Meetings Industry (MICE) Blog by Christian W. Frei

Enter the future with the 3120 room

2011-12-16T10:55:00.001+01:00

Novotel and Microsoft invent the room of the future.

Experience something completely new at Novotel Paris Vaugirard. Technological innovations and new experiences are all packed into this unique room that won't last, where you can relax and rest, and be surprised too.

Click here to experience the future through photos and videos, and the chance to take part in the contest to win a weekend stay in room 3120 and lots of other exciting prizes!

UNWTO Volunteers promote tourism’s contribution to development

2011-12-07T14:50:00.001+01:00

On International Volunteer Day (5 December), celebrated in 2011 under the theme ‘Volunteering Matters’, UNWTO is highlighting how tourism and volunteer work can make a difference through its UNWTO Volunteers.

UNWTO Volunteers work on tourism projects around the world, contributing to development through tourism. On International Volunteer Day, UNWTO Volunteers have been sharing their experiences and showing how their support to tourism projects in the world’s developing regions is helping to change lives (watch the video at http://vimeo.com/32914854 ).

Whether in Bhutan, Brazil, Guatemala or Niger, the UNWTO Volunteers all agree that tourism is having a positive impact on the local communities they work with, economically, socially and culturally. Tourism can be one of the most effective drivers of grassroots development and employment for developing countries, and volunteers are helping to make this potential a reality.

UNWTO’s Volunteers programme, run by the UNWTO.Themis Foundation, counts on over 200 individuals who have received training in tourism as a tool for development. Many of these professionals, including the four in the video, go on to volunteer around the world, applying their training to benefit local communities.

See full article: UNWTO

Small encyplodia of travel errors

2011-11-16T06:45:00.001+01:00

This is a recommendation for all German speaking readers (sorry for all others).

I stumbled upon this little booklet called «Kleines Lexikon der Reise-Irrtümer» while reading a newspaper.

The german travel author Nele-Marie Brüdgam has written this lovely booklet and gave an interview to the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger lately.

Frau Brüdgam, wann wurde Ihr letzter Irrtum auf einer Reise entlarvt?
Kürzlich, im September, auf meiner letzten längeren Reise: zehn Tage Malta und Gozo.
Und, welchem Irrtum sind Sie damals aufgesessen?
Es waren mindestens drei Irrtümer: Erstens: Es ist sinnvoll, auf Malta einen Englischkurs zu belegen. Englisch ist zwar die zweite Amtssprache auf Malta, aber das maltesische Englisch klingt sehr eigenartig. Zweitens: Tauchen könnte ein nettes Hobby sein. Drittens: Malta hat angenehm warmes Wetter im Herbst.
Welches ist immer noch der am weitesten verbreitete Irrtum unter Touristen?
Meinem Empfinden nach gehören zum Beispiel die folgenden Irrtümer zu den am weitesten verbreiteten: Venedig ist völlig überteuert und viel zu touristisch. Die Franzosen sprechen keine Fremdsprachen. Fliegen ist gefährlich.
Warum halten sich die so hartnäckig?
Vielleicht, weil der Mensch gern das bestätigt sieht, was er erwartet. Und weil er die Gefahr liebt.
Den Fehleinschätzungen wollen Sie nun mit Ihrem «Kleinen Lexikon der Reise-Irrtümer» beikommen. Schaffen Sie das?
Das Buch liefert den Lesern sehr viele Infos und Fakten. Was aber noch wichtiger ist: dass jeder Leser seine eigenen Vorurteile hinterfragt, mit offenen Augen und wachem Geist auf Reisen geht. Und so seine eigenen Irrtümer entlarvt.

To see the full interview please visit the Tagesanzeiger.

This interview was made by Daniel Arnet.

New rules for airlines kick in this week to protect fliers in the US

2011-08-22T07:17:00.003+02:00

According to USA Today Travel, new federal rules designed to prevent long tarmac delays for international passengers, provide greater compensation if fliers are bumped off flights and make airlines better disclose extra fees take effect on Tuesday.

The consumer protection rules, from the Transportation Department, will:

•Let the department impose fines on U.S. and foreign airlines of up to $27,500 per passenger if they leave an international flight on a tarmac for more than four hours without taking off.

•Raise compensation if passengers are bumped from an oversold flight. They'd get double the price of their tickets up to $650 if their arrival at their destination is delayed just a few hours. Currently, compensation is equal to the ticket value, up to $400. Longer delays would trigger payments of four times the value of their tickets, up to $1,300. Currently, that compensation is capped at $800.

