Meetings and Events News

In today's climate of budget cutbacks and scrutiny on corporate excess, you and your company's execs might not have holiday parties on the brain. After all, is this really the time to spend money on the all-out celebrations of years past?

Just because you can't have all the (jingle) bells and whistles doesn't mean you and your employees can't celebrate the season. Why not host an event that's not just about glitz and glam but rather giving back? Try adding socially responsible team building to your party agenda!

As I've blogged in the past, team building is an important element in keeping your employees involved and invested in each other's and the company's success. When such bonding activities involve giving back, it yields even more benefits, as these corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs foster pride in your workforce.

The holidays are a perfect time to give back and boost the morale of both your employees and those in need.

"People need camaraderie and to feel good about themselves by helping others," Alan Ranzer, executive director of Impact 4 Good, recently told Incentive magazine. "I think more companies will turn to CSR to give meaningful holiday experiences."

While building bikes for a local boy's and girl's club or volunteering at a soup kitchen are great "do good" ideas for team building, Impact 4 Good has ideas for less intense activities that are more suited to a holiday fete.

At a recent holiday party for a client, the company gave attendees a 10-square-inch foam piece of canvas to paint, which was then used to create a mural for a children's hospital. The activity took just a half hour!

Obviously, it's easy to make your holiday parties a win-win for everyone involved. So will you incorporate CSR team building to your holiday event?

Yesterday I blogged about how the travel industry is preparing for flu season. Now I want to know, are meeting planners even concerned?

The answer is "Yes," according to a recent survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), but that won't stop them from hosting events. The survey found that 63 percent of travel mangers surveyed have serious concerns about the spread of H1N1 flu, but 91 percent aren't holding off on meetings and conferences because of it.

"On one hand, it is commendable that companies are not giving in to panic," ACTE Executive Director Susan Gurley said in a statement. "Yet on the other hand, this is a situation that can develop very quickly and it is very important that the appropriate arrangements be put in place."

The survey found that 34 percent of companies have a plan or instructions for travelers who may get caught up in airport screenings with flu-like symptoms. If you need some advice on getting your flu season action plan together, read my 4 Ways for Meeting Planners to Prepare for Flu Season.

November marks the start of regular flu season. I recently blogged about what event planners can do to get prepared, and, luckily, it looks like plenty of other members of the travel industry are doing what they can to prevent flu outbreaks as well.

Hotels such as Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and InterContinental are focusing on day-to-day preventative measures, such as cleaning oft-touched items like phones and elevator buttons, according to The New York Times. Hotel employees are also being reminded to wash their hands often and sneeze into tissues, not hands. John Wolf, a spokesman for Marriott International, also told The Times that its properties were stocking hand sanitizers for conference and meeting groups.

Airports are taking similar steps, adding hand sanitizer dispensers near security checkpoints and using signs to highlight proper hygiene to passengers. However, the airplanes themselves can offer less protection, so business travelers such be prepared by packing antibacterial wipes, tissues, hand sanitizers, etc.

Have you noticed more flu precautions being taken at hotels and event venues? What are you doing to prepare your event guests?

I've written several blog posts in the past about how to stay green and stay on budget. One tip I've seen time and time again is to reuse event decor, props and whatnot, whether you've kept them yourself or have asked the event venue to to recycle them from an earlier event that day.

Today, I read about a great website that offers another option. Event Leftovers is an online marketplace where meeting and event planners can buy and sell new and gently-used supplies. It's great for planners of all markets and levels, from once-a-year company holiday parties to monthly client events.

Event Leftovers a win-win for both buyers and sellers: buyers get bargains on event goods, while sellers (who can list items for free) get some additional revenue. Plus, both sides are being eco-friendly!

Right now, items for sale range from the wacky and fun (like these tropical birds—perfect for a luau theme!) to standard items that could work at any event, like charger plates and clear votive holders.

Registration and listings are free, so the next time you need to buy or sell some event party rentals, check it out!

It's Halloween weekend, so let's celebrate! As I've blogged in the past, creating a signature cocktail is a great way to save money on drink costs at your events. For your Halloween celebration, check out some of these great themed cocktail options from popular restaurants and bars across the country, according to Nightclub & Bar.

