September 2007

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F.Y.I.

What stresses you out?

There are a multitude of things that can cause us stress: our boss, colleagues and so on. But recent research suggests that e-mail causes us the most stress in our working lives, says Dr. Thomas Stuttaford from the UK. Think about it: In the past, a letter could be read at your own leisure and a decision taken to reply to it after consulting with others. But the instantaneous nature of

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email practically necessitates an immediate answer or action.

If not, another e-mail is sure to come. And gone are the days where brown manila envelopes could be left unopened in the in-tray – ever have that latent guilt from too many unopened e-mail messages? Join the club.

Control has changed 180 degrees to the sender from the recipient. And this lack of control is what causes stress .

Slow breathing from the diaphragm is one of the most effective ways of managing stress. Calm and control your breathing by taking several deep, slow breaths. Return to normal breathing, then repeat.

PLANNER PLANIFICATEUR

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THE INTERNATIONAL EDITION

Ed. Note

In this Issue 6 IACC offers good value

The Age of Information and Enlightenment

> The International Association of Conference Centres is dedicated to “the mission of providing the best and most productive learning environment available anywhere.” We explain what the IACC does in more detail.

e are in it and we live it daily – more and more info all the time.

At The Planner we try and give you short, concise information that you can use. In the coming months, we will be publishing a new Toronto Venues Guide to follow the success we have had with the Montreal Venues Guide. These guides are prepared with the basic info you need to take quick decisions. The Internet is great, and we all use it, but we all know the time we can spend hunting for information. The Montreal Venues Guide and now the new Toronto Venues Guide are designed to provide quick, useful and accurate information allowing you to pinpoint venues that meet your needs.

As we continually have new readers, we thought we should do a compilation called The Best of The Planner containing some of the articles planners have told us were their favourites. And that is only the beginning; we have even more new publications coming out in 2008. So for now, let’s just say that these are informed times and we all need reliable information in a quick and easy format to digest. That is what The Planner is about – informing and enlightening you.

Speaking of enlightening, fall is the season to continue our selfimprovement. Top performers aren’t defined by what they do to reach the top, but what they do to stay there. It’s what we call continuous renewal, and in this month’s edition we have tried to give you an overview of programs/courses available to keep you at your best. So have yourself a great fall season. And, as usual, keep your comments coming in.

Leo Gervais

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P UBLISHER

A SSOCIATE E DITORS

G RAPHIC A RTIST S ALES C IRCULATION C ONTRIBUTORS

> Are you a Rambler, a Filler Fanatic or maybe even a PowerPoint Lover? If yes, then you need to read Stacey Hanke’s latest article which explores the different ways we communicate and why that is important.

12 IMPAC becomes CSPEP > The Independent Meeting Planners Association of Canada has changed its name to the Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners. Jyl Ashton Cunningham explains why.

16 Building commitment > Organizations abhor information vacuums.

In the absence of information, people will make up their own explanations. Columnist Jim Clemmer explains how to effectively use education and communication to build lasting commitment in your team.

18 About the Bahamas > Some bosses might frown on holding meetings in places with lots of sun and beaches.

However, the Bahamas offers many amenities and meeting locations that can make a trip to this jewel archipelago a worthy destination.

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10 Communication style

Leo Gervais lgervais@theplanner.ca Nathalie Caron ncaron@theplanner.ca Jyl Ashton Cunningham jashton@theplanner.ca Camille Lay clay@theplanner.ca Matt Riopel James Paulson jpaulson@theplanner.ca Tania Joanis, Patricia Lemus Mike Auctor, Vanessa Baudry, Anne Biarritz, Marjorie Brody, Jim Clemmer, Peter De Jager, Savika Fowsar, Pierre Geoffroy, Stacey Hanke, Barry Siskind, Unni Soelberg-Claridge, Sharon Worsley

26 How are your habits? > We all have them, the question is whether they serve us or we serve them. Sharon Worsley looks at what motivates us, what helps create our habits and ways to improve the way we operate.

28 DMOs are VG

2105 de la Montagne, suite 100 Montreal, Quebec H3G 1Z8 Telephone: (514) 849-6841 ext. 333 Fax: (514) 284-2282 We welcome your comments: info@theplanner.ca

> Destination Management Organizations, also referred to as Convention and Visitors Bureaus, are dedicated to selling their product and are motivated to help planners.

We take a look at the trend towards DMOs.

The Planner is a monthly publication distributed to professional meeting and event planners across Canada.

The Planner uses 100% recycled post-consumer paper.

Poste-publication No. 40934013 4

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PLANNER

September 07

Tourism Calgary gets a new president

BY UNNI SOELBERG-CLARIDGE, CMP, CMM ourism Calgary recently announced its new President & CEO. The choice fell on well-known Alex Graham who earlier this year resigned after 8 years at the helm of the Calgary Zoological Society. Mr. Graham who takes over after Joe Fardell who is moving to the west coast, has promised a new vision for the organization and a new approach to bringing events to Calgary.

Chairman Lorne Sheehan said in the announcement: “This appointment represents a significant point of growth and evolution for Tourism Calgary. Alex brings a strategic business focus that will help us achieve our goal of being one of Canada’s top destination marketing organizations.”

Maybe the new slogan for the city, Calgary – Heart of the New West, now seen on billboards at the entrance points, would also help, but some argue that is doubtful.

What is the “New West”, and who determined Calgary is at the heart of whatever it is? Better, they say, to have kept the old billboards sporting a picture of Hidy & Howdy, the mascots from the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, and identifying Calgary as an Olympic host city.

Now that was something Calgarians could agree on was real and something to be proud of!

Speaking of Calgarians, with nearly 200 new people

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moving to the city every day, it’s hard to determine when you’ve become one. Is it when you start showing up at work in Wranglers and cowboy boots, or when you spill a glass of 1982 Château Lafite on your Armani suit and break the heal of your Dolce & Gabbana shoes in the process? Is it when you step forward and join the ranks of thousands of volunteers who give time and expertise to the charities in our city, or when you cash in on the first oil & gas company you started? Or, is it when you as a young teenager decide to celebrate your birthday by serving food at a homeless shelter rather than having a party and receiving gifts from your friends? Hard to say, but one thing is for sure; Calgary is and will remain a city of contrasts, a city of opportunities, and a city with a big heart – whether that’s in “the New West” or not!

Ed. note: Calgary was named by Col. James Macleod of the North West Mounted Police ("the Mounties") after Calgary Bay on the Isle of Mull on the Scottish west coast. It was a port for poor refugees heading for North America. Calgary means “clear running water” in Gaelic, though Calgary Bay was originally called Cala-ghearridh, which translates in Gaelic to “bay-side pasture.”

Unni Soelberg-Claridge is the president of EventPlan in Calgary.

She can be reached on their website: www.eventplan.net.

IACC provides good value to planners

BY THE PLANNER STAFF ou may have heard of the International Association of Conference Centres (IACC). But what exactly is the benefit to a planner to book their events with a certified IACC Conference centre and how is it different from other meeting centres?

The IACC, which was founded in 1981, is a not-forprofit organization dedicated to promoting understanding and awareness of the conference centre industry.

Active members must meet a set of stringent Universal Criteria and agree to a Code of Ethics.

“All IACC facilities are united by a common thread; a dedication to the mission of providing the best and most productive learning environment available anywhere,” says Tom Bolman, Executive Vice-President, IACC North America.

Meetings are the business focus of the IACC. By contracting a member conference centre, planners confidently place themselves or their clients in an atmosphere filled with natural light, ergonomically friendly furnishings, fine cuisine, professional technological service and an all-inclusive price package.

IACC members are dedicated to providing a total meeting experience.

All IACC facilities worldwide conform to the same set of stringent universal criteria that is verified through a third party auditing company. In fact, members of this association voted for an increase in their membership fees to facilitate this type of audit to ensure the validity of the IACC brand.

“Quality is very much an ongoing pursuit. What constitutes quality constantly changes, and the universal criteria, especially as they relate to facilities and best practices, will continue to be updated and changed to reflect the highest standards,” says Michael Taylor, Chairman IACC Quality Committee.

Regardless of the size, location or setting of an IACC property, you will find a purpose-designed conference centre sequestered from guest rooms and any other distractions, filled with state-of-the-art equipment and staffed with professionals who know the conference industry and make your job easier.

The latest inspection stats reveal that of the 139 properties audited from 2004 – 2006, 100 percent offer

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skilled conference planners on staff, 33 percent with CMP certification, 93 percent offer high-speed Internet access, 91 percent offer wireless access, and 57 percent offer packages that include levels of technology higher than IACC requirements.

Events at an IACC facility are assigned a dedicated conference planner to ensure that all needs are executed exactly as planned. One of the fundamental features of an IACC property is the all-inclusive package which includes meals, continuous coffee breaks, conference space with the latest technology (and in-house tech staff to make sure it works correctly). Packaging definitely assists with budget planning but, more importantly for a planner, your per day price gets you an experienced, in-house planner who can take care of every last detail for you. The idea is to make everything as simple as possible for planners, execute everything as they would like and let them take the accolades.

Part of the criteria for an IACC centre is that 60 percent minimum of the available meeting space be dedicated to the single purpose of conferences. You will not encounter a fashion show or a martial arts demonstration to an audience of 1,000 next door to your corporate conference, we are told. That single-minded dedication of a property to provide the ideal learning environment and follow these guidelines guarantees that these people understand your needs – it’s their focus, it’s all they do. Working with people that understand planners, and who have already anticipated what will work for their group before they’ve even had to ask, simplifies the professional planner’s job.

“To understand IACC centres is to love them,” says Jerry White, IACC Director of Member Services and a member of the MPI St. Louis Area Chapter. “We’ve been looking for a way to help people understand the IACC difference for years, and now we’ve hit on something that will let you understand what we are about in two minutes.”

Now showing on a computer monitor near you: IACC’s two-minute flash movie, “Understand the IACC Difference” which illustrates the essence of what sets IACC conference centres apart in less time than it would take the average person to find the car keys.

On the Web: www.iaccnorthamerica.org

IACC members are dedicated to providing a total meeting experience.

