JAN 2013
SPECIAL ISSUE BROUGHT TO YOU BY CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT
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®
A Lesson From Second Grade
January 2013 • Special Edition
MY CAREER OFFICIALLY BEGAN IN MRS. HAUCK’S SECOND-GRADE CLASS. Early for some
standards, yes, and I was definitely no Pulitzer Prize-caliber writer, but it was the start
of a lifelong love affair with words.
I remember coming home one day in the early part of that school year and telling
my mother and father I wanted to start a school newspaper. They probably thought it
a bit crazy, but like with most everything I wanted to do, they were supportive.
I sat down at the kitchen table in front of our family’s powder blue Smith Corona
and started my career as a journalist/publisher. I hammered out four pages of stories
on the winner of the spelling bee, the goings on of the fourth-grade art class and the
sixth-grade science fair and a seemingly brilliant op/ed piece on why we should have
more time on the playground at recess.
My father, a school teacher himself, took the pages to work with him the next day,
made copies and the morning after that, I was passing out a free copy of my inaugural
edition of the Hopewell Elementary News to anyone who would stick out their hand.
By the end of the semester, I had a staff working for me—other students who
wanted to write, submit artwork, take photographs and even teachers who wanted to
help out with editing. I was in heaven.
As I look back on those days now I realize that what we were doing was much
more significant than what I thought at the time. I recently re-read some of the editions
of the HEN (yes, I still have them—mom was really proud) and I realized for the first
time the passion that was evident even for that of an eight-year-old kid. I was telling a
story. I was trying to make a difference. And, while the stories weren’t great, the message was clear and the passion was unmistakable.
As we prepared for this second annual January Special Edition (sponsored by
Caesars Entertainment), and we planned for the cover story on the importance of
telling our industry’s story (Page 32), I started thinking about the important characteristics every great storyteller needs and I was continually reminded of that first
newspaper gig. The message
was clear and the passion unmistakable.
mess
It’s really as simple as that.
t
There isn’t one of us in the meeting and event industry today
who doesn’t have the right amount of passion—what’s less obvious
is the clarity of message.
messa What are the talking points, our script if
you will, that will unify
un us as an industry? The unification, I am
happy to say, is building.
buildi
Never considered
consi
yourself a storyteller? That’s okay. This
issue’s cover story
stor will point you in the right direction. We have
enlisted the expert advice of some of our industry’s most
recognized champions to share their view on the subrecognize
They offer some great insight into the value of
ject. Th
telling our story, but they also take it a step further
and give us all great direction on how we can tell
our story and make a difference in how the meeting and event industry is perceived.
EDITORIAL STAFF
EDITOR IN CHIEF David Basler, dbasler@mpiweb.org
MANAGING EDITOR Blair Potter, bpotter@mpiweb.org
EDITOR Michael Pinchera, mpinchera@mpiweb.org
EDITOR Jason Hensel, jhensel@mpiweb.org
REPORTER Stephen Peters, speters@mpiweb.org
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Jeff Loy, jloy@mpiweb.org
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jeff Daigle, jdaigle@mpiweb.org
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Javier Adame, jadame@mpiweb.org
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Holly Smith, hsmith@mpiweb.org
DESIGN AND PREPRESS Sherry Gritch, SG2Designs, sherry@sgproductions.net
COVER DESIGN Jeff Daigle, jdaigle@mpiweb.org
MPI ADVERTISING STAFF
Su Cheng Harris-Simpson, suchenghs@mpiweb.org, Phone: (10) 5869-3771 (Asia)
Katri Laurimaa, klaurimaa@mpiweb.org, Phone: (817) 251-9891
(AL, AR, CO, IA, IL, KS, KY, LA, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, OH, OK,
SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, WY)
Jennifer Mason, jmason@mpiweb.org, Phone: (772) 233-0678
(FL, GA, HI, MA, ME, MI, NH, NY, RI, VT, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Mexico,
South America)
Lori Stockman, lstockman@mpiweb.org, Phone: (401) 315-2192
(AK, AZ, CA, CT, DC, DE, ID, MD, NJ, NV, OR, PA, WA)
Roben Brannon, Manager of Strategic Partnerships, rbrannon@mpiweb.org,
Phone: (972) 702-3043
MPI EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
Cindy D’Aoust, Chief Operating Officer/Interim Chief Executive Officer
Sandra Riggins, Chief of Staff
Junior Tauvaa, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships
INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Chairman of the Board
Kevin Hinton, Associated Luxury Hotels International
Chairman-elect
Michael Dominguez, MGM Resorts International
Vice Chairman of Finance
Kevin Kirby, Hard Rock International
Vice Chairman
Carl Winston, San Diego State University
Immediate Past Chairman
Sebastien Tondeur, MCI Group Holding SA
BOARD MEMBERS
Krzysztof Celuch, CMM, CITE, Vistula University
Jordan D. Clark, Caesars Entertainment
Ricardo Ferreira, GRUPO ALATUR
Hattie Hill, CMM, Hattie Hill Enterprises Inc.
Cornelia Horner, CMP, American Land Title Association
Allison Kinsley, CMP, CMM, Kinsley Meetings
Carol Muldoon, CMM, KPMG LLP
Fiona Pelham, Sustainable Events Ltd.
Alisa Peters, CMP, CMM, Experient Inc.
Darren Temple, CTA, Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau
Erin Tench, CMP, CMM, Penn State University
Stephanie Windham, CMP, ARIA Resort & Casino
Legal Counsel: Jonathan T. Howe, Esq., Howe & Hutton Ltd.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Members receive One+ as a membership benefit paid for by membership dues. Nonmembers may subscribe to the publication for $99 annually. “One+”
and the One+ logo are trademarks of MPI. © 2013, Meeting Professionals International,
Printed by RR Donnelley
CONTACT ONE+: Contact us online at www.mpioneplus.org or e-mail us at
editor@mpiweb.org. View our advertising, editorial and reprint policies online
at www.mpioneplus.org.
MPI VISION: Build a rich global meeting industry community
GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS:
Dallas, TX
REGIONAL OFFICES:
Doha, Qatar
Ontario, Canada
Luxembourg
Beijing
Magazine printed on FSC Certified Paper. The body of One+ is printed
on 30 percent post-consumer-waste recycled content. Please recycle this
magazine or pass it along to a co-worker when you’re finished reading.
DAVID BASLER is editor in chief of One+. He can be reached at
dbasler@mpiweb.org. Follow him at www.twitter.com/onepluseditor.
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JANUARY 2013 - SPECIAL ISSUE
18
60
Spotlight
On:
32
20
8 10 Years of Meetings Leadership
A weekend to learn, meet with colleagues and
change the world.
22 Now That’s Longevity
10 The Medium for Your Message
Amy Allen, Caesars Entertainment’s director of
marketing, urges you to evaluate what you’re
saying to attendees directly and indirectly.
For more than 40 years, the world’s best surgeons
have gathered at Caesars Palace to learn how to
save more lives.
BY TARA SWORDS
26 Open for Business
The UAW’s Region 9 Leadership Conference in April
will go on as planned at Caesars Atlantic City.
The BUZZ
22
BY JENNIFER JUERGENS
12 Art of Travel
Grid-It can help organize your home and office—
and even your suitcase.
13 Ask the Experts
Tell your boss how you add value to the business.
32 Telling Our Story
BY JENNIFER JUERGENS
14 A Regal History
Throughout its 47-year history, Caesars Palace has
made its mark as being the place to innovate,
celebrate, meet and entertain.
41 Meetings, the
Government and You
16 Top Spots
The Nobu Hotel and other hot new venue news
from Caesars Entertainment.
We have to educate ourselves before we can
advocate outside the industry.
26
At the 2012 Caesars Educational Experience, representatives from the U.S. Travel Association and
Caesars Entertainment fielded audience questions
about the state of travel and meetings in the U.S.
Columns
46 Not Just Talk
18 5 Ways to Utilize Student
Volunteers
Pushing conference content beyond yadda, yadda,
yadda to something more memorable.
BY SAM LEE
BY JENNA SCHNUER
52 Friendly Food
41
20 Cater To The New Year
BY MICHELE POLCI, CPCE, CMP
Sophisticated clients are driving a move from
comfort foods to exquisitely executed meals that
are regional, seasonal and sustainable.
38 Be a Meetings Advocate
BY PETER GORMAN
BY MICHAEL MASSARI
58 Your Communications Future
Contest!
For part of MPI’s Future of Meetings Research Phase
II, we collected thoughts on meeting communications from experts outside of the industry.
BY JACKIE MULLIGAN
52
68 Meet Where?
Name this location for a chance to win a free stay at
the Caesars Entertainment property of your choice.
mpiweb.org
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>
MESSAGE FROM THE COO
There Is No “I” in Partnership
PARTNERSHIP. It’s defined simply as a
relationship between individuals or groups
that is characterized by mutual cooperation
and responsibility for the achievement of a
specified goal.
We’ve all heard the saying, “There is no
‘I’ in team.” Well, similarly, striking with
the same intent as that original phrase, I
propose that there is no “I” in partnership,
either.
Last year, we entered into an extremely
logical partnership with Caesars Entertainment to create this special edition, which you
have before you right now. The combining
of our two brands just made sense. We realized if we joined forces, we could align our
brands through award-winning content that
was relevant to a vast number of meeting
professionals. We had that mutually specified
goal, so partnering
tnering just made sense.
Following
ng a year in which
our industry
y fell victim to yet
another meetings
etings scandal
with the misuse
suse of government funds by the GSA in
April, our common
ommon goal in
the partnership
ship is clear: Get
the industry
y talking about our
future.
For the past year,
MPI has been
en working to rally our
members around
round
the “One
Industry,
One Voice”
campaign
that we
created to help
advocate forr the
value of thee
meeting industry. It took the GSA scandal
for us to realize, though, that true partnership is the only way we as an industry will
ever win this fight. To achieve this goal, we
all must work together—MPI, ASAE, CIC,
IAEE, PCMA, USTA—all of us.
If we can come together as an industry, as
partners, we can do so much more than we
can by ourselves. That much is evident with
any good partnership.
The ironic thing is that none of us have
to be told the value of a partnership. As
meeting professionals, we live it every day.
We see how our meetings and events succeed
because of the partnerships we form. We see
how our attendees react positively when we
create content together that is relevant and
meaningful.
There is nothing different about this
current challenge
challen facing our industry.
If we are to succeed
in telling, and
s
selling, our
ou story to everyone—government, the press, the public—we
rst start with ourselves. We
must firs
work together, as partners,
must wo
this common goal.
toward th
As you read through the pages
special edition, sponsored
of this sp
by Caesars Entertainment, I
hope you will be inspired
h
to take up the cause and
to speak up. Let your
industry know it is time
ffor one voice to carry us
through to a successful
th
future.
fu
The MPI Foundation continues its drive
to provide innovative, career-building
thought leadership development
through the following key industry
partnerships.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Future of Meetings
Quest for Talent
Strategic Meetings Management
CINDY D’AOUST is COO and interim CEO of MPI.
Contact her at cdaoust@mpiweb.org.
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11
10 Years of Meetings Leadership
A weekend to learn, meet with colleagues and change the world.
BY MICHAEL PINCHERA
13
14
IN ITS TENTH YEAR, THE CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT
Educational Experience welcomed more than 300
event pros to Las Vegas for professional development and relationship building. Or as Caesars Entertainment vice president of sales Jordan Clark
put it: “This weekend, we’re going to learn, meet
some new people and have some fun.”
Clark then challenged the audience to meet
three new people over the course of the event, a
simple task when embedded with such a crosssection of interesting meeting professionals and
Caesars sales reps.
The educational component in particular, but
also the event as a whole, was designed to serve as “a
spark of inspiration to make your meetings better.”
15
Education Takes Hold
“When I look out in this room, I see a room full of
high-powered executives,” Geoff Freeman, COO
of the U.S. Travel Association, opened the general
session.
“[Meetings are] no longer this scrappy little underdog of the travel industry,” Freeman said. “A
fundamental aspect of your job is to represent your
8
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January Buzz.indd 8
industry.”
He added that to help advocate for the industry, meeting professionals should join the Power of
Travel Coalition.
Text TRAVEL to 877877
What folto become a part of the
lowed durcoalition and receive updates
ing this day
while on the go. Learn more
of education
at www.travelcoalition.org.
were valuable introductions and discussions with Caesars representatives in a talk-show format, led, as the entire
experience was, by the ineffable professional summarizer Dale Irvin, CSP.
• The Water Coolers (see Page 50) provided
topical comic relief for the crowd leading into the
afternoon’s trio of professional speakers.
• Retired National Basketball Association
(NBA) player Mark Eaton discussed how to create
a winning team (read more about his presentation
by visiting www.mpiweb.org/blog this month).
• Best-selling author Mark Sanborn guided the
crowd through how to identify and create genuine
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Following
his keynote,
U.S. Travel
Association COO
Geoff Freeman
welcomed a
Q&A session
with Caesars
Entertainment
Senior Vice
President Michael
Massari and
attendees. Read
the high points
of that exchange
on Page 41.
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leadership, but he grabbed me with what initially
seemed like an aside: “The future of meetings is
about successfully reverse-engineering experiences.” Wow!
• Productivity mastermind Laura Stack ended
the educational component with a high-energy
dive into how meeting professionals can save time
and get better results while doing so. Visit The
Productivity Pro Blog at www.theproductivitypro.
com/blog to hear her latest and greatest tips for
mastering the clock.
and Events. “There were a lot of different things
to do: painting, scraping—even with my fractured
wrist I was able to help out. It’s a great opportunity—it gets everyone outside and exercising and out
of the meeting rooms. We learned a lot and then we
got to go outside and help other people—it’s fun.”
Teams, donning different colored bandanas,
landscaped forgotten yards, set paving stones,
fixed fences and applied fresh paint to homes previously approved by Rebuilding Together as truly
in need. Worlds were changed that day.
Meeting Pros DO Care…
…and at this event, they proved it.
Attendees, presenters and a healthy dose of
Caesars magic spent an afternoon in North Las
Vegas with Rebuilding Together (www.rebuilding
together.org), a nationwide nonprofit that provides no-cost assistance to rehabilitate the living
environments of those in need.
Planners, sales reps, journalists and even executives flexed their muscles, flaunted their painting skills and showed a neighborhood in need that
they care.
The group practically took over the street:
hundreds of volunteers, three dumpsters (including one for recycling metals and wood), two pods
of equipment, a half-dozen picnic tables and a DJ
(blasting powerful club music and retro tracks)
brought this effort to life. The degree to which
proper coordination and a soundtrack can enliven
a crowd was startling.
“The CSR event was awesome,” said attendee
Tracy Stuckrath, CSEP, CMM, CHC, president
and chief connecting officer for Thrive Meetings
Don’t Forget to Entertain
As attendees experienced throughout the event,
Caesars knows entertainment. That final day
kicked off with The Passing Zone chainsaw and
rat trap-juggling show/breakfast at the Rio AllSuite Hotel & Casino.
The wows continued at the evening reception
with a cross-section of talent from Caesars Entertainment’s Las Vegas properties. Drag performers doing Cher, Liza and Tina Turner? Check—
that’s Frank Marino’s Divas. An American Idol?
Check—season five’s Taylor Hicks brought the
voice. Those were just two of the highlights to
close out yet another successful Caesars Entertainment experience.
The Caesars Entertainment Educational Experience is expanding this year. The Las Vegas
event is already scheduled for Nov. 7-9, 2013, but
Caesars will also hold similar events in three additional hot markets: Atlantic City; Lake Tahoe;
and Tunica, Mississippi.
