Museums & Attractions
- The Philadelphia Museum of Art is presenting Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia until September 2012. In France during the early 1900s, the idea of Arcadia as a mystical place of contentment and harmony was illustrated in mural-sized paintings which were often commissioned for public viewing. This exhibition explores the theme in three such paintings of the time: Paul Gauguin’s Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (1898), Paul Cezanne’s The Large Bathers (1906) and Henri Matisse’s Bathers by a River (1909-17). Other artists featured in the exhibit include Albert Gleizes, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Pablo Picasso and Paul Signac. For more information, call 215.763.8100 or visit www.philamuseum.org.
Programs & Packages
- The Renaissance Pittsburgh is currently offering the “Zen and the Art of Digital Detox” package to groups as a supplement to meetings. The package lets guests have the option to surrender their laptop, cell phone and all other digital devices upon check-in, which will be held until their departure, along with the option to have a room stocked with literary classics rather than electronics such as televisions, phones and iHome dock stations. Groups may also choose to turn over all electronics to the hotel for an afternoon of team-building exercises, such as kayaking in the nearby Allegheny River. For more information, call 412.562.1200 or visit www.marriott.com.
- Hotel Viking in Newport, R.I., is offering a special for meetings booked and held now through the end of 2011. Groups who book 10 rooms or more per night will enjoy a complimentary one-hour welcome reception with beer and wine and dry snacks, as well as complimentary meeting room Internet access. For more information, call 401.848.4800 visit www.hotelviking.com.
Destination Dispatch
- Streetcars will soon be making a comeback in Washington, D.C., for the first time in nearly 50 years thanks to a new DC Streetcar system. The first line is scheduled to open in southeast Washington, D.C., no later than mid-2013, according to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). Streetcars previously operated in the city from 1862 until 1962. Unlike the Metrorail system, which is designed to connect D.C. to the surrounding region, the purpose of the DC Streetcar system is connecting D.C. neighborhoods to one another. DDOT is planning a network with 37 miles of streetcar tracks, expanding to reach neighborhoods across the city. There will be eight lines in all, built in three phases. For more information, call 855.413.2954 or visit www.dcstreetcar.com.
New Releases
- Saving Green by Going Green, an industry workbook for planning sustainable meetings, was recently released. Published by MeetGreen and authored by Meetings Focus columnist Nancy J. Zavada, Amy Spatrisano and Shawna McKinley, the workbook guides planners on how to save time, money and keep in line with sustainability practices throughout the event planning process. The book includes forms, checklists and vendor requests to assist planners in making and measuring sustainable choices while simultaneously cutting costs. For more information, call 503.252.5458 or visit www.meetgreen.com.
Tech Update
- Cranky Concierge is an air travel planning assistance service offering a team of concierges who help pick optimal flights and take action to re-route customers in the event of an emergency. Groups can use the service, as well. Cranky Concierge offers a point of contact for the company and each attendee can be given a concierge. The service keeps flights updated in TripIt, where meeting information can be added. In addition, the service can check in attendees, provide custom reports on spending and can handle corporate discount information and frequent flier mileage accounts. Companies can be billed monthly rather than per trip. For more information, call 707.797.7474 or visit http://crankyconcierge.com.
Kudos
- The recent opening of the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Saint-Hyacinthe made it Quebec’s first LEED-certified hotel. It is also the first establishment offering 50 rooms or more in the Province of Quebec to be awarded the 5 Green Keys by the Hotel Association of Canada. Green initiatives run the gamut—everything from energy-efficient lighting to specially designed mattresses custom made for the hotel out of natural bamboo fiber and soy moss. For more information, call 450.251.1111 or visit www.hotelm.ca.
Event Calendar
- The 238th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party Annual Reenactment will take place this year at Boston’s Old South Meeting House on Sunday, Dec. 11. Spectators will hear from the likes of John Hancock, the richest man in Boston; Francis Rotch, owner of the ship Dartmouth; famed orator and doctor Joseph Warren; and Samuel Adams. The reenactment runs about up to 90 minutes. For more information, call 617.482.6439 or visit www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org.
- The nation’s largest indoor/outdoor market, Cleveland’s West Side Market, was built in 1912 and today is recognized as a culinary mecca by visitors and chefs alike. It features 180 booths with fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, produce, bakery, ethnic foods and international delicacies. In 2012 the West Side Market will celebrate its 100th birthday with community-wide initiatives and will host the International Public Markets conference in October. For more information, call 216.861.5250 or visit www.westsidemarket.com.