Plan Your Meetings

PYM Tips and Things: September 2005

Online bookings, wine and water, presentation pointer, and uncommon cruise ideas.

Things We Like

Starwood Meetings in a Moment's online booking engine allows planners to book meetings without submitting RFPs. Planners can book single-day meetings for up to 25 attendees, order food and beverage and audio/visual equipment, and receive reservation confirmation instantly.

In August, Dave and Busters sent a clever promo about its holiday event packages to encourage planners to book ahead. The envelope read: "Open now, don't wait 'til December." Inside was a Christmas tree ornament-shaped promo piece filled with menu and bar packages and prices, and a special offer for planners booking holiday events before September 30 (a $20 Power Card).

Every September, Wine Over Water brings thousands of people and hundreds of wines together on Chattanooga's historic Walnut Street Bridge for live music and wine and food tastings. The one-day event inspires local hotels and spas to roll out special rates and packages for the festival weekend.

In order to create a more intimate experience, a limited number of tickets were sold to Chateau Élan Winery & Resort's ninth annual Vineyard Fest in Braselton, Ga. (An estimated 2,000 cars were turned away in 2004.) Planners wishing to incorporate next summer's wine tasting and music festival into Atlanta– or North Georgia–based meetings should buy tickets in advance from the Chateau Élan Web site.

A series of two-day "She's at Sea" seminars designed to teach women how to handle powerboats safely debuted this month at the Cheeca Lodge & Spa in Islamorada, Fla. The classes provide basic boat-handling skills in a safe, non-threatening atmosphere. More than 75 percent of course time is spent on the water, learning boat-handling skills, basic engine operation, anchoring techniques and the rules of the road.

Tips

•Want to communicate important facts and statistics, but don't want to make a boring presentation? Try using a repeating slideshow with pertinent information as a backdrop at seated luncheons and tradeshows. You'll inundate attendees with important information without adding any extra time to your event. And if the information is presented with trivia or fun facts, you may hold their attention longer and create anticipation for what they will see next.

•Used to adding cruises to your agenda but looking for unusual itineraries? Each fall, cruise lines reposition ships from Alaska to Hawaii, from Canada to the West Coast, from Europe to Florida and Texas, and from New England and Canada to the Caribbean, creating one-of-a-kind travel itineraries to ports not usually visited.

•Looking for a takeaway gift that's a work of art? {"Florida … Beyond the Blue Horizon," winner of the National Association of Independent Publishers prestigious "Best Coffee Table Book of the Year," is the latest collection of work from award-winning photographer Alan S. Maltz. For the past 20 years, Maltz has photographed the state's hidden treasures. Bulk quantity discounts and Visit Florida partner savings are available through the publisher, Light Flight Productions.