MICHAEL PINCHERA is editor, One+.
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ART OF
TRAVEL
The Medium
for Your
Message
BY AMY ALLEN
Grid-It
Packing Cubes
(TheContainerStore.com, US$15)
Grid-It is a smart, versatile organizer designed to easily contain all of the little
items roaming around in your bag. GridIt is made up of a woven grid of elastic
bands that help keep your stuff in
place. It works great for drawing tools,
cables, portable gaming systems and
phones. Grid-It is highly configurable
and comes in multiple sizes and colors.
(Amazon.com, US$18.74)
No matter how well any traveler packs a
suitcase, it all goes awry once unpacking
starts. With Packing Cubes, every type of
item is contained in a flexible, modular
box. These cubes work great for clothing,
but can also store gadgets, cables, chargers, food, books or anything else that
could end up in a bag or suitcase. Packing
Cubes typically come in a set of three and
in various sizes.
Button 2.0
(Shapeways.com, US$3.24)
Anyone who has walked around wearing headphones knows that the cord
flies about and can sometimes get
caught. Clipping the cord to a shirt
solves this problem, and Button 2.0
makes that incredibly simple. A tiny clip
inside the button holds headphones in
place. Available in many colors, it can
match pretty much any shirt. And it’s
also inexpensive, so you can afford to
get a few of them.
Hookeychain
(Mollaspace.com, US$15)
Most people have a place to set their
keys at home, but when traveling there’s
rarely a hook available. Hookeychain
eliminates that problem through the
magic of magnets. It not only sticks to
metallic surfaces, but also creates a hook
so travelers can hang a coat (or whatever
else).
When you encounter a stranger on the
street, you form an instantaneous impression based on the information available to you at that moment. How they
look, what they’re wearing, what they’re
doing, their body language and thousands of other clues inform assumptions
you make about that person before you
ever exchange a single word. Even when
you know someone well, it is their actions more than their words that continue to shape your view of them.
The same is true of brands. People
form lasting judgments about your
brand based on their first impression
and on their continued experiences with
you. The type of employees you hire, the
prices of your products, the advertisements you place, even the furnishings in
your lobby paint a picture of who you
are and what you stand for. You are telling people something about your business with every detail.
No matter how skilled the sales pitch
or well crafted the marketing message,
if the brand promise (the compelling
benefit you convey that sets customers’
expectations) does not match the reality
of the experience, your customers will
be dissatisfied, and your business may
mpiweb.org
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fail. Many companies find it difficult to get this right. then we seek presenters who can educate and inform on
The brand team says, “This is who we will be” and the those subjects. The speakers are impartial—they don’t
operations team says, “This is who we are,” and nary talk about us. But their presence signals to attendees that
shall the two ever meet. The truth is, every single person we care about education and development, something
in an organization bears the responsibility of delivering that is a core tenet of the Caesars Entertainment culture.
We often include at least one presenter from a meeton the brand promise.
The real trick, though, is not only to manage the ing industry association or trade group. Speakers such
promise and the experience to ensure alignment, but as Roger Dow and Geoff Freeman, both from the U.S.
to take advantage of the inevitable stream of messages Travel Association, have spoken on timely subjects such
you’re sending. So how do you infuse your experience as the state of the industry and advocacy (see Pages 32
and 41)—topics that we are passionate about.
with your message and vice versa?
All this doesn’t eliminate our need to sometimes be a
At least once a year, I organize a customer event for
my company called the Caesars Entertainment Educa- bit more direct in peddling our wares. Attendees spend
tional Experience (see Page 8). I say “I organize” but, about one hour in a session where our leadership team
of course, it actually takes a veritable army of people gets on stage and talks about our business. But to make
to make it all come together. One of my most impor- it more fun, we do it in a talk-show format, complete
tant roles in making this long-running event successful with a host, a band and commercial breaks, with the auis ensuring that, throughout the event, every detail pur- dience in television showroom-style seating. Additionally, we bring in an incredibly talented
posefully communicates something
group called The Water Coolers
about our people, our products, our
(read more about them on Page 50),
culture or our values. If I do my job
who dance and sing Broadway-style
well, attendees will go home feeling
The type of employees
tunes about work, life and—at least
that they understand who we are
you hire, the prices of your
during our event—Caesars Enterand, hopefully, wanting to do busiproducts, the advertisetainment. It’s a tongue-in-cheek-way
ness with us.
ments you place, even the
for us to hit home the key messages
It may seem an easy task to tell
furnishings in your lobby
we want our attendees to leave with
people what you’re about when
paint a picture of who you
at the end of the weekend.
you’ve essentially got them held
are and what you stand
But it’s not just speakers and
captive for three days. But we want
for. You are telling people
entertainers that furtively, yet efthem to enjoy themselves, and there
something about your busifectively, tell our story. One of the
isn’t a person on Earth who wants
ness with every detail.
best changes we’ve ever made to the
to listen to a three-day sales pitch.
event as it has evolved was to add a
So we have to communicate in difcommunity service component sevferent ways.
eral years ago. Not only does it alAt the most basic level, we demonstrate what we do by presenting attendees with a va- low attendees to give back while experiencing something
riety of flexible meeting spaces, gracious guest rooms, that might be an option for their own programs, but
interesting décor, creatively executed food and beverage when 120 or so of our own team members are out there
offerings and solicitous service. After all, these are the with them on a Saturday afternoon painting houses in
a low-income neighborhood or hanging holiday decoproducts we’re actually selling.
But beyond that, we’re also selling ourselves. We’re rations at a foster care facility for neglected children, it
in a relationship-based business, so we fly 100 or so sends an unmistakable message about our commitment
of our sales managers in from all over the U.S. to at- to social responsibility and to our local communities.
As you think about your own events, think about
tend the event with the planners, getting to know them
and learning about their businesses, so they can de- what you are communicating to your attendees, both
velop and strengthen those relationships. This speaks directly and indirectly. Are you telling the story you indirectly to our firm belief that in order to understand tend to? If not, how can you embed your message into
and meet our customers’ needs, we need to know and the medium?
understand them.
One thing we were certain of when we initially developed this event was that we wanted it to be built around AMY ALLEN is director of marketing for Caesars
learning. So we figure out what topics are of interest, and Entertainment.
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Paul Bridle
Filling LinkedIn’s Event
Application Void
After announcing on November 2 plans to phase out
their “Events” application, LinkedIn finally pulled
the plug. The feature on the professional networking
website allowed events to be posted to a central
spot and be searched by geographic location or
industry. LinkedIn users were able to “follow” an
event to receive updates or click an “attend” button,
which added the event to a public calendar on their
profile page.
Reaction to the app’s demise was varied, ranging
from suggestions that this was yet another sign of
the possible Dec. 21 Mayan apocalypse to blank
stares of LinkedIn users who admitted they had no
idea the function existed. Many within the events
industry, though, were disappointed with the move,
citing that the app allowed them to promote events
in a professional environment.
Alternatives, such as Eventbrite, Meetup, Google+
Events and, yes, even the adolescent Facebook are
already being suggested, but the most viable
replacement may be the U.K.-based event website
Lanyrd.com.
Technology news website TechCrunch is reporting
that Lanyrd, which has up until now primarily
focused on integration with Twitter, is moving
quickly to try and fill the need created by LinkedIn’s
decision:
“The idea, of course, is to allow LinkedIn users
to discover conferences and events based on their
LinkedIn connections and profile information.
LinkedIn users will also now be able to use Lanyrd
to build their own speaker profiles, get event
information on a mobile and network at events.
In turn, event organisers will now be able to use
Lanyrd to promote events, publish event schedules
and gather together slides, notes and videos once
the event has ended. This makes a heck of a lot
more sense than Twitter perhaps, given the business
audience.”
LinkedIn’s action has created not only a need
for the meeting and event industry, but it has
also presented a huge opportunity for technology
companies and app developers to design “The Next
Big Thing.” In the end, can a possible misstep by
LinkedIn wind up better serving the industry?
—Jeff Loy
Asks the Experts
“My boss wants to know how I
add value to the business as a
meeting planner.”
For this, I turned to Roger
Rickard (www.RogerRickard.
com), who is an advocacy expert and author of 7 Actions of
Highly Effective Advocates. He
said that most meeting planners answer this question by
saying they bring experience,
contacts and negotiation skills
to the business.
“This is only a basic value
at level one. In fact, this answer describes the meeting
planner’s core competencies,
Roger Rickard
which are in the job description,” Rickard said. “Although
valid, it is not where the real value is that they offer the business.”
He also said that if people answer the question by describing their core
competencies, they leave themselves open to being a simple “cost to the business” and their manager will look for the lowest cost provider of similar skills.
So where does the real value lie?
Rickard explained that research shows the best returns on marketing
spending come from meetings, incentives and events.
So if this is true, then the meeting planner’s job is to “drive profits.” A
good meeting delivered correctly will drive profits that otherwise would be
unlikely.
“If meetings and events are where the strategic objectives are being discussed, planned, measured, etc., then the meeting planner is the vehicle by
which strategic objectives are delivered,” Rickard said, describing the next
level of defining the value.
In other words, the meeting planner can’t afford to see themselves as delivering on their job description, but rather delivering value in the way they use
their skills to help the business deliver on its objectives.
Rickard concluded by saying something that I thought was very useful to
anyone: “You should be able to tell your own story.”
Or, you should be able to tell your story about how you are impacting business objectives and the consequences of not doing it.
So next time you’re asked what value you bring to the business, be sure
you don’t recite your job description and appear like a cost center. Instead,
have your story ready and explain the “value” for which you are responsible.
Paul Bridle is an information conceptualizer who has researched effective organizations and the people who lead
them for 20 years. He writes and speaks on his research
and business trends. Reach him at info@paulbridle.com.
Read more blog posts at MPIWeb.org/blog.
mpiweb.org
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A Regal History
Throughout its 47-year history, Caesars Palace has made its mark
as the place to innovate, celebrate, meet and entertain.
COMPILED BY MICHAEL PINCHERA
1965 – The property that would eventually become known as
Caesars Palace breaks ground in the Las Vegas desert.
Dec. 31, 1967 – Caesars Palace celebrates its first major special
event as “Evel” Knievel attempts to jump the property’s towering
row of fountains on his famous red, white and blue motorcycle. He
crashes on landing and spends a month in a coma.
Aug. 6, 1970 – The Centurion Tower—a 14-story structure with
222 rooms and suites—finishes at a cost of $4.2 million.
Aug. 5, 1966 – The 680-room Caesars Palace celebrates its
grand opening over three days, at a cost of $1 million. The $25
million venue offers 25,000 square feet of convention space. Andy
“Moon River” Williams is the first ever performance at the Circus
Maximus Showroom.
Sept. 1966
– A mere one month old, Caesars Palace welcomes
its first convention—the National Milk Producers.
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Oct. 2, 1980 – Caesars Palace becomes the first resort and
casino to host a major boxing
event as World Champion Larry
Holmes faces Muhammad Ali.
Despite this triumphant photo,
Ali loses.
April 14, 1989 – Robbie Knievel succeeds in jumping the Caesars Palace fountains—a jump that nearly killed his father 22 years
earlier.
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May 1, 1992 – Shopping becomes an attraction
with the opening of The
Forum Shops at Caesars.
Sept. 6, 2000
– The last performance held at the Circus Maximus Showroom, a private event for General Motors de
Mexico headlined by Gloria Gaynor. The following day, demolition
on the historic structure begins.
Mar. 25, 2003 – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace opens,
replacing the Circus Maximus Showroom, at a cost of $95 million—the most expensive single entertainment venue in Las Vegas. Céline Dion performs more than 700 shows at The Colosseum in the next five years.
Jan. 22, 2012 – The Octavius Tower opens, marking the
completion of an $860 million Caesars Palace expansion that also
includes an expansion of the Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis,
263,000 square feet of new meeting space and the renovation
of the Forum Tower.
Friendships Still Formed Based on
Personal Interactions
Here’s some research that may be of interest to meeting designers and
planners: The closer you live to another person, the more likely you are to
be friends with that person despite the growing use and impact of social
media, according to a study that drew on data from the location-based
social network provider Gowalla. The study, by researchers within the Social
Cognitive Network Academic Research Center (SCNARC) at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in New York, also showed that people tend to move in
groups of friends, and that two people chosen at random at a specific event
are unlikely to be friends.
While the findings are seemingly common-sense, the study—and
continued research on social networks—holds a powerful message for
a broad range of applications that rely on accurate predictions of how
people move, such as emergency planning, infrastructure development,
communications networks and disease control.
“The ramifications are extremely important because if we assume that
people are moving randomly, we are wrong, and therefore we will not be
prepared for what people actually do,” said Boleslaw Szymanski, director
of SCNARC and the Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor of
Computer Science at Rensselaer. “Where you live really matters: Most of
your friends are concentrated in the place where you live, and as the distance
increases, this concentration rapidly drops.”
The findings also indicate that, even in the digital age, humans still
form friendships based on personal interactions, said Tommy Nguyen, a
Rensselaer graduate student and member of SCNARC.
“Even though, thanks to the Internet, you can be friends with anyone
on the planet, the likelihood that a person will be friends with someone in a
distant location chosen at random is far lower than the likelihood that this
person will be friends with someone who lives in close proximity,” Nguyen
said. “Proximity creates a strong boundary for who will be your friends.”
The researchers say that the likelihood of friendship between two people
decreases as distance increases, and that 80 percent of friends of a particular
person live within 600 miles of that person’s home.
“You may have a few distant friends who are holdovers from a time
when you lived elsewhere, or who share a common trait like family
connections or a particular activity, but in general, the likelihood of
friendship decreases as distance increases,” Szymanski said. “That tells us an
important thing which our findings highlight: Friendship requires constant
interactions, maybe physical presence (making proximity important) because
we prefer to rely on verbal and body language to invoke feelings of trust in
people. That’s very important in friendship.”
(Story materials from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.)
—Jason Hensel
Read more blog posts at MPIWeb.org/blog.
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TOP
Spots
Mid-America Center
Caesars Entertainment is now managing and operating the Mid-America
Center, located in the growing city of
Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is just
five minutes from Omaha, Nebraska.
The center combines big-city facilities
and attractions with Midwestern
hospitality.
Featuring nearly 64,000 square
feet of exhibition space, the MidAmerica Center also offers access to
more than 400 guest rooms and dining, entertainment and shopping options at neighboring Harrah’s and
Horseshoe Council Bluffs.
The 24,000-square-foot convention center features two ballrooms and
eight individual breakout rooms with
banquet seating for up to 1,500. The
center also offers 15,000 square feet of
pre-function space as well as a state-ofthe-art, pillar-free, 30,000-square-foot
arena with a capacity of 9,000 for general sessions and special events.
Harrah’s Rincon
An expansion will nearly double the size of the San Diego resort and will include a new,
23,000-square-foot ballroom that will connect to an expansive outdoor patio bringing the
resort’s total meeting space to approximately 39,000 square feet. A new, 400-room hotel
tower, an expanded pool area with a lazy river, more cabanas, a new indoor/outdoor Mexican restaurant and an expanded casino floor are all part of the expansion, which is slated
for completion this year.
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Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati
Located in the heart of Cincinnati, Ohio, the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati will offer top-notch meeting
and event facilities when it opens in spring 2013.
The property will feature 33,000 square feet of
space divisible into as many as 11 rooms, with the
largest, the 19,000-square-foot Horseshoe Ballroom, accommodating up to 2,000 guests. In addition, the River Room and outdoor City View Terrace both offer event spaces with views of the
Cincinnati skyline.