Spook-Tini

NYC restaurant and bar Tenjune is serving this spooky creation at its Halloween 2009 event.

1.5 ounces Absolut
1/4 ounce Grand Marnier
1.5 ounces fresh lime juice
1 tsp. cinnamon water
1 ounce blood orange juice.

Shake all ingredients and pour. Garnish with a fig slice.

Witches Brew

This magical potion will be enchanting the Halloween partiers at New Orleans' Whiskey Blue, located in the W Hotel.

2.25 ounces Bacardi Light
2.25 ounces Meyers Rum
1.25 ounces Bacardi 151
2.5 ounces pineapple juice
2.5 ounces orange juice
1.25 ounces sour mix
1.25 ounces Grenadine

Fill glass with ice and add ingredients; blend. Garnish with Gummi Worms.

Jack-O-Lantern

Served at the N9NE Steakhouse restaurant in Las Vegas, this Halloween libation is fairly involved. But when all is said and done, it's certainly worth the effort for such a tasty and smooth drink.

1. Prepare Vanilla Bean Syrup overnight

Bring 2 cups of water and 2 cups granulated sugar to a boil. Infuse over night with 1 whole vanilla bean, opened and seeded.

2. Blend Pumpkin Puree Mix

15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
2 ounces each: Baileys, Butterscotch Schnapps, caramel sauce, brown sugar
1 ounce Goldschlager
1 ounce vanilla bean syrup
1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
Dash of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg

3. Make Vanilla Bean Butterscotch Whipped Cream

Whip 12 ounces heavy whipping cream, 1 whole vanilla bean, opened and seeded, and 1 ounce butterscotch schnapps to stiff peaks.

4. Mix drink

1 ounce Harlem Liquor
0.5 ounces Ketel One
2 ounces Pumpkin Puree Mix
0.5 ounces Vanilla Bean Syrup

Shake ingredients in mixing tin and strain into martini glass lined with crushed graham crackers. Garnish with Vanilla Bean Butterscotch Whipped Cream.

Halloween's convenient Saturday date is making it even easier for Americans to take a scary weekend getaway.

"We're seeing more of a trend towards event travel. Flying to go to sports games or surrounding trips around a major event or holiday is becoming more popular," Bill Miller, senior vice president of operations at CheapOair.com, told ABC News. "Halloween over a weekend allows for a full itinerary over two to three days."

However, that doesn't necessarily mean that airlines and hotels will see big bookings.

As Gabe Saglie, senior editor at Travelzoo, said, "I don't think you are going to find a lot of people hopping on a plane and traveling across the country to stay at a paranormal hotel."

Still, many of us live within a few hours' drive of a spooky destination, so there might a good number of people who have planned a Halloween excursion. Do you have Halloween travel plans?

As the meetings industry prepares for the H1N1 flu virus, are you ready for handling events during flu season? Check out these 4 tips for how to be prepared:

1. Stock up on hand sanitizers.

Hand sanitizers are a decent safeguard to spreading diseases from hand to mouth. Though they don't replace hand washing, they are especially helpful at meetings and events where your guests cannot always run to the bathroom for soap and water. Just make sure to purchase sanitziers that contain an alcohol (ehtyl alcohol, ethanol, etc.) in a concentration of at least 60 percent. Studies have shown that anything less than this is not effective.

2. Educate your guests.

Provide your attendees with helpful information on how they can keep themselves and others healthy. Washing hands frequently, avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth, and coughing into a sleeve or elbow—not hands—are among the best tips to stay healthy. Share these with your attendees on your event website or in your email marketing.

3. Stay informed.

Just as your guests should be in the loop, event planners should make sure to regularly visit reliable websites such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to keep current on the flu vaccine, influenza activity in the United States and more.

Additionally, it also helps to be familiar with the symptoms of the flu, which include fever, sore throat, headache, body and muscle aches, dry cough, runny or stuffy nose and fatigue. Note that for adults, symptoms such as difficulty breahting or shortness of breath, sudden dizziness and severe vomiting warrant urgent medical attention. Establish a plan of action should an event guest, or one of your staff members, fall sick. Designate a contact person to whom guests can turn for medical assistance.

