MPI Toronto Chapter Blog

Unique Venue Ideas

Some of these may be a little too adventurous for your meeting or event, but look what's trending around the world in unique venues.

60 Unique Nightclubs and Bars - From Dancefloors Over Shark Aquariums to Pop-Up Clubs (CLUSTER)

(TREND HUNTER) Now, these are unique nightclubs I'd love to party at! These innovative clubbing hot spots around the world go far beyond the regular dance floor with cute servers behind the bar -- these unique nightclubs… [More]

And in our own back yard (Toronto) O.Noir has recently opened. (http://www.onoir.com/TO/frames.htm) If you've dined in the dark... let us know what you thought.

Nikki

TEC - Vision for the Future!!

Congratulations to our Special Education Project Committee for bringing together the most successful TEC our chapter has ever seen - WELL DONE!!  Leanne Hay, Julie Holmen and the entire team did a great job with the fantastic line up of both educational and inspirational speakers they brought together.

Beginning with wise words on business, to things our members need to know about; working together, safety, human equity, technology & communications to branding ourselves by being creative. In addition to the great work the committee....thank you to Niagara Falls and our entire group of sponsorship partners - thank you!!

Bob Giorgini

How Low Will You Go?

What would you pay for a hotel room without a bed?

The going rate at San Diego's Rancho Bernardo Inn is $19 US. The current Survivor Promotion allows hotel guests to choose what amenities they are willing to pay for.

http://www.ranchobernardoinn.com/specials_packages.php

Survivor Package How Low Will You Go? Name your price with our Survivor Package!

Your Package Includes:

• Deluxe accommodations • Breakfast for two $219 per night* OR... • $199 without breakfast • $179 without honor bar • $159 without A/C or heat • $139 without pillows • $109 without sheets • $89 without lights • $59 without linens • $39 without toiletries • $19 without bed  (To receive updates on other promotions start following the GM on Twitter (http://twitter.com/GMGoneMad). Pay what you want schemes are not new (the most hyped being Radioheads pay-what-you-want album release last summer), but they are popping up more and more. http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2009/02/10/326102/ibis-launches-pay-what-you-want-scheme.html http://www.expatica.com/de/leisure/dining_cuisine/_Pay-what-you-think-it_s-worth_-scheme-pays-off-in-Germany-_11401.html http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/pay-what-you-want_restaurants/ Are any planners out there that have tried a pay what you want for a conference registration fees? If so how did that work for your organization? and what was the feedback from attendees? As for the $19 hotel room without a bed - what do you think?

Canadian Meetings Industry Coalition

Earlier this week, a group of meetings industry professionals met to discuss how we can work together  to elevate the profile of the industry. As industry insiders, we understand the economic value of meetings and events, however those outside of our industry often fail to recognize their importance.

The meeting, to which all industry associations were invited to participate, lay the foundation for future meetings and activities. Doug Bolger, L(earn)2 facilitated the discussion and is encouraging feedback from the industry at large via the MPI Toronto's LinkedIn Group.

If you wish to add to the conversation, join the discussion on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestions=&gid=1888685&forumID=3&sik=1243627403094

Watch for updates on the Coalition and planned activities in the near future.

Nikki

H1N1 Update

From the US Travel Association

1 May 2009 -- WHO is not recommending travel restrictions related to the outbreak of the influenza A(H1N1) virus. Today, international travel moves rapidly, with large numbers of individuals visiting various parts of the world. Limiting travel and imposing travel restrictions would have very little effect on stopping the virus from spreading, but would be highly disruptive to the global community.

Influenza A(H1N1) has already been confirmed in many parts of the world. The focus now is on minimizing the impact of the virus through the rapid identification of cases and providing patients with appropriate medical care, rather than on stopping its spread internationally. Furthermore, although identifying the signs and symptoms of influenza in travellers can be an effective monitoring technique, it is not effective in reducing the spread of influenza as the virus can be transmitted from person to person before the onset of symptoms. Scientific research based on mathematical modelling indicates that restricting travel will be of limited or no benefit in stopping the spread of disease. Historical records of previous influenza pandemics, as well as experience with SARS, have validated this point.

Travellers can protect themselves and others by following simple recommendations related to travel aimed at preventing the spread of infection. Individuals who are ill should delay travel plans and returning travellers who fall ill should seek appropriate medical care. These recommendations are prudent measures which can limit the spread of many communicable diseases and not only influenza A(H1N1).

Swine Flu and the Meetings Industry

Posted by Bruce MacMillan, CA on 4/27/2009 8:33:15 PM www.mpiweb.org

The rapidly developing global news story concerning the swine flu outbreak should be monitored closely by all meeting and event professionals. The situation is very fluid at moment, with new information, facts and misunderstandings emerging almost hourly as information gets gathered and analyzed. We want to help you stay connected to the facts as the evolve.