•Require airlines to prominently disclose all ancillary fees on their websites, including fees for checking bags, providing meals and canceling reservations.

The Transportation Department had proposed more rules. But the airlines complained they'd need more time to adapt to them. The department agreed to delay the following provisions until Jan. 24. The provisions require airlines to:

•Promptly notify passengers at the boarding gate, on airline websites and via their phone reservation systems of flight cancellations and delays of more than 30 minutes.

•Allow customers to cancel reservations without payment for at least 24 hours if they're made at least a week before departure.

•Include all government taxes and fees in advertised fares. Airlines typically exclude them.

•Not raise a fare after a ticket has been bought unless it's a result of government taxes and fees and the flier agrees to any increase.

To see the full report please visit USA Today Travel

AIBTM 2011 feedback

2011-06-26T19:39:00.003+02:00

Dear Meetings industry professional

I've attended AIBTM 2011 in Baltimore and here comes my feedback.
Overall it was an interesting tradeshow with ups and downs (as usual). As the 2011 edition was the first of its kind I would like to congratulate the organizer for a well organized trade show. Of course the format and style was similar as EIBTM and other trade shows organized by the same group but with a very interesting co-seminar organized by PCMA it was nevertheless more interesting.

As a hosted buyer at AIBTM we were not allowed to attend PCMA seminars but as control was not existent I went into some seminars the first day and I liked it.

AIBTM 2011 offered a large variety of North- and South American suppliers and even some "rest of the world" suppliers. I had some very interesting and some less interesting meetings. And some meetings I had absolutely no interest in as I will not have any business for them...

I had to ask again and again to translate sft into sqm as I am not familiar with the US sizes. When will US companies start to realize the world doesn't stop at their boarder?

But for me the main question was: why Baltimore? This city doesn't offer much (nice said) for MICE organizers and the venue as well as hotels are discutable. In one hotel (which belongs to a well known chain) there was no electricity and no water in the guest rooms and in another one from another well known chain did the elevators not work and the guests had to carry their suitcase etc up to their room (which might have been on the 18th floor).

There was no drinking water available on the welcome reception so I had to take a glass and go to the toilette to get some...

Another wish from my side would be to allow us organizer to select the travel dates as many of us would have liked to extend our stay and do some more buisness in the US while being there already.

To summarize, AIBTM should go to another city, get some of the small issues corrected and go on with what could be the best US trade show organized by an European company

An open letter to conference organizers by Scott Berkun

2011-02-02T18:36:00.002+01:00

This post comes from Scott Berkun

Dear Conference Organizer:

For centuries you and your peers have helped spread good ideas. For that, I like you. Events are important and organizing them is a thankless job. I’ve run my share of events, so I know. But there is a unspoken, often forgotten, problem I’m compelled to bring to your attention: most speakers do a bad job.

Some of this is not your fault. Good speakers are hard to find, especially ones who are available, affordable, and reputable. It’s challenging to fill an afternoon with great speakers, much less a 5 day, 3 track program. But it’s commonly forgotten in your trade that speakers are the center of your event. They are the core of the agenda. They are what you advertise and what they promise to teach is why people pay to come. Yet once signed up to speak, they are often an afterthought, neglected and ignored.

There are simple and inexpensive ways to solve this problem.

1. Provide audience demographics. Make it easy for speakers to make the right assumptions about your audience. Give a sheet listing: age breakdown, job titles, gender breakdown, reasons for attending, and more. Most events have this information for marketing purposes, but rarely provide it to the speakers. This is dumb. The speakers make the product people are paying for (e.g. talks and workshops) and should be well informed about who the customers are. If nothing else providing this data reminds speakers it’s the audience that matters, not their egos.

2. Provide speaker training. There are many great books on public speaking and books are cheap. Send them to your speakers, and do it far enough in advance for it to impact their preparation. It signifies you care about their skills and want them to do their best. If even 20% of them read the book, and each avoid one basic mistake, it will pay off dramatically in higher quality sessions. Presentation Zen, which focuses on slide design, and my own book, Confessions of a Public Speaker, which covers everything else, make excellent companions. Major events and corporations hire speaker coaches, as speaking is a performance skill, but this can be expensive for large events. Books are an affordable place to start. Put this in a packet with #1, and send it out when you sign a speaker.

3. Send example videos from previous years. Talking about presenting and watching a good presenter present are different things. Give people a sense of what you, as an organizer, hope they achieve. It will also familiarize them with what attendees saw, and how they responded, in previous years.

