Corporate Meetings & Incentives columnist and well-known motivation expert BOB NELSON has published a new book, Please Don't Just Do What I Tell You! Do What Needs to Be Done (2001, Hyperion). The book focuses on some of the important lessons that Nelson has learned in the workplace, which have had an impact on his life and career. The book costs $18.95 and can be ordered through www.nelson-motivation.com. A new addition to the Nelson Motivation team is Harry Paul, co-author of the best-selling book Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results. Paul delivers keynote speeches and training based on Fish! (currently the second-best-selling business book in the United States).
MY HOTEL BROKER (www.myhotelbroker.com) finds companies that need to unload hotel credits and potential buyers who can use the credits before they expire. The service is different from the usual hot dates/hot rates programs because the deal takes place after the meeting dates have come and gone, and after liquidated damages have been paid. “The credit isn't transferred until there is a final contract that incorporates the credit between the hotel and the buyer,” says creator Jay Fortgang. The original credit-holder is free to use the credit or find its own buyer up until the moment the credit is transferred. The service appears to be win-win on all three sides. “The original credit holder gets some money back on a credit that otherwise would have been a wash, the buyer gets a 40 percent to 60 percent discount, and the hotel gets business it wouldn't have had otherwise,” says Fortgang.
The huge amount of unsold luxury hotel space has prompted Resorts & Grand Hotels to launch the first PRIVATE MEETING SUMMIT, at Hotel del Coronado January 27. The two-day summit will gather 100 leading luxury properties, from the Lodge at Pebble Beach to Chateau Whistler to Bacara Resort, with potential clients to fill short-term occupancy gaps, aka hot dates. There will also be scheduled networking receptions. For more information, log on to www.rghonline.com/summit.
SITE has announced two new offerings. An educational program, “Maximize the Value, Measure the Returns,” will give participants the chance to learn to identify and measure the impact of internal and external factors on an incentive program. SITE held the first seminar at the Motivation Show this past fall, and will do so at other meeting industry events in 2002. The organization also has launched a new Web site featuring bulletin boards for its specific audiences, including members, chapter leaders, board of directors, and committee volunteers. SITE has nearly 2,000 members in 81 countries.