4. Have a back-up plan.

Last year, many event planners were caught unawares by the pandemonium brought on by the flu. Make sure to establish procedures for attendee cancellations, speaker cancellations, etc. Have a policy in place when it comes to refunding event fees for your attendees. This also holds true for your event venue and suppliers—go over how payments/refunds will be handled should you need to cancel or change locations at the last minute.

Best-selling author Dan Brown, who penned novels Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code, explores the symbology and iconology of Washington, DC in his latest thriller The Lost Symbol. For visitors who want to experience the action in real life, Destination DC has made it easy to visit the landmarks and locations featured in the novel. Visit Experience DC: The Lost Symbol to learn more about exhibitions and events in DC relevant to the book, such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts' exhibit on "Telling Secrets: Codes, Captions and Conundrums in Contemporary Art." You can also view an interactive map of some of the top
attractions for your Dan Brown-inspired visit.

Washington, DC event planners can get in on the fun as well, as a number of these attractions also serve as great event venues. Check out a few of the following DC meeting spaces for a Lost Symbol-inspired event:

International Spy Museum

From George Washington's secret life as a spy to the Enigma code-cracking machine, the International Spy Museum immerses guests in the undercover world of espionage. In addition to taking advantage of this Washington, DC special event facility after-hours for groups of up to 300 people, meeting planners can also enjoy a number of the museum's unique packages. Three different scavenger hunts, for example, challenges attendees armed with a top secret bag of tricks to work through coded messages and tough questions as they navigate the museum. The exclusive Speaker Series offers a variety of former intelligence offers willing to share their expertise and experience with your event guests.

George Washington Masonic National Memorial

Towering over Old Town Alexandria just outside of DC, the memorial showcases both Freemasonry and George Washington himself, who joined the Masonic Lodge in Fredericksburg at the age of 20. Interesting artifacts on display include Washington's family Bible and even a lock of his hair. The memorial also offers over five DC event venues, including the grand hall for up to 250 people and the impressive Memorial Hall, which sets the stage with a 17-foot bronze statue of Washington, eight granite Corinthian columns, two large murals and six stained glass windows.

Library of Congress

Home to many of the nation's secrets, it's not surprising that the Library of Congress is often featured in thrillers such as Brown's The Lost Symbol. It was also featured in the action-thriller film National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Planners can take advantage of the air of mystery around this seemingly low-key but unique Washington, DC venue at one of its five room options, which include the Italian Renaissance-style Great Hall, a great DC banquet space for up to 1,200 guests.

I recently read an article from Oprah.com about saving money at your wedding events without being tacky. I've blogged about some of the tips in the past, such as using flowers that are in season, or opting for a signature cocktail as opposed to a full open bar. However, there were several new tips I found interesting, many of which can be applied to not just weddings but to any sizable meeting or event.

Take a look at some of suggestions, offered up by brides, etiquette expert Anna Post, and event planners. Then let me know what you think!

• Serve lunch-size entrees for dinner receptions.

• Choose an off-night or off-season when wedding and event venues will have less demand.

• Skip the favors (or giveaways at meetings). Consider making a donation to a charity as a more cost-effective and socially responsible option.

• Consider breakfasts or brunches instead of evening receptions.

• If you're set on an evening event, begin early (around 4 PM or 5 PM) or later when people won't expect a full meal. Light appetizers and cake in lieu of a full dinner save a lot of money and still make for a great event.

Read all of the cost-friendly wedding planning tips.

I really enjoy decorating, for birthday parties, holidays, really any kind of celebration or event. Unfortunately, as many meeting planners know, event decor can be pretty expensive.

This cool LED ribbon that I saw in Meetings & Conventions the other day can help cut down on expenses a bit, I think. Sold by Meilo Creation, the ribbons are battery operated or plug into an outlet, and range in length from nine feet to 16 feet. They come in a wide range of colors: gold, blue/silver, burgundy/gold, white/silver, ivory and more, while the LED lights themselves can be matching in color or multicolor.

