Plan Your Meetings

As airlines continue to overbook flights, more and more ticketed passengers are getting bumped; part of the problem may lie in the lack of stiff penalties for bumping. In fact, there are no penalties for bumping a passenger who buys a ticket through a third-party, such as Orbitz, or who is traveling on a 60-seat or smaller plane.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is seeking public commentary on whether the penalties for bumping passengers, which haven’t been changed since 1978, should be amended. There are five penalty options you can comment on until Sept. 10; go to DOT’s Web site link, scroll down to “Open Dockets,” and then scroll down to read and comment on docket entry OST-2001-9325.

Don’t take the time out of your busy schedule and spend money to attend an expo, conference or any networking event only to stay in your comfort zone. Move around, introduce yourself to new faces, and pleeeze don’t sit with friends and colleagues from your company or association.

At the recent MPI World Education Congress (note the word “education”!), several groups stuck together at luncheons, cocktail parties and seminars, even saving whole tables and turning away others who tried to take a seat. The barriers were up, and they’ll never know (nor will their company or the association they were representing) how valuable that new contact might have been.

Don’t make the same mistake: Stride forward confidently, take a chance and be the first to sit at an empty table — inviting others to join you. Talk to exhibitors, ask questions at seminars, and you’ll enhance your expo experience (and that of your fellow attendees).

The days when you could rent a room, some a/v equipment and arrange a coffee break are over. The attention spans of your attendees, as they get younger, are getting shorter, and everyone expects something special.

To this end, hotels have been going all out to create customized meeting programs. Want to focus attendees? Give them colored rocks to play with. Want to keep them from falling asleep? Infuse the room with citrus aromas or give them chocolate-covered espresso beans. Want to relax them? Add a yoga break or the sound of trickling water and wind pipes.

Sure, it’s great to see a boardroom transformed into a more attractive and welcoming space, but how much do all these new sights, sounds and tastes really affect the way people do business? And is it worth the extra cost?

For a while now, we’ve been hearing from planners who are hopping mad that their small meetings bumped in favor of a larger one. But Sylvania, formerly known as Osram Sylvania Products Inc., is taking their contractual dispute with the Boca Raton Resort & Club to the courts.

The lighting company, which holds its annual national sales meeting of 244 sales representatives at the resort, filed a lawsuit on June 29, asking the Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge to order the resort to honor a 2004 contract for meeting space and hotel rooms. According to the suit, space offered at the resort’s sister properties did not fit Sylvania’s time frame, and the company was unable to find suitable space on its own. Sylvania has held its national sales meeting at the resort 17 times since 1984. The contract was for 30 rooms for Oct. 20, 421 rooms from Oct. 21 to 24 and meeting space.

Have you had a meeting get bumped after the contract was signed? How did you handle it? Did you have to take the property to court?

Marriott International Inc. announced it was scrapping plans for a woman-only floor in its new $100 million, 340-room JW Marriott luxury hotel, scheduled to open this September in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Originally, the 19th floor was designated for women only. A spokesperson for the hotel announced that the women-only floor idea was abandoned due to tremendous response from customers (presumably negative), but that the 19th floor rooms and common lounge area still will feature amenities designed to appeal to female travelers, such as chenille throw blankets, ionic hair dryers and special bath products.

Marriott’s original idea was to help women business travelers, who often travel alone, feel safer. What was left unsaid was the nature of the customer response. Did women object to being segregated for their own good, or did men object to being categorized as potential threats to women’s safety, or did both genders bristle at the notion that women needed special hotel treatment when traveling? What do you think about women-only floors?

New Orleans has gotten some bad press lately, but traditional convention and meeting areas such as the French Quarter, the Warehouse District and the Central Business District are safe and open for business. In fact, there are more restaurants and hotels than before the storm.

Long-time New Orleans resident and meeting planner Carling Dinkler, president of Custom Conventions, is concerned that all these great new amenities won’t stay open if the business doesn’t come back, and would like to help set the record straight.

“We were always a city that prided ourselves on going over the top on attendance,” Dinkler says. “The media reporting the sensational stories don’t seem to understand that has a psychological effect on the decisions people make. … The planner of the association, the guy that wants to get his numbers, has to be careful, because if the perception is that New Orleans is not safe, then he won’t get his numbers.

“Any meeting planner seriously considering holding a meeting in New Orleans who has not been here, all they have to do is get a plane ticket, and I will be happy to arrange the rest on as near a comp basis as is possible. We need planners to believe in our city as a great place to have their meeting.”

To take Dinkler up on his offer, send him an e-mail.