Nobu Hotel, Restaurant &
Lounge at Caesars Palace
Nobu Hospitality and Caesars Palace will combine
efforts for the first-ever Nobu Hotel and Nobu Restaurant & Lounge in the famed resort on the Las Vegas Strip. Within Caesars Palace, Nobu Hotel will
offer 180 rooms and feature an interior design that
showcases natural materials fused with Nobu’s signature Japanese elegance. Nobu is expected to open
early this year.
The LINQ and the High Roller, Las Vegas
This US$500 million outdoor retail, dining and entertainment district
at the heart of the Strip will offer an experience unlike anything else in
Las Vegas. At the heart of the development, a 550-foot-tall observation
wheel—The High Roller—will feature 28 cabins, which can accommodate up to 40 people each, offering an exciting option for small groups.
Look out for this marvel in the middle of 2013.
mpiweb.org
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BY SA M L E E < <
>> FROM WHERE I SIT
MPI for that info). Or contact the university’s career center, where there is a
larger student database, which may be
able to connect you with a wider range
of talent. The key is to do this early in
the process so you have time to pick
and choose.
5 WAYS TO
UTILIZE STUDENT
VOLUNTEERS
OFTEN, STUDENTS ARE USED AS MERE
BODIES TO COMPLETE BASIC TASKS
AT MEETINGS AND EVENTS, such as
scanning badges or providing general
assistance for attendees, but students
have many beneficial skills that professionals often neglect.
To get the most effective use of
student volunteers, visualize student
involvement as short-term talent
management. One of the most important ingredients in achieving business
success is to attract the best talent and
strategically fit each person in the right
place in your organization. It’s no different with meetings—you still want
the right talent in the right place.
Of course, performing talent management for a meeting is a lot trickier
Hear more from MPI student
members—read Opal Wade’s
post at www.mpiweb.org/blog.
18
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than choosing employees who will
stay with your organization for years.
As someone with years of experience
in the meeting industry, and who is
again looking at things from a student
perspective, I suggest the following five
methods for best utilizing the student
talent available to you.
1. Understand the characteristics of
your talent pool. The first consideration
to manage student talent is to appreciate whom it is you’re working with. A
lot of student volunteers are going to be
enthusiastic, cheerful, ambitious, willing to learn, flexible and full of creative,
fresh ideas.
2. Know how to quickly find the best
talent. Contact the local university’s
hospitality management or tourism
department (or its equivalents), and ask
their help to find the best candidates
or for contact information to a student
chapter of MPI (you can also contact
3. Find effective methods for motivating
the best student talent to work for your
organization. To recruit the best talent,
you have to give them clear reasons
to work for you. Clearly convey their
tasks, how they’ll benefit and how
their responsibilities are meaningful. As
author and professional speaker Simon
Sinek said, “People don’t buy what you
do; people buy why you do it.”
4. Utilize their talents in the right place
and in the right way. Sufficient communication is the key in this process.
Utilize the technology available: email,
conference calls, Skype, etc. Identify
their specialties and strengths and discuss with them how to use those skills
in the right way. For example, social
media, special event planning or even
translation skills.
5. Think long-term. Mentor your
student volunteers. Take the time to
teach and support them. In a couple
of years when they graduate and enter
the industry as professionals, you will
already have established a relationship
with them, which may serve you well
when they become your clients or even
join your team.
SAM LEE is a graduate
assistant at the University
of Nevada Las Vegas William
F. Harrah College of Hotel
Administration and an MPI
student member. He
worked with the IMEX
Group to organize their
social media team in 2012.
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Hungry for more F&B trend
insight? Turn to Page 52 for
this issue’s feature story and to
learn about the compelling new
dining developments on track
>> FOOD FORWARD
from Caesars Entertainment.
BY M I C H E L E P O LC I , C P C E , C M P < <
CATER TO THE
NEW YEAR
Six F&B ideas for staying on-trend
and within budget.
WHILE TRENDS COME AND GO, one thing
that can always be counted on is the
importance of food and beverage to the
success of a meeting or event. Planners
are looking for innovative, fun, stylish
and affordable ways to create memorable food and beverage experiences for
their attendees. Here are some ways to
be both on-trend and within budget in
2013.
Elegant Simplicity. Planners can keep
things simple yet elegant by giving
extra attention to the details. In the
protein, the presentation and the flavor
profile are key. If you’re looking to
save, choose less expensive cuts of lean
meat, such as short ribs instead of filet,
or select regional seafood entrees. Also,
opt for smaller portions of protein and
starch when appropriate.
Regionally Inspired Cuisine. Embrace
the food and culture of the destination
to capitalize on what is unique about
the locale. In the South, grits are a
mainstay. On the East Coast, seafood,
hot pretzels and saltwater taffy take
center stage. Ask your property’s catering team to help you put a fresh spin
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on local favorites for an experience that
combines tradition with modern appeal.
Unique Breaks. A great way to incorporate creativity and fun into your food
and beverage offerings without breaking the bank is to make the most of
your breaks. Many venues offer unique
themed breaks and most can create
custom options that tie into your event’s
theme, the destination or even your
company’s products and services. Simple
touches can have dramatic impact. Water
dispensers infused with local fruits and
berries offer a refreshing and environmentally friendly alternative to standard
bottled water.
Understated Elegance. Many people
are embracing the concept of understated elegance as a way to present food
that feels classy and special without
being excessive or imprudent. Taking
a chance on a trendy food item can
backfire if too many of the attendees
are not adventurous eaters. But taking a
classic item and presenting it in creative
ways—such as offering potatoes as a
trio of diced and roasted Yukon Gold,
Red Bliss and Peruvian Blue—can
provide attendees with something new
yet accessible. Creative use of starches
and grains like couscous, quinoa and
nutty rice fulfill the average diner,
while pleasing those looking for a bit
of sophistication, and are generally
lower-cost alternatives to other accompaniments.
Add Some Action. Nothing beats the
smell, look and engagement of action
stations. Action stations create a
relaxed atmosphere that encourages
socializing, and they can be more
economical than plated meals because
guests only ask for what they want.
Additionally, an increasing number of
attendees consider themselves food experts and like to interact directly with
the chefs who are preparing their food.
Vegetarian Options. It’s customary to
offer a vegetarian meal to meet the
needs of the handful of vegetarians at
any event. Today, vegetables are taking
center stage, with thoughtfully prepared plates pleasing both vegetarians
and those just looking for a healthier
option. Planners may even consider a
vegetarian course for all attendees—
they won’t even miss the meat as long
as the food is presented creatively and
is satisfying.
MICHELE POLCI, CPCE, CMP,
is director of citywide
catering sales for Caesars
Entertainment in Las Vegas.
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Now That’s Longevity
For 46 years, the world’s best surgeons have been gathering
at Caesars Palace to learn how to save more lives.
BY TARA SWORDS
IN 1967, WHEN DR. KIRK CAMMACK
AND DR. JOHN BATDORF decided to
hold a conference for surgeons at the
new Caesars Palace in Las Vegas,
there was no other event in the world
like it. It was the one place surgeons
could come to share ideas and learn
the latest techniques that would enable them to save lives on the operating table. Though today’s surgical
technology and practices are leaps beyond what was possible in 1967, the
conference offered the best of what
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was known at the time and glimpses
into research that would guide the
future of the field.
The world in which the conference
occurred might also seem primitive to
modern eyes. Caesars Palace, then an
oasis in a little desert town, had
opened just months before, in August
1966, and was tiny compared to its
current size. But it was the height of
luxury. Fountains lining the entrance
shot water dozens of feet into the air.
The biggest names in entertainment
performed regularly. Girls in Romaninspired dresses served cocktails to
guests who—so the story goes—were
all made to feel like royalty.
A lot has changed in those 46
years. But at least one thing has stayed
the same: Every March, the world’s
most advanced surgeons travel to Las
Vegas to learn the latest techniques to
save lives.
The Trauma, Critical Care &
Acute Care Surgery conference has
been held at Caesars Palace every
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spring since 1967, save one year in the
late 70s.
“We met next door at another
property and quickly decided we were
going back to Caesars,” said Dr.
Kenneth Mattox, the conference’s
director.
It might seem like a strange match:
the ostentatious unreality of Las Vegas
luxury and the people who do the unglamorous work of putting humans
back together when the cancer has
spread, the aorta has ruptured or a
traumatic accident has pushed someone to the edge of life. But Mattox,
who has directed the conference for
the last 27 years, says the over-the-top
environment of Las Vegas is exactly
what makes it perfect for a
professional gathering.
“Professional people retreat to
the conference room for a sense of
reality,” he said. “They love the Disneyland atmosphere, but they want to
hold onto something normal. If we
took the same program, lectures and
template and moved to Los Angeles,
Phoenix or Dallas, the attendance
would be considerably less because
folks would find reason to go shopping or to some sporting event.”
And when attendees do want to
dip a toe in Vegas’ waters, they have
an abundance of world-class entertainment right outside their door.
“I have seen shows in New York,
Monte Carlo, London, and nothing
matches the production value of a Las
Vegas show,” he said.
Mattox is chief of staff and chief
of surgery at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston, as well as vice president of the American Surgical Association. He’s an academic surgeon
who is known worldwide as one of
the best. Surgeons working in war
zones in Afghanistan and Iraq call him
for urgent advice, emailing photos of
the critical cases before them. That’s
one reason he takes conferencing so
seriously: It’s where people like him
come to learn how to answer those
middle-of-the-night calls and change
the course of lives.
After decades of conferences
around the world—Chicago, New
York, New Orleans, Dubai, Rio de
Janeiro, Cairo, Rome—Mattox has
become something of a student on
what makes conferences succeed or
fail. The venue, he says, is no small
factor in that equation.
“I have looked at almost every
property in Las Vegas,” he said.
“Caesars
Palace
is
uniquely
constructed so that I can get [attendees]
from their guest rooms or the breakfast or lunch rooms into the
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convention location, never having to
go by the ringing slot machines. If I go
to any other property, I have to walk
a long way from the elevator and
sleeping rooms to get to the area
where they’ll have conferences.”
That’s a small difference, he says,
but one that has a big impact on attendance. The brightly lit convention
rooms and built-in registration and
breakout areas also make his job
easier.
But it seems unlikely that attendees
need any inducements to show up.
The conference has been oversubscribed for the last 10 years and typically sells out six weeks in advance. It
has grown to 1,300 attendees—the
limit of what Mattox considers manageable—and 80 percent of the attendees are physicians on the front
lines of the field. The program is
packed with three days of events, including compellingly named presentations such as “Frozen Blood and 9/11:
What Do They Have In Common?”
Sessions, called “How Do I Get Out
of This One?” and “My Worst Night-
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If speakers go one
second over their
allotted 15 minutes,
Mattox—who sits in
the back and runs the
soundboard—cuts their
mic midsentence. If
they say something
incorrect, he grabs
his own mic—turned
up to “an extra-high
volume”—and says
in his deep, resonant
baritone: “You are
out of order.”
mare Comes True,” feature talks on
the hardest-to-treat conditions and
how to deal with the terrible things
that can go wrong during surgical
procedures. “We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us” features a talk on
“Dealing With the Dysfunctional and/
or Aging Colleague.”
“Doctors who like to take care
of the big bad stuff are a special genome,” Mattox said. “They really are
turned on by patching bad things back
up in people that normally would die.
Those of us on the teaching side [must
ask] ‘What are the controversies in
those areas? What are the areas where
we can improve the outcome, the
transportation, the resuscitation?
What are the things you were taught
in the past that were incorrect?’ That’s
what we respond to.”
Mattox says his lineup doesn’t just
attract eager attendees—it also attracts speakers. But getting a gig at
the Trauma, Critical Care & Acute
Care Surgery conference is a long
shot: About 200 people compete for
Mattox’s blessing to present, and
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only 35 make it each year. And that’s
when they really have to start working hard. All speakers are required to
give brand-new talks. If they present
old slides, they’re never invited back.
If they don’t provide a syllabus and
audiovisual materials six weeks in
advance, they’re never invited back.
If they go one second over their allotted 15 minutes, Mattox—who sits in
the back and runs the soundboard—
cuts their mic midsentence. If they
say something incorrect, he grabs his
own mic—turned up to “an extrahigh volume”—and says in his deep,
resonant baritone: “You are out of
order.”
“The audience loves it, and the
speakers shake because they know I
am profiling everything they do: the
colors of their slides, the size of the
fonts, the spelling, the discipline,”
Mattox said. “These people are egomaniacs in their own right, and I’m
one of the few people who pushes
them around. The audience knows
that so they come for entertainment
as much as anything else. It’s Las
Vegas, after all.”
Mattox’s personality and his repeated presence at Caesars Palace
have made him something of a family member to some of the hotel’s
staff.
“All of our coffee servers, porters,
staff—they know him. They love
him,” said Stacey Purcell, national
sales manager at Caesars. “He is part
of Caesars Palace. He epitomizes our
best customer and longest-running
show, but also loyalty and dedication
and commitment to his people and to
ours.”
The world of conferences has
changed dramatically since 1967,
and Mattox has rolled with the times
in his 27 years at the helm. But one
thing he says he will never change is
the in-person nature of the event—no
matter how much cheaper or faster
events could be held online.
“There is value in the rubbing of
the flesh in the information dialogue
at coffee time and visiting the exhibits,” he said. “And during those
times, when people communicate
with each other, what they’re really
asking themselves is, ‘Am I okay?
How do I match up to my peers? Am
I taking care of my patients?’ I spend
a lot of time people watching at these
events, but I’m watching not what’s
good for our business of putting on
this conference but what’s good for
the educational value of these
individuals who are there.”
What motivates Mattox to keep
putting on this event, he says, is to
give surgeons the skills they didn’t
know—the tricks that have been tested on the operating table, the emerging best practices, the researchbacked ideas—that will return them
to their hometowns the next day,
ready to start saving more lives than
they could have just a few days
before.
“Every year I hear wonderful stories from people with tears in their
eyes as they call me and say, ‘Because
I came to your conference, I saved soand-so’s life yesterday,’” Mattox said.
“That’s why we do this.”
TARA SWORDS is a Chicago-based freelance writer and a regular contributor to
One+.
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Open for Business
The UAW’s Region 9 Leadership Conference in April
will go on as planned at Caesars Atlantic City.
BY JENNIFER JUERGENS
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CONFLICTING NEWS REPORTS came in on
the day Hurricane Sandy hit Atlantic City
in late October. “The gambling hotspot
was pummeled by heavy winds, rains and
storm surges,” with officials telling The
New York Times that, as of “8 a.m. Tuesday, [Oct. 30], 70 to 80 percent of the city
was underwater.” The Wall Street Journal added that “2,600 folks were bused
to shelters and 13,600 residents remained
without power as of Tuesday afternoon.”
Later that night, Thomas R. Gilbert,
district commander of Atlantic City’s
Tourism District, released a statement on
the condition of the city’s boardwalk
“The entire oceanfront Boardwalk
in front of the Atlantic City casinos is
undamaged with all dunes and lights intact,” Gilbert stated. “There is minimalto-no visible damage to casinos and other
businesses fronting the Boardwalk along
the ocean. In fact, the Atlantic City Boardwalk that was washed out by Hurricane
Sandy is an area limited to the Boardwalk
fronting the Absecon Inlet only. That
small section of the Boardwalk is located
in South Inlet, a prominent residential section of Atlantic City. It is a small stretch of
Boardwalk that is being shown in video
footage and photos.”
The part of the boardwalk that was destroyed was in an old section and set to
be demolished anyway, Gary Musich, vice
president of sales at the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority (CVA),
said recently.
