An impossible group request at a resort? There’s no such thing when the right hospitality team puts its collective mind to it. The planner need might be as predictable as accommodating strict religious requirements for a faith-based group. Or it could be as unexpected as an attendee with a physical ailment limiting participation in a key teambuilding activity. Either way, the solution is two words: Get creative.
“Doing the impossible isn’t about outdoing one of our resort competitors, it’s about outdoing ourselves,” says Michelle Edwards, meeting and event manager for the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando. “Our industry is blessed with people who love the extreme. Our job is to focus them on a specific challenge and get out of the way while the ideas flow. Eighty percent of the ideas won’t work, but the other 20 percent will have some real gems.”
But finding fun in solving unique problems takes a special mindset. Some resort teams have it, some don’t.
Edwards says her own low tolerance for boredom reinforces the need to find fresh solutions for clients. So when a national charity booked a fundraiser to raffle a donated Starwood resort package, she jumped into the planning process.
“We’ve all attended fundraisers,” she explains. “You make a donation, you get a raffle ticket or a bag with an RFID chip or one of the chairs has a number under the seat. Been there, done that. I want something different.”
Different was bright yellow rubber ducks. Every donor got a numbered toy duck to swim in the central fountain that dominates the Swan and Dolphin lobby. By the end of the event, more than 1,800 yellow rubber duckies were bobbing in the fountain and the entire lobby had become a buzzing event space.
“Even our leisure guests were thoroughly entertained even though they weren’t part of the event,” Edwards says. “We got tremendous word of mouth out of what could have been another forgettable fundraiser.”
Sometimes the spark comes from the client. In Woodinville, Wash., near Seattle, Microsoft Canada wanted to buy out the Willows Lodge for a corporate “Art Battle.” The idea was teambuilding through competition. A buyout let planners transform the lobby into a huge art arena, complete with dozens of easels and live music to set the tone. Artistic creations were auctioned and proceeds donated to the Canadian branch of Room to Read, an international charity supporting childhood literacy and gender equality in education.
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“Evals were way up!” exclaims planner Robin Akkerman. “Attendees grabbed me at the airport to comment they were blown away.”
Word of mouth and client satisfaction are two powerful business reasons to banish the word “impossible” from the property lexicon. In Tucson, Ariz., Tanque Verde Ranch adds a third reason: keep clients on-property.
“We’re selling dreams and experiences,” explains ranch Group Sales Manager Nina Baird. “Our real job here is to help clients and attendees build their dream meeting. We want them to be so wowed that they don’t even think about going off-property because we couldn’t provide some element of their dream.”
Turning dreams into reality can be tough. Event planners and sponsors do their best to ferret out potential problems when they are designing activities and registering attendees, but even the most experienced event teams can run into last-minute surprises on-site.
That’s what happened when a national company brought its new management team to Tanque Verde for a teambuilding retreat. One of the resort’s signature events is a sunrise trail ride to the Old Homestead, a hilltop breakfast site overlooking the Rincon Mountains and 60,000 acres of the Sonora Desert.
“One of the team members was pregnant and clearly could not be on horseback,” Baird says. “We didn’t know it and the planner didn’t know it until the team assembled on property. It was impossible for her to join the trail ride and it was just as impossible to exclude her. And there is no road access to this part of the property.”
But there is all-terrain vehicle access. And the Ranch had an ATV that was usually used for maintenance.
“We drove the team member cross-country by ATV and created a desert dawn experience she will never forget,” Baird says. “We took what could have been a disaster and turned it into something the company, the planner and the team members are still talking about. We do improbable stuff every day. The impossible just takes a little more thought.”
The same attitude can turn barriers into opportunities—opportunities to wow clients and attendees alike and build repeat business. Think Austin, Texas, in late summer. Hot, humid conditions send most people scrambling for air conditioning, but the weather is perfect for Bikram yoga.
Yoga events have become serious business for resorts around the world. Groups typically practice in cool outdoor areas or in airy indoor spaces. But Bikram needs a practice space that is at least 105 degrees. Hotter is even better.
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The Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa is no more set up to heat indoor spaces to 100 degrees-plus than any other property. But that’s no problem during Austin summers. Sponsors simply turned the air conditioning off in the Garden Pavilion to bring the building up to ambient temperatures, then opened sliding doors as needed to regulate heat levels.
Multiple flavored water stations helped attendees stay hydrated during a dozen practice sessions over three days in August. Strawberry-orange-infused water was the favorite, says the property's Director of Conference Services, Terasa Rivera. Combining Austin’s summer heat and Barton Creek’s facilities turned a natural liability into an annual event success.
The Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, N.H., takes a similar approach to its remote location in the White Mountains. The property is known as the venue for the 1944 Bretton Woods Monetary Conference that created international exchange rate and fiscal structures that remain in force today. Less well known is the second and third generations of employees who work on property.
“Hospitality keeps good people employed in the mountains,” explains Craig Clemmer, director of sales and marketing. “That generates the kind of pride that makes people say ‘I can do this’ even when faced with what looks like an impossible challenge, our location.
“We are strategically remote,” he continues. “The setting is breathtaking, but it’s a little tough to get here.”
The 1944 Monetary Conference has emerged as a touchstone for corporate groups, he adds. The Center for Financial Stability hosted a gathering to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the original Bretton Woods Monetary Conference last September. It wasn’t the first time event sponsors built on the historical aura of the original Monetary Conference and it won’t be the last.
“People want to touch the walls and feel the vibe that helped bring the world together even before World War II had ended,” Clemmer says. “For certain sectors of the business and economic world, this is hallowed ground. That carries huge significance for attendees, for planners and especially for companies that want to capture that lightning to power their own future in a very uncertain world. Our role is to help them make sure it happens. Impossible just means you haven’t come up with the right approach yet.”