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September 07

Miscommunication can be avoided through planning and effort CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Confirm each appointment up to 24 hours in advance, just like the dentist does, and be amazed at how punctual the client will be. It really is up to the planner to manage the client and while technology such as shared calendars isn’t always feasible, phone calls and emails are.

Always conclude each meeting with a synopsis of what has transpired, followed by a commitment to confirm the same in writing. Follow up within 24 hours by e-mail and ask for a confirmation of everything noted.

If none is forthcoming, at least there is proof that full communication took place.

Find out how each client likes to be contacted. This is not original advice, but I was recently awarded a contract with a successful business owner who absolutely hates e-mail, and cell phones are not his favourite either. I leave weekly updates on his voice mail and we meet once a month. If he needs information in the interim, he telephones. I write everything down and put it in a binder for him that he rarely opens and the level of trust is high on both sides.

Miscommunication with colleagues If miscommunication occurs in the first stages of planning, and several people are engaged in the process, a domino effect will almost inevitably take place as a result.

In many of the large meeting and incentive firms, an event plan moves from the account executive who sells the program to the client; to the product manager who writes the proposal; to the product coordinator who does the budget, to the operations manager who works out the staffing; to the project manager who organizes the logistics and finally to the trip director who operates the program. Of all these people, the project manager is the one most likely to take the heat for any errors before, during or after the program, simply because the culmination of any existing errors will land on his or her desk. If the errors are not spotted immediately and corrected, other issues will ensue and the event will not go well. Hence. the domino effect occurs.

There are many ways such errors transpire: New staff on the team, a cut-and-paste cost estimate that is out of date, an Account Director who expects champagne on beer budgets and too many other human errors to mention. One solution is to have regular meetings from the outset, including everyone on the team and to have everyone assigned to a “buddy” who checks and edits their work. Budgets should always be built from scratch and should be based on actuals rather than 8

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ballpark figures wherever possible. It takes a little longer but can potentially save a fortune in the long run. Above all, be fully accountable for any personal errors – the respect of your colleagues will be higher as a result.

An independent planner does most of the above tasks alone, so in effect there could be greater room for error, due to taking on so much responsibility.

However, it is also true that since the independent is wholly responsible for the outcome of the event, there is bigger incentive to be extremely careful during each of the planning stages as there is really nobody else to blame and a lot at stake. Again, accountability is paramount at all times.

Meeting ownership Taking over an event at the eleventh hour from a colleague who has a last minute emergency can be risky and the only way to avoid potential errors is by an absolutely water tight Timeline (Resumé, Schedule of Events, Logistics, Event Plan, etc). Assuming the colleague is already absent, sit down with a supervisor or the client and go over the timeline in as much detail as possible, making changes as required. Call a meeting with all the key players and make sure everyone understands their role and the importance of covering for the absent colleague. Now is also a good time for the team to air any grievances that may have previously gone unsaid so that everyone moves forward with open minds.

Miscommunication with vendors/ venues Errors with vendors and venues generally occur because either party has not presented sufficient and/or timely information. For example, perhaps a client giveaway arrives on site and is nothing like the planner anticipated, either because a sample was not approved or a substitute was made without consultation. Or the décor is set up and is completely different to the vision that the planner or client had in their heads. Whatever the reason, a miscommunication is at the root of the issue.

Dietmar Ruoff, of Ruoff & Company in Toronto explained that the biggest error he faces on a regular basis is the planner presuming pre-event set up times will be available with the hotel or venue at no extra cost. All too often an attempt to save money is made by gambling on whether a room will be available the night before to allow for a leisurely set up at no extra charge.

Sometimes it pays off, often it doesn’t and any economy is lost by the AV company having to bring in extra staff to complete a detailed set up in half the time. Dietmar recommends the following:

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It is essential to have written contracts with everyone involved •24-hour holds on multi-day events.

• Realistic setup times (preferably NOT at 2 a.m., but the night before).

• Rooms that are large enough to fit the audience plus staging and AV. • Floorplans with dimensions (including ceiling heights) and detailing obstructions like pillars, windows without blackout drapes, low hanging chandeliers.

• Large enough freight elevators and loading docks.

• Realistic strike (tear down) times.

• Venue contact information for things like power, stage, freight elevator.

Ben Kantorovich of Christie Lites has lots of advice for planners, based on his past experience of situations where the following had not been addressed: • Always ask about available electrical power. Where is it located vis-a-vis the actual event?

• Location? Will the services of an electrician be required? Will extra power need to be purchased?

• How does the site layout drive the placement and location possibilities for lighting?

• It is very important to pre-plan and anticipate cable routing.

• Must be very definite and focused on what purpose the lighting fulfills. For example, podium lighting, room treatment and ambiance, banner and signage highlight, secondary locations of activity.

• Live performance requirements – providing for rider specifications.

• A technician is always a good thing to have on hand. He should be given an outline of the event’s activities if he is actively involved.

• Load in and load out details – where to unload and load truck. When are loading areas available.

• When is space available for set up – lighting suppliers want to stay out of the way of caterers, décor people, etc. and prefer to do most of the difficult set up before tables and chairs are placed.

Insurance Insurance is one of the most important topics in the meetings industry these days and a separate article on the topic will be written in a future issue. From the planner perspective, a common error would be to operate without any liability insurance, which is only a little bit short of insanity. For less than $150 per month, general liability insurance is available to $5 million, and extra insurance can be purchased specifically for events where alcohol is served. All planners should request a copy of a supplier’s certificate of insurance and even be named as co-insured September 07

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on third party insurance to reduce the level of liability.

Contracts Contracts have been covered in depth in past issues (see the Archives section at www.theplanner.ca). To recap briefly, however, the only way to avoid contractual errors is to read the fine print carefully and as suggested before, when in doubt, always seek the advice of an expert. It is essential to have written contracts with everyone involved in the event.

Plan B How many planners truly have a Plan B, or contingency plan, for every single event they do?

In September 2001, meetings and incentives were cancelled or re-routed worldwide, as a result of planes being grounded or people simply refusing to fly out of fear, and companies wanting to keep their employees close at hand. Incentive travel was deemed inappropriate for weeks and billions of dollars were lost to the tourism industry as jobs were wiped out and contracts postponed indefinitely. With a tragedy of such magnitude, Plan B would be completely meaningless, but for the most part it is an essential component of any event, especially those held outdoors. As well, traffic delays, accidents, sickness, security issues and fires are all potential and unforeseen circumstances that can impact the proceedings, however the show must go on. Have a Plan B wherever possible.

Throughout all of the above scenarios, a pattern emerges. Meeting planners have the title for a reason.

The job entails crossing every T and dotting every I to the point of obsession, and it is little wonder that most meeting planners are self-admitted control freaks.

However lack of communication is clearly the forerunner where errors are concerned, so it is vital to ensure that everyone on the team is on the same page.

On the Web: www.ruoff.ca www.christielites.com Jyl Ashton Cunningham, CMP is an independent meeting and special event planner in Oakville, Ontario, and associate editor of The Planner. She can be reached at: jashton@theplanner.ca.

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What’s your communication style?

BY STACEY HANKE

very day we make choices about how we communicate, what we’re going to say and who we’re going to communicate with. Have you ever thought about how you make these choices? Do you put serious thought into the results these choices have on you, your listener and the impact of your message?

Most of us fall into one of the following categories when we’re presenting, facilitating a meeting, having a face-to-face conversation or talking over the telephone.

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Rambler • They have difficulty getting to the point.

• Their mind wanders off into right or left field and they wonder how they got there.

• At times they have no idea they’re rambling.

• They focus on themselves and not their listeners.

• They rarely change their message on the spot to meet their listener’s needs.

What’s the impact on listeners?

• They’re confused and can’t follow your message.

• They lose interest and drift away from you and the message.

Filler Fanatic (uh, um, and so, but, etc.)

• Most of the time they’re not aware they’re using non-words.

• They have a fear of silence if they replace their filler words with a pause.

• They fear if they pause their listener will think “they don’t know what they’re saying” and/or their listener will interrupt.

• They speak fast with run-on sentences because their non-words form bridges from one sentence to another.

• Because they’re talking fast, they will focus on themselves rather than their listener.

What’s the impact on listeners?

• They’re distracted by your non-words.

• They count your non-words.

• They miss your message, will not create a relationship with you and therefore will not be influenced to take the action you recommend.

Fast Talker • They hold their breath when they speak.

• When they finally take time to breathe, it sounds like they’re gasping for air.

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• They can communicate double the information of a non-fast talker.

• They begin to sound like they’re having a conversation with themselves.

What’s the impact on listeners?

• They miss your message.

• They stop listening because your rate of speech makes it too difficult to pay attention and listen.

• They fear you’re going to pass out due to a lack of air.

Lifeless • They speak in a monotone voice.

• They’re emotionless with no facial expressions.

• They frequently look away from their listener when they’re communicating. Instead they talk to the floor, the back of the room, their laptop, notes, etc.

• They don’t involve their listeners.

What’s the impact on listeners?

• It’s difficult to hear you speak.

• It’s difficult to understand.

• They perceive you as boring and they’re bored.

• They question your belief and passion for your message, which damages their trust in you.

PowerPoint Lover • They don’t have confidence to deliver a message without their PowerPoint.

• Every key point or idea is communicated following a click on their laptop to the next slide.

• They have become emotionally close to their PowerPoint and continuously talk to it and have a relationship with it.

• They read every slide to their listener.

• Their handouts are identical to their PowerPoint slides.

What’s the impact on listeners?

• They’re annoyed because you’re reading to them.

• They wonder if they should leave you and your PowerPoint slides alone since you’re having such a great relationship.

• They miss the details of your message because they can’t listen to you and read the PowerPoint slide at the same time.

Podium Hugger • They hang onto the podium for dear life and look like they’re ready to take off.

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• They talk to their podium as if nobody is sitting or standing in front of them.

• They get cramps in their hands because they’re hanging on so tight to the podium.

What’s the impact on listeners?

• They lose interest, become disengaged and drift from your message.

• They aren’t as willing to create a relationship with you because the podium is a barrier between you and them.

Laser Pointer Magician • They never put the laser pointer down.

• They try to highlight key points and ideas on their PowerPoint slides while fighting their nervous, shaking hand.