“Unfortunately the news tends to sensationalize,” Musich added. “But, yes,
some people in New Jersey had a tough
time and even our convention center was
a staging area for emergency services. But
if you drove by today, you wouldn’t know
how hard hit we were.”
Unfortunately, groups still canceled.
The New Jersey Education Association,
a meeting of 40,000 teachers, canceled a
week after the hurricane.
“The hotels were open and the convention center was unscathed,” said Jim
Ziereis, vice president of conventions and
hotel sales at Caesars Entertainment in
Atlantic City. “We were ready for them
but they were dealing with their own
problems at home.”
Musich says that in total 90 events
were canceled. But the CVA did notify
industry and trade publications about
the true condition, which stopped further
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cancellations.
That notification letter, signed by Jeffrey Vasser, president of the Atlantic City
CVA, in part thanked everyone for their
support during the storm, stressed that
the city did not experience any significant
damage and reiterated that Atlantic City
was open for business.
“Most have rebooked in 2013 and
we’re sold out every weekend,” Musich
said.
Caesars Entertainment also let everyone know that Atlantic City is back by
erecting more than a dozen billboards
with messages such as “Rebuilding Our
Future” and “Jersey Strong.”
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“We are working
together to rebuild
Atlantic City and
now the lives of
those impacted
by this terrible
tragedy.”
UAW’S FULL SUPPORT
For Scott Adams, director of United Auto
Workers (UAW) Region 9, there was
never a question that his April 2013 Leadership Conference at Caesars in Atlantic
City would go on as planned. He’ll welcome 600 attendees—all leaders in UAW
locals from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and
New York—for the event. And Adams
never thought of moving the conference
as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
“We have about 5,000 UAW members
including casino dealers and slot technicians in Southern New Jersey, including
Atlantic City, that have been severely affected by this storm,” Adams said. “To
cancel now would be counterproductive
and would be equivalent to kicking someone when they are down.”
Many of the union members were devastated by the storm, he explains, some
even losing their homes. And while the
union is preparing to make a donation
for post-Sandy relief efforts, there were
also “boots on the ground,” with AFLCIO teams coordinating clean-up efforts
and help for casino dealers who needed
FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) assistance.
“Following the storm, Caesars management provided hotel rooms to its dealers who were impacted,” Adams said.
“We are working together to rebuild Atlantic City and now the lives of those impacted by this terrible tragedy.”
Examining how Caesars Entertainment was working to aid the community,
Ziereis says: “Our corporation stepped
up.”
Caesars started a promotion for planners that booked meetings through Dec.
31, 2012, for future dates donating $1 for
every group room night booked at any
of Caesars’ Atlantic City properties. The
donation would be given in the name of
the company booking the meeting, with
proceeds benefiting their choice of either the Caesars Entertainment Sunshine
Fund—which provides direct assistance to
Caesars employees who were impacted—
or the Southern Shore Chapter of the Red
Cross. These donations were in addition
to other company efforts to support those
impacted by the storm, including the Caesars Foundation’s own $150,000 donation to the Southern Shore Chapter of the
Red Cross.
“Personally, I had 10 contracts come
back because they were excited about the
promotion,” Ziereis said.
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And Caesars Entertainment has also
been involved in fundraising events to
support post-Sandy relief efforts. Golden
Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya and
Caesars Atlantic City donated more than
$44,000 (sourced from ticket sales and
knock-outs scored during a November
bout) to the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic
City. Caesars Atlantic City also sponsored
a National Hockey League exhibition
game in Boardwalk Hall, which collected
$500,000 in proceeds that went directly
to the Empire State Relief Fund, the New
Jersey Hurricane Relief Fund and the
American Red Cross.
Adams, who began his UAW career at
Ford Motor Co.’s Buffalo (N.Y.) Stamping Plant in 1972, has been involved in
running meetings in his region for 16
years and made a commitment a long time
ago to Atlantic City. Adams considers
Don Marrandino, president of the eastern
division for Caesars Entertainment Inc., a
good friend.
“When I first met Don we talked about
a joint commitment to helping grow Atlantic City,” he said.
Today, since the UAW has signed union
contracts with Atlantic City casinos, there
is more of a vested interest. Judy Sereni,
national sales manager at Caesars Entertainment, agrees: “We have a very good
relationship with the UAW because we are
a union house. They are our biggest supporters since the dealers were signed into
the union two years ago.”
For the conference in April, which
the UAW started planning a year in ad-
vance, they invite congressional members
from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania to speak, including U.S. Representative Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), U.S.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and
Stephen Sweeney, New Jersey State Senate
president.
“We arrange the conference agenda
around them, providing each guest speaker time to address our Region 9 leadership,” Adams said. “Guest speakers are
also invited to a reception of delegates
that enables our delegates to meet and
talk to them. We always request Charles
Wowkanech, president of the New Jersey AFL-CIO, to open our New Jersey
conferences.”
Sereni says the group uses Bally’s and
Caesars for a variety of meals and other
functions.
“UAW has a lot of breakout sessions,
so we get very creative,” she said. “We
also open up the High Roller Room overlooking the ocean for breakfast.”
The meeting, which starts on a Sunday, continues with educational sessions
throughout the week covering a wide
variety of topics, including arbitration,
grievance handling, retiree issues and political meetings.
“We were very engaged in this year’s
elections and our August Leadership Conference reflected that,” Adams said.
Sessions are planned according to
needs.
“We have union leaders from the auto
industry, teachers, community college administrators, attorneys and casino deal-
ers. Accordingly, we offer a wide variety
of education,” he said.
UAW Region 9 has an education and
mobilization director who coordinates with
the regional standing committees to implement the training for each group at these
conferences. There’s also a retiree director,
assistant director and clerical staff that do
“the bulk of the work,” Adams said.
The new “Do AC” marketing campaign (www.doatlanticcity.com) will help
planners with their meetings in Atlantic
City.
“We’ve signed the U.S. Sign Council
and the Tri State Realtors with 9,000 people,” Musich said. “We lost big conventions, but New Jersey is strong and resilient. This part of the Jersey Shore was hit
and FEMA did a great job, and the people
in the Northeast U.S. rose to the occasion.
We are bouncing right back.”
JENNIFER JUERGENS is a veteran meeting
and event industry journalist and former
editor in chief of Incentive magazine.
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Telling
Our
Story
BY JENNIFER JUERGENS
We have to educate ourselves first before
we can advocate outside the industry.
IT’S NOT FOR LACK OF DATA THAT THE MEETING INDUSTRY
isn’t well understood by legislators and the public. And if asked, planners can probably cite numerous studies that support the value of the
industry. The Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy
revealed in 2009 that the U.S. meeting industry had a total output
of US$907 billion. The American Society of Association Executives
(ASAE) Foundation Associations Matter study shows associations employed more than 1.2 million people with a total payroll of about $47
billion in 2010. Associations are a significant part of the $263 billion
meeting industry and host a wide range of meetings, seminars, conventions, trade shows and other events in cities across the U.S. and abroad.
And there’s MPI’s Annual Business Barometer, which shows that in
spite of an unstable economy, meeting budgets continue to slowly grow,
and meeting professionals project increases in the number of meetings
and attendance. The U.S. Travel Association (USTA) has figures that
show one in eight American jobs is tied to travel.
Impressive stats, to be sure, but apparently not enough to combat
some of the negative press the industry received due to the AIG and
GSA scandals in recent years.
“We need face-to-face events
to conduct our business. Until
recently, we never really had to
articulate that, but meetings
mean jobs, and meetings drive
revenue to our organizations.”
—Karen Kotowski, CEO of the Convention
Industry Council
“It really all comes down to
leadership rather than advocacy.
Somebody needs to take the
lead. Not everyone wants to go
to D.C., but we all need to go to
our chamber of commerce. We
need to write stories about the
meeting industry outside the
meetings world.”
—Holly Duckworth, CMP, CAE, president
and chief connections officer of Leadership
Solutions International
“Sometimes it’s difficult to convince Joe Public. So we have to
find a way to demonstrate that a
business trip is a business tool.
—Kevin Hinton, executive vice president of
Associated Luxury Hotels International and
Associated Destinations Worldwide
“Use whatever communication
vehicles you can to get the word
out. You don’t have to be in politics or government to be an advocate for your industry.”
—Chris Vest, director of public policy for
the ASAE Center for Association Leadership
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“Let’s face it, the mainstream press latches on because
these boondoggle stories are so juicy and salacious,” said
Michael Massari, senior vice president for Caesars Entertainment, executive committee member of the USTA board
and vice chair of finance for the MPI Foundation Global
Board of Trustees. “A story on a thoughtful, productive
meeting is not so sexy. There are lots of pieces to this. We
have to have answers for the policymakers in Washington,
D.C., the general public, the mainstream press and the industry press.”
Simply put, everyone in the industry needs to be an
advocate for the industry.
The travel, tourism, meeting and association industries
collectively have a distinct advantage over other fields.
“We have lots of people,” Massari said. “With one in
eight people a part of the travel industry, [we] are everywhere. It’s not like the auto industry that’s concentrated in
one place. We can influence every representative in every
state. I can’t think of anywhere there’s a complete crosssection of America—a complete mix of people—but in the
travel industry. We need to leverage that.”
The industry has stepped up. Karen Kotowski, CEO
of the Convention Industry Council (CIC), spoke at a Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA)
event on the increased scrutiny of meetings by those outside the industry and what needs to be done.
“We need face-to-face [events] to conduct our business,” Kotowski said. “Until recently, we never really had
to articulate that... [But] meetings mean jobs, and meetings drive revenue to our organizations.”
WHY DON’T WE TALK MORE?
“As an industry, we don’t advocate any better than we
did 35 years ago,” said Joan Eisenstodt, founder of meeting planning firm Eisenstodt Associates and a member of
MPI’s Community of Honorees. “If you ask meeting planners about the job they do, they’ll say, ‘Anyone can do
this.’ We are very humble about our profession.”
Yet, the job requires a great deal of specialized knowledge in order to provide for people’s safety and education
and for the ROI to the organization.
“We need to say what we do is critical to big business,” Eisenstodt said. “We have to believe what we do is
important—not how to be an advocate in Congress, but to
let everyone understand what we contribute to the building of communities.”
Meeting planners need a simple script, according to
Holly Duckworth, CMP, CAE, president and chief connections officer of Leadership Solutions International
and a past president of the MPI Oregon Chapter. That
script, she says, needs to indicate for whom the meetings
are being planned, to what end and to identify the eco-
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“We need to say what we do
is critical to big business.
We have to believe what we
do is important—not how to
be an advocate in Congress,
but to let everyone understand
what we contribute to the building of communities.”
—Joan Eisenstodt, founder of Eisenstodt Associates
nomic impact. Duckworth says it really all comes down to
leadership rather than advocacy.
“Somebody needs to take the lead,” she said. “Not
everyone wants to go to D.C. But we all need to go to our
chamber of commerce. We need to write stories about the
meeting industry outside the meetings world.”
Kevin Hinton, executive vice president of Associated
Luxury Hotels International and Associated Destinations
Worldwide as well as MPI’s chairman of the board, agrees
that the industry needs to stand together and raise the profile of the meetings profession in a positive way.
“How do we tell our story? How do we help our chapter
leaders develop relationships with the leaders of PCMA and
the Global Business Travel Association and other meeting
and travel industry associations to get the message out?”
Hinton said. “Sometimes it’s difficult to convince Joe Public. So we have to find a way to demonstrate that a business
trip is a business tool. When a meeting comes to my city,
Chicago, [meeting professionals must] demonstrate that it’s
not only good for the hotels and taxi drivers, it’s good for a
cross-section of the economy. You have to have the facts and
figures, but it’s the emotion, the human element, that should
be part of the messaging campaign.”
Chris Vest, director of public policy for the ASAE Center
for Association Leadership, believes we need to effectively
educate those outside of the meeting industry as to the value
that we bring.
“We need to let outside audiences know the breakdown of what a typical four-day conference costs and what
it brings to a destination,” Vest said. “This can effectively
counter people’s perceptions. Use whatever communication
vehicles you can to get the word out. You don’t have to be
in politics or government to be an advocate for your industry. Recognize there are issues that can really impact your
business and how important it is to get your voice heard on
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Advocate to Congress:
Amendment SA 2060
those issues.”
The higher ups in an organization and potential clients all need to know about the importance
of meetings, too.
“Make sure you can articulate why you are getting together,” Massari said. “Put some thought into
that. Help others articulate their role, particularly
your senior executives. Knowing and articulating
are two different things.”
Hinton agrees that the higher ups should have
a message and be able to respond to any questions
the media may have—without apologizing.
The CIC funded a survey of corporate and association meeting planners as well as industry executives on the importance of face-to-face meetings,
which became “Face-Time. It Matters.” The survey
revealed that face-to-face meetings build trust and
relationships, that education and training are more
effective in a live setting and that these meetings create jobs.
Still you have naysayers.
“The problem is, when you combine what has
been a challenging economy with the focus on expenses and the emergence of virtual meeting technology, you have people saying, ‘We don’t need to
do as much face-to-face,’” Vest said. “But there
are numerous independent studies that say face-toface meetings remain essential to keeping business,
maintaining business relationships and letting government workers know what is taking place in the
private sector.”
“When a meeting comes to
my city, it’s not only good for
the hotels and taxi drivers, it’s
good for a cross-section of the
economy. It’s the emotion, the
human element, that should
be part of the messaging.”
—Kevin Hinton, executive vice president of
Associated Luxury Hotels International and
Associated Destinations Worldwide
“It’s our job to track regulatory legislation that impacts associations,” said
Chris Vest, director, public policy for
the American Society of Association
Executives (ASAE) Center for Association Leadership. “There is a lot to pay
attention to. It’s a constant educational process of staying up on news on
The Hill and all of the hearings going
on in Congress.”
Advocating for the association
and meeting industries is reaching
a critical point involving government
participation in conferences and
meetings. As part of the pending
postal reform bill, Senator Coburn of
Oklahoma attached amendment SA
2060, which among other things caps
conference spending and restricts federal agencies to sending employees to
one conference per organization per
year. (The Senate postal reform bill
was passed in April, but House Republicans have yet to bring their version
of the bill to the floor, suggesting that
the postal reform components aren’t
sufficient enough to actually save the
U.S. Postal Service from its own fiscal
cliff. As of press time, a House vote on
the matter has not been scheduled.)
The bill, if enacted, would not only
reduce the level of communication
between the government and associations and the private sector at a time
when more cooperation is needed, it
would also cost the economy a significant amount of revenue, jobs and
growth opportunity. Indeed, there are
a large number of associations and
private sector organizations that rely
on communication with government
employees and agencies. This communication involves issues of regulatory
compliance, competition for funds,
education on programs, new products
and services and a host of issues facing our country today.
The broad sweep measure does
not seem to properly address the root
cause of the problems it is intended to
correct—poor judgment and wastefulness. ASAE responded with an open
letter to Congress explaining why the
seemingly harmless language is so
threatening to the economic and educational efforts associated with the
meeting and association industries
and urging lawmakers to revise the
amendment.
“We also met with numerous offices on Capitol Hill and tried to have
them understand how onerous those
restrictions would be in the government’s ability to exchange information
with the private sector,” Vest said.