What's great about the ribbons, aside from how pretty they are, is that they are like two decorations in one: instead of having twinkle lights and streamers, you just need the ribbons.

Meilo also makes LED bows, rope lights and beaded garland. All great for your upcoming holiday parties and events!

Though the holiday season hasn't officially begun, the planning season certainly has. Getting a jump start on your party planning is the best way to keep organized, stay sane and get some great deals.

No holiday party would be complete without some "cheer," and by that I mean alcohol, of course. The price of drinks can get pretty expensive, but luckily, there are some easy ways to save on drink costs at your upcoming holiday events. Consider these four tips for cutting back on budget while still allowing your guests to cut loose:

• Ask about dead stock wine. Often times hotels and restaurants will pull wines from their main list, but will still have a few bottles left over. You can get these high-quality wines for a low price, just in a limited quantity.

• Share with others. Ask your event venue about other events that may be going on before yours. You can often times use opened, but not finished, bottles of liquor and spirits from these events at a discount.

• Control portions. Require your bartenders to use measurement devices like Precision Pours, which will dole out accurate and even drinks. Consistent pours will cut back on spillage and generous portions, helping to stretch your drinks budget further.

• Don't uncork. That is, not until you need to. Uncorking wine before it is about to be poured could leave you paying for several open bottles that weren't even used. Just hold off and open as you go.

It's holiday party season, and venues want your business! Restaurants and special event facilities will be pulling out all the stops this year to host your event, which is great news for planners in need of a deal.

If you're hosting an weekday event this year, I recently received word of the "Celebrate the Season" promotion from McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant that may be of interest. Good Sunday through Thursday for events held between October 1 and December 23, 2009 (excluding Thanksgiving), the package includes a three-course lunch or dinner with:

• Choice of Chowder or Caesar Salad or Garden Salad

• Three entrees pre-selected from a special holiday banquet menu:

-Seafood Steamerbr /> -Shrimp Scampi over Linguini
-Cedar Salmon
-Baked Stuffed Shrimp
-Cashew Tilapia
-Chicken options
-Top Sirloin
-Vegetarian options

• One of three signature desserts:

-Creme Brulee
-Cobbler
-Decadent Chocolate Cake

The offer includes your choice of soda, tea or coffee, or you can add a glass of wine for $5. As a bonus for early-season events, hosts booking an event prior to November 1 receive a $50 dining certificate, while all party guests receive a $20 dining certificate valid after January 1, 2010.

This offer is good for parties and celebrations of eight or more people. Visit McCormick & Schmick's to learn more, and don't forget, you can search for a McCormick & Schmick's in your area on the Cvent Supplier Network.

Need a restaurant venue for evening cocktails or a formal dinner following your next New York event? New York event planners are in luck, as there are a number of restaurants set to open in the city in the coming months. Best of all, you won't even have to make your event attendees walk outside, as they are all located inside posh New York hotels.

The Breslin

Located in the Ace Hotel New York, Breslin's "meat-centric" menu will feature sausages, game terrines, and even a whole sucking pig, according to Time Out New York. The restaurant's antique oak bars, curtained booths and cask ales are meant to re-create what the former Breslin Hotel looked like 150 years ago. Until the restaurant opens later this month, patrons can enjoy the bar area.

East Side Social Club

Opening this month, the East Side Social Club will take guests back in time to the sultry, seductive 1940s with its film noir-inspired decor. Located in the Pod Hotel, the New York restaurant will offer New American fare with an Italian twist, and the mozzarella, ricotta and pasta made in-house.

Maialino

Set to open in November, Danny Meyer's newest dining venue is located in the Gramercy Park Hotel. Replacing Chinese restaurant Waikiya, which closed in December, Maialino's menu will consist of Italian-inspired fare—the name itself means "little pig" in Italian. Meanwhile, the front bar area will offer coffee by day and wines and small plates at night.

Quattro Gastronomia Italiana

Opening at the Trump SoHo luxury NYC hotel this winter, the Quattro Gastronomia Italiana is the second outpost of the restaurant, the first being in South Beach, Miami. Spanning three levels, the Quattro's identical twin chefs Nicola and Fabrizio Carro specialize in Italian home cooking, including the signature braised veal with white martini vermouth.

