February 2, 2012

U.S. Travel Lobby Effort Targets the Hill

U.S. Travel Lobby Effort Targets the Hill
The U.S. Travel Association launched a targeted campaign to lobby specific members of Congress about the value that meetings, events, trade shows and incentives... Read more >>

Chicago Mayor Creates New Tourism Org.
Mayor Emanuel today launched a new tourism organization for the city of Chicago, with the goal of attracting 50 million visitors per year by 2020... Read more >>

Hyatt Regency Indy Completes $20 Million Upgrade
Hyatt Regency Indianapolis has announced the completion of a $20 million transformation that features 499 newly appointed... Read more >>

U.S. Travel Endorses Visa Waiver Expansion
The U.S. Travel Association has announced its endorsement of new legislation to help expand the Visa Waiver Program (VWP)... Read more >>

Milwaukee Area
As sure as the Milwaukee area is a stomping ground for everyone from Harley-Davidson devotees and foodies to some hilarious Bridesmaids...Read more >>

Kansas
Meeting planners in the know are already well aware of Kansas' affordability and central location... Read more >>

Eastern Iowa Cities
The Iowa caucuses are over, and it will be another four years before the Hawkeye State resumes the media spotlight as the first major event in the presidential electoral process... Read more >>

Chicago Suburbs
For groups composed of Shakespeare buffs, fine art aficionados, stand-up comedy lovers or music enthusiasts, Chicago’s suburbs share a rich calendar of local performances to please every attendee... Read more >>

Overland Park CVB

Overland Park, Kansas offers meeting planners and their attendees a blend of metropolitan amenities and suburban hospitality, in addition to easy access into the entire Kansas City metro. Our 34 hotels cater to every budget and offer more than 5,200 rooms along with myriad meeting and convention spaces. The Overland Park Convention Center offers 237,000 square feet of meeting space that can accommodate groups of any size and is adjacent to the 412-room Sheraton Overland Park Hotel.

For more information, click here.

Universal Orlando Resort Announces Exciting New Offerings For 2012
Heading to Florida? You may want to check out Universal Orlando Resort this year! Read more >>

LodgeNet Launches Groundbreaking Mobile App For Travelers
LodgeNet Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ: LNET), the leading provider of interactive media and connectivity services... Read more >>

New website lets hotels bid for your business
A new hotel-booking site, BackBid, turns hotel shopping on its head: As a potential guest, you become the pursued rather than the pursuer... Read more >>

IHG Opens Crowne Plaza in Bogota, Colombia
The 30-story, 271-suite Crowne Plaza Suites Tequendama Bogota is located at the International Center Tequendama... Read more>>

Case Study: Helping Youth In Maui
Back in October, about 90 attendees from around the world descended on Maui, Hawaii, for a five-day incentive program... Read more >>

Do or Die
For meeting planners who don’t have a contingency or safety plan in place—or for those who need to update an old plan—creating such a document can seem overwhelming... Read more >>

Resort Meetings Return
Resort meetings are back. So are sales events, incentive programs and all the other business-related functions that once kept resorts—and planners—busy... Read more >>

Taking Responsibility
Take yourself back about 10 years and imagine sitting in an event-planning meeting where someone brings up the term ‘corporate social responsibility.’ Read more >>

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A Tempting Top Ten
U.S. News & World Report has released its 2012 rankings of the Best Hotels in the USA, covering luxury hotel properties across the country... Read more >>

Giving in to Pier Pleasure
Longtime residents of the Houston metro area will no doubt remember the Flagship Hotel. Jutting out on a pier from Galveston Island's seawall... Read more >>

Presidential? Sweet!
If you're the president of the United States and are in Las Vegas, where do you spend the night? If you're Barack Obama, you stay at the Element... Read more >>

Brand-New House
Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced the official rebranding of 38 Hyatt Summerfield Suites and 15 Hotel Sierra hotels to HYATT house TM, a new hotel concept that will redefine the extended-stay segment... Read more >>

Happenings - Milwaukee Area
Milwaukee
Hilton Milwaukee (414.271.7250; www.hiltonmilwaukee.com) completed a multimillion-dollar, multiphase renovation project in June... Read more >>

Happenings - Chicago Suburbs
Northern Suburbs
Lake County
The Holiday Inn Gurnee Convention Center (847.336.6300; www.holidayinn.com) is currently under renovation and scheduled to reopen.... Read more >>

Site Scene
Illinois
Chicago venue Hotel 71 completed a $20 million renovation and now welcomes travelers... Read more >>

Short Takes
Museums & Attractions
The 79-acre Missouri Botanical Gardens will welcome the 12-week Lantern Festival: Art by Day, Magic by Night exhibition... Read more >>

Westin Comes to Cleveland - 1/19/12
PCMA Convening Leaders May Set Record - 1/12/12
Famous Michigan Prop Gets a Redo - 1/5/12
Chicago Unveils New Marketing Efforts - 12/15/11
Swissotel Chi-Town Upgrading Meeting Space - 12/8/11
MPI Opens New ROI Toolbox - 12/1/11
Could Waldorf Blow Into Windy City? - 11/17/11
The $16 Muffin Crumbles - 11/10/11
New Industry Research Offers Insights Into Attendees - 11/3/11
Chicago Hotels Promise $500 Million in Improvements - 10/27/11
MPI Announces New Business Leader for Certification, Events - 10/20/11
Minneapolis Meetings Mecca Morphing Into Made-Over Marriott - 10/6/11
MPI to Release Findings of CSR Study - 9/29/11

February 2, 2012

Exclusive Video from the PCMA Annual Meeting

Tips from top planner pros, moderated by Tyler Davidson of Meetings Focus.

Contingency Planning: Preparation Pays

Wed. February 29, 2012
Years after terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and mere months since unprecedented droughts, hurricanes and flooding in the U.S, and a deadly outbreak of e-Coli in Europe, we still do little to protect meeting participants and property. The potential for weather interruptions, brown- and black-outs, food poisoning--even death--are real. Large or small--paper cuts or disasters--we are woefully unprepared for contingencies.

Sponsored by:
LOEWS Philadelphia Hotel
Kansas City Marriott Downtown
The Roosevelt Hotel
Hotel Contessa Suites on the Riverwalk
Hyatt Regency Dallas

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