One example of an expansive
interpretation is from the Secretary of
the Army John McHugh. In an October
17 memo, McHugh suspended Army
attendance at non-Department of
Defense conferences through the
end of the year. However, on October
22, McHugh delivered a keynote
address that made the point that the
Association of the United States Army
conference “provides a critical forum
to exchange ideas, to discuss the
critical issues facing the nation...to
learn from each other,” according to
an article on the AUSA website, titled
“Army Leaders Tout the Importance of
AUSA Annual Meeting.” Otto Kreisher
reports, McHugh said it was “understandable” that taxpayer-funded
conferences have been “under a lot
of scrutiny” in Washington, D.C., “but
sometimes the good gets caught up
with bad.”
Karen Kotowski, CEO of the
Convention Industry Council (CIC),
says that after the CIC’s The Economic
Significance of Meetings to the U.S.
Economy report came out, they held a
press conference at the National Press
Club.
“We did quite a bit of media for
several months,” Kotowski said. “It’s
important to keep this study out in
front of [the press].”
She said CIC members, too, are
doing “a great job in citing the study
when speaking to their meeting
groups and the press…. In the future
we will work on joint messages.”
The backlash of negative publicity
toward government attendance at
private sector and educational meetings will require a diligent effort on
the part of the association industry to
demonstrate the value and effectiveness of meetings and conferences.
Today, more than ever before, educating and advocating are necessary. The
future of our industry is riding on the
outcome.
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Billy Thomas, director of sales for a large industrial
distributor, doesn’t need any studies to demonstrate the
importance of face-to-face meetings.
“We use teleconferencing and face-to-face meetings,”
Thomas said. “But when it’s critically important, there’s
no substitute for the eye contact, emotional bonding
and relationships you establish in the face-to-face
environment.”
With today’s social media tools, it has never been
easier to get the word out on the importance of meetings. Even though Joan Eisenstodt is in Washington, D.C.,
and advocates writing to members of Congress, she gets
her message out by writing letters to the editors of major
newspapers and magazines and by blogging.
“We have a responsibility to write to the non-industry
people,” she said. “Point out the value of the face-to-face
meeting, the impact on the travel industry and the impact
on jobs. It’s about having a presence. You don’t know
who’s following you [in social media]. People think of it
as lobbying, but it’s talking about it wherever you can talk
about it. That’s advocacy.”
Tools for Advocacy
and Education
The “One Industry, One Voice” campaign urges meeting
professionals to show solidarity and speak louder, together.
Visit www.mpiweb.org/oneindustryonevoice to participate in
industry actions and stay educated on this important topic.
MPI’s Business Barometer research, with bi-monthly and
annual editions, provides an inside look at the state of the
meetings business. Download it at www.mpiweb.org/Portal/
Research/BusinessBarometer.
The U.S. Travel Association’s grassroots coalition at www.
travelcoalition.org offers resources, news and contact forms
to help you get active—right now—in voicing your support
and expressing the value you and the meeting industry bring
to business in the U.S.
A vibrant toolkit to educate peers, clients and the government on the value of meetings can be found at www.mpiweb.
org/bvom, an initiative supported by the MPI Foundation
and AIBTM.
CONGRESSIONAL CHAMPIONS
Roger Rickard, author of the 7 Actions of Highly Effective Advocates and a member of MPI’s Community of
Honorees, suggests inviting an elected official to a trade
show, for example.
“Imagine if they come to the American Dental Association’s trade show and see all the vendors that rely
on the association to sell their products,” Rickard said.
“They’ll see it’s not a boondoggle…[attendees are there]
to talk about best practices and furthering the industry.”
The USTA invited Florida Congressman Daniel Webster to a back-of-the-house tour at a Marriott hotel at the
Republican National Convention and California Congressman Sam Farr to do the same in Charlotte during the
Democratic National Convention.
“For them to see a hotel that is fully booked with
dinners and meetings happening on the property is eyeopening,” said Erik Hansen, director of domestic policy
for the USTA. “To see what happens in the hotel and what
happens in a community. It’s more than putting together a
fact sheet on how this impacts the community. It leaves a
lasting impression.
“A lot of members of congress understand the value
of meetings and conventions, especially in Orlando and
Nevada, but we go beyond that,” Hansen said. “We have
yearly data on the economic impact on their districts—
how many hotel nights, the number of jobs supported,
whether New York is doing better than Chicago.”
The USTA’s grassroots coalition is a place where meeting planners, hotel and restaurant workers or anyone else
can sign up to get involved.
“If you do sign up, we make it easy to engage,” Hansen
said. “We provide form letters or emails to send to your Con-
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The Convention Industry Council funded a survey of corporate and association meeting planners as well as industry
executives on the importance of face-to-face meetings. The
result was Face-Time. It Matters. Read it at www.convention
industry.org/ResearchInfo/FaceTimeInternal.aspx.
The American Society of Association Executives Center for
Association Leadership helps you stay tuned in to the value
of associations through its site www.thepowerofa.org.
gressman. We make it as easy and seamless as possible.”
Government officials are smart enough to know how
important meetings are, Rickard says, but they just might
need a bit of a reminder.
“These elected officials don’t need to connect the
dots,” Rickard said. “If they are attorneys, they know
how important the Bar Association is. We should use
those examples.”
From 2008 to 2011 many company leaders and associations cut their meetings budgets down, while some cut
meetings out altogether due to the recession.
“But they’re back,” Massari said. “Companies know
they can’t grow without them. Meetings help companies
to increase sales, increase stock prices and move forward.
They’re not just important, they’re indispensable.”
JENNIFER JUERGENS is a veteran meeting and event industry
journalist and a regular contributor to One+.
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Be A Meetings
ADVOCATE
By Michael Massari
MOST PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHY
MEETINGS MATTER. Almost without
exception, every person in every job
has attended some type of meeting
where information was communicated, colleagues collaborated, relationships were strengthened and business
was conducted.
Many don’t realize that travel, as
an industry, is more geographically diversified than any other. According to
the U.S. Travel Association, 14.4 million American jobs are supported by
travel, and it is a top-10 employer in
48 states. The average maximum salary for American workers whose first
job is in the travel industry is 4 percent
higher than the national average. Additionally, one in three who begin
their career in travel obtain a college
degree. The meetings segment also directly contributes $15.2 billion in annual tax revenues for local, state and
federal governments. Travel and meetings clearly play an indispensable role
in our nation’s economy.
So why have we been so maligned
in recent years? And what can we do
to remedy this?
I’ve been in the meetings industry
for my entire career. Yet, until fairly
recently, my dad thought my “hotel
sales” job meant that I sold hotels.
Not completely inaccurate; in the
most oversimplified sense, my job is to
get meeting planners to book meetings
and events at various hotels across the
U.S. But my dad thought that I
actually sold hotels—like one would
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Commit to ensuring that people understand what you do. Make sure your boss,
your colleagues and your CEO can articulate
why meetings, incentives and business travel are legitimate uses of company resources,
and how they impact the company’s bottom
line to drive growth.
sell a house or a car!
I’d like to request that you conduct
a small experiment. Find someone
who is not in the industry but who
knows you well. Ask them what they
think you do for a living. Do they call
you a “party planner?” Do they believe that your “glamorous” job involves jet setting all over the country
to host fancy events? Do they understand what you do and what it means
for your company or your clients? Do
they understand what it means for
them?
Here’s a second experiment. Ask
the same question of your CEO or another senior company manager. The
problem is that few people, even within our own industry, can effectively
explain why meetings matter. We need
to make sure that we, and others in
our businesses—particularly at the
senior level—can clearly articulate it.
Commit to ensuring that people
understand what you do. Make sure
your boss, your colleagues and your
CEO can articulate why meetings, incentives and business travel are legitimate uses of company resources, and
how they impact the company’s bottom line to drive growth. Make it
your mission to ensure that the people
you’re dealing with, when they see
sensationalized stories in the news media, know enough at least to question
it: “Wasn’t that a training meeting to
educate sales staff on a new product?”
or “Didn’t that convention allow several thousand buyers and sellers to
come together to do business?”
Here are some additional ways you
can be an advocate for our industry.
• Stay informed. Understand what
is happening in our industry.
• Leverage your networks. Professional associations such as MPI
provide you with valuable information and resources, and allow you to connect with others.
• Visit USTravel.org and find a
wealth of information and tools.
• Join The Power of Travel Coalition (travelcoalition.org) and
access resources to guide your
advocacy efforts at local, state
and national levels.
• Influence policymakers. Placing
phone calls, writing letters and
visiting with your local elected
officials is a great start to affecting change at the grassroots
level.
• Weigh in with the media. Become a reliable source of positive information about meetings
and events for your local news
outlets.
• Most importantly…Learn how
to be a voice for our industry,
and don’t be afraid to speak up
in defense of meetings.
MICHAEL MASSARI is senior vice president of Caesars Entertainment, vice
chair of finance for the MPI Foundation Global Board of Trustees and
executive committee member of the
USTA board.
ONE VOICE
In recent years, the meetings and
conventions industry has been
more disparaged and called to
task than virtually any other. That
shouldn’t be a total surprise; few
really understand what we do, despite the fact that so many people’s livelihoods rely either directly or indirectly on the industry, and
people often target what they
don’t understand.
But while the travel industry is
among the largest and most geographically diverse in the U.S., and
though we’ve added close to a million jobs since January 2010, we
don’t come close to having as
much power and influence as industries such as automotive or
banking. And the reason for that is
obvious: Those industries each
speak with one voice.
People describe the meetings
industry as fragmented and out of
sync. Though we have the best of
intentions, we’re simply not all on
the same page. We have countless
different voices, creating a cacophony that drowns out the critical message.
The recent attention we’ve received provides us with a platform
to promote our community’s interests, and there are countless opportunities for us to work together
to make sure people know why
meetings are important.
The time has come for us to set
aside our differences. I challenge
you—my colleagues, competitors,
customers and friends—to sacrifice a piece of your own voice and
come together to speak in a single
voice. Forego a fragment of your individual needs for the good of our
industry. This is the only way we
can successfully gain the influence
and support we need to remain a
strong and vibrant part of the
national and global economic
landscape.
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Q&A:
MEETINGS, the
GOVERNMENT
and YOU
At the Caesars Entertainment Educational Experience, Geoff Freeman,
COO of U.S. Travel, fielded questions from the audience and Caesars
Entertainment Senior Vice President Michael Massari. Here’s what he
has to say about the state of travel and meetings in the U.S. and what all
meeting professionals can do to help herald change.
MICHAEL MASSARI: How many people work in the U.S. travel industry?
GEOFF FREEMAN: 14.4 million. That
puts the industry at about the No. 5
largest employer in the country. That’s
greater than automakers, significantly
larger than insurance, bigger than
most aspects of manufacturing. We’re
a big industry but we haven’t necessarily acted like a big industry.
There are four things this industry
has going for it that other industries
don’t. 1) Our geographic distribution
puts travel in every single congressional district in the country. I used to
work in the health insurance industry—we would have given our right
leg for the assets the travel industry
has to be in every congressional district. 2) We have brand names that everybody knows. You don’t have to
walk into a meeting and tell everyone
what these companies do. 3) Our customers like the product, they like using the product. 4) This is huge: The
people that work in the travel industry
are passionate about this industry.
They care about this industry and they
want it to succeed. How we capitalize
on those four assets that distinguish us
will be a big determinant as to whether or not we succeed in the years to
come.
AUDIENCE: What is the U.S. Travel
Association (USTA) doing regarding
the problems government employees are experiencing in attempting
to attend conferences?
FREEMAN: This is a huge issue for the
industry—and for Las Vegas. [There
are] estimates that government travel
is worth US$1 billion. Recently, the
secretary of the U.S. Army told everyone that their meeting participation
for the rest of the year (approximately two months) was canceled. Done.
Part of this is obviously due to the
GSA scandal—the waste and abuse
that some individuals demonstrate
can attract significant attention, particularly in an election year, particularly in a very political environment.
Some of this is also due to an effort in
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MPI is leading the charge on helping businesses and attendees prove the
value of meetings. Visit www.mpiweb.org/bvom for more resources and
to access MPI’s Business Value of Meetings toolkit.
people within government can demonstrate to their superiors why they
need to [attend events]. The same is
true on the business side as well; it’s
not just the government. We’ve got to
help people and empower them to
make the case of the ROI in attending.
AUDIENCE: Is there a quick action
plan to perhaps turn the Army’s
plan around?
Washington, D.C., to cut spending, reduce costs, and [this is] one of the obvious ways that people think they can
do that. And part of this is due to a
shortcoming that we in the industry
have allowed to take place. … We
need to help people actually justify
why they go to these meetings. If they
can’t justify it themselves, and we’re
relying on them, we’re in trouble.
What is the benefit of government
employees attending meetings? I can
tell you right now, there is zero data
out there that speaks to that. If you’re
a government employee, if you’re a
manager, you’ve got a lot of anecdotal evidence but zero data that speaks
to why they should be at these [events].
So USTA is undertaking a major focus
on developing that research so that
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FREEMAN: Cancelling all of the Army’s meetings for the rest of the year
received widespread accolades in
Washington, D.C., and taxpayer
groups. Widespread accolades from
most people who don’t understand
why these people need to be meeting
anyway... So we’re swimming against
the current when we go out there and
say, “You can’t do this.”
Now, the administration has been
good, earlier this year, when there was
a move to decrease all government
travel budgets by 30 percent, the administration held back on that, decided not to do that. The move on significantly reducing per diems—we got
them to put a hold on that. We’re talking to the administration now; we’re
obviously discouraging this kind of
blanket reduction. If you want to reduce travel, take a smart approach.
Determine what’s unnecessary travel.
We’re having those conversations, but
until we can have that data that speaks
to the consequence to you—you government, you agency—of doing this,
we’re doing it with one hand tied behind our back. The Army hasn’t built
the case, nor has any other federal
agency, as to why their employees
need to be on the road. We need to
build the case for them. It’s going to
take a little bit of time and I think the
best we can do right now is kind of
hold steady. We’re not looking for a
big increase; we’re just trying to manage the decreases so it doesn’t get out
of control.
The [latest] presidential election results were good for the travel industry.
I can guarantee you that should some
of the alternative results have taken
place you would have seen much
greater cuts than you will see now.
Who knew that when [President
Obama] said what he said about Las
Vegas it would be the best day for our
industry, because it gave us an opportunity to build a rapport and help him
understand. [He] has taken a more
outspoken and passionate position on
travel than any president in history.
The results in the U.S. Senate were
equally helpful for the industry—there
are people there that will protect the
progress that we’ve made in recent
years. So we’re in a good place right
now. We need to stop the losses. But
be aware, we’re swimming upstream.
MASSARI: We want to be in an industry that really helps people and
businesses grow and move forward,
we donʼt want people to travel just
because. We want them to be
thoughtful—travel for growth-oriented reasons, to move their organizations forward. When we talk about
this subject, we need to talk about it
in a way of being thoughtful about
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it: Donʼt cut indiscriminately, donʼt
add indiscriminately. Be thoughtful
about what youʼre doing. I think we
can all learn a lesson there.
FREEMAN: Your point is spot on. To
the extent that we’re defending travel
for the sake of travel or travel because
you used to do it, we will lose credibility with those with which we’re arguing. We have to speak to the ROI, to
the thoughtfulness, to the responsibility as to why people need to do this,
not just how they should do it because
they’ve done it in the past.
MASSARI: How do we get spokespeople from outside our industry to
speak on behalf of the travel industry? What we can do as meeting
professionals is to make sure when
our CEOs and executives are asked
why they’re having that meeting—
called on the carpet by a reporter or
someone else—that they can really
answer that question well, that they
can say, “The reason I’m having that
sales meeting is because I’m trying
to increase sales by 10 percent and
that’s going to help me employ 300
new people, and if I don’t have that
sales meeting, I’m not going to be
able to do that.” But often our CEOs
don’t have that information and
can’t speak to it as articulately as we
all can. So we have an obligation to
make sure our executives can talk
that language.