• The laser light jumps everywhere: on the screen and in the listeners eyes.

• They create a laser show because they forgot to shut the laser pointer off and now are blinding everyone.

What’s the impact on listeners?

• They become nauseated by the motion of the laser pointer.

• They’re confused by what they should be looking at.

• They fear they’re going to get shot in the eye with the bright beam of light.

• Because of the shaking laser, they begin guessing what you want them to look at.

No matter which category you fall, into there are a number of risks.

• You will not connect with your listeners, engage them nor keep their attention.

• It will be very difficult to convey your message in a way that influences action.

• You will lose credibility and trust.

• Your message is not heard or the wrong message will be conveyed.

• You waste your time and your listener’s time.

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Not only do we make choices about how we communicate, we also make the choice to change. If you fall into the category of a rambler; this doesn’t mean once a rambler always a rambler. The first element to changing your communication behavior is awareness. You can’t change something unless you know it exists. If you see yourself slipping into one of these categories, what can you do?

Rambler, Filler Fanatic or Fast Talker • Pause and breathe in between your sentences, thoughts, key points and ideas.

• Speak in shorter sentences.

• Take time to interact with your listeners.

• Ask friends, family and co-workers to give you feedback when you fall into one of these categories.

• Begin practicing; less is more!

Lifeless • Believe 100% that your message is important for your listeners to hear.

• Pay attention to what your facial expressions and tone communicate during your day-to-day conversations.

• Place a small mirror at your desk to identify what your facial expressions communicate during various telephone conversations.

• Ask friends, family and co-workers to give you feedback when you speak in a monotone voice or when you have no facial expressions.

do I want my listeners to remember?”

Podium Hugger • If you need a microphone, ask for a lavaliere.

• Practice communicating without your notes.

• Stand off to the side of the podium to begin getting rid of the barrier you’re creating between you and your listeners.

Laser Pointer Magician • Allow your words, rather than a laser pointer, to describe the detail on your slides.

• Avoid creating slides that have too much information on them or that communicate more than one idea.

Save the detail for handouts.

• When you have a detailed graph build one idea at a time on the graph.

Communication is a process that takes practice and persistence. Make a choice today on the steps you’ll take immediately to change your communication behavior and stick with it for one month. It takes at least a month of repetitive behavior to change a habit. You’ll begin to observe your listeners positively responding to you and your message.

••• Stacey Hanke is an executive consultant, author, coach and speaker with 1st Impression Consulting, Inc. in Chicago, Ill. Contact her at: stacey.hanke@1stimpressionconsulting.com or (773) 209-5970.

PowerPoint Lover • Avoid using your PowerPoint slides as your notes.

• Practice delivering your message without PowerPoint. Once you’re confident with your message, then incorporate PowerPoint.

• For every slide ask yourself: “What is the one I take away?”

“Why am I using this slide?” “What THE

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Did you know...

The average person

laughs 10 times a day!

SOURCE: WWW.WORLD-ENGLISH.ORG/FACTS.HTM

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IMPAC gets rebranded as CSPEP

BY JYL ASHTON CUNNINGHAM, CMP

fter several months of legal wrangling, brainstorming and negotiating by the Independent Meeting Planners Association of Canada (IMPAC) Rebranding Steering Committee, the Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners (CSPEP) was officially launched on Sunday, August 19 at Tappo Wine Bar & Restaurant in Toronto’s historic Distillery District.

What prompted the change and why now? Heidi Wilker, President of CSPEP and owner of Blessed Events, explained that while CSPEP is still very much an independent meeting planner’s association, the rebranding will elevate the level of professionalism and recognition that IMPAC has built over the last decade. Sandy Biback, member of the Steering Committee and owner of Imagination + Meeting Planners Inc, commented that the rebranding is the progression of the industry and the meeting consultant’s professional role in moving the industry forward. With IMPAC having recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, Biback said the timing was perfect for making the change. While the acronym is not bilingual, the CSPEP logo as a whole incorporates a French version of the name, as several members live

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(Left to right): Mary Mulligan CMP, Janet Victor, CMP and Gayle Gingrich, CMP celebrate CSPEP’s new beginning.

and work in Quebec. Brigitte Mondor, CMP was a welcome sight as the only Quebec representative, and Johanna Roach represented Ottawa as the Chapter President.

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A new name and a new logo for the newly named CSPEP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

Gone is the familiar green IMPACCanada logo, replaced by the elegant yet vibrant marine blue and bronze CSPEP branding, artfully retaining the sweeping letter C from the relaunch of IMPAC to IMPACCanada in 2006.

More than 70 people attended the rebranding event, a perfect blend of CSPEP planner members and supplier partners all offering their support. Among the suppliers offering their good wishes was Frank Casarella of Stella Entertainment, suppliers of casino equipment and professional staff for corporate and special events (www.stellaentertainmentservices.com). David Jewell of HelmsBriscoe Site Selection also dropped by to offer his support, as did Nicole Desjardins from Novotel Mississauga Centre and her colleague Helen Muir from Novotel Toronto Centre. Manon Dicaire of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide waved a greeting, as did Robert Kawamoto from Tourism Toronto and Jeannette Faria from U.S. Virgin Islands Dept. of Tourism.

Tappo Wine Bar & Restaurant is housed in Building No. 3 in the complex. Apart from the signature stone walls, ubiquitous iron pillars and artifacts that the Distillery District venues are renowned for, the restaurant is a sea of contrasts. Fragile silver chandeliers over a long white marble, dark wood and steel bar, stunning arts and crafts furniture and effective lighting techniques give a truly welcoming ambiance to the space.

The hors d’oeuvres sampled were all excellent, served hot and fresh, by polite and knowledgeable cater waiters. A delicious sparkling wine and pear liqueur cocktail was one of the celebration drinks offered. At 2,200 square feet, the venue has a capacity of up to 150 for a cocktail reception and there is a 2,500 sq. ft. courtyard outside that can be tented or left open to expand the interior space.

On the Web: www.tappo.ca.

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The new logo of CSPEP was unveiled recently.

Liz Akey, CMP, the executive director of EMA Marketing in Oakville, summed the evening up perfectly: “The room was a buzz with excitement as the new CSPEP logo scanned the exterior of Tappo Wine Bar, lighting the way to a new and shining future (courtesy of AV Canada). The vibrations of success moving forward were felt by everyone that evening and the mood was so positive throughout. Congratulations to CSPEP in all their future endeavours!”

EMA Marketing represents an impressive portfolio of luxury boutique resorts/hotels across Canada, Mexico and the Dominican Republic including the Wickaninnish Inn, Oban Inn & OSpa and Sivory Punta Cana.

On the Web: www.emamarketing.ca All IMPAC website content has been moved to the new CSPEP site www.cspep.ca, where information on the upcoming CSPEP Annual Conference in Whistler (November 15 – 18) is soon to be launched. The word is out that WestJet is offering 30 percent off their advertised flight costs for all conference attendees, which is a pretty good deal. At the time of writing, flights were around $500, or $380 with the discount. Watch out for future CSPEP conference information on the SCPEP website and in The Planner.

CSPEP would like to thank Tappo Wine Bar & Restaurant and AV Canada who by their generous sponsorship, made the rebranding evening a huge success.

Jyl Ashton Cunningham, CMP is an independent meeting and special event planner in Oakville, Ontario, and Associate Editor of The Planner, Ontario. Jyl welcomes your comments and can be reached at jashton@theplanner.ca or info@jaacevents.com.

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Education and communication build commitment on any team

BY JIM CLEMMER “The increasing availability of new information and communication technology is one of the key ingredients that makes a high-involvement management approach possible. This capability, more than any other, makes it possible for individuals to become self-managing, to be involved in the business, and to control processes and operations...”

— Edward Lawler III, The Ultimate Advantage: Creating the High-Involvement Organization hortly after Vanessa, our second daughter was born, my wife Heather was talking with six year old Chris, our only son, about how much she liked having a boy in the family. "If you like little boys so much, how come you brought home another girl?" Chris tearfully rebutted.

Chris and his sister Jenn had been hoping for a younger sibling of their own sex. When Vanessa was born, Chris felt like he'd lost. He didn't understand the process. He assumed his Mom and Dad chose the sex of their kids.

The less we know, the more we suspect. Like Chris, people in our organizations will make up their own explanations for events and actions they don't understand. These can be fanned by the winds of rumor and innuendo, into scary scenarios of impending doom. At times of dislocating change, those breezes quickly become blustery gales that create raging infernos if trust levels are low. Organizations abhor information vacuums. In the absence of information, people will make up their own explanations.

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Don’t judge others by their actions Managers routinely underestimate the amount and quality of education and communication required to make changes and improvements. They fall victim to our human tendency to judge others by their actions, but to judge ourselves by our intentions. Since most managers intend to make nothing but beneficial changes and improvements, they often fail to appreciate the explanations others are giving for their actions.

If people don't buy into why changes or improvements are necessary, they will fight and resist them.

Before people will want to improve, they need to agree with why they need to improve. Then they are ready to learn how to improve. That means treating everyone on 16

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our team and in our organization as partners. Strong partnerships are built on keeping each other informed.

Effective partners communicate frequently and clearly.

If we want people on our team or in our organization to behave like business partners, we need to treat them that way. We need to treat them like responsible adults and give them a deep and continuous understanding of what's going on in the business. They can't become selfdisciplined and self-managed without it. With little knowledge and scanty information, people won't — in fact they can't — take responsibility. Since information is power, the only way of empowering or sharing power, is by sharing information.

People need to understand your focus Organizational changes and improvements are very difficult to make happen if the people in the organization who'll make it all work, don't understand what's to be done and why. For example, having a clear Focus and Context (vision, values, and purpose) isn't worth much if people don't understand it. If the organization or team's Focus and Context isn't well communicated, it will be dead, lifeless — and unfulfilled.

Commitment and understanding go hand-in-hand.

Only by understanding (and feeling aligned with) the organization's larger Focus and Context, will people thrive and grow. Powerful leaders constantly clarify team or organization Focus and Context and keep people excited about working within it.

A constantly improving and highly effective team or organization is transparent. The why, who, what, and how of decisions made and actions taken are obvious to everyone. The culture is marked by openness and informality. Information is widely shared. That means lots of education combined with powerful communication systems, processes, and practices. It's one of the keys to organizational learning and innovation.

