everything: July 2009 morsel
One thing that is so important to event planners, but that we tend to glaze over, is the timing of an event. When doing an event timeline, we need to take into consideration our guests and how this timeline will affect them and their experience.
Let me give an extreme example of what can go wrong. [...]
Getting the most bang for your entertainment buck
For many charged with planning and executing this year’s convention/awards show/sales meeting/event/retreat (henceforth referred to as CASMER) there is one obvious place to go after you’ve established the location — the motivational speaker. While I agree this provides a meaningful service and tool for your company, there is another way to get your employees’ attention [...]
PYM Site Tour: The Mansion at Judges' Hill
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From the Blog:
At your service: Richard Harper
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Vice President of Sales and Marketing Richard Harper says that contrary to popular belief, Las Vegas is not a ghost town. “In terms of occupancy, we’re still running in the mid-90s.”
The misperception, he says, stems from the fact that Las Vegas lost millions of dollars of potential revenue from meeting [...]
A push for Congress to promote travel
There were 48 million more global overseas travelers in 2008 than in 2000, yet 633,000 fewer visited the United States. That makes the seventh consecutive year where visits to the U.S. to remained below pre-9/11 levels.
Recently, a new legislation was introduced to combat this and put America back in step with other countries around the [...]
Meet me at the movies
Webinars, teleconferences, Second Life … meeting planners have a lot of options on incorporating technology to create hybrid or virtual meetings. But when was the last time you heard (or thought) about meeting at the movies?
On June 23 and 25, NCM will host Cinema Event Showcases in three cities to show meeting planners how to [...]
