Posted by April Torrisi under WeblogsResponses (0)

One of the most raved-about ghoulish events in New York City is the Blood Manor, open to frighten adults only during October and with the last viewing tonite, on Halloween. For those planners needing an extra edge (a.k.a. a scare) for next year’s themed Halloween party, take a look at the Blood Manor. Located in Chelsea, the R-rated Haunted House can accommodate group outings and would be a great pre- or post-event attraction for a client. It’s the only 3-D maze in Manhattan, with 12 devilishly decorated rooms along with vampires, zombies, and skeletons to freak people out. Attendees also experience startling sound effects and embalming-fluid-type stenches, along with blood-curdling set pieces. It is not for the faint of heart, says the venue's Web site.

I found out about this attraction too late; tickets sell out in advance. But it will definitely be on my list to visit for next Halloween. Scaring others – what a hoot!

Posted by Rob Carey Responses (0)

I just returned from a 48-hour jaunt to Memphis, TN, where I stayed at the center of the city's social scene, the elegant Peabody Hotel. A recent renovation of all 464 guest rooms and much of the 80,000 sf of meeting space and public areas has restored to this renowned property all the splendor of a bygone era. Put it this way: Hotel companies simply could not afford to make hotels like this anymore. Anyway...

....I had always heard tales about the muscial splendor that can be found up and down famous Beale Street, two blocks from the hotel. And after spending both Friday and Saturday nights there, I can attest that its reputation is spot-on.

Till the wee hours each night, I wandered from one music club to another, taking in the one-man acoustical acts, the four-person blues outfits, and the full-on eight-person funk troupes that vie for music-lovers' attention each night. The energy that radiates from that stretch of bars, restaurants, and shops is such that you say to yourself, "Why don't I do this stuff more often?"

I did manage to wake up early enough one day to take the tour of Elvis' Graceland estate, as well as tours of Sun Studios, where Elvis first recorded (it was also the jumping-off point for Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and other seminal "cats") and of Stax Studios, the home of soul music (Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, et al) from the late 1950s to the mid 1970s. Thanks to Kevin Brewer of local DMC Destination King for enthusiastically rousting me from my slumber and escorting me from the Peabody to these wonderful places.

I don't think many people realize just how central Memphis was to the evolution of 20th-century popular culture in America. I know that I, for one, did not.

In fact, Memphis was central to 20th-century American history as well. Martin Luther King was killed at the Lorraine Hotel just a few blocks from Beale Street in April 1968, singlehandledly changing for decades the state of race relations for the worse nationwide. The Civil Rights Museum now located at the hotel is a somber and necessary stop for anyone looking to understand the tension of those times, and how they still affect today's society.

One display I saw in the Stax studios & museum had a quote from a local, who said, "Memphis has torn down more history than most other cities have even had." Of this I have no doubt--and that more Americans should know more about that history. I hope that Memphis officials focus on touting its unique historical legacy to meeting groups in the future.

Posted by David McCann Responses (0)

So, Delta has written the final verse of Song, before I ever even had a chance to fly the discount subsidiary.

Funny thing is, some of us actually wondered if it might happen the other way around: Song surviving, and the moribund parent going the way of Eastern, Pan Am, TWA, Midway…. Song, after all, was modeled in the image of other low-fare carriers (such as patriach Southwest and youthful superstar JetBlue) –- you know, the ones that make money.

I hope Delta succeeds with its plan, which is to incorporate many of the innovative aspects of Song into the mainstream airline. It’ll be great if it turns out that Song was some kind of grand laboratory that produced useful inventions. But lately it looked like Song was starting to give JetBlue a real run for its money on the East Coast routes the two shared. If it turns out that Delta pulled the plug too early, it will make it even tougher for the carrier to recover.

Posted by Sara Welch under TravelResponses (0)

Last night, I attended an event promoting Kenya. Besides the Minister of Tourism and the ambassador to the U.N., I met an ordinary woman with an extraordinary story: Elizabeth Bean, president of The Archer Group, a sales & marketing firm promoting Kenyan ecoadventure lodges and camps.

I asked Elizabeth, who's originally from Toronto, how she ended up in Kenya. "I visited on a 40th-birthday trip and I loved it so much I quit my job working for Hilton and started my own company," she said. "I'd traveled all over the world, so I knew that this was the place."