••• Jim Clemmer is a bestselling author and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop/retreat leader, and management team developer on leadership, change, customer focus, culture, teams, and personal growth. For more than 25 years he has delivered over 2.000 customized keynote presentations, workshops, and retreats. Jim’s five international bestselling books include The VIP Strategy, Firing on All Cylinders, Pathways to Performance, Growing the Distance and The Leader's Digest. His website is: www.clemmer.net.

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Whistler, B.C. is a key Western destination “Whistler offers numerous hotel options, but the ballroom at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler was what sealed the deal for our client – it was big and beautiful. Everyone in the town aims to please. The village is great and well laid out. Plenty of shops and restaurants to suit anyone's tastes. Unfortunately, we missed ski season but there was still plenty to do as the golf options are equally spectacular. All in all, the accommodation, transport, village amenities, skiing and staff attitude were first class.”

– Planner Stacey Robinson Butcher, Toronto Location: Coast Mountains - 50º 9'N, 122º 57' W. 12,630 hectares Village elevation: 675 metres (2, 214feet) Travel time (Driving): • Whistler to Vancouver 127 km (79 miles); 2 hours • Whistler to Vancouver International Airport 140 km (85 miles); 2.5 hours • Whistler to Seattle 354 km (218 miles); 5 hours Transportation: The WAVE (Whistler and Valley Express, est. 1991) bus transit system serves more than 2.8 million riders per year in the Whistler area. Scheduled bus service runs from Vancouver and Vancouver Airport to Whistler approximately seven times daily. Whistler is also served

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by regular air (helicopter/float plane) service in the spring, summer and fall.

Annual visitors: Approximately 2.1 million including non-overnight visitors (approximately 48% winter and 52% summer) Skier visits: Approximately two million skier visits per year Restaurants and bars: 90+ Accommodations: Resort capacity of 115 hotels, condos, bed & breakfasts; more than 5,800 rooms.

WHISTLER BLACKCOMB SKI AREA FACTS Restaurants: 17 or 6,540 seats Combined lift capacity: 61,407 skiers / snowboarders per hour Longest run: Whistler: Burnt Stew to Side Winder – 11 kms (7 miles) Blackcomb: Green Road down Easy Out – 11 kms (7 miles) Number of lifts: 37 Number of runs: 200+ Winter Season: November 22/07 to June/08 What planners are saying: “ On the Web: www.tourismwhistler.com Info courtesy of Tourism Whistler.

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Touring the island of Grand Bahama The hotel can accommodate groups of up to 50 people in total luxury. Sixty-seven beachfront deluxe rooms and six suites are available for prolonged stays. They are spacious and offer elegant furniture as well as Internet access and high-tech video entertainment in comfort and privacy. In between their meetings, guests can reconnect with nature by enjoying their 226 acres whether for teambuilding activities and tennis or for an oceanfront special event. The Old Bahama Bay can cater to groups that are looking for preferential treatment such as a private plane landing strip with pre-arranged on-site custom and immigration clearance or even direct arrival by boat at their marina.

On the Web: www.oldbahamabay.com.

From left to right: Jane from Ontario, Maria and Kristine from the USA and Associate Editor Camille Lay enjoying the sun at the Westin Grand Bahama.

BY CAMILLE LAY his month, we fly over the Atlantic, only about 55 miles East of Miami, to give you a taste of the Bahama Islands. In our quest for hot destinations for your groups, I joined three meeting planners to discover the island of Grand Bahama. With our eagle eye, well-known by suppliers, we visited the principal venues on the island and tasted some of what the Bahamian culture has to offer to groups: from locations, culture, and meeting facilities to accommodations – all features that planners need.

Independent member of the Commonwealth Nations, The Bahamas is an archipelago of more than 700 islands. According to James Malcolm, Executive Director-Group Travel for The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, 14 islands are open for tourism and 11 for meetings and incentives. Located north of this Caribbean micro-cosmos, the Grand Bahama Island is the fourth largest island of The Bahamas and the second largest in population after the island of New Providence where the capital Nassau can be found.

After landing in Grand Bahamas at the Freeport International Airport (whose code is FPO for an airfare search) and passing through customs smoothly, a short van transfer took us to a unique resort: the Old Bahama BayGinn sur Mer secluded in the western end of Grand Bahama.

This Small Luxury Hotel of the World resort is ideal for executive meetings and retreats as well as employees incentives.

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If your group is not in search of such tranquility, they can experience another side of The Bahamian culture 40 minutes away by bus or limo: the Freeport/Lucaya area.

Forbes Charter services Ltd. is an experienced company in group transportation on the island.

On the Web: www.forbescharter.com.

This is the most populated area of the island where planners will find familiar hotel chains. From the Westin Grand Bahama Island Our Lucaya Resort (740 rooms) to its sister resort The Sheraton (478 rooms) just a few steps away, offering planners more flexibility. Groups staying in either one of these Starwood properties can enjoy the largest conference centre on the island (43,956 sq. ft. of meeting space) including a 14,850 sq. ft. grand ballroom.

Planners will also like the diverse restaurants and the great outdoor spaces that are ideal for receptions or gala ceremonies. The Westin, for example, features 50,000 sq. ft. of outdoor functional meeting space facing the ocean where a tent can also be installed. Both properties have recently renovated, replacing carpets and furniture with the conference centre soon to be remodeled.

On the Web: www.westin.com/grandbahama www.sheraton.com/grandbahama.

For a more European flavour, you might want to try the Pelican Bay at Lucaya on the marina. It has 185 charming rooms and offers refined cuisine.

On the Web: www.pelicanbayhotel.com.

During our fam trip, we enjoyed a few of the activities that visitors remember long after their stay in The Bahamas. Right on the Lucaya marina you will find sport fishing, dolphins’ encounter, water sports such as snorkeling and diving and the services are offered to groups, by companies such as:

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An exotic locale

A trip to such an exotic destination wouldn’t be complete without a real culinary experience and it is always delicate to bring a group to an unfamiliar restaurant. A few gourmet venues understood that food is a journey in itself and offer great treats for the palate: don’t be misled by its name as the Giovanni restaurant serves good French cuisine in a formal yet comfortable ambiance. And if its name makes you think of Italian dishes, La Dolce Vita provides excellent service and food in a more modern décor. Both are located in the heart of the Port Lucaya Marketplace where live Junkanoo parades, a Grand Bahamian not-to-be-missed festival, happens weekly during the summer and the Holidays.

Recent efforts undertaken by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism for meeting planners are paying off as groups are getting pampered and served with the typical Bahamian smile. Beside hospitality efforts, The Ministry of Tourism exclusively offers a USD/CAD parity package to Canadian meeting planners and have preferred business relationships with local suppliers to ensure the best possible service. For group enquiries, contact Janet Cuffie, Sr. Group Sales Manager for the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism at (905) 672-9017 or visit their website: www.grouptravel.bahamas.com.

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Photo courtesy of The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism

Pat & Diane Fantasia Tours will take visitors on an unusual sea safari snorkel tour where they will have the opportunity to climb a 20-foot wall on the catamaran or slide right into the ocean from a 30-foot waterslide!

Unexso offers a real nature adventure giving people the chance to closely interact with dolphins and it is a diver’s paradise.

On the Web: www.snorkelingbahamas.com www.unexso.com Visitors can enjoy Bahamian arts and crafts but also duty free shopping while walking through the Straw Market in Lucaya.

Good information to know about The Bahamas: • A valid passport is required for Canadian visitors.

• Time: Eastern Standard Time (EST).

• English is the official language.

• Electricity: 120 Volts, compatible with most of north-american appliances.

• The Bahamian dollar is on par with the US dollar which is accepted in most places. Principal Canadian banks operating in the Bahamas: the Scotia Bank, the CIBC, the RBC and the National Bank of Canada.

might be necessary and it takes about six hours to get your feet into the sand from Eastern Canada.

Coming soon: • A second conference centre in Lucaya near the Pelican Bay hotel.

• In 2012: A large complex in the western end of the island which will include 2 marinas, 2 golf courses and a casino, owned by the Ginn Sur Mer proprietor.

Tidbits about meetings on the island of Grand Bahama: • A total of six hotels offering more than 2,000 rooms.

• A 44,000 sq.ft. conference centre.

• Four 18-hole golf courses • Two casinos • Traffic is rarely a problem and well-maintained roads make your participants’ transportation easy from one venue to the other.

• High-season is between November and April. In case of a hurricane (August through November), if your meeting takes place at one of the Starwood properties, the worldwide group will do its best to accommodate you in one of their hotels.

• A flight connection in the USA THE

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Five success factors for speakers and planners

BY MARJORIE BRODY, CSP, PCC, CPAE

Question: What do professional speakers and meeting planners have in common?

Answer: A shared stake in the success of the event.

Here are five critical attitudes and tactics that speakers and planners must remember to enhance their success factor: 1. Understand the goals of the event, the latest industry trends and any “hot topics.”

This applies to speakers and planners, and means really doing your homework. Ask the stakeholders questions – the person who booked or retained you, the organization or association president, and any other decision makers or industry leaders within the client company, trade group or industry.

Getting a sense of the audience objectives is also critical. In other words, ask the right questions and listen to the responses. It’s all about communication.

speaker introduction they are to deliver -- if something has happened in the news or at the facility that’s timely, incorporate a short apropos anecdote to which all attendees can relate: “Welcome everyone. Just like many of you, today’s speaker got a brisk wake- up call this morning … when she jumped in the shower and screamed as the cold-water-only spray pounded down on her head. Despite the hotel’s sudden hot water shortage, Jane Doe is more than fired up and ready to share her financial success strategies with us today .…”

4. Be professional at all times.

Although planners and speakers may be struggling with some crisis or business/personal turmoil, the “face” that meeting attendees see still must be calm and smiling. Criticism and complaints don’t add value.

Neither does whining.

Professionals are also on time, packaged well from head to toe (wearing appropriate business wardrobe and properly groomed), and use open body language and gestures that welcomes participant interaction and questions.

Planners can benefit from practicing flexibility too...