4. Schedule a walkthrough / tech-check for each speaker. We know how fear works – unfamiliar rooms and spaces increase people’s nervousness. If you schedule a 15 minute slot early in the day, or the day before, for speakers to go to the room, try out their gear, and get comfortable, everyone wins. It’s also insurance against any compatibility issues (projectors vs. laptops), as there is nothing worse than discovering these problems in front of a live crowd. If you are not allowing speakers to use their own laptops (which is preferable), a walkthrough is extra important.

5. Have a volunteer in the room during the session. Every room should have a volunteer who can assist the speaker for any last minute needs or problems. This includes assisting with tech problems, getting water, helping with Q&A at the end and more. For a free ticket, many people will be happy to play this role, so everyone wins.

6. Provide confidence monitors in ever room. One distracting habit among many speakers is they look at their own slides, annoying the audience every time. Some of this is lack of practice, but part of the problem is room design. If you put a monitor in the front of the room, facing the speaker, so they can see their own slides while looking at the audience, everyone wins. It’s cheap to set up, has clear benefits and requires no extra work on the part of the speaker. Events like Ignite Seattle consistently do this, which helps explain why so many good talks have happened there.

7. Do not inflict a slide template on speakers. Attendees will remember where they are without an a reminder on every single slide in every single talk. Give a basic template to speakers as an option if you must, or as a head start for first time speakers, but that’s the limit of the value of slide templates. For whatever reason they tend to be ugly, confining, and just plain silly. A related suggestion: let speakers use their own laptops. Moving slide decks between computers often breaks fonts and other formatting, problems organizers rarely notice, but can be devastating to even a well prepared speaker.

8. Have a speaker’s dinner or happy hour. Have an evening early in the event where speakers can meet each other, and the organizers, and make some social connections. You want the speakers to be happy and friendly at the event, as it’s the interactions they have with your customers between sessions that are likely to be the most memorable for them. The more social you are with speakers, the more social they will be with your attendees. And some speakers are dying to meet some of the other speakers and that can only happen through you.

9. Rate your speakers and share the data. Speakers rarely get any useful feedback on how well they did. Everyone is polite and tells them they were great, even when they bombed. Most events do surveys after each session, but the data oddly never makes it to the speakers. This is broken. A simple stack ranking tells every speaker how they compared against their peers (e.g. “You were the 5th best speaker out of 10, based on audience surveys”) is a potent motivator for them to examine their skills, and to pay attention to what the better speakers did differently. Have a best session award, so everyone sees the feedback loop in action. UIE events even pays speakers a bonus that gets larger the better they scored. Shouldn’t pay be tied to performance for speakers too?

Please consider these simple things. You, your audience and your speakers all benefit at the same time. Perhaps you know better ways that the ones in this list – that’s fantastic and I’d love to hear about them, and I’d be happy to help promote their use to other organizers.

Signed,

- Scott Berkun, A speaker

See here the complete list: Scott Berkun's Blog

12 Great Sites to Improve Your Travel

2011-01-09T20:49:00.002+01:00

The web has had a definite effect on the travel industry, enabling people to be their own travel agents. With the improvements in mapping technologies and the ability to share knowledge, it has never been easier to find the information you need regarding the places you want to see.

Here comes a great list from appstorm, and if you are looking up this website then you might find some other valuable tips and tricks there.

Enjoy and profit.

Keep Your Audience in Focus – 16 Resources for Effective Presentations

2010-12-17T11:49:00.002+01:00

When going through all the effort to get in front of a crowd, you need to ensure that you communicate effectively. In the past decade, the majority of us have most likely had to sit through a bullet point infested presentation that completely failed to keep us engaged. Or worse, awake.

There are many aspects to giving a good presentation and being an engaging public speaker. The good news is that the web is full of good resources that can help us improve in these areas. By now, most presenters are aware that lots of text in your slides is a no-no and knowing your content is priceless. But even that isn’t enough.

Here are a list of resources list of resources that can help you take your talk to another level. Enjoy!

Open letter to John Kennedy, Radisson Blu Hotels & Resorts

2010-11-10T13:50:00.005+01:00

We all are receiving dozens if not hundred email newsletters every day / month.

Just now I've received one from Radisson Blu, the Radisson Blu newsletter. Nice layout, nice colors and nice photos I must admit. But listen to this special announcement in the header of the newsletter:

"Win one of 10 gift cards with a value of EUR 100 each" (this has been translated from German into English by myself, so no one else to blame).