FREEMAN: I think that for the meeting industry to thrive, there are three
audiences we have to affect in various
degrees. The first are policymakers,
they have to believe there’s value in
this or else they’re going to pipe up as
they did in 2009. Business leaders
need to see value, they need to see
ROI, or else they’re going to cut into
this area, perhaps disproportionately.
And the third audience that needs to
see value here are program participants. One of the greatest threats we
have as an industry is if the participants of these programs go back and
talk about the boondoggle they were
just a part of. If that’s how they’re
talking about it then that’s the image
that will obviously take off.
So I think one thing you can do, is
that when you get back from the major meetings that you’ve put together,
don’t let that meeting just die as it normally might... How do you work with
senior executives to get out to all of
those program participants not just
the thanks for being there, but why it
was good for the company and why it
was good for them that they were
there? How do you talk in those ROI
terms? It’s so easy when you get back
to the office to move on to the next
thing, but [we need to] get the last
word on value, on the ROI of what
you were just a part of so those attendees talk about that, talk about it
in the terms we want them to talk
about it, which always comes back to,
“I need to do this. It’s in my business
interest to do this.”
The most important point we have
to address is that it’s not business as
usual. We have to change the way
we’re doing things. And we need advice from [meeting professionals]. You
have the best understanding of what
would help change things within your
companies. That’s how you can give
to the Power of Travel Coalition—
that’s what we need so we can learn
… and provide the best practices to
the industry as to how to make the
case to business leaders that there’s
ROI here.
AUDIENCE: What is the USTA doing
to make it easier for groups to get
into the United States?
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FREEMAN: I wish I could say we’re
working with other governments to
do that, or that other governments are
the problem, but they’re not. The
problem is here in the U.S…. If you’ve
traveled to Brazil or to some other
countries and had problems, for the
most part, the only reason you’re having a problem is that those countries
are reciprocating the policies that we
put on their travelers. That’s what
we’re running into.
After Sept. 11, 2001, we had to put
in place new security policies. One of
the security policies … is that every
traveler that wants to come to the
United States from a country that requires a visa has to get a personal interview. They literally have to go and
have an interview with a U.S. consular official. In Brazil, a country as big
as the United States, there are four
places you can go to do that interview.
You can imagine then how the wait
times got over 130 days just to make
your interview. In China, we have five
of those consulates, in India [we have]
four.
In recent years, amazing strides
have been made. Visa wait times have
gone down in Brazil…down to two
days. This administration, from the
president to Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and her top deputy Thomas
Nides, [has made this] an area of focus…. The thing we have to do is help
policymakers understand that when
you don’t let these visitors into the
U.S., you’re not simply preventing
people from tanning on the beach in
South Florida, you’re preventing people from getting here to do business,
to attend meetings and trade shows.
What has helped policymakers to begin to address these issues is when the
manufacturing industry began speaking out on this, when the consumer
electronics industry began speaking
out on this. My advice to everybody
in the room is that you represent varied aspects of American business, you
have to make sure policymakers understand this isn’t the travel industry
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that’s suffering, it’s your vertical business that’s suffering. You have to engage. You have to get letters from …
your companies or organizations and
help policymakers see the breadth of
this problem.
The next thing we have to do is remove the visa requirement for Brazilians. We have to get Brazil into the
Visa Waiver Program and enable them
to come here without a visa. We did
this several years ago with South Korea and South Korean travel to the
United States has increased 51 percent. That’s the potential when we remove this visa requirement.
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YADDA
yadda
Pushing conference
content beyond
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BY JENNA SCHNUER
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Quick:
What’s the most memorable live content you’ve witnessed at a
conference?
Now, what did it have to do with
the conference? Did it add value to the
conference offerings or was it one of
those splash-just-for-splash-sake sort of
things? Fingers crossed it added value
but, as we’ve all rolled our eyes at some
gratuitous fluff, that’s not always the
case—and that’s just not acceptable
anymore.
To keep attendees engaged, entertained and coming back for more, it’s
time to start catering to their needs.
And fancier napkins just won’t cut the
mustard.
“A lot of our traditional content is
still relevant, but I think what we’re
finding now is that content must resonate with the audience’s needs,” said
Dom Garner, MCI’s London-based
creative director. “It’s very important
for us to know our audience very, very
well and to understand what content
will resonate, what the audience
requirements are and what you intend
for the audience to do.”
Michael Patton, CMM, commanding officer of San Diego-based
POTHOS, says “We’re seeing attendees
being a lot more persnickety about their
content being very educational. When
they sit in that breakout session, they
want content, and if they don’t get it,
it’s going to show up on the evaluations. They want networking. They
want to shake hands and kiss babies.
You know, they want to meet their fellow attendees. They want to talk to the
presenters. They want to talk to the
sponsors. They’re demanding a higher
level of interaction.”
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GO SHORT
Mary Boone, president of Essex, Conn.-based Boone
Associates, says that on the live content front, one of the
most innovative shows she’s ever attended was SAP’s
SAPPHIRE NOW in 2010. The content-heavy show
recognized that longer isn’t always better—and can be
exhausting—but that shorter doesn’t always deliver all the
information people need. So, how to address both?
Though speeches were shorter, the conference served up
pre-conference video trailers and, for anybody who
wanted to keep the conversation going after a speech
wrapped up, breakout rooms were available.
“They were able to share information beforehand,
keep the speech short on stage, and then afterwards, they
had rooms that people could go to if they wanted to hear
more from that speaker or talk to that speaker more,”
Boone said.
(Read more about SAP’s SAPPHIRE NOW through the
MPI microsite of the event at www.mpiweb.org/sap2010.)
MAKE DIGITAL SHAPE THE
ONSITE CONVERSATION
“I don’t want to use digital as an example
of how we’re taking the focus away from
delivering live content,” Garner said.
“It’s exactly opposite.”
During a 2011 MCI-planned conference for the U.K. government, traditional
yadda
While some in the industry may
protest and say they’ve always paid
close attention to the audience: OK.
Yes. Fine. But now it’s time to look
even closer, because if attendees
don’t return to their offices with actionable information that justifies
their attendance, you won’t see
YADDA
YA
ADDA
them again next year. The idea of
going-to-an-event-just-for-the-hellof-it is fading to black. Permanently. (Unless, of course,
there’s some sudden unexpected worldwide economic
boom.)
But it goes beyond the economics of conference attendance: It’s also about beating the client’s competition.
Garner says he’s seeing more competing events held
around the same time as his customers’ events. Swag bags
and better chicken won’t make the difference when
potential attendees are deciding which event to sign on
for—better live content will. Following are some ideas to
put into play.
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THE BIG SPLASH
SO, ALL THIS SAID, IS THE BIG SPLASHY CONFERENCE OPENER
DEAD? Have we moved on? Not so fast. There’s still a lot to be
said for attention-getting openers—especially if they tie into a
conference storyline.
“We’re very, very keen to demonstrate to our clients exactly
what sort of return they are going to get for their budget and recognize that the term return on investment means that there will
inevitably be some constraints around budget and where we see
the value of…entertainment, and particularly big splashy ideas,”
Garner said.
Dismissing entertainment outright would be, he adds, a
mistake.
“What we’re able to demonstrate to our clients is that for their
investment in their content, in their live experience, that it is optimal, that it is creating huge impact. That allows our clients to
continue to…win. But it is important they’re still aligned with their
overall objectives.”
And, for bigger meetings, getting everybody’s attention is the
first step toward meeting those objectives.
“If it’s a big trade show where we’re going to open up the general session, they may want us to do a wow opening [of] eight to
10 minutes, to bring the attention to the stage, to set the tone for
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the morning or the afternoon or the evening opening events,” said
David Thomas, owner and president of Oklahoma City-based
Shows in a Box.
That wow can also help reinforce the theme of the show.
Thomas says the troupes of acrobats and sword performers he
works with have been used, at times, to reinforce the idea of team
building.
“It’s tied into the fact that if you’re going to have a great performance you’ve got to build a team, you’ve got to work together,
you’ve got to have a common goal,” he adds. “For entertainers,
the goal is putting on a great show. But there are a lot of steps
that go on to make that happen, just like a business has many
steps to finally reach their goals, whether it’s increase sales or
branding or opening up new markets or whatever.”
Don’t, though, just assume that the message of the entertainment will automatically translate.
“I don’t think people are going to just automatically say, ‘Oh
wow, this is teambuilding,’” Thomas said.
Reinforce the idea through graphics on screens behind the
entertainment or by having a post-entertainment speaker come
out and tie it together.
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GIVE THEM SPACE
There are times it’s best to leave
conference attendees to their own
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devices. Get the right people at the yadda
show and synergies are bound to
break out. Boone says MPI’s own Café Conversations
idea (from the World Education Congress) was a dandy
on this front. Set up whiteboards outside of rooms and
let the attendees decide on the topics (which they’ll post
on the whiteboards), and run the discussions.
“All those sessions were generated right there on site
by the participants,” Boone said.
Worry not: There are ways to keep participants from
going into sales mode. How? By encouraging participants
to walk out if anybody was abusing the privilege of having the stage. Nothing more embarrassing than talking
to an empty room, right?
yadda
SEND THEM ON SPEED DATES
Patton of POTHOS says he’s found success for clients by
introducing the proprietary process of “business matchmaking” at events.
“It’s a structured process where you
have people sign up to be on one side of
the table, and people sign up to be on
the other side of the table and we match
CALL FOR MORE
them up based upon mutual interests.”
Another winning technique at the SAP
Once the matches are made, they get
show, Boone says, was the expansion of
15 minutes to hang out together at the
topics through a call for papers. Instead
conference. The process takes the guessyadda YADDA
of turning to the usual suspects for the
work (and randomness) out of networkspeaking slots, customers and ecosystem partners were
ing at events.
invited to submit papers.
“They’re not running the risk
“Then those people were part of the selection process
of going to a reception and, ‘I
just like everybody else,” Boone said. “They made a
hope I just cross paths with somedetermination about how the content that was proposed
body that I’m interested in at the
would fit into their overall plan for the session.”
bar while I’m getting a beer.’ But
that being said, there’s unstrucCONNECT PEERS
tured networking as well,” Patton
Along with traditional customer-tosaid.
vendor meetings, Sapphire Now encouryadda YADDA
aged peer-to-peer meetings at a “meetour-customers” area. In that space,
JENNA SCHNUER is a regular contributor to One+ and other
vendors could introduce existing customers to potential customers, and let
business and travel publications. Read more of her work at
the outsider do the brand evangelizing.
jennaschnuer.com.
yadda
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“It’s a very consultative approach. It’s connecting peers. It’s doing peer-to-peer marketing,” Boone
said.
yadda
a
speakers had their say—but not for long. The usual 20or 30-minute podium-centric slots were scaled back to
10 minutes each. Instead, the event’s loose agenda focused on conversations that filtered into the sessions from
social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.
“It was quite pioneering for the U.K. government…to
allow people to very openly engage with that particular
event, and that perhaps constituted around 75 percent of
the content of the event,” Garner said.
As content filtered in from social media, attendees
used the information to drive the discussion of the main
conference sessions. They also fed into smaller working
groups and, throughout the event, were showcased on
screens around the conference.
But the river of social media content wasn’t a wild
one. Instead, it was carved before the first meeting
attendee set foot in the hall. Some of the key attendees,
who were also active tweeters, were asked to start the
conversation with the public in the weeks leading up to
the event.
“That way the conversations were starting to happen
before you could even open the front doors to the event,
and that was really important because it was creating
content in advance of the event,” Garner said. “When
the doors opened, we had some relevant workshop
sessions and groups that were already lined up to respond
to some of those conversations.”
He adds: “This was by far the most
engaged and interactive event that the
U.K. government had hosted.”
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Cool Communications
It goes without saying that most meetings and events have a
lot of common goals—bring people together, strengthen connections between one another and provide training, education and motivation.
Often, though, it can be tough to keep attendees 100 percent focused throughout the course of a session or opening
keynote. That’s where The Water Coolers come into play.
The Water Coolers specialize in comedic songs and
sketches about work, life and everything in between, says executive producer Sally Allen, a senior management consultant
and former meeting planner.
The group, which was originally created by event professionals for the meeting and event industry, incorporated a
blend of New York comedy writers and business people from
around the country that performs its act across the nation
since its Off Broadway run in 2002. The acts are tailored to
any kind of event audience—corporate or association—and
they build a set list that aligns with meeting objectives and
the culture of attendees.
“If an event planner just wants to have pure entertainment that makes people feel closer to each other, because
they’re laughing at stuff they share, that’s what we bring,”
Allen said. “The key is, we’re very goal focused. What does
this planner want to accomplish? When I was hiring entertainment, I always had something I needed to achieve—even
if it’s as simple as making people laugh.”
Allen says The Water Coolers’ demand comes from the
fact they get their audiences.
“We know that an audience of professionals is filled with
intelligent, often competitive, always hard-working people,
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who, for the most part, love their work,” she said. “They’re
not cynical, but they’re typically very bright and for them
comedy needs to be smart and in a business setting the humor must always be appropriate. I think that’s a part of what
clients appreciate about our work and why they so often hire
us again and again. That and the fact that people will genuinely laugh out loud.”
The group uses a combination of three things that also
helps drive their popularity: a high level of comedic talent,
a strong service orientation and consistency.
“Someone said to me once, ‘The rap on you guys is that
you are always great. Not some times,’” Allen added. “I love
that, and we really pride ourselves on every single show
being great.”
As event planners are always under the gun to demonstrate the value of this type of entertainment investment, The
Water Coolers are constantly trying to find out what exactly it is the planner is trying to achieve, such as motivating a
sales team or just creating a bond with clients through laughter and cheer.
Long-time client Caesars Entertainment has used The
Water Coolers for every one of it’s annual Educational Experiences in Las Vegas, and organizers say they would never
do the event without them. Planners who book a meeting at
a Caesars Entertainment property can even get a customized
musical number from The Water Coolers for free.
For more information about The Water Coolers, visit
www.seethewatercoolers.com.
STEPHEN PETERS is a reporter for One+.
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for
to
s
d
o
o
f
t
Want to
get hungry? How
does grilled California
swordfish with wine-braised
leeks, salt roasted potatoes and
black olive vinaigrette sound? Or how
about stone-fired organic chicken with a fivecheese polenta and a side of handcrafted Oregon
bleu cheese? Rib steak with potato soufflé and red
watercress?
Those dishes, served at meetings and conventions
around the U.S., have more in common than might appear
at first glance: They’re all regional, seasonal, sustainable, nutritional and flavorful—the five keys in meeting menu planning
these days. Gone are the days when second-rate roasts were
tossed in the oven, sliced and plated and put into hot-boxes an
hour before the food service began, then covered in gravy just as
they were wheeled into the banquet room. These days, top catering
chefs say their clients know their food, and they are not shy about discussing it. It’s not so much about whether you’re going to serve chicken
cacciatore as it is about whether the chicken will have been raised cagefree and without hormones, and if the tomatoes, onions and peppers
come from a local organic farm.
It is a sea change in the catering world, one in which elements of the
last huge trends, going green and being interactive, have been incorporated into the current trend in which chefs are expected to produce fine meals
with fresh, local ingredients.
Robert Gilbert, executive chef for special events and catering at the Walt
Disney World Resort, says he and the other chefs are reveling in it.