2. Know your role.

Speakers need to understand what the expectations are of them – where they fit into the program, if they are to incorporate any event-related messages during their presentation, etc. Speakers also should be a help to the planner, NOT a source of aggravation.

Of course, the planner also needs to help the speaker get any necessary information -- or connect him or her with the appropriate person or people who can -- to prepare their speech properly. Again, it’s all about communication.

3. Practice flexibility.

Last minute changes frequently occur – it’s the nature of the business. Equipment breaks. Hotel elevators malfunction. Handouts are misplaced. A variety of unexpected things can happen, which creates stress for all parties.

The more that you can go with the flow and be flexible, the more all involved will benefit. Speakers should be able to cut or expand their speaking time, work without slides or flip charts, and even project their voices if the only microphone on the premises dies. Stay cool under pressure, and the planner will remember you.

Planners can benefit from practicing flexibility, too, perhaps by way of improvisation. One example of this would be not necessarily sticking to the pre-arranged 20

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5. Show respect and gratitude.

This means show respect for the attendees, staff members, facility personnel, and each other.

Gratitude results from the fact that the speaker or planner has been selected to get the job done. After all, there are a lot of planners and plenty of speakers – you are the ones that have been chosen.

When I think of the perfect planner/speaker relationships that I have experienced in my more than 20 years in the speaking business, the one word that always comes to mind is “seamless.”

We all do our jobs well, incorporating the five important factors for success in our daily behavior and mindset.

The client is happy. And, then, we all have a chance to do it again.

Marjorie Brody, CSP, PCC, CPAE, is a sought-after professional speaker, author, and coach to Fortune 1,000 executives. In 2006, she was inducted in the National Speakers Association (NSA) “Council of Peers Award for Excellence (CPAE) Speaker Hall of Fame.” Marjorie is currently a National Board Director of NSA. Her firm, BRODY Professional Development, has had the privilege of serving clients such as Microsoft, Pfizer, New York Life Insurance, Johnson & Johnson, NBC Universal, Aramark, and GlaxoSmithKline. For more information on booking Marjorie as a speaker at your next event, call (800) 726-7936, or visit www.MarjorieBrody.com.

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F.Y.I.

Training investment by employers is lagging: CBC study The Conference Board of Canada’s Learning and Development Outlook 2007 found that Canadian company respondents spent 1.8 percent of their payroll on training, learning and development (TLD) which works out to about $852 per employee on average.

Employers also provided 25 hours of training annually per employee, which is a 10 percent decline compared to the previous survey two years earlier.

Measured in terms of per-employee expenditure and hours of TLD provided, Canada's commitment to TLD is falling behind that of the United States. Source: Conference Board of Canada’s Learning and Development Outlook, 2007.

Vancouver voted the most “livable city” Economist magazine has selected Vancouver, BC as the world’s most “livable city.” It’s the fifth straight time Vancouver has garnered the honour. The Economist Intelligence Unit says Vancouver was chosen number one due to its low crime rate, little threat from instability or terrorism and a highly-developed transport and communications infra-structure.

Vancouver scored a livability index of 1.3 percent, with zero percent indicating exceptional and 100 percent indicating intolerable.

Toronto placed fifth in the annual competition.

Breakfast is an important part of the day It means “breaking the fast.” Some people, particularly children, wait 12 hours before having breakfast. The longer the wait, the more important it is to have a nutritious morning meal. Yet many people skip breakfast,

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with trends showing that breakfast consumption is declining among children, adolescents and adults.

After a long night without food, energy reserves are low and need to be replenished with a healthy breakfast. Without this morning fuel we grow sluggish, have poorer moods and are hungrier throughout the day. A new trend is the “Grab-n-go” breakfast, a quick meal you grab to take with you to be eaten in the car, bus, train or as you walk to work and could include anything from fruit to cereal bars and shakes.

Quiz: How many words can you find in breakfast?

For example after, bake and ear. The answer might surprise you. See the list on page 29 for the answer.

We let our vacations vanish... why?

Do you think you could use 32 million vacation days?

Canadians left an average of two days of unused vacation on the table last year, amounting to the 30-plus million, according to a recent survey.

The Ipsos-Reid poll of 2,222 employees, conducted on behalf of online travel firm Expedia.ca, found that 21 per cent had not used their full entitlements in the past year, down from 33 per cent in 2003.

Those most likely to work through their vacations were young employees, between 18 and 34, who “seem to be sacrificing valuable time off for career growth,” according to the pollsters.

A contributing factor could be that young adults are more likely to trade in vacation time for money than older age groups, Ipsos-Reid and Expedia.ca wrote in releasing the results.

The pollsters found that 18 per cent of those surveyed have cancelled or postponed vacations because of work. The survey also found that 18 per cent check their work messages while on vacation.

Canadians took an average of 18 days of vacation in the past year. This compares with an average of 14 days in the United States and 36 days in France.

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How are your habits serving you?

BY SHARON WORSLEY

consistently hear people ask questions such as “how come I am not successful”, “why am I not seeing results” and “how come he/she is successful when I do the same thing as them?”

One of my coaching clients, let’s call her Julie, was not getting the results she wanted in her part time meeting planning business. Julie worked a full time job and then in the evening came home to start work on her business. She did not know why she was not being successful in this venture.

We took some time to examine what she was doing and how she was doing it. The first thing that came up was that she was surrounded by clutter. Julie used a spare bedroom in which to run her business but it was filled with paper clutter, clothing, and was generally a warehouse for anything the family did not need to use right away.

So Julie was trying to run a professional enterprise from a room that did not lend itself to such activities.

Once I pointed this out to her, Julie was filled with excuses like “I need to store my extra clothing there because my husband takes up all the space in our tiny bedroom closet” and we live in a very small house so we need somewhere to store the things we are not using.”

We can live in excuses or we can make a decision to act upon our highest priorities. Was storing extra

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clothes or unused items more important that running a business that she wanted to be successful at, to the point of being able to give up her full time job?

After taking time to consider what the cost of holding on to the clutter was doing to Julie and her enterprise, she had a conversation with her husband and son and started making plans to rid the room of anything that was not totally related to her business.

Surprisingly her husband was right on board and happily started going through his closet to remove any clothing and accessories that he was not using so as to make room for Julie’s clothes.

Isn’t it interesting how we sometimes make a habit of guessing what other people’s responses are going to be without even discussing it with them? What might be the cost of that to you?

Her whole family became involved in the process and in the end this clutter busting moved to all other areas of her home. This had farther reaching effects that she had ever anticipated.

Now that the clutter was under control we next looked at how Julie was spending time in her business.

What we found was that Julie had a non supporting habit of working full time during the day and then at night when she came home she would sit in front of the television for more than a couple of hours. By the time she started working on her business, probably around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. she had already given away the best of herself and her energy for the day.

No wonder she wasn’t seeing the results she wanted!

It is better to take time to consider your motives before taking any action.

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Habits are the foundation of who we are...

After working a long day Julie felt that she deserved to sit down and watch a few hours of television at night with her family. What she wasn’t clued into was the connection that this habit had a cost to it; as all non supportive habits usually do.

In fact, we took some time to put a dollar amount to each hour she was spending in front of the TV screen.

When she realized how much it was costing her, Julie decided that the price was too high to pay, and so she elected to have some down time with her family each night in front of each other, rather than some television show. She would then step into her decluttered office and start working on her dream of giving up full time work to instead doing what she loves.

What about you, what are some habits that are not supporting you in what you say you want?

Here are some action steps for you to consider: Analyze what types of habits you have.

You may have some habits that you are not really aware of, things you do almost subconsciously. Chances are though you are aware of your habits but have been resistant to tackling them for some reason. What needs to happen for you to finally tackle these habits?

Some experts believe that you don’t actually break a habit but instead replace it with another one.

So if that is true, what might a new habit be to replace the one you want to rid yourself of?

What would be the result of replacing your habits?

Would you be more successful at what you say you want, would you feel more at ease, more in control, or just feel better about yourself?

Take a moment to look forward and imagine that this bad habit is no longer part of your life. Instead you have replaced it with a more powerful habit. What is your life like now?

I believe that the habits we have are a foundation to who we are and what we become. Without evaluating the habits we keep it is like trying to find a penny in a dark room.

We know what we want, but trying to obtain it can be useless unless we turn on the light. The light for you might just be looking at the habits you have and determining whether they are assisting you in moving closer to what you know you want.

••• Sharon Worsley, CEO of Live With Intent, is a personal leadership coach and motivational speaker. Her signature keynote ‘Live By Choice, Not By Chance’ assists individuals and organizations to become clear on how they can ensure the quality of their life or organization. Sharon can be reached at sworsley@sympatico.ca.

Consider how each habit is serving you.

Like Julie, take some time to examine how these habits are serving you. Is there a cost to perpetuating the habit? This might not necessarily mean a financial cost, maybe the cost is health or relationship related.

Are you ready to move past this non supportive habit?

What might be a better habit to practice?

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GET MORE SLEEP. Mountains never take so long to climb when you’re rested.

Anonymous

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DMOs (CVBs) are gaining in popularity

BY JYL ASHTON CUNNINGHAM, CMP estination Marketing Organizations or Destination Management Organizations (DMOs), also referred to as Convention Visitors’ Bureaus (CVBs) are moving in leaps and bounds to improve their product and global outreach to planners and suppliers. Even the fairly recently adopted acronym accurately reflects the drive for business and the upbeat enthusiasm of members worldwide to increase their visibility in the market place. The following will outline some of the major changes taking place, as well as offering insight in how planners may best use the services of a DMO. The 21st century buzzwords in the industry are partnerships and global alliances. With the exception of countries deemed unsafe to travel to, either for health or civil unrest reasons, the world really is wide open to the meeting and incentive business. Consequently it makes perfect sense for neighbouring cities (Dallas–Fort Worth) or even countries (Visit Britain encompasses Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland) to join forces for the best possible marketing opportunities without losing the identity of the individual destination.

Visit Scotland has a marketing campaign which complements and encompasses that of Visit Britain, yet retains the individuality essential to such a unique country.

Tourism budgets are also a huge consideration when forming partnerships, as promotional costs such as trade shows, brochures, websites, etc can all be shared between each participant.