Wow! This is amazing! This is mind blowing! This is unique! This is...

Ok, here comes my letter to John Kennedy (his name is underneath the newsletter but I don't know who he is...).

Dear John Kennedy

I think you are joking. This can not be true. Your Radisson Blu chain is offering 10 times EUR 100 vouchers for the winners of this unique promotion?

EUR 100???

I have to repeat it:
EUR 100???

How much is the average night at one of your Radisson Blu hotels? I will have a quick look, wait. Ohh, I see, the Radisson Blu Dublin costs EUR 150 (SGL, no Breakfast), the Radisson Blu Portman London EUR 255 (SGL, no Breakfast)or the Radisson Blu Hamburg for EUR 135 (SGL, no Breakfast).

Hmm, this newsletter was send to the MICE industry, I assume. So you expect us to bring you - this is a guess - about a minimum of 30 room nights per year (per account). So this would be 30 nights x EUR 150 EUR 4'500 revenue. And now we can win a price of EUR 100? This is very generous, indeed.

I think this is cheap, very cheap. In terms of Marketing, this is a disaster (at least in my case).

Maybe with all the acquisition in eastern Europe there is no more money left for the poor marketing team. I feel very sorry for them.

How about giving away 10 x EUR 1'000 or 5 x EUR 5'000 or something like this? This would mean something to us readers and yes, we would participate and yes, your brand awarness will rise and yes, even people on Twitter will write about it and so on.

But maybe that's not what you want. Maybe you think 10 x EUR 100 is very generous...

I hope to get a replay from you, I would love to understand why you are doing such a thing. I am always eager to learn.

Sincerely
Christian W. Frei
CEO
MICEpoint

EIBTM - the 3rd kind of invitation

2010-11-09T10:36:00.002+01:00

I love creative people, and I especially love them at Trade shows.

A couple of minutes ago I did receive a simple email with the subject "Meeting at EIBTM 2010" with a link to youtube and of course I was curious what it will be.

So here it is:

So he promises that he will let us know how to find him. Let's hope that the follow up is as good as this introduction.

Google’s Proposed ITA Deal Has The Online Travel Industry Crying, “No Fair!”

2010-10-26T20:42:00.002+02:00

Google’s proposed $700 million acquisition of flight data powerhouse ITA Software is running into some serious resistance from the online travel industry. A group of online travel companies including Expedia, Kayak, Travelocity, and TripAdvisor are lobbying the Justice Department to block the deal on antitrust grounds through an organization called FairSearch. Some of these companies were also behind competing bids for ITA Software which failed. Microsoft separately opposes the deal as well.

ITA provides flight data, schedules, fares, and availability to many of these travel sites, airline sites and Microsoft’s Bing search engine. The FairSearch coalition argues that allowing “Google could use ITA to try to marginalize competitors in ways that raise prices for consumers and limit innovation.” They fear that Google will use its search dominance to steer traffic away from their own sites and favor flight search on Google itself.

These fears are not completely unfounded. A lot is at stake here. Online travel is a huge business. It accounts for an estimated $80 billion in ecommerce sales, or 38 percent of all ecommerce last year (the biggest segment by far). It also contributed an estimated 6 percent of online advertising (and an estimated 8 to 10 percent of Google’s revenues). About two thirds of all travel plans start on a search engine, and FairSearch claims that more than 30 percent of all travel searches already start on Google.

Getting this deal through the Justice Department will be a big test for Google. For its part, Google responds that it will honor all of ITA’s existing contracts, won’t sell airline tickets, and it plans to keep sending traffic to travel and airline sites. The reason Google wants ITA is because flight search is broken and needs fixing.

But in order to fix flight search, Google will very likely try to keep people on Google longer before sending them off to a travel site. Just like the ITA-powered travel section of Bing today is a fully-functioning travel search engine until the last click to purchase, Google will likely move in a similar direction. The travel sites understandably don’t like the prospect of Google gaining even more control over their business.

As I’ve written before, the ITA deal represents a huge shift in strategy for Google towards more vertical search and a possble move from cost-per-click (CPC) to cost-per-action (CPA) advertising. What if Google starts charging travel sites a CPA bounty based on each ticket purchased instead of just for every click it sends? Google would make more money under such a scenario, and the travel sites would make less—but only if Google has good enough data to know which flights to show which travel seekers. That is why Google needs to own ITA and all of its data.

