This has nothing to do with meetings, but is so terrific I had to share (thanks to the MIMlist for this one)...

Betsy Myers at Cruise Connections says that cruise ships at many ports have space available for small meetings (up to 750), and could be a good alternative for displaced events on a smaller scale.

There's a good article in Business Travel News exploring the impact of the hurricane on hotels, meetings, and airlines. A snip of the airline portion of the article...

The PR Newshound had some good post-hurricane PR tips that I hope some of the people who are sending me press releases would heed. Among them...

From USA Today...

I didn't read the article in the Wall Street Journal this morning, but I hear from someone who did that the story about the air evacuation of Hurricane Katrina victims was a bit of a mess. She said, "It seems that the flights were delayed because...

Marriott has set up a hotline for its associatiates (866-211-4610 [prompt "3"]) so they can check in and let the chain know what it can do to help them. From a press release...

Carnival is taking three of its cruise ships out of regular rotation so they can house Hurricane Katrina evacuees, according to Travel Weekly...

While the list of cities able to take on New Orleans larger citywides is a short one, smaller cities are starting to chime in. Also in the News-Press article is Lee County, Florida's offer to help with smaller meetings, but it may not be easy...

From the (Lee County) News Press...