Budgets have to come from somewhere though and some interesting developments have taken place over the last few years within DMOs. Some are opting to offer free membership, using funds from sponsorship, grants and levies imposed on hotels as a percentage of the room rate, to cover operating costs.

However many DMOs do not agree with this practice, arguing that not all members are hotels, and therefore do not collect the equivalent revenues, whilst reaping the benefits. Although free membership is an attractive proposition, most DMOs polled did not feel it would become the norm. Many DMOs in small or developing markets rely heavily on government funding and additional fees can be garnered from members through sales trips, specialized marketing campaigns and the increasingly popular “Speed Dating” drives. Here buyers are put in front of DMO members for three minutes at a

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time, where they have the opportunity to pose specific questions or simply listen to a stock sales pitch.

Tourism Montreal used this technique recently at an Association familiarization trip, with great success.

While it goes without saying that connecting with the buyers is key for DMOs, the same goes for planners seeking a new destination. Trade shows such as those held at MPI PEC and WEC conferences, or IncentiveWorks in Toronto, are important for planners to attend, in order to make preliminary or educated decisions on where to take their next meeting or incentive, at little or no cost to the planner and very reasonable expenses for the DMO. As well, familiarization trips may not always be feasible, especially if a few overseas destinations are being considered, so trade shows are an attractive and efficient alternative for planners to test the market.

A welcome development to DMOs worldwide is their commitment to continuing education.

At Tourism Toronto for example, staff members are all encouraged to attain the CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) designation as it is internationally recognized as the benchmark of industry certification. By “talking the talk,” DMO staff prove they have the level of knowledge that planners have come to expect when site selecting and negotiating on behalf of their clients.

Planners often ask why they should use a DMO. The answer comes back as the question, why would they not? There is absolutely no downside to approaching a DMO as the first step in any destination planning process, or by partnering with one as the program develops. DMOs have more knowledge than any other avenue in terms of available hotel and conference space, as well as free marketing tools to help promote any event. They have access to almost unlimited information on air and ground travel, on peak times to visit, weather patterns and health issues. They can advise on local customs, laws and practices, areas of the destination to avoid and any restrictions on goods entering or leaving the country.

Most DMOs offer a Request for Proposal facility where the planner submits one detailed RFP to the DMO and the responses are returned to the DMO to assess, rather than having the planner receive potentially numerous responses and solicitations. Once on site (and usually for an additional fee), the DMO can provide a manned hospitality desk to offer expert advice to delegates and guests, on the destination. In short, the resources and services DMOs offer to planners provide essential support to any event.

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A DMO needs timely information From a planner perspective, it is important to remember that a DMO is most effective when given timely, accurate and concise information. The more lead time given on major inbound group bookings, the better the chance of receiving favourable rates and extended marketing opportunities. That being said however, should an unforeseen emergency arise and sudden destination changes have to be made to a program, the DMO would undoubtedly be the first place to contact as they have access to any last minute space availability.

In conclusion, working with a DMO should always be considered as a partnership, or at the least, a team effort.

Independent planners especially will find a DMO to be their most valuable resource and ally, both in terms of financial savings and information sharing. Large meeting planning houses will typically forge strategic partnerships with DMOs and may often be members themselves.

Whatever the relationship level, everybody benefits!

It’s easy to find a Destination Marketing Organization on the web. Simply put the word Tourism in front of the destination name in the search field, and it’s almost guaranteed that the site will be on the first page.

Jyl Ashton Cunningham, CMP is an independent meeting and special event planner based in Oakville, Ontario, and Associate Editor of The Planner, Ontario. Jyl welcomes your comments and can be reached at jashton@theplanner.ca or info@jaacevents.com.

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Breakfast answer

The following are the words (or variations of that word) that can be found in breakfast: after, area (areas), ark (arks), art (arts), ate, bake (bakes), bar (bars), bark(barks), baste, baster, bask, basket, bat (bats), beak (beaks), bear (bears), beast, beat (beats), best, bet (bets), brat (brats), break (breaks), ear (ears), east, eat (eats), era (eras), fake (fakes), far, fare (fares), fast, faster, fat (fats), fate (fates), fear (fears), feast, feat (feats), freak (freaks), raft (rafts), rake (rakes), rat (rats), rate (rates), rest (rests), saber (sabre), sake, sea, sat, sear, seat, set, stab, stake, star, stark, steak, streak, tab (tabs), take (takes), tar, (tars), task, teas (teas), teak, tear (tears), trek (treks).

DESTINY IS NOT A MATTER of chance. It is a matter of choice. it is not something to be waited for; but, rather something to be achieved.

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WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN

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Getting “Buy-in” to something “New”

BY PETER DE JAGER f you’re a ‘doer’ of any sort, whether you’re a meeting planner, organizer, manager, secretary or a just one of those people that makes the world go round. then from time to time you’re going to stumble across a method or process that you just know will benefit others if only they’ll adopt it. You’ll then discover, sometimes much to your surprise, that your enthusiasm for your new found solution isn’t shared by those around you.

Welcome to the very common problem of implementing a change.

If you also classify yourself as a problem solver then you’re well aware that we repeat certain problem-solving solutions time and time again. We don’t set out to do this consciously, but nevertheless these solution patterns repeat. A good problem solver understands the need to identify, categorize and generalize these solution patterns and use them consciously. There is a flip side to this: there are also patterns of failure, ‘solutions’ we try time and time again that don’t lead us towards

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our goal. In a sense, that’s why we attempt to categorize the solutions that work, because this knowledge then helps us avoid the ‘solutions’ which don’t work.

Good problem solving practices attempts to steer us towards the successful problem solving techniques by steering us away from the less effective approaches.

Questioning the “Buy-in” strategy The “Buy-in” strategy in traditional Change Management is a perfect example of a commonly used unsuccessful approach to a common management problem. Yes, I’m well aware of the fact that questioning the value of a commonly held belief is heretical, but it is an accurate assessment of the efficacy of “buy-in.”

Typically, when we find a good, new solution we get enthusiastic, sometimes wildly enthusiastic about it. Our immediate strategy is to try and convince others that this solution is the answer to all our problems. We want them to ‘buy into’ the new idea – after all, we know it works. Our approach is to concentrate on the benefits of this solution. Our goal? To get our audience or organization to adopt the new idea.

And then we’re surprised when they respond with, “Why?”

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September 07

What is resistance to change?

It doesn’t matter what new idea we’re trying to implement or in what organizational context we’re operating, we will always encounter this well meaning “Why?” We then incorrectly, in my opinion, label it as ‘resistance to change’. We also mislabel this phenomenon as being ‘negative’ and perhaps even as an ‘obstacle to progress’.

The problem we’ve created is this: We’re attempting to sell a solution, before agree on the problem.

Here’s an experiment, we’ll make it incredibly simple. Walk into the office next to yours and say to the person, “Stand up.” (or “Stand up!” if you want to increase the intensity of the experiment.) What is their response? They will either ask “Why?”, at the very least they’ll think it.

What you just conducted was the simplest of change experiments.

The “Why?” you received isn’t trivial, it needs to be answered in some fashion if you’re to get the subject to stand.

If you want a more robust experiment, one performed by a PhD, one with ‘convincing’ statistics, then consider the test performed by Dr. Robert Cialdini (Described in his book, “Influence: Science and Practice”) This experiment was conducted at a busy photocopier. The researcher stepped to the front of the queue and asked: “Excuse me. I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?” The result was that 60% of the time she was allowed to make her copies.

On the next trial she asked instead: “Excuse me. I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?” This increased her success rate (immediately making copies) to 94%.

To test if “…because I’m in a September 07

rush” was the deciding factor for the change, they changed the opening line to: “Excuse me. I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?”

Her success rate remained close to 94% at 93%. The initial request with no reason given is 60%, adding even the flimsiest of reasons, ‘because’ to the unspoken ‘Why?’ increases that success rate to 93%.

So… if you’re trying to implement a new idea, what is your answer to the reasonable question ‘Why?’ going to be? That this “idea” is better than what we’re currently doing isn’t enough. That’s basically what we’re saying when we’re enthusiastic and merely singing the praises of a new solution.

What people need to hear is a description of the problem that the new idea is supposed to solve. You cannot sell anyone the benefits of anything until they agree that the benefits are necessary.

So? What problems does your new idea solve? What are the failings of your existing process? Can you point to specific failings which everyone agrees need addressing?

Can you measure what it costs in lost opportunity costs? Can you then estimate the opportunities offered by the new idea? If that’s too difficult, or circumspect, is it possible to identify an existing outstanding problem which has defied solution at great cost to the organization?

Can the cost of not solving it justify a different approach? Perhaps trying out your idea in some limited manner? © 2007, Peter de Jager. Peter is a speaker/consultant/writer on Change related issues.

If you’ve enjoyed his writing in The Planner, you can now read his daily blog at his website: http://technobility.wordpress.com.

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Erratum In last month’s article about St-Maarten, the following info was missing: • The website for the teambuilding 12 metre Boat race: www.12metre.com.

• Phone number of St.Maarten Tourist Office: 416-622-4300.

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Canada has become the only country in the world to require 12-year-olds to show proper identification to board an airplane under new security rules that came into effect recently.

Children are not allowed on flights if they don’t have government-issued identification such as a birth certificate, passport or health card.

The changes are the result of Transport Canada’s new “Identity Screening Regulations” requiring all passengers travelling within Canada who “appear” to be 12 years of age or older to present government-issued identification.

It is part of the institution of a no-fly list, which is expected to contain hundreds of names of people who are considered an immediate threat to air safety and who will be banned from getting on a plane.

Transport Canada spokeperson Julia Ukrintz says that the age for producing identification was set at 12 because the Criminal Code has established 12 as the age “above which an individual can have criminal responsibility for their actions.”

Air Canada already requires travellers 16 and older to present valid identification.

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Industry News

And you thought the cab ride to Pearson was expensive...

Toronto’s Pearson International Airport remains the most expensive place in the world to land a plane. It costs US $12,290 for a Boeing 747 jet, for example, to land at Pearson this year, according to the Air Transport Research Society.

This year, Birmingham International Airport in England has the second-highest 747 landing fees at $7,595, still more than 38 per cent less expensive than Pearson.