Does that raise antitrust concerns? Maybe. But it’s all hypothetical harm at this point. Only one thing is certain If Google gets this deal past the DOJ, you can expect a few more going after other online industry verticals, which in turn will change the Google search experience depending on the type of search you do.

This article is written by Erick Schonfeld of Techcrunch.

Advancing Tourism’s Response to Climate Change

2010-10-24T13:13:00.004+02:00

Today I would like to bring a special paper to your attention:

From Davos to Copenhagen and Beyond:
Advancing Tourism’s Response to Climate Change
by the UNWTO

Tourism and travel is a vital contributor to the global economy and especially important for many developing countries. Tourism is an effective way of redistributing wealth and a catalyst for gender equality, cultural preservation and nature conservation. As a result, the sector is also contributing to the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Climate change is one of the most serious threats to society, the economy and the environment and has been an issue of international concern for decades. The Inter‐Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that warming of the global climate system is “unequivocal” and that it is “very likely” that anthropogenic (human‐made) greenhouse gases (GHG) have caused most of the observed global temperature rise since the middle of the 20th Century. Ambitious emissions reduction
targets for developed countries and an effective framework that addresses the needs of developing countries are required.

Read the full paper here:
White paper

The perfect companion for your next business trip

2010-10-13T19:07:00.004+02:00

Finally someting for us men!

Yes, yes, yes, I love it! There are so many nice and beautiful travel toys for ladies but now I have found what I have been looking for all my (travel) life:

T.T. Trunks

As any seasoned traveler will tell you, a trunk is more than something that transports your stuff. With its sturdy covering, studs, and metal corners, it recaptures an age when travel was undertaken by hardy types prepared for any eventuality.

T.T. Trunks understands that appeal, creating trunks that can be personalized or made to order. And you don't have to be preparing for a world tour to justify owning one: The Champagne Trunk, for instance, fits right in at home, with a built-in refrigerator that chills 20 bottles and holds 18 flutes and an ice bowl.

The latest release is the New Dandy, timed to celebrate the French company's arrival in New York City at the O.C. Concept Store. This three-and-a-half-foot-high chest on wheels has a power pack for mobile devices, an iPad base, and a whiskey decanter set. One drawer includes a humidifier and hygrometer for cigars (my favorite; what a great way to have my cuban cigars with me, for always and everywhere), while another holds 500 clay chips, a dealer button, two decks of cards, and a poker tabletop. We think that pretty much says it all, but for dandies who like to go one step further, the whole thing, right down to the chips, can be personalized. I am thinking "007" (or freedom for men)!

The New Dandy trunk, from $30,550.

Baltic blonde Maledive Island

2010-10-08T13:16:00.002+02:00

A Lithuanian company plans to set up a holiday island in the Maldives run entirely by blondes - the latest project in a growing blonde movement in the Baltics. But how legitimate is this latest sign of Baltic blonde ambition?

What do you call a blonde who runs a business? A dab hand at marketing, if she comes from Lithuania.

Blondes in the Baltics have had enough of the jokes about being dumb. Now they want to show they are smarter than the gags make out, with a growing blonde business empire.

The Lithuanian company Olialia, pronounced "ooh-la-la", is planning a holiday resort in the Maldive islands.

The firm hopes to pull in the tourists by employing only blonde staff, and offering direct flights to the island crewed entirely by blondes, including the pilots.

Olialia is run and staffed by blonde women, and already operates in 75 different business sectors, making products from computer software and food products to pop music.

Read here the full article:
BBC

Mobile Apps for Tourism

2010-09-26T19:37:00.002+02:00

Lately I have been involved with the Mobile world and there is an amazing amount of great mobile apps for tourism available (one of my favorite is what MySwitzerland has to offer).

And now I found this article:

7 Ways Mobile Apps are Enriching Historical Tourism

Some of the most famous historical sites would be just another old house or pile of rubble if you didn’t have any background information about their significance. Tourists have always had options for educating themselves about what they’re looking at. They can read relevant books beforehand, they can hire a tour guide, or, if everyone in the group has the patience, they can take the time to read every plaque and sign on the premises.

Now, many programmers are also offering tourists the option to learn about these sites via their smartphones. While many of the world’s significant historical locations have some sort of interactive app connected to them, the seven we picked below are among the most innovative and impressive.

To read the full story simply visit Mashable / Mobile.

Enjoy this,
Chris

Negotiating with hotels

2010-09-23T03:22:00.002+02:00

I found an interesting document for associations on the ICCA website:

Ideas and advice for meeting planners to obtain a better understanding of the hotel business objectives that drive hotel negotiating positions.