At this early stage in the outbreak, timely and accurate information is crucial to dealing with the torrent of information that could impact the professional lives and businesses of our members. To that end, today we participated in two conference calls with members of US Travel to structure key messages and primary channels of communication for this stage of the outbreak. Conversations and communications protocol are also being developed in Canada and Europe and I have personally reached out to our partners in Mexico.

It's no surprise that media around the world are capitalizing on this story, fuelling concerns beyond what the current facts suggest may be necessary at this time. Our ability to bring order to chaos as quickly as possible is vital and through industry and community collaboration, our response now can make a difference. The US Travel website will be a primary resource at this stage in the outbreak and the team at US Travel in collaboration with meeting industry organizations will be synthesizing relevant information to share across our industry and beyond. An MPI web resource has been created for our community with resource materials and will shortly have Web 2.0 connection tools for conversations. This has been updated with information from US Travel.

In conjunction with our industry partners around the world, we will continue to provide you and our chapters with timely and relevant information on a regular basis. We ask that you review it and share accordingly in order to ensure everyone has the most accurate information possible.

In the meantime, a key source of up-to-date information for you, your families/friends and your business is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Swine Flu resource.

Reflections on Earth Day

"Every day is Earth Day."
~Author Unknown

"We are called to assist the earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own -- indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty, and wonder"
~Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist, political activist, and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

"The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need but not every man's greed."
~Ghandi

"Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time."
~Motto of the Baltimore Grotto, a caving society

"There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew."
~Marshall McLuhan, 1964

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
~Native American Proverb

"There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet."
~Brooke Medicine Eagle

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtfully committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
~Margaret Mead

LINKS

Earth Day Canada
http://www.earthday.ca

One Million Acts of Green
http://green.cbc.ca

City of Toronto 2009 Community Clean up Day
http://www.toronto.ca/litter/clean-up/signup.htm

NEW! Green Meetings Portal, launched by GMIC today - Earth Day 2009
http://www.sustainablemeetingsportal.com

National Meetings Industry Day - Key Messages

Yesterday, over 350 meeting professionals gathered at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto for National Meetings Industry Day. This year's theme People Power - Harnessing collective knowledge for economic success, allowed panelists and the audience to explore the opportunities and challenges of the current economic climate and the need to ensure that the industry message of the value of meetings is being heard by government, media and the general public.

The key points raised were:

• Metrics are essential. Meeting professionals must demonstrate to their companies and clients the value of meetings to the organization. Demonstrating the value (ROI) that meetings contribute to an organization's business objectives and bottom line is essential.
• Meetings Do Mean Business.  Government, media and the general public need to understand the economic impact of meetings and events. In Canada, we are fortunate that the MPI Canadian Economic Impact Study is available as a resource to us to demonstrate that economic value. We need to do a better job of communicating that message.
• We are in this together. National Meetings Industry Day - Toronto was supported by seven of the major industry associations. This speaks volumes. Now is the time for a collective voice, and collective action.
• Take Charge of the Future. In the US, they have developed policy guidelines for meetings. Leaders from key organizations representing the meetings, events and incentive travel industries united to issue guidelines on acceptable business travel practices to companies that have received emergency government lending. The guidelines, built upon existing corporate best practices, are designed to ensure transparency and accountability and protect the one million American jobs supported by corporate meetings and events.The standards support President Obama's recent call for the boards of directors of companies that have received emergency government lending to develop guidelines on conferences, events and employee recognition programs. (excerpt from https://www.mpiweb.org/cms/mpiweb/MPIcontent.aspx?id=23566)
• We Must Change Perceptions. How do we define this industry and what we do? The language we use to define our businesses and our industry is important. Think about your 30-second elevator conversation - Do you define the meetings and events business and your role in it? Do you explain how important meetings and events are to business performance?

If you attended National Meetings Industry Day we would love to hear your thoughts on the discussion. If you didn't attend and have an opinion, we'd also love to hear from you.

Nikki

MPI Toronto on LinkedIn and FaceBook

Looking for more ways to connect to industry colleagues? We have started an MPI Toronto Group on LinkedIn and FaceBook.

LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1888685)

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=82057840663) 

Tech Notes

I discovered a cool little web application this week that synchronizes your bookmarks between computers (and browsers).  If you're anything like me I have a home and office computer, plus I have two browsers that I flip between on both so my bookmark collection was getting a little out of hand.

Foxmarks (www.foxmarks.com) is a neat little web application that you can use to ensure you have access to all your bookmarks on all your computers. Plus you can sort, and have a back-up of your bookmarks in the event that you experience a browser or computer breakdown.

Nikki