One year ago, Cvent Meetings & Events blog was born! We've certainly grown—we're now over 1,000 posts strong!

To celebrate, I decided to take a look back at some of the year's highlights with a recap of our 10 most popular posts. Enjoy!

• How to Add Attendees—Not Expenses—to Your Event You can roll out an expensive marketing campaign or turn to discounted event prices to encourage registration, but you don't always have to do so.

• 3 Benefits of Banquetology Usually you'd think that bigger is better when it comes to catering at meetings and events. But in fact banquetology's "less is more" concept can be quite beneficial to planners in a number of ways.

• What to Include in Your Invitation Reminder Emails What can you do to increase your invitation response rate? Reminder emails are the answer.

• 3 Centerpiece Ideas to Save the Environment and Your Budget One area of meeting spend that can definitely get out of hand quickly is that of decor. It's also one that can be very wasteful, especially when it comes to centerpieces. Can you really save on centerpieces and be eco-friendly?

• How to Create a Custom Meeting Request Form In your already busy world, handling multiple meeting requests can get overwhelming. That's why meeting forms can be an invaluable tool in your Strategic Meetings Management program.

• 3 Caterers Offering Gluten-Free Menu Options One growing dietary concern among event guests is the need for a gluten-free option. Luckily, event caterers are hearing the call from planners to offer gluten-free meals.

• Creating Name Badges Doesn't Have to Be a Pain The task of creating name badges can be a time-consuming one. Event registration software such as Cvent makes it so much easier.

• 3 Ways Team Building Events Benefit Your Organization and Staff While professional networking, training and education are all key facets to your events, the benefits of team building to your employees and the organization as a whole should not be overlooked.

• 2009 Top 10 Meeting Trends Benchmark Hospitality International has released its Top 10 Meeting Trends for 2009, as observed at 30 award-winning properties.

• 3 Reasons Why Michael Scott Needs Cvent for The Office It's great that Michael can use Evite to quickly create an invitation and get some data on who is attending and who is not. But a 0.2 percent response rate? He could do better than that.

Air travel delays are on the rise, according to a new study released from the Brookings Institution. The average length of U.S. flight delays rose from 40.9 minutes in 1990 to 56.5 minutes in June 2009. Additionally, among these delayed flights, 10.1 percent of them landed at least two hours late, up from 4.3 percent of those that did so in 1990.

Though most recently, delayed flights have decreased, it's likely only due to the fact that fewer planes are flying during the recession.

"On-time performance has improved recently because the number of people flying is at its lowest point since 9/11, but as the economy bounces back, air passenger levels will grow, and on-time performance will likely resume its decline," the study's co-author Adie Tomer told CNN.

For a 12-month period ending in June 2009, the six worse-than-average on-time percentages for both arrivals and departures were: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta and San Francisco. Cities that did better than the national average were Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Detroit and Washington.

So what can we gather from this study? Well, for meeting and event planners, it's certainly an indication of which meeting destinations may require you to think of alternative means of transportation for attendees (perhaps trains or buses?). Additionally, the study's authors encourage Congress to use it to help in deciding where to invest in high-speed rail projects and other congestion-easing measures.

In light of the H1N1 flu, everyone—meeting planners included—is paying more attention to health and safety issues. So when I saw the report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) on the top 10 riskiest foods regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, I thought about food at catered events.

CSPI looked at public health records dating from 1990 to 2006 and found that these 10 foods accounted for 40 percent of all foodbourne outbreaks linked to FDA-regulated foods. Over 1,500 separate, definable outbreaks were linked to these foods, with almost 50,000 illnesses of varying severity being reported. Here they are:

1. Leafy greens
2. Eggs
3. Tuna
4. Oysters
5. Potatoes
6. Cheese
7. Ice Cream
8. Tomatoes
9. Sprouts
10. Berries

This list is certainly not to scare anyone off of eating these foods (please don't!). Rather, CSPI wanted highlight the need for better food regulation, and I think they can also serve as a reminder to meeting planners to not let food safety fall by the wayside at your events. Understandably, planners have a lot of small details to manage throughout the event planning process, but it's really not hard to stay on top of your catering.