For an Airbus A320, Pearson charges $2,275 in landing fees, topping the list, while Brussels International Airport places second with a fee of $1,713.

Did you know...

That fish oil lubricates the brain? Omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, already known to reduce heart risk, might also help preserve thinking ability, two observational studies involving 2,250 middle-aged people and 210 older people recently showed.

SOURCE: WWW.CONSUMERREPORTS.ORG

Transatlantic travellers forced to give 48 hours notice Western European business travellers will be forced to give 48 hours’ notice of their plans to visit the US under recent legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush. The bill also requires the screening of all air and sea freight at foreign ports before being allowed into the US.

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Planners need education “The meeting profession is like many others: changes in approaches, customer needs, specifications, and all the things we are required to know and to be able to execute is the norm. Living in a vacuum will no longer work. Continuing education is a great forum to keep current.

Successful Meeting Management is a business. The meeting professional must learn to be proficient in the Business Aspects which includes financials, break even calculations, developing and managing a critical path, and be able to develop an ROI formula that is in keeping with the Goals and Objectives of the customer.

The biggest challenge and frustration facing the Meeting Professional is convincing the user public of the value we bring to the table. The general public really does not seem to appreciate the complexities in the successful creation and execution of a program.”

– Duff Shaw, retired professor at Ryerson University in Mississauga, Ont.

The following are some of the institutions in Canada that offer courses related to meeting planning:

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ONTARIO Algonquin College It offers distance education on event planning and convention management. www.algonquincollege.com Centennial College Its corporate communications and public relations course will also cover event management. www.centennialcollege.ca Conestoga College It offers classes in management.

Interesting for negotiation, strategic business planning, also has various courses on project management and risk management as well as courses on event management. www.conestogac.on.ca Fleming College Classes in business and event management over two semesters.

Its program is designed for college and university graduates. www.flemingc.on.ca George Brown College You should look into Event and

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Meeting Management as well as Exposition Management. www.georgebrown.ca Humber College North Campus Humber offers courses in event planning as well as culinary skills.

On-line courses are also available in hospitality and tourism fields. www.humber.ca Loyalist College Loyalist has some classes on event management. www.loyalistc.on.ca Mohawk College Various programs offered in continuing education for event planning. www.mohawkcollege.ca Niagara College It offers culinary, hospitality and tourism, winery and viticulture studies. Continuing education classes are given in hospitality, food and wine. www.niagaracollege.ca

CONTINUED ON PAGE 37

September 07

MPI roundup eeting Professionals International’s (MPI’s) recent 2007 World Education Congress à la Montréal set a new record with a total registration of 3,665, making it the largest global event in MPI’s 35-year history. The previous record-holding event was MPI’s 2006 World Education Congress in Dallas with 3,595 registrants.

“I’m especially proud of this year’s event, not only for its record-breaking attendance, but for the immediate $10 million economic impact on Montréal,” said Bruce MacMillan, CA, president and CEO of MPI. MPI is planning a host of new “alternative” educational concepts and marketplaces for its 2008 Professional Education Conference-North America, scheduled Feb. 2-5 in the cosmopolitan city of Houston.

Countries represented: 34 (up from 28 last year) including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Puerto Rico, Republic of Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay and United States.

On the Web: www.mpiweb.org.

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The “Do you care?”

Survey Do you care when a hotel carries only one brand of soft drinks, for example: Coke or Pepsi? Or one brand of beer for example: Labatt or Molson?

Yes: 64% No: 36%

Comments from planners: “Restaurants, etc. should cater to accept all types of credit cards.”

Comments from planners: “It becomes more and more the norm to see just one kind of soft drinks. I do not feel offended by it.”

“What if I only have a MasterCard and no cash? I will have to choose another establishment.”

“I believe that any restaurant worth its salt should accept at least two major credit cards AND offer the option to pay by a bank card.”

We have many delegates to our meetings that prefer either Coke or Pepsi, and its frustrating when they offer one brand. Our job is to please our delegates who come to our meetings, but how can we do that when we don’t have the kind they prefer?

“I think it is inappropriate for a hotel to carry exclusively one brand of drink... otherwise, the hotel should be called the Pepsi Hilton or the Coke Hyatt.”

“My personal choice is important to me. I don’t want someone else making that choice for me. Obviously there are always some restrictions, but it shouldn’t be down to one supplier.”

Do you care when a restaurant will accept only one credit card but not another like Visa but not AMEX? Yes: 87% No: 13%

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According to a BusinessWeek article, 36% say they got more done before the era of email. Do you get more or less work done since email?

More: 87% Less: 13% Comments from planners: “I can do the job my boss and other colleagues request by email without having to meet them and having those sometimes too long and often useless conversations.”

“Individual creative projects can be hampered by email, however collaborative efforts, especially when groups are not necessarily all in the same room can only occur with rapid communication, and hence email becomes a critical tool.”

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Total number of respondents: 332

September 07

Canada offers a plethora of courses for planners CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34

Seneca College Easy website to navigate. It offers an interesting selection of classes on event management. www.senecac.on.ca Ryerson University The Ted Rogers School of Management offers a certificate in Event Management. www.ryerson.ca

HEC Montréal It provides French seminars.

They are more focused on the business side than event planning, from negotiation, managing priorities to better communication with your audience. www.hec.ca Institut linguistique global This is a good choice if you want to improve your language skills in French, English or in other languages such as Spanish and German. www.learninglanguage.ca

UQÀM It offers various French programs at all levels from Bachelor’s to an MBA in marketing, event planning, management, sponsorships and so on. Short programs for adults working and unable to attend school due to their work schedule are also available. The programs are online and on Tele-University.

They are also offering a joint program with the ITHQ, it is an integrated program. www.programmes.uqam.ca

QUEBEC Club Toastmasters Learn how to give great presentations, lead teams and conduct meetings and become a better listener. www.toastmasters.org Collège Mérici They offer technical programs in French in Continuing Education such as short programs on marketing, international executive concierge, event and congress planning. www.college-merici.qc.ca Collège LaSalle It is the largest bilingual private college for technical studies across Canada. It is part of an international network of 21 schools with campuses on four continents. You can either take an intensive two-year program, or the regular three-year program. They also offer specialized programs varying from four to 16 months in restaurant and food services. www.collegelasalle.com Concordia University At this English University in Montreal, the John Molson School of Business offers various event management classes including sports and cultural events. www.concordia.ca September 07

Institut de Tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ) Part time program in Event and Convention Planning accredited by MPI since 2002.

The students enrolled in the program obtain a MPI Student Status.

Once they receive their diploma, they are allowed to take the CMP exam. www.ithq.qc.ca Jovaco Free seminars on management solutions by Microsoft, learn about project management and client relations. www.jovaco.com McGill University McGill has popular courses on Project Management and effective Public Speaking and Speech Preparation. www.mcgill.ca/conted-general Vanier College Vanier offers courses ranging from fundraising and AutoCad to event planning and wine appreciation. www.vanier.qc.ca/conted Technologia Formation Various courses available on project management, communications, stress management, negotiation and time and priorities management. www.technologia.com THE

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PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND Holland College Their course is designed to give a practical overview of the industry in relation to its function, skills and knowledge required to plan, organize, promote and evaluate an event on a local, regional, or national level. It is a two-year course with 500 hours of internship. www.hollandcollege.com ALBERTA Bow Valley College For Event management they offer a Certificate for a 1 year course and a Diploma for 2 years. www.bowvalley.ca Mount Royal College They offer continued education or a certificate in Event Planning.

On-line classes are also available. www.conted.mtroyal.ca BRITISH COLUMBIA Thompson Rivers University Programs available in Events and Convention Management as well as Sports Event Management. www.truworld.ca

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Fill each square with a number from 1 to 9 so that every number appears only once in each row, column and cell.

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Solution, page 41.

Solution, page 41.

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D AT E B O O K Upcoming Events

Sept. 25-27 Incentive Travel & Meeting Executives, The Motivation Show, McCormick Place, Chicago. Contact: Hall-Erickson, (800) 752-6312, www.motivationshow.com.

October 8– Thanksgiving

Oct. 27-31 International Congress & Convention Association, Congress & Exhibition, Pattaya, Thailand. Contact: (011) 31-20-3981919, www.iccaworld.com.

Oct. 28-Nov. 1 Meeting Professionals International, 2007 Institutes, The Fairmont Royal York, Toronto, Ontario. Contact: MPI, (905) 286-4807, www.mpiweb.org.

November 11– Remembrance Day

November 11-15 Financial & Insurance Conference Planners, Annual Conference, Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Contact: FICP, (312) 245-1023, www.ficpnet.com.

November 15-17 CPSEP (formerly IMPAC), Annual Conference, Whistler, B.C. Contact: (905) 868-8008, www.cspep.com.

November 27-29 European Incentive & Business Travel Meetings Exhibition, Fira Gran Via, Montjuic 2, Barcelona, Spain. Contact: EIBTM, (011) 44-20-8910-7870, wwweibtm.com.

Have an event? E-mail us at info@theplanner.ca.

September 07

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Websites of

interest

A forum for frequent fliers www.flyertalk.com More than 120 million people in North America own frequent flyer miles from almost 100 frequent-flyer programs available worldwide, totalling almost 10 trillion unredeemed miles in the market. Flyertalk.com serves as a forum where users can discuss and share information about programs, airports, destinations and general travel topics.

You’ve got mail, so go get it www.eprompter.com Sometimes, busy people need more than one Web-based email address, for a variety of reasons. Trouble occurs when you have to retrieve the email from all these different e-dresses.

That’s where ePrompter comes in. This Windows-based program is free (sorry, no Mac version right now) and it will download messages from any of the big providers such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! and AOL, but it also works for any POP-based email account and hundreds of other email websites. A list of compatible providers is provided on the ePrompter website. It also has other features like forwarding and anti-spam filters.

Working up your video resumé www.cubetakes.com If you work in a visual medium, a static paper resumé probably just won’t do. So, go on over to cubetakes.com where you can host videos designed to sell yourself to employers.

Visual artists, journalists, filmmakers and people working in related fields are using it to post brief videos of their work.