“The Food Network has exposed so many people to quality food and
put our chefs at center stage at our events,” he said. “We have interactive
stations and love putting on a show, cooking things to order for our
guests.”
Lisa Hopkins, CPCE, CMP, president of the National Association
of Catering Executives, says the interactive component has gone “way
beyond the inaugural pasta stations and mashed potato bars.”
“In Houston, we recently had a Savory Bar that included polenta and butternut squash paired with braised lamb and natural
jus, and duck comfit with caramelized shallots and ginger-port
reduction,” Hopkins said. “With a little thought and creativity, any food can be done interactively.”
But the show is only part of it. What the guests want
is delicious food.
“And they want it local and sustainable,” Gilbert
said. “They want to know where it came from and
that we were involved in raising what we’re
going to serve.”
That’s no problem at the Walt Disney World Resort, he explains, as
they raise their own tilapia
and shrimp and have
working green
nts are dri
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exqu
i si t
ely
e
xe
c
houses
in which vegetables and greens are
grown right in Epcot Center.
“It’s hard to get more local
than that,” he laughed.
But Gilbert is even more involved. He
said his pork suppliers feed their animals chestnuts and apples to give them the right flavor for
the fall and winter; they’re fed citrus fruits to give
them a lighter flavor for use on the menu in the spring
and summer.
“It’s a trend with us and with a lot of people in this business,” he said. “Our clients know the quality of meat, they
know the difference between an ordinary vegetable and one
grown organically. And we’re glad they do.”
Across the country, at San Francisco’s Hotel Vitale, executive
chef Kory Stewart is seeing the same things Gilbert is seeing in
Florida.
“Planners are asking about the sustainability of the seafood we’re
serving, and they want to know where it came from,” Stewart said.
“The trend started in restaurants, but it is spilling over to banquets
now. People want grass-fed beef, they want organic chicken.”
Not every meeting can afford truly organic meats or even vegetables,
but Stewart says there is plenty of room to compromise on more affordable meats that are natural, “not necessarily organic, but not fed steroids
and antibiotics.”
The Hotel Vitale, which caters to smaller-sized events—Stewart says
serving 300 people is a huge event for the elegant hotel—doesn’t even
have a banquet kitchen.
“And we don’t want one,” he said. “Our event guests want to know
that every dish is being prepared á la minute. And we thrive on that.
We love being in the kitchen making each plate special, or out on the
dining room floor interacting with our guests while we’re cooking for
them.”
The trend to using local and sustainable food is echoed by Mark
Ricci, director of communications for Hilton Worldwide in the
U.S. northeast.
“Chef David Garcelon at the Waldorf Astoria installed a bee
hive on the roof, and he harvests the honey both for sale and
for use in the dishes he cooks at the Waldorf restaurants,”
Ricci said. “Talk about regional. And chef Anthony
Zamora at the Conrad Hilton’s Atrio Wine Bar and
Restaurant in downtown Manhattan has a garden
on the roof producing everything from heirloom
tomatoes to squash to greens.”
And it is a trend that is only going to
get bigger, according to Ricci.
“Because no matter what
kind of food you are producing, whether it’s
American or
ut
ed
m
ea
ta
tha
ls
ional, s
e
a
s
o
n
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a
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a
n
d
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Italian or French, the idea of getting locally grown produce and meats from
area farmers, well, it just makes a huge
difference in the quality, and these days,
event guests are rightfully demanding
and getting that extra quality,” he said.
A large portion of that quality comes
with serving foods that are seasonal,
which is a key component in today’s
event menus. It simply tastes better to
eat things in season.
Danny Meyer, one of New York’s
most renowned chefs, does the catering
for events at the Conrad Hilton. And
Meyer is a beast on seasonal foods, from
squash purees and sunchoke soup in the
late fall to the earliest spring veggies he
can find come the end of Winter.
“People are wild about seasonal
foods. It’s as simple as that,” Ricci said.
Of course, some people will always
push the envelope. Out in Hawai’i, the
convention center held a two-day event
for 400 people where all of the ingredients utilized on the menus came exclusively from Hawai’i. According to Joe
Davis, the general manager of the
Hawai’i Convention Center, the effort
was so successful that they’ve now developed an “808 Island Selections”
menu that contains “no less than 90 percent locally sourced items,” including
*
With the local, seasonal, sustainable
components in place, nutrition almost
naturally follows, which allows for
event guests to stay more
alert—something that event
planners need in order to
hold successful events.
not just locally raised beef, pork, poultry and locally caught fish, but “specialty products including nuts, olives,
coffees, beers and wines.”
With the local, seasonal, sustainable
components in place, nutrition almost
naturally follows, which allows for
event guests to stay more alert—something that event planners need in order
to hold successful events. Well-balanced is a key phrase used by event
planners and culinary experts alike
these days. Catering menus featuring
multi-grain, low-fat, low-salt items
have become standard for the industry.
Anastasia Shizayeva, director of
Eventadore Inc., says that going to
more natural and organic foods generally means fewer carbohydrates and
processed sugars—items that tend
to make people sleepy.
“Light organic foods give
people more energy to get
through the meetings,” she
said. “And it’s not just
about them listening to a
lecture. It’s often about
interacting, team
building. So I
push people to go
toward those foods
and beverages which will encourage the
guests to have the energy to want to
meet other people and to have the energy to interact.”
Surprisingly, working with regional
and seasonal foods has not limited
what’s coming out of event catering
kitchens; instead, it’s expanded chef’s
choices. Scouring local farms has produced hundreds of artisanal cheeses, seasonal meats, berries, squashes, olives,
nuts, mushrooms and a host of greens
that don’t normally make it further than
local farmers’ markets because they are
not produced in sufficient quantity for
commercial use. But that doesn’t mean
they are not produced in sufficient quantity for a dozen or so events annually at
a given location. Adding those items to
things already available has allowed
chefs all over the U.S. to make regional
changes to standard dishes, which has
“opened up the playground a little,” according to Stewart, “helping to define
real American cuisine.”
And local isn’t just for food. The beverage end of events has changed with the
use of local products as well: Microbreweries are called for, Brooklyn Gin
and Hudson Baby Bourbon goes over in
New York and Tito’s Vodka is a splash
DINING DEVELOPMENTS WITH CAESARS
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas offers dining options for the most discriminating attendees, and there’s always something new to offer.
• Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill debuted last month at Caesars Palace. “We actually found, surprisingly, that you could not get a great,
authentic pub dining experience in Vegas,” Chef Ramsay said. “So we’re excited to bring a concept to Vegas that was sorely lacking.”
• In September, the luxurious Bacchanal Buffet opened in Caesars Palace with more than 500 different dishes! Taste everything from
dim sum to shrimp and grits, all at one 25,000-square-foot restaurant.
• Guests at the Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace can enjoy private priority access to the adjacent Nobu Restaurant and Lounge and
24-hour access to the first-ever Nobu in-room dining!
• In spring 2012, Gordon Ramsay Steak opened at Paris Las Vegas, featuring one of Chef Ramsay’s favorite meals in all of Las Vegas:
“The Beef Wellington is one of my favorites—and a British classic!”
• Gordon Ramsay continues bringing his British invasion to Las Vegas with Gordon Ramsay BurGR at Planet Hollywood, where diners
enjoy comfort food taken to a new level.
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*
“Those are chef’s behind the
bar, not drink slingers. They’re
making their own infusions, their
own bitters in house and inventing
new drinks but also going back to
what cocktails used to be.”
in Texas. The same goes for wines: Thirty years ago, if a wine wasn’t from
France, Italy, Spain or perhaps Chile, it
wasn’t wine. California wines slipped
into the picture, of course, with some
wonderful wineries, but over the last
several years the dam has burst and wine
is now being produced in every state in
the country. And those local wines are
having an impact.
“Wine is always
the number one beverage at a catered
event,” Gilbert said.
“But it’s no longer
got to be a French
wine. We’re producing good wines
all over the U.S.
and people are
not only noticing,
they’re not afraid to
ask for them.”
Beyond the locally
produced wines and
spirits, genuine mixology
is in as well.
“Mixology is huge,” Gilbert said. “Not only the flair but the
quality. Having the right ice blocks,
developing custom recipes for each
group, a specialty cocktail—maybe a
passion fruit pomegranate something—that makes each group
special.”
Stewart is increasingly seeing and
hearing about stylized bars with bartenders bringing the craft back to
making drinks.
“Those are chef’s behind the bar,
not drink slingers,” he said. “They’re
making their own infusions,
their own bitters
in house and
inventing
new
drinks but also going
back to what cocktails used to be. And
a well proportioned cocktail can be
something quite remarkable.”
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Kara Nielsen, a trendologist with the
Center for Culinary Development in San
Francisco, says that what clients are asking for and what mixologists—the current name for bartenders—are providing
are things such as pressed vegetable and
fruit juices for maximum nutrition and
flavor.
“There is a big presence of leafy
greens such as kale and
spinach in these blends
that also include beets,
citrus,
ginger
and
fruit,” Nielsen said.
“And they can be had
alone or as part of a
cocktail.”
One of the specific
trends Nielsen has
noticed is a call for
“smoke notes in cocktails from a variety of
sources: smoked ice,
smoked glasses, smoked
ingredients and smoky
spirits such as mescal, whiskey and artisan rye.”
Hopkins agreed with Nielsen.
“For cocktails, fresh juices are definitely in, along with flavor-infused liquors of all kinds,” Hopkins said. “And
then we use a lot of unique liquors on
our bar menus that we also use in events
when they’re requested.”
Which puts mixology in the same
world as what’s coming out of the kitchen: drinks that are regional, seasonal,
sustainable, nutritional and flavorful—
all made with a touch of flair.
It’s a whole new, wonderful world
out there in event food and beverage
land. Bon appétit!
MPI TALKS TRENDS WITH
GORDON RAMSAY
By Michael Pinchera
Q
As one of the most recognized names
in modern dining, how would you like
to see group F&B/dining trends
evolve?
A
It’s important to stay seasonal rather
than fashionable. You can never go
wrong with fresh food cooked simply, using top-quality and seasonal ingredients.
Q
Describe your thoughts on the role of
food and the dining experience as a
device for bringing people together.
A
Everyone loves a great meal. When people are at home, or entertaining, I’m
sure you’ve noticed that people always
congregate around the kitchen. There’s
something about food that brings people
together. In my home, the kids and I
bond over cooking. We go to the market
every weekend and pick up fresh produce. Sunday, when the ladies are out,
my son and I indulge in a “snack attack”
of fries with spicy bean. My mum is the
one who helped me discover my love for
food and cooking, I would watch and help
her. I still cook her recipes.
Q
How does it best aid human-to-human
communication?
A
Food is the great equalizer. You can
bring a group of people together from
all walks of life and generations, and suddenly you are all speaking a common language, having a joined experience…and
people are quite vocal and expressive,
as they should be, about what they are
eating and their dining experiences.
PETER GORMAN is an award-winning
investigative journalist and a regular
contributor to One+.
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u
YOUR
COMMUNICATIONS
u
FUTURE
u
BY JACKIE MULLIGAN
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a powerful communications tool, but experts say its role in the future of business is nebulous, as
is its role in meetings—and how that role will impact the
meetings experience and the development of networks.
According to Chris Sanderson, co-founder of The Future Laboratory, spheres of influence will be increasingly
important. Airlines are making upgrade decisions based
on Klout.com scores, because they want to influence people who will Tweet or blog about it.
“Brands want to talk to you, negotiate with you, give
you product, because you’re the kind of person who is
networked and is going to talk about it and going to let
other people know,” Sanderson said.
• Expect most people to engage in some form of social
media.
• Understand the differences in social media use in
diverse locations.
• Keep updated on social networking research, and join
the conversation.
“Big companies, going forward, will not be traditional providers. Profits will come from information providers,” said Dr. Ian Yeoman, a tourism futurologist. “These
new distribution channels are changing what you would
see as a traditional company, and where profits come
from.”
• Look to customized data providers and distribution
channels to establish new customer bases.
• Find new niche markets.
• Consider older generations and behavioral segments.
DATA CONTROL AND PRIVACY
Data will give individuals new power to manage their
lives, Tictrac CEO Martin Blinder says.
“People will commercialize it, put it up to the highest
bidder,” Blinder said. “Up until now, everyone made
money out of the consumer except the consumer.”
Look at cookie exchanges, for example.
“In the future, users will take advantage of this and
sell their own data to the highest bidder, sell their food
consumption, demographics and general psychographics
ONE-TO-ONE MARKETING
to marketers.”
The future will see the proliferation of “tailored advertisSanderson says the future will focus on control. He
ing,” according to Dr. Michael Birnhack, a professor of
sees a future of data curation and data lockers, where
law at Tel Aviv University, and it
consumers own and know how to use
won’t just be based on what we do,
their data and understand the power
but on the analysis of what we do.
therein. Sanderson calls it the new
This story includes excerpts from
New media will allow companies to
Trader Generation.
“From the Outside In: Meeting
have one-to-one relationships with
“One of the big trends in the TransCommunication,” part of a series
in MPI’s future of meetings
their consumers, and that power is
formation Age is what we call the ‘Perresearch. For more tools, visit
changing business models.
sonal Information Economy.’ We’ll
www.mpiweb.org/fom.
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u
u
Changes in technology bring new methodologies for connecting. It is
these new methodologies that inspire meeting professionals to create new pathways of communication. To gain a business-world perspective of these new conduits, MPI’s Phase II of its Future of Meetings research project focuses on the predictions of 27 experts in
their fields. Here are their thoughts on meeting communication and
ways you can begin preparing for the future.
u
start to recognize and understand that our personal information has worth, and that it has a tradable value.”
• Learn about data mechanisms and how you can assimilate data to support and enhance delegate experiences.
• Be sensitive about privacy. In the future, delegates may
share more, but you can’t count on it.
COMMUNICATING THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS
Evaluating and measuring the meetings experience, flexibility and personalization will be critical, and technology
will be crucial. Dr. Nick Cope, associate dean of research
and enterprise at Leeds Metropolitan University, points
to gaming biometrics, “the gestural tracking of people,
the way they move, capturing the whole body.” Technologies will enable more observational research of how
people operate within venue spaces, and in physical
dimensions.
And technology will support better understanding of
emotional responses, according to Dr. Michael Chorost,
a technology theorist and author.
“I can imagine people giving their iPhones permission
to share certain data subsets with meeting organizers—
their stress levels, their degrees of alertness.”
These technologies, Chorost believes, will enable planners to think more holistically about the emotional and
physiological parameters of their events.
• Consider what live tracking you can do to monitor and
evaluate delegate experiences during events.
• Review tools that might help wire you in to the moods
of attendees and methods you can use to adapt content
accordingly.
• Review data you already have and consider factors
that worked well in creating positive responses (interaction, location, use of graphics).
DECENTRALIZED AND MOBILE
Mobile technologies enable consumers to communicate on
the move and access information from anywhere. That
presence needs to be built on mobile platforms.
In addition to consumer communication for marketing,
mobility is resulting in more collaboration and decentralization. Touched on in terms of security, this will be a
growing challenge, according to Chorost.
While this is convenient, it also means that information
can easily leak from private meetings, as identified by Birnhack, but positive stories and events can widely circulate.
In the future, the capacity of these converged devices will
increase, enhancing the probability that meeting planners
and hospitality providers will need to increase responsiveness and vigilance on social and mobile networks.
• Make your presence felt on mobile platforms for ease of
bookings.
• Monitor impact of mobile phone bookings on lead times
and anticipate change.
• Consider how you can positively use decentralized communications, encouraging more recording and dissemination of what is happening at your events.