Most hotels have limited experience of dealing with associations, and are more familiar with corporate meetings and intermediary agencies, whose needs and buying behaviour can be very different from those of association planners. Many buyers in the association world have limited experience of negotiating with hotels, and do not clearly understand the business objectives that drive hotel negotiating positions. Most guides on the subject of negotiating concern themselves with the corporate market. These three facts add up to the need for a simple guide to assist the international association buyer to speak the same “business language” as the hotel sales representative, and to obtain a fair deal that reflects the importance and value of their event.

More here:
Negotiating with hotels

World's Sexiest Rooftop Pools

2010-09-15T21:58:00.002+02:00

The rooftop garden at the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel, perched atop three towers 660 feet above Singapore and totaling more than 15,000 square feet, has the feel of a paradise that's off-limits to mere mortals. (Although, for $20, non-guests can visit the observation deck.)

As if the sheer magnitude of the place weren't intoxicating enough, the 500-foot-long guests-only infinity pool—one of the largest urban pools in the world at that height—feels equally endless, and a little dangerous, too. Add to that an international crowd of beautiful people lounging on white daybeds beneath swaying palm trees, and the whole place takes on a floating-in-the-heavens kind of sex appeal that makes you want to strip and drift through the water in your birthday suit.

There are also rooftop bars and restaurants, in case, you know, the gods get hungry.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel
10 Bayfront Avenue
Singapore
Tel: 65 6688 8888
Thanks http://www.concierge.com for the article

Art may be everything, except being boring - Case study

2010-09-08T07:04:00.003+02:00

“Art may be everything, except being boring”- St. Moritz Art Masters 2010/ Engadin St. Moritz, Switzerland

This case study is written by our guest authour Irina Trofimovskaya.

From the 27th of August until the 5th of September the third addition of the St. Moritz Art Masters took place in St. Moritz and in other villages in the Upper Engadin. National and international painters, photographers and sculptors exhibited their works in churches, hotels, banks, galleries, museums, lakes and other public places easily accessible to the visitors and free of charge. This was a great collaboration between the organization committee and the local partners.

From the event visitor point of view, what type of marketing will attract you to visit this event? Is an advertisement in the national and international newspapers and in train stations will attract your attention with advertisement slogans like – “St. Moritz Art Masters- the leading Art event in the world”? Probably not. Important to mention that this event is open for everyone who is interested in fine arts, good atmosphere, socialization, mobility, education and all that in a wonderful destination called the Engadin St. Moritz.

During the marketing campaign, the brand St. Moritz Art Masters was mentioned just in small letters on the left side of the advertisement posters. The advertisement posters carried amusing, provoking and clever statements which attracted the viewer attention. Every person could identify himself with at least one of them or relate it to someone they know. For example, when speaking about art, which person wouldn’t identify him with the statement “the best is yet to come” or “in few years no one will remember the bad critics”? And to whom you can relate the statement “I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying”?

Another attraction was the Angels and Demons sculptures by Alain de Lille (2008) posted in St. Moritz village several weeks before the exhibition. The statements and the sculptures were so attractive that people made photos and published them on the social media platforms. This type of publicity gains easily the buzz effect or the WOM- word of mouth, when people start to discuss the topic and exchange experiences.

The question now is, if the camping fulfilled the visitor’s expectations? It definitely did! When arriving to St. Moritz, the visitor was in a totally transformed village. There were directing signs to visiting the venues where works of art were presented. A detailed brochure with the description and location of the exhibiting artists was produced in English and German and allowed the visitor to move independently on his own pace through the venues. In most of the venues additional written information and interpretation was provided about the arts.

There was art for every taste, age, mood and interest. This event was once again one of the highlights of Top of the World destination Engadin St. Moritz and brought many visitors just before the end of the summer season. I highly recommend visiting this fascinating event next year. For forward information visit the St. Moritz Art Masters official web site http://www.stmoritzartmasters.com.

Irina Trofimovskaya

Project Partner
Manfred Ritschard & Partner LLC
Corporate training & Marketing
http://www.manfredritschard.ch

Why Dubai if Barcelona is even closer?

2010-06-21T07:42:00.002+02:00

Yes, it looks similar to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai but this hotel is in Barcelona: the brand new W Barcelona.