What was so captivating about Kenya? I asked. The stunning and varied terrain, the wildlife, and ultimately the people, she told me. "Because of the British heritage you have a certain orderliness that's comforting to North Americans," she added. "But mostly it's the people--they immediately accept you as one of their own. After six trips there, I'm considered a Kenyan. In fact, I even bought land there!"

So, planners, the next time you take that trip to Florida, Hawaii, the south of France, or [insert dream destination name here], watch out! It could change your life.

Posted by Marshall Krantz Responses (0)

Groups are frequently exceeding their hotel room blocks in first-tier cities, causing attendees often to pay higher, transient rates at the group hotel or find cheaper alternatives down the street, out by the airport, or even in another city.

Groups holding meetings at Hilton Hotels have exceeded their blocks by an average of 10 percent since last year, Hilton senior VP Steven Armitage told me for a story in the Nov. 7 issue of MeetingNews.

The dynamic of a few years ago has been largely reversed. Before, group rates were higher than transient rates because planners (mainly of association conventions) had contracted for rooms during the good economic times of the late 1990s, when rates and occupancies were higher.

When rates and occupancies plunged after 9/11, planners were stuck with relatively high group rates, and attendees abandoned the blocks for plentiful, less expensive rooms. Thus, the dreaded hotel attrition fees that obsessed the industry then.

Gun shy, as it were, planners then booked their blocks conservatively. They also negotiated the cheaper rates of a few years ago.

Now, meeting attendance and room rates are up. The result in many cases: Too few group rooms at rates less than the present transient rates.

While planners certainly don't want to make it more difficult or expensive for people to attend their meetings, this embarrassment of riches can work to their advantage.

In their promotional material, planners can let prospective registrants know that there are only so many inexpensive rooms available, and first come, first served. That should motivate attendees to register for events and book rooms sooner than later.

Planners are also in a position to require a financial commitment from attendees who want the cheaper, group rooms, say in the form of a $25 or even $50 cancellation fee. That should cut down on attendees who like to reserve rooms at a few different hotels, and then choose their domicile just before the meeting, potentially canceling their room in the block.

A few years ago, planners couldn't take such a tough stance. If you were an attendee, why book into the block and risk a cancellation fee when you could get a cheaper room directly through the hotel and also cancel fee-free right up to the day before arrival?

Posted by Rayna Katz Responses (1)

MeetingNews’ latest survey results show that a majority of planners rely mostly on site-selection to determine, pre-meeting, a hotel’s service capabilities (watch for coverage of this research in the Oct. 24 issue).

Similarly, a recent chain of events reminded me that, if a group has a meeting planned in one of the ever-growing list of hurricane-striken destinations — or any trouble spot — and is deciding whether to go forward, it is incumbent on the meeting planner to go assess the damage first-hand.

Yesterday, I heard a leader in South Florida’s tourism industry say everything possible to minimize the reports of the damage wrought by Hurricane Wilma. Much was said about any damaged infrastructure but the tone made these problems appear momentary and insignificant.

That may be fine if your meeting in the Sunshine state isn’t until next year. But what about those happening sooner? And what might any stranded meeting attendees be going through?

Unfortunately, with much of my family residing in the area, I know the answer to that question. Here’s a picture of what their life has been this week.

Neither my father and his wife, in Hollywood, Fla., nor my brother’s familly, in Miami, has power or any idea when they’ll regain it. My brother spent much of the day yesterday trying to find ice. (My sister-in-law was, until this morning, nine months pregnant…without air-conditioning. Thankfully, it’s been cool in recent days, and a healthy Emmanuella, aka Emma, Katz was delivered this morning.)

Meals can only be made on a grill and food is in short supply with no refrigeration and many stores being, literally, unable to open because of their magnetized doors.

Surely hotel kitchens, even if there are generators, are stretched.

Meanwhile, over in Hollywood, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale, my father’s bedroom sustained significant water damage, and a tree fell right where his car usually sits. He fortunately moved it before Wilma came to town.

So the next time a tourism official says a hurricane-stricken, or otherwise troubled, destination where you’re scheduled to meet soon will be just fine, don’t take their word for it.

Book a flight, rent a car, hoof it even. Just make sure you see the place with your own eyes.

Posted by Kinley Levack Responses (0)

Rest easy, ladies and gentlemen, Chicago has moved one step closer to becoming a foie-gras-free city.