First, be aware of food recalls and alerts from the FDA. Don't just rely on the media, which may over-exaggerate or fail to provide all the information. Read all the details about food alerts and the danger involved in order to make an informed decision.

Of course, you want to make sure any event caterer you work with has a license. Ask if the catering staff is up-to-date and trained in food preparation and safe handling procedures.

In the end, the best advice is to just talk to your caterer about any issues or concerns. Together you'll be able to work out a great menu that is delicious, healthy and safe for all your attendees!

Last week I blogged about options for decor lighting for your events: gobos, pin spots and up lights. But there was definitely one lighting item I left out: furniture!

I recently read about CORT Event Furnishings' Luna collection in Meetings & Conventions. Its pedestals, tables, columns and bars all have LED lighting from within! Sustainable and battery operated, these event furnishing are programmed with a variety of pre-selected colors, can flash or fade, last for eight hours, and are really cool!

You can find lighted furniture from a number of vendors, too. So Cool Events, a Miami AV and decor supplier, offers lighted banquet, lounge and even casino tables! You can even have them create lighted lounge cubes with your company logo on them. Boston party rental provider the Prop Factory offers Glo-Products(R) that include towers, bars, tables and centerpieces.

When it comes to event decor lighting, your options are limited only by your imagination!

Are you using social media to promote your association's cause? Or maybe a charity fundraiser you're hosting? What just about a corporate event? If so, I just came across a great idea for free event promotion on Twitter.

It's called a Twibbon. Basically, it's a service that overlays a small icon onto Twitter profile images of your supporters. For example, supporters of breast cancer research can sign up to suppor the cause by having a small pink ribbon placed in the corner of Twitter profile pictures.

Non-profit event planners can easily create Twibbons for either your cause or your specifc event. All you have to do is create a Twibbon image with design software such as Paint.NET or Pixlr (both free), upload it, and add a brief description. Check out the full instructions for creating a Twibbon here.

Twibbons aren't just for non-profits and charitable causes, though. I've seen them for sport teams, celebrities, TV shows and more. Meeting planners in all markets could use them to promote their upcoming events. Just consider a few of the event-related twibbons I found in use for events of all sizes and types:







What's really cool about Twibbons is that once you create one for your meeting, it's logged in the Twibbon database. People can search for your Twibbon and find information about your cause or event, who is supporting it and more.

If you're looking to promote your event or meeting on Twitter, Twibbons are a great option. They're easy, free and fun!

Are you working on next year's budget, but not sure you can get any buy in from company execs that taking part in meetings and events is still worthwhile? Take a cue from the U.S. Travel Association, who compiled a list of talking points for illustrating the benefits of business travel, based on the recent Oxford Economics study.

Business travel results in revenue and profit growth. Why not point out to your organization's leaders:

• Research shows that for every dollar invested in business travel, businesses benefit from an average of $12.50 in increased revenue and $3.80 in new profits.

• The average U.S. business would forfeit 17 percent of its profits in the first year of eliminating business travel. It would take three years for these profits to recover.

• Investing in business travel gains market share from competitors who restrict their employees from face-to-face interaction.

• More than ever, taking the time to meet your customers face-to-face, sharing best practices and incentivizing employees can strengthen your business and speed your recovery.

Read more tips at ustravel.org.

Remember Jock Jams, those great compilation albums from the mid-90s that featured dance music from greats like Naughty by Nature, Coolio and Chumbawumba? Well, I bet you didn't realize it at the time, but Jock Jams actually had quite a few words of wisdom for meeting and event planners.

To prove it, I wrote a series of posts based on songs from each of the five Jock Jams albums and explained how planners can incorporate their messages into hosting better events. Check them out below:

• Pump Up the Jam: 5 Things to Look for in a Good Event DJ

• C'mon Ride It—The Train! 5 Benefits of Traveling with Amtrak

• Mo Money Mo Problems?

• Ray of Light: 3 Key Elements of Decor Lighting

• Welcome to the Big Show!