Once you’ve created a free account and uploaded your video, you get a URL that you can send to prospective employers and some code that you can insert into your own website to imbed so everyone in the global village can see you. There is also a social networking component to the site that allows you to join groups and rate/comment on other videos.

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Hotel News The Marriott Casa Magna Cancun in Cancun, Mexico is a well known hotel in this famous tourist region.

Photo courtesy of Marriott

MARRIOTT HITS THE (HOT)SPOT Wi-Fi hotels is probably the biggest trend in the industry, and nobody is leading the pack like Marriott. At press time, Marriott has five international brands including Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, TownPlace Suites and Springhill Suites that now offer guests free Wi-Fi hotels in the U.S. and Canada for a total of more than 1,500 hot spots.

Marriott is again responding to guests’ needs by providing free Wi-Fi in lobbies and other public areas, in addition to the free guest room high-speed access they began providing three years ago. Their strategy is a response to the technologically-savvy and on-the-go travellers that frequent their hotels

GLOBAL HOTEL TRANSACTIONS WILL SET RECORD BY END OF YEAR: SURVEY A recent survey estimates that US $110 billion in hotel transactions could be completed by the end of 2007. This represents a 52 percent rise on last year’s recordbreaking figure of US $72.5 billion, proving that investors are bullish on the sector’s future.

The 14th edition of the Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’ Investor Sentiment Survey (HISS) highlights investors’ ongoing enthusiasm for the hotel sector. It also shows that globally buyers outnumber sellers by almost a 4:1 margin and that 23 percent of respondents are now expecting to build hotel assets to satisfy investors’ needs for new investment stock.

of record profits in 2007, according to the Conference Board’s Canadian Industrial Outlook: Canada’s Accommodation Industry – Summer 2007.

The two main factors affecting American business: the surge in the Canadian dollar and the Western hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). The Vancouver Olympics in 2010 are expected to boost the industry performance.

$1M GOLD BATHTUB IS STOLEN FROM A JAPANESE HOTEL THE Kominato Hotel Mikazuki in Kamogawa, south of Tokyo, recently had a golden bathtub stolen from a tenth floor suite. The round tub, worth US $987,000, is made of 18-karat gold and weighs 176 pounds. The tub, flanked by two crane statues, was only available a few hours a day “for security reasons,” the hotel’s website said.

LEADING HOTELS OF THE WORLD LAUNCHES LEADING SPAS Leading Hotels of the World, the prestigious luxury hospitality organization, has launched a new leading spas website. The new site offers detailed information and rich imagery of all 94 Leading Spas. The site also has sections providing recent spa news from various member spas; what’s hot now – with updates on trends and products, information on exclusive offers and an ask-the-expert segment where readers can pose questions to a director of one of the leading spas.

Since 1928, the company has earned a reputation for excellence that derives from the exacting levels of quality it demands from its members, each of which is subjected to a rigorous, anonymous inspection covering 1,500 separate criteria. It has offices in 124 major markets around the globe.

On the Web: www.lhwspas.com www.lhw.com

CANADIAN HOTELIERS SEE RECORD PROFITS, BUT AMERICANS ARE VISITING LESS An ongoing decline in American visitor’ spending may be limiting the profit outlook among some Canadian hoteliers, but strong travel spending by Canadians and healthy price increases will enable Canadian hoteliers to post their second consecutive year 40

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I STAYED IN A REALLY OLD HOTEL LAST NIGHT.

THEY

SENT ME A WAKE-UP LETTER.

STEPHEN WRIGHT

September 07

Hotel News

WHEN YOUR ROOM GOES DOWN THE DRAIN... LITERALLY By now you’ve heard of

HAVE ROOM, WILL TRAVEL Travelodge has announced its Travelpod would soon be available at events such as music festivals and sporting competitions. Designed to be set up anywhere you might put up a tent, it’s good news for people who book into B&Bs or worry about camping holidays.

The pod is sealed in a polycarbonate glass box, but includes features offered in conventional hotel rooms such as TV and air conditioning. It measures roughly 18 by 7.2 feet and includes a double bed, bedside lights, carpeted floors and a dressing table – plus blinds.

And who might book a Travelpod? According to the company, one woman wanted 20 of them for the guests at her garden wedding to sleep in and one man wanted one delivered to a beautiful spot in the Lake District so he could propose to his girlfriend in it.

On the Web: www.travelodge.com

EMBASSY SUITES OPENS IN MONTREAL Embassy Suites recently announced the opening of its first hotel in Montreal, Quebec – the Embassy Suites by Hilton Montreal. It is the upscale brand’s second in Canada and is located in Old Montreal, directly across from the renowned Palais des Congrès de Montreal, Montreal’s Convention Centre. The hotel is owned by Vancouver-based Aquilini Group Properties LP and will be managed by Pacrim Hospitality Services Inc. The 210-suite hotel exhibits the brand’s international growth plans and continued integration into the Canadian market. The hotel will also carry the ‘by Hilton’ moniker in its name and exterior signage.

On the Web: www.embassysuitesmontreal.com

designer tents and travelpods. But there’s a new trend in alternative hotel accommodation that is a combination of the two – a compact, minimally decorated space set in the great outdoors.

In a park next to the Danube River in Ottensheim, Austria, an art school graduate has created “sleep pipes” large enough for a double bed, a storage shelf and a lamp in addition to having a window, electricity and being near public toilets, showers and a café. They are open from May through October and the “sleep pipes” can be reserved on their website.

On the Web: www.dasparkhotel.net

FAIRMONT FOCUSES ON FRESH FARM FOOD Fairmont is the first hotel company to formally commit to using, wherever possible, sustainable, locally sourced and organically grown products as part of its everyday food service operations. Fairmont’s Green Partnership, the company’s award-winning environmental program, encourages guests to think green when travelling and offering healthy menu choices that highlight organic wines and on-site herb gardens is a natural extension.

On the Web: www.fairmont.com/environment ANSWER EASY SUDOKU FROM PAGE 38

ANSWER MEDIUM SUDOKU FROM PAGE 38

357 guestrooms and suites 18 meeting and function rooms that can accommodate up to 350 people Connected to the Montreal Convention Centre

Inquire about Meeting Options™ reward program... extras that you deserve.

360 St-Antoine Street West Montreal, Quebec H2Y 3X4 514-987-9900 www.montreal.intercontinental.com September 07

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Avian and pandemic influenza: What the traveler should know, Pt. 1

BY PIERRE GEOFFROY, M.D., C.M., M.SC., F.C.F.P.

he possibility of an influenza pandemic is always present. Since the beginning of the twentieth century there have been three pandemics. In 1918, the Spanish flu killed over 40 million people as it spread quickly from continent to continent. In 1957, the Asian flu killed nearly four million people while the Hong Kong influenza pandemic of 1967 was responsible for the death of approximately 750 000 people.

Since an initial outbreak of influenza in Hong Kong in 1997 the spectre of another pandemic has been looming. Media coverage, particularly of the goings-on in Asia with avian influenza in the post-SARS era, led one to believe that another pandemic was imminent. This, of course, has not happened. It may or may not and experts in the field are divided. Organizations such as the WHO and CDC are on high alert as they follow events in Asia very closely. In addition, governments worldwide are taking measures with pre-pandemic planning. It is most likely that your organization, big or small, may have plans in case of a pandemic.

But what about you, the traveler, what are your plans? If a pandemic occurs while you are on the road, what will you do? I hope to provide a few facts and figures about influenza and the pandemic influenza flu (avian flu) in this article. In addition, I’d like to point out several things which you can do to prepare and protect yourself as you travel to different parts of the world.

The influenza virus has an amazing feature. It can change its genetic makeup. Unlike mammalian cells, the virus’s genetic machinery is unable to correct errors in its genes when mutations occur. Change in a virus’s genetic material can occur slowly through antigenic drift or very rapidly through antigenic shift. Antigenic drift results in the changes that render the virus repeatedly infectious from each year i.e., seasonal flu. That is, these small genetic changes are such that our immune system can only protect us partially when we are infected with the newer virus. This explains why the make up of the influenza vaccine is modified almost every year based on the recommendations of scientists, epidemiologists, and physicians at the World Health Organization (WHO) and at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The vaccine is designed to prepare our immune system to fight the upcoming virus. This is an imperfect science as each year the recommendations are made based on only the best available data in the current year.

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So, well before the end of winter in the northern hemisphere, a decision is made about what will be in the vaccine the following autumn. The time between decision and vaccination is the amount of time vaccine manufactures need to prepare the new vaccine.

Unfortunately, in the meantime, the virus can change again. In such cases, there can be a mismatch between the virus types in the vaccine and what is out there circulating and infecting us. In recent years, there has been very good matching and, as a result, very low rates of infection in those vaccinated.

Many believe that getting vaccinated will cause them “to get the flu.” This is a misconception. The vaccine contains three viruses. In the case of the more common influenza vaccine, the viruses get chemically broken so that they no longer live. They cannot infect. They can only serve to activate our immune systems. Occasionally, this may cause a mild fever. Another type of vaccine – given intranasally – is live but attenuated. In this case, the viruses in the vaccine are genetically altered such that they cannot infect the person receiving it.

In the case of antigenic shift, the genetic makeup of the influenza virus undergoes a much more important change. In certain instances, the virus changes enough that when it infects, the immune system of the infected animal, bird, or human cannot recognize and fight it.

This results in a much more significant illness and, as we are witnessing in some parts of the world where the avian flu is active, can cause death. A key feature of any infection with a virus, or any other infectious organism, is its ability to infect. So it is that with the current avian flu, while it is very good at infecting birds, both wild and domestic, it has a harder time infecting humans and, for the most part, transmission from one human to another is very rare. That is, the avian flu is poorly contagious from human to human. Compare that to the seasonal flu where spread from one human to another is so efficient.

In any influenza season, millions of people get infected.

To date, there are 322 reported cases of humans with avian –type influenza. Unfortunately, less than half have survived. Thus, until the avian flu virus undergoes a major genetic change that makes it transmittable from human to human, a pandemic will not occur. The probability that this will happen is high but when it will occur is unpredictable. Hence, we must prepare now.

Pierre Geoffroy is a family physician practicing near Toronto.

In addition to his clinical activities, he is involved in medicines research and development. You can contact him at: nutritionMD@canada.com.

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