It has 2.500 sqm (26.910 sq ft) of meeting space to accommodate a small gathering or a large group. Launching W's only Great Room with unobstructed views over the sea and over 1.000 sqm (10.000 sq ft), W Barcelona does redefine meeting experiences in Europe.

Creative in approach and innovative in design, W Hotels engage and energize meeting attendees. Their unique Sensory Set Up® gets ideas flowing with mood music, signature scents and more. It stimulates all five senses with mood music, aromatherapy scents, thought-provoking placecards, creative catering, retro candies and inspiring games.

Plus, all rooms are fully wired with the latest technology for Wi-Fi and more.

Hotels to Stay in Before You Die

2010-03-16T21:57:00.002+01:00

Concierge.com published today a great list of 13 hotels throughout the world of "must stayed before you die" properties.

One of my favorite Hotels is the OBEROI UDAIVILAS, Udaipur, India.

This is the text of Concierge.com which comes with this hotel:

So your friends say they're not sure about going to India? If they could only get a load of you now, overlooking the gorgeous Lake Pichola from your perch in a magnificent palace fit for a maharaja. In fact, some of the world's best hotels are packed into the country, especially around the northern desert region of Rajasthan. Our pick: Oberoi Udaivilas. Built in 2002, it feels like it's been on the lake for centuries, especially with its series of turrets and fountains that could be plucked out of the Mewar period. The design is equal parts sublime and decadent, with gold-leaf domes, exquisite chandeliers, and gorgeous Indian textiles. The grounds are enormous—30 acres—and include an animal sanctuary with peacocks that parade through the gardens. Ask for a Premier Lake View room with a private patio overlooking the water and steps that lead right into a semiprivate pool (five suites come with completely private ones). Not to be missed: a sunset boat trip around the lake followed by a private dinner on a floating dock—it'll make you the star in your own Bollywood flick.

OBEROI UDAIVILAS, Udaipur, India
Tel: 91 294 243 3300
Doubles from $745

Special venue for your next Management meeting

2010-01-19T07:56:00.003+01:00

This is your perfect venue for your next management meeting:

Bonefish Cay, Bahamas

Location
This 13-acre island is located in the Abacos chain of islands in the Bahamas and takes its name from its interesting shape and the amount of bonefish in this region.

Accommodation
2 guest villas with 6 suites and the impressive master bedroom and a large Main Lodge (a total of 7 double rooms) can be rented to a total of 14 guests. Each double room has modern bath and finishings. The main building of 5,000 sq. ft. is the centre of this island paradise and the meeting place for eating, drinking, for a game of pool, or for taking your chances at a round of poker. The 30-foot-high cypress cathedral ceiling brings a feeling of majesty to the main house. The entertainment area also features a stereo system and home-theatre system with satellite television and large-format screen for comfortable viewing.

Activities
There are island boats always ready for your excursions. The island manager will give you a tour of all the nearby highlights, and you may even greet dolphins along the way. Professional diving tours can be arranged with the neighbouring island. Snorkelling equipment as well as ocean-going kayaks are provided for your use. Take a swim at low tide around the island's own coral reef and see the multitude of coral and fish. The island has two long, sandy beaches, and paths over the island. There are many shells and native plants that make a stroll interesting. Reservations for golf (18 holes) on the neighbouring island of Treasure Cay can be made on request, or a game of tennis on Spanish Cay.

Getting there
Flights from Fort Lauderdale fly daily to Treasure Cay, where you will be picked up by car, delivered to a private harbour and then taken by boat to Bonefish Cay. Or charter a flight from Miami or Nassau to the neighbouring island, Spanish Cay, where there is a port of entry and 5,000-foot runway

Rates:
From EUR 50,000 per week plus local taxes for the entire island for up to 14 guests, including gourmet full-board, service and use of all water-sport facilities. Alcoholic beverages, diving, golfing and flight transfers are at guests' expense.
20% surcharge for peak season rentals Christmas/New Year.

Not happy with my suggestion? See here more options for Islands to rent: Vladi Private Islands

MICE goes Mobile

2009-12-05T14:10:00.007+01:00

Over the past two years I have become a Mobile junky. My iPhone became very important to me and I use it where ever I can.

Looking for a mobile conference guide solution, I found this interesting iPhone and Android application called ConferenceGuide.

ConferenceGuide is a full suite of tools aimed at improving the overall conference experience for organizers, speakers and attendees alike. It's based on a conference-agnostic platform accessible via several mobile native applications. There is an iPhone and an Android app that offer advanced online schedule and speaker information browsing.

