I've attended dozens of conventions and incentive trips during my husband Burt's 40-year career as a life insurance agent. He and I have been wined and dined on several continents by the world's top insurance and investment companies. Recently...
Back in prehistoric times, a small group of hunters gathered in the gloom of a cave and hunkered down to talk about how they were going to hunt down a wooly mammoth that had wandered into their territory. Thug wanted to ambush it; Ug wanted to...
Meeting Evaluation Activities Good managers realize how important effective meeting leadership and participation are to the overall effectiveness of their companies. Consequently, they realize the need to train their important work teams to build...
Roger Dow, vice president and general sales manager, Marriott Lodging, will deliver a keynote address on energizing employees, customers, and profits at this year's New England Meetings Industry Conference & Exposition (NEMICE), April 23 at...
What were you doing on Super Bowl Sunday? Some 2,100 members of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) were in a ballroom at the Orlando World Center Marriott listening to Gladys Knight deliver an inspiring keynote address (in words and song)...
* Pat Seifried, a travel agency owner in St. Petersburg, Fla., recently launched OnBoard Conferences, a new company offering comprehensive itinerary planning for cruise meetings and incentives. Call (800) 380-2600...
The fare structures of U.S. airlines are taking on such labyrinthine complexity, and changing so often, that some meeting planners are questioning the value of the carriers' traditional meeting discount programs--programs that, compared to the...
"We're rethinking the structure of the sales force to make a big step into the corporate meetings market," says Fran Reiter, newly named president of the New York Convention & Visitors Bureau (NYCVB). Reiter, who assumed the post in January...
Planning small meetings is a challenge. When I'm trying to place a small meeting (under 50 people), some hotels quickly qualify the business with a flat "no space" and some hotels will only take the business if it's 30- to 60- days out. If your...