JACKIE MULLIGAN is a principal lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University, which is conducting MPI’s Future of Meetings
research.
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SPECIAL SECTION
page 62
Diversity from Coast to Coast
page 63
Total Rewards Meetings &
Events
pages 64-65
Demonstrating Industry Leadership in Sustainability Practices
page 66
Employees Trade the Office for
the Community
page 67
Alternative Venues: A Sure Bet
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CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL SECTION
Gives You More
More options, flexibility and
benefits from coast to coast
C
aesars Entertainment offers
unparalleled diversity from
coast to coast. From the
energy of Las Vegas to the
charm of the South, the
iconic Atlantic City Boardwalk and the majestic mountains of Lake Tahoe,
Caesars Entertainment is sure to have the ideal
venue in the perfect destination.
With just one simple call or email, access
nearly 40 properties in 20 locations, with 1.5 million square feet of meeting space and more than
42,000 guest rooms and suites. Plus, no matter where business is done, when planners work
with Caesars Entertainment they’ll experience
the advantages of the company’s unique organizational structure and enjoy a host of benefits not
available anywhere else.
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CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL SECTION
cetmeetings.com
Diversity from Coast to Coast
Las Vegas
Imagine the possibilities when you
plan your meeting across eight
premier properties in one of the most
exhilarating cities in the world. One
call or email opens the doors to Bally’s
Las Vegas, Caesars Palace, Flamingo,
Harrah’s, Paris, Planet Hollywood
Resort & Casino, Rio All-Suite Hotel
& Casino and The Quad Resort &
Casino. That’s more than one million
square feet of meeting space, over
100 restaurants, cafes and lounges,
24,000-plus guest rooms and suites
and a dynamic array of entertainment
and leisure options.
Atlantic City
From its oceanfront location and
sandy beaches to the historic piers and
exciting nightlife, Atlantic City is the
ideal meeting and event destination.
With four resorts—Bally’s Atlantic City,
Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah’s Resort
and Showboat Atlantic City—Caesars
Entertainment delivers a multitude of
versatile meeting spaces and amenities
designed to create an unforgettable
group experience.
Lake Tahoe
Nothing beats experiencing nature’s
majesty in Lake Tahoe. The frosty winter months provide fun-filled snowy
pursuits, while spring, summer and fall
offer hiking, fishing and water sports.
The breathtaking lake, wondrous
alpine forests and two superior properties—Harrah’s and Harveys—make
Lake Tahoe, Nevada, a truly spectacular meetings destination.
West
Excellent meeting facilities are complemented by pristine blue skies, endless
beaches and picturesque mountains in
the West. With four resorts—located
in Phoenix, Arizona; Laughlin and
Reno, Nevada; and Valley Center,
California—Caesars Entertainment
provides exceptional meeting and
event spaces to meet planner needs
year-round.
Midwest
With eight premier properties from
Iowa to Indiana, Caesars Entertainment
delivers state-of-the-art facilities and
unmatched hospitality and affordability
across the Heartland. Whether you’re
planning a conference or a reunion,
Caesars Entertainment’s Midwest
portfolio offers options for groups of
all sizes. The newest addition—the
Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs,
Iowa—offers nearly 64,000 square
feet of convention space, and is
conveniently located near Harrah’s and
Horseshoe Council Bluffs.
Mid-South
Full of Southern hospitality, local flavor
and abundant attractions, meetings
in the Mid-South provide non-stop
options for business and pleasure.
With properties in Tunica and Biloxi,
Mississippi; New Orleans and Bossier
City, Louisiana; and Cherokee, North
Carolina, the possibilities are endless.
East
Whether you’re planning a national
convention, a family reunion or
something in between, Caesars Entertainment offers three distinct properties—Horseshoe Cincinnati, Chester
Philadelphia and Thistledown—where
you’ll find everything you need for a
successful event. Opening March 4 of
this year, Horseshoe Cincinnati will offer
33,000 square feet of flexible event
facilities and gourmet catering services
in the heart of downtown Cincinnati.
Caesars Entertainment Facts
• Nearly 40 properties in 20 destinations nationwide
• Property brands include
Caesars, Harrah’s, Horseshoe,
Bally’s, Paris, Flamingo and
more
• 1.5 million square feet of meeting and event space
• More than 42,000 guest rooms
and suites
Call 855-633-8238 or visit
cetmeetings.com.
Harrah’s and Harveys Lake Tahoe
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Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City
Total Rewards Meetings & Events
Who doesn’t love rewards? Hold a
meeting or event at any of Caesars
Entertainment’s U.S. properties, and
you’ll earn Rewards Credits that you
can use for yourself or toward future
meetings. It’s all part of Caesars
Entertainment’s Total Rewards Meetings & Events program, another
industry first. The program, launched
in 2011, is the gaming industry’s
first-ever reward and loyalty program
targeted specifically to meeting and
event clients.
Planners can earn Reward Credits
for qualified charges to the master
account with no limit on the number
of credits that can be earned.
Reward Credits are earned at the
rate of one Reward Credit for every
eligible $1 spent. Meeting planners
and sponsors can redeem their
credits for goods and services
including room stays, spa treatments,
dining, merchandise from the Total
Rewards catalog and their future
meetings and events at Caesars
Entertainment properties.
Total Rewards is the gaming industry’s largest nationwide
customer-loyalty program, with more
than 40 million members. Cardholders earn cash, complimentary awards
and other benefits based on their
spending on meetings, guest rooms,
restaurants, shopping, gaming and
other activities at Caesars Entertainment properties across the U.S.
Diamonds are a Planner’s
Best Friend
Caesars Entertainment property
nationwide, planners are automatically granted Total Rewards Meeting
Diamond status, giving them access
to exclusive perks and privileges
reserved for the company’s highest level of customer. Planners can
enjoy VIP check-in, access to private
Diamond Lounges, complimentary
use of fitness facilities and guaranteed priority service at business
centers, restaurants and more. As an
added bonus, planners can designate
key staff members and VIPs to enjoy
Diamond status as well. It’s all part
of Caesars Entertainment’s commitment to giving planners more—more
options, more flexibility, more benefits and more value.
The benefits don’t stop there. By
booking a meeting or event at any
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CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL SECTION
cetmeetings.com
Demonstrating Industry Leadership
in Sustainability Practices
With nearly 40 properties across the
United States, and more than 70,000
employees, environmental sustainability
is essential to the way Caesars Entertainment conducts its business.
The company has had a strategic
focus on environmental sustainability
since 2003, first through its Energy and
Environmental Services Group, and
later with the widely heralded CodeGreen program, which launched in
2008. One only has to tally the impressive number of “firsts” to understand
why Caesars Entertainment has been
regarded as a leader in sustainability.
The company has been recognized
with nearly 50 prestigious honors and
awards for its commitment to the
environment and sustainable practices,
including:
• First among gaming companies to
win a regional EPA Environmental
Quality Award, and the first to be
a member of EPA Climate Leaders
and EPA Waste-Wise
• Founding member of Team Earth,
a select group of the world’s leading corporations seeking to affect
climate change issues
• The first gaming company to
receive multiple gold medals from
Travelife Sustainability Systems,
which identifies travel and tourism companies with excellent
environmental and social practices
• Selected as one of three companies worldwide to receive the
Virgin Holidays Partner in Sustainability Award
• Honored in 2012 with the
coveted Silver IMEX GMIC Green
Supplier Award, which recognizes
environmental excellence and
innovation within the meeting
industry
Through its company-wide CodeGreen program, Caesars Entertainment focuses on critical issues of
energy, waste, water and carbon
emissions at all of its properties, and
seeks to engage employees in efforts
to reduce natural resource use, conserve energy and promote reuse and
recycling. Over the past nine years,
the company has invested nearly $70
million in conservation initiatives, significantly reducing its consumption of
natural resources. Savings highlights
include:
• In excess of 208 million kilowatthours in energy saved each
year—enough to power more
than 19,000 average homes and
support a population greater than
50,000
• Over 3.3 million therms in natural
gas saved each year
• 298 million pounds of carbon
dioxide emissions averted each
year, the equivalent of:
° 29,288 million passenger
cars and 15 million miles not
driven
° 155,532 round trip flights
from Los Angeles to New
York not taken
° 314,680 barrels of oil not
consumed
° 112,760 extra acres of pine
or fir forests storing carbon
for a year
Additionally, in 2011, Caesars Entertainment’s Las Vegas properties:
• Recycled more than 7,763 tons
of paper, glass, plastics and
cardboard
• Recovered more than 8,000 tons
worth of assets (i.e. plates, utensils, linens, etc.)
• Averaged a 31 percent waste
diversion rate amongst all
properties
• Recycled nearly 3,000 tons of
food waste at Paris Las Vegas and
Caesars Palace
In 2011, Caesars Entertainment’s
properties outside of Las Vegas recycled
more than 61,000 pounds of soap and
bottled amenities. Every single Caesars’
property recycled cardboard, waste
vegetable oil, soap and scrap metal
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preserve air quality.
“At our Las Vegas properties—
where 85 percent of our companywide meetings and events business
occurs—we promote alternative modes
of transportation among properties
and along the resort corridor known
as The Strip,” said Jordan D. Clark, vice
president of sales. “This includes walking, complimentary shuttles between
our properties and making use of public
transportation options such as The
Monorail, which has stops at several of
our resorts.”
Environmental Purchasing
to further the environmental efforts in
difficult-to-reach areas.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency and conservation are
intrinsic to Caesars Entertainment’s
commitment to environmental stewardship. Since 2003, Caesars Entertainment has invested in energy retrofits,
training and green-building initiatives.
This includes efforts in meeting and
convention areas at many properties
where the company has implemented
procedures for shut down of lighting,
heating and cooling systems in meeting
rooms when not in use, and installation
of automated shut-down systems at
some facilities.
Air and Water Quality
In 2008, Caesars Entertainment
became the first gaming-entertainment
company to join the Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Leaders program. For the companies that
choose to conduct meetings and events
at Caesars Entertainment’s properties,
the company offers guidance to help
In 2010, Caesars Entertainment set a
target for sustainability in purchasing
with its top 20 suppliers. While Green
Meetings Certified managers encourage
banquet clients to opt for non-disposable items such as glassware/cups, napkins and utensils, planners who decide
that disposables better meet their
needs can take some solace in the fact
that many of these consumables are
produced using post-consumer recycled
material. Additionally—as with all trash
collected at Caesars properties—all
materials are sorted and recycled once
they are disposed of.
Caesars Entertainment
Certifies Entire Meetings Team
C
aesars Entertainment’s unwavering commitment to
environmental responsibility is evident throughout its
culture, and extends to the company’s meetings and
conventions business.
In 2010, Caesars Entertainment worked with an independent third party to initiate the industry’s first green meetings
and events certification program with the goal of helping its
customers conduct more sustainable meetings and conventions at the company’s properties.
“We were finding that more and more customers were
asking our meeting sales and service managers not only about
our sustainability practices, but also how they might be able
to conduct their programs more sustainably,” said Jordan D.
Clark, vice president of sales. “Realizing that there were no
models for training and certification in the industry that would
meet our needs, we partnered with company sustainability
leaders and enlisted the assistance of external environmental
advisers to benchmark best practices and develop a new
custom training program.”
Today, all of the company’s meeting sales and services
managers are required to become green meetings certified by
completing a course on green meeting planning strategies and
tactics, and passing a comprehensive sustainability exam. The
unique training and testing program covers best practices in
four key areas: venue, food and beverage, accommodations
and transportation. The team is also trained on how to communicate the information to planners and provide them with
the tools to implement various options into their programs.
To date, more than 200 meetings managers from across
the company’s nearly 40 U.S. properties have been certified.
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cetmeetings.com
Employees Trade the Office
for the Community
Caesars Entertainment’s commitment
to conduct its operations responsibly
extends beyond preserving a healthy
planet to making sure the communities in which it does business are
vibrant places to live and work.
Through The Caesars Foundation,
the company is able to support a wide
range of charitable organizations and
community groups.
“We play a large role in the communities where we are privileged to
operate,” said Thom Reilly, executive
director of the Caesars Foundation.
“That means we have a responsibility
and unique opportunity to effect positive change. We believe that our business success is inseparable from the
success of our initiatives to strengthen
the economic, social and cultural
fabric of our home towns and cities.
So we invest in those initiatives.”
From January 2010 through June
2011, the company’s HERO volunteers
company-wide contributed more than
173,000 hours to communities and
environments through individual and
company-sponsored volunteer efforts.
Most recently, during the
company’s Caesars Entertainment
Educational Experience in Las Vegas,
more than 300 meeting planners and
Caesars team members participated in
a community service project benefitting Rebuilding Together, a national
non-profit whose members work
to provide safe and healthy homes
for low-income homeowners. The
team of volunteers worked on three
local anchor houses and conducted
property cleanup, exterior and curbside painting, landscaping and more.
Additionally, volunteers assembled
and delivered energy-efficiency kits
to all homes in the neighborhood,
consisting of compact florescent light
bulbs, thermometers, outlet gaskets
and other items that will increase the
energy efficiency in recipients’ homes
on a long-term basis.
The Las Vegas community service
project was one of three rebuild
projects that marked the beginning
of a year-long collaboration between
Rebuilding Together, The Caesars
Foundation and Caesars Entertainment Corporation to make individuals’ homes safe and energy efficient.
The rebuild projects were sponsored
by a combined $150,000 in gifts from
the Caesars Foundation and Caesars
Entertainment's meetings and events
division.
“We play a large role in the communities where we are privileged to operate. That means we have a responsibility and unique
opportunity to effect positive change. We believe that our business success is inseparable from the success of our initiatives to
strengthen the economic, social and cultural fabric of our home
towns and cities. So we invest in those initiatives.”
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Pure Nightclub at Caesars Palace
Alternative Venues:
A Sure Bet
With nearly 40 properties in 20 destinations nationwide, Caesars Entertainment offers unparalleled options and
flexibility. When you mix and match
properties and meeting spaces within a
destination, there’s no need to negotiate with them all separately; it’s all conveniently consolidated and all counts
toward one single food and beverage
minimum on one master bill.
In addition to mixing and matching
properties and function space, planners
can also choose alternative venues for
their events—including restaurants,
lounges and night clubs—and apply a
portion of their spend to their food and
beverage minimum. This lack of restriction is unprecedented and gives event
organizers true freedom of choice to
leverage their spending at an extensive
variety of venues. Imagine the possibilities! Hold your opening reception in
a nightclub, your general session in a
ballroom and dinner in a celebrity-chef
restaurant.
What’s more, qualifying for credit
toward the minimum is easy. Events
must have a minimum of 15 guests,
and a minimum spend of $1,500. Planners simply provide documentation of
the applicable event by credit card or
master account charge/receipt. It’s that
simple!
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>
>
MEET WHERE ?
CONTEST!
The ultimate one-of-a-kind, year-round venue for any event, this four-acre pool and entertainment complex features a 90-foot-high glass dome with a 23,000-square-foot heated
pool, multiple cabanas, indoor and outdoor pool decks and a pool bar.
Correctly name the Caesars Entertainment property that is home to this 172,000-squarefoot indoor tropical oasis and you’ll be entered to win a free stay at the Caesars Entertainment property of your choice.
The winner will receive:
• A three-night stay for two at any of Caesars Entertainment’s nearly 40 U.S. properties
• US$150 dining credit to use at any Caesars Entertainment restaurant
• Two tickets to any Caesars Entertainment-owned show
• Round-trip limousine transportation between the destination airport and hotel
If you know the answer, please email editor@mpiweb.org. Good luck!
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