Both of these applications are free, and with the next version, you will be able to unlock premium features for a small event-specific fee. Those premium packages will include the ability to browse content offline, Twitter integration, push notifications, a personal schedule builder, the ability to communicate with other attendees, and much more.

The organizer console will evolve too in the months to come, with a session planner, a speaker manager, a survey builder and more.

So watch out and stay tuned for news about this application.

A Nightmare in Tourism Logistics

2009-11-25T07:05:00.005+01:00

A Nightmare in Logistics, the Hajj pilgrimage which involves almost 3 million human beings congregating at Makkah, then moving on to Minah, Arafat, Muzdalifah and back to Mina, over a short 6 day period, is effectively managed by the Saudi Arabian Government and its designated administrative authorities, each year.

The logistics, administration and management of the annual pilgrimage of Hajj by the Saudi Arabian authorities and related public and private sector organizations is truly a nightmare beyond the wildest imagination of any operational exercise in the world. With the volume of pilgrims participating in the Hajj increasing by leaps and bounds each year the authorities have had to spruce up their act, re-define procedures, and come up with better control mechanisms and facilities to provide a smooth and successful process to enable a successful execution of the pilgrimage.
In 2008 Saudi missions abroad issued almost 2 million visas for pilgrims seeking to perform the pilgrimage from overseas. In addition the number of local pilgrims who travel to Makkah from all parts of the Kingdom usually amounts to another million, at least.

The majority of foreign pilgrims in 2008 — 1,645,135 — came by air, 216,532 by land and 30,550 by sea, according to Maj. Gen. Salim Al-Belaihed, Director General of the Passport Department.

About 1,000 foreign dignitaries including 720 from Europe, 200 from Asia and Australia and 61 from Arab countries also performed the Haj in 2008 and the numbers are expected to be similar this year too. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz also invited almost 12,000 prominent Muslim personalities from around the world to perform Haj as his guests over the past several years.

Read the full article here by Fazil Sameer from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

About the Hajj festivities

The main reason Muslims go to Makkah is to pray in the Holy Mosque. Often, they perform the Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage, while visiting the Holy Mosque. Once a year, the Hajj, the greater pilgrimmage, takes place in Makkah and nearby sites. During the Hajj, three million people worship in unison.

If a person performs the Umrah or the Hajj correctly, all his/her sins are forgiven.

Every adult, healthy, sane Muslim who has enough money to travel to Makkah and can make arrangements for the care of his/her dependents during the trip, must perform the Hajj once in a lifetime.

In 2009, the Hajj will begin today Wednesday, November 25.

What is the 7th Annual MICE Europe Congress in Dubrovnik, organized by NASEBA?

2009-11-24T16:33:00.003+01:00

I have come across this event called "7th Annual MICE Europe Congress in Dubrovnik".

Do you know about it? I didn't. So let's have a closer look:

Looking at the video, I got some interesting thoughts about this event.
Look at the video and check out the following:

After 0:27 (Coffee Break?), I count 15 people
After 1:37 (Exhibition?), I see the table number 29 but this table is already empty. So let's assume there were 29 exhibitors (but where is exhibitor No 29?)
After 1:43 (Dinner?), I count 10 tabels with a total of 18 people
After 3:06 (Exhibiton?), are there two people from the same company talking to each other? At least the name boards suggest this. It must have been a great trade show. (Maybe the lady behind the Name Kerim is not "Kerim"? Is Kerim a man's name?)
After 3:34 (Dinner reception?), I count approx. 30 people

And so on. Did you attend this event? What is your feedback?

I wonder why Event organizers don't do a proper marketing campaign... And start to embraze the entire industry because only if we work together we will become stronger.

Zürich Schlaflos, the other Travel guide to Zurich, Switzerland

2009-11-01T09:56:00.006+01:00

The man drinks regularly. He smokes. He is a gourmet and art lover. A voyeuristic gambler with nostalgic tendency to glorification and a toilet fetish. And he is your faithful travel companion for Zurich.

Netcetera, a software company from Zurich, Switzerland, has created this unique podcast available on iTunes Store for your iPod or iPhone.

Two authors on behalf of the transporting enterprises Zurich (VBZ) did come up with the content. Philippe Amrein and Thomas Wyss gathered 60 marvelous stories about cool places along the 32 and 4 Bus lines for the new Podcast “Zurich sleepless” along Langstrasse and Niederdorf.

If you are going to Zurich (and speak German, or have a personal guide...) follow these bus lines and discover Zurich as you wouldn't imagine.