That’s right; the City Council is moving ahead with a measure banning the sale of fois gras in city restaurants. Based in part on the testimony of actress/animal-rights activist Loretta Swit (who compared the treatment of ducks and geese to the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib) as well as from veterinarians and selected others, the Council will vote on the ban next week.

The mayor of Chicago is reportedly opposed to the ban, saying it allowed for too much government involvement in what should be a personal choice. Similar bans do exist, however, in California as well as numerous foreign counties.

My concern is—where does it end? A variety of ingredients could conceivably be considered to be obtained in abusive manners: lamb, veal, Kobe beef, even eggs or milk. Is it possible that these items could come under such scrutiny that they too may be banned from restaurants? What about grocery stores?

I’m not trying to be flip, but I am concerned about the doors this could open. If a city as large and diverse as Chicago is willing to take this step, there’s no telling what or where is next.

Beware, your groups may soon be visiting Chicago: The City of Vegans!

Okay, that was flip.

See the Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune for more information

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Posted by Terri Hardin under HospitalityResponses (0)

Just as it’s doing elsewhere in the U.S., hotel/condo fever is raging in Providence, RI. Adjacent to the Providence Convention Center, the 374-room Westin is raising a second tower--28 stories of mixed-use space that will add 200 more guest rooms and include 107 luxury residential condos. While the project is expected to debut in 2006, a soggy autumn has kept workers at the bilge pumps instead of building. Even so, at blogtime, the property had already sold 33 condo units.

This is the latest condo development to be connected to a convention center; others include developments in Austin and Fort Worth. But more importantly, it’s a vote of confidence in Providence’s ongoing rebirth (I’m sorry, did I forget to mention that a 700-square-foot condo goes for about $400,000?).

Nearby, there’s more new hotel inventory, as a 274-room Renaissance is coming online. It’s actually a conversion of an uncompleted Masonic Temple that’s been lying fallow since the Depression. When it debuts in 2006, it will feature 10,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space, a restaurant, and a lounge.

But while you may think it’s just another downtown Cinderella story, let me tell you: This one is more exciting than most. If you don’t believe me, check out "Prince of Providence" by Mike Stanton. Besides this soon-to-be-a-movie book, also check out "Providence, the Renaissance City" by Francis Leazes Jr. and Mark T. Motte for the rest of the story.

Posted by Christopher Hosford Responses (1)

Actually, I was so intrigued by Suzie Amer's post, "The Mystery Gift," just below this one, that I hardly could concentrate on my own. If you haven't read it yet, go there first, then come back to this one.

Anyway. With such modern issues as workplace sexual harassment and rampant political correctness, how can a planner ensure that the hired talent for an event will be amusing without, uh, becoming offensive to somebody? Anybody! You know, you want somebody “safe,” maybe a gentle Bob Newhart-type, not a Chris Rock or George (“Seven Dirty Words”) Carlin. Enter CleanComedians.com, representing acts that presumably produce laughs without offense.

According to CleanComedians.com President Corey Ford, he’s gotten lots of customers after they hired a comedian who started benign, then went blue. And the company is so confident their funny men and women will entertain without embarrassing, that it’s offering a money-back guarantee.

Interestingly, CleanComedians co-exists in a world that currently offers a new movie, "The Aristocrats," an entire two-plus hours devoted to numerous comedians telling a single dirty joke (supposedly, “the dirtiest joke in the world”). There’s something wonderful about the juxtaposition, in a single dimension of the universe, of these two concepts, “clean” versus “dirty” jokes. It is said that Chevy Chase prided himself on telling The Aristocrats joke for as long as possible, purportedly 30 minutes of grossness.

Me, I prize conciseness. Give me Rodney Dangerfield-type comics, those with the biggest laughs-per-words ratio. For example:

A skeleton walks into a bar and says, “Give me a beer and a mop.”

I find this hilarious, but that’s just me.

Posted by Suzie Amer Responses (6)

Our company had an onsite event today for employees. Each of us was given a bag that contained various promotional items. A sample pen, some sample office supplies, a rear view mirror for our computer monitors.

And then, this:

What is it? 

I have never seen one before.

And, wait....it opens:

But I still don't know what it is.

Nor does anyone I've asked here in the office. We've had some interesting theories, of course, but none that rings true.

Please respond with any information concerning the purpose of this object (or with theories of your own).