Smart Meetings | Page 148 of 602 | Corporate Event Planning: Business Events, Meetings, Conferences

Just a few miles from the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park lies a unique, eco-friendly travel experience. A series of handmade Mongolian tents in the desert make up the Eco Yurt Village. Beautiful scenery and plentiful amenities make the property perfectly suited to host small groups on a business or leisure retreat. What really elevates the experience is the use of the HomeBiogas energy system, which turns organic waste into cooking gas for guests and fertilizer for the nearby plants.

What’s in a Yurt?

A dog sits on a blanket in the Big Blue Yurt.

The site of 28 Palms Ranch offers a more sustainable alternative to the traditional hotel or resort. All amenities, including the lights, temperature control, kitchens and even bathrooms run on renewable energy. The toilets are fully flushable despite the lack of a septic system—waste goes directly back to the HomeBiogas system and is converted into cooking gas and odor-free fertilizer. Solar power from owner Erin Stevenson’s nearby home is routed to the village to power electronics.

Eco Yurt Village’s focus on sustainability doesn’t eliminate the comforts of modern society, though. An AC unit and space heater let guests moderate the extreme temperatures of the desert, while an indoor sink has cooking essentials ready to use.

The Big Blue yurt was originally intended to host art and yoga classes but has been refitted into the property’s flagship suite. The tent can comfortably house six people. Stevenson believes that it would be perfect for a business or pleasure retreat.

Early in June, 28 Palms Ranch started the process of adding five more tents and dozens more trees to the village. Each yurt is available for booking on their AirBnB page.

Read More: Modeling Green Venues

The Birth of a Yurt Village

When Erin Stevenson, owner and operator of 28 Palms Ranch, visited Joshua Tree National Park, she instantly fell in love with the desert. Her entrepreneurial spirit kicked in when she realized that the area was severely lacking in accommodations. Nearly 3 million people visit the park every year, but the pool of hotels tourists have to pick from is very shallow. Stevenson set to work researching how to take advantage of the opportunity.

Five acres of property was easy to come by. She considered using Airstreams as lodging, but when the prohibitive cost made her change course, she turned to the yurt. These tents give a unique, homey character to the property, aided by the 75 trees Stevenson planted around the yurts.

Owner Erin Stevenson sits on a bed in one of her yurts.

Using the HomeBiogas system was a no-brainer for Stevenson. She had used the system for several years before establishing the village, and its waste recycling capabilities made it the perfect solution to the lack of a sewer system. Eliminating the need to buy propane for cooking has dramatically reduced the operating cost of the property.

Unfortunately, the state of California may require Stevenson to convert part of her waste recycling system into a standard septic system that sends waste underground. Her hope is that educating regulators will teach them how safe and beneficial the HomeBiogas system is.

“It’s such a positive product, I just wish we could wrap our minds around it a little better,” she said in an interview. “We have a few fights to fight, but hopefully we’ll win.”

Biogas Made Easy

A man in an orange shirt stands next to one of the outdoor bathroom stalls.

When most people think of compost, they conjure up images of plastic bins full of dirt and earthworms. While that works for some, the HomeBiogas device offers a more versatile way to recycle organic waste.

The large chute is where food, plant clippings and other waste is poured in. A colony of bacteria in the bottom half of the device breaks down the matter into methane gas stored in the top half. The gas is pumped through a small tube on the other end, leading directly to a gas burning stove. Sandbags on the upper half put the gas under pressure to ensure its passage through the tube. A secondary chute produces liquid fertilizer that can be put towards homegrown food.

At 28 Palms Ranch, the Home Biogas system handles septic and food waste for guests. Visitors are encouraged to use the system themselves. The implementation of the system at a rental property represents an important step towards a more sustainable hospitality industry. With enough space and sunlight, anyone can install this fully recyclable system in their backyard.

Resources like this are vital to the reduction of greenhouse gasses. 40 million tons of food are sent to landfills in the United States each year. In addition to the wasted energy that goes into producing this food, rotting organic matter produces nitrogen pollution leading to algae blooms and dead zones. Making biogas easy and accessible is a big step towards reducing food waste around the world.

Potential for Greener Tourism

Larger units, like the HomeBiogas 7, are available for small farms and restaurants. It can generate up to six hours of cooking gas every day, greatly reducing or eliminating the need for traditional gas. With the growing trend of consumers seeking out eco-friendly businesses, the system may be a good investment.

Later this year, HomeBiogas is planning to expand into the commercial food industry. Their HomeBiogas 100 industrial unit takes food waste from kitchens in restaurants and hotels and converts it into energy for hot water.

With a relatively small footprint and low cost compared to traditional waste disposal, the industrial system can help the travel industry move towards a greener future with less food waste. Properties like 28 Palms Ranch are on the cutting edge of sustainability. Hopefully, it can inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

The 1,700 attendees checking in live at Meeting Professionals International’s World Education Conference (WEC) at Moscone Center in San Francisco this week were treated to a performance in three acts designed to provide “perspective,” “approach” and “action,” according to Paul Van Deventer, MPI president and CEO.

Each speaker was chosen with help from internal and external experts to advance that day’s message in a variety of delivery methods.

Annette Gregg, MPI senior vice president of experience, explained that attendees could sort and choose their journey through the day based on the topic, level of interaction, speakers and even the location. The offerings started with an invitation to consider new perspectives and worked their way through to a call to design based on a healthy understanding of where people have been, what they need now and what will work in the future.

Smart Meetings Founder and CEO Marin Bright

The approximately 300 people who tuned in online were treated to the keynotes from human connection expert Riaz Meghji, Project Enye creator Denise Soler and Rock Your Business CEO Brian Allan and others.

“We want to recognize all the people who got us here and make everyone feel like heroes.” Said Van Deventer at the introductory press conference.

The tradition of consolidating the show into three days that started with MPI 2020 in Grapevine, Texas, during the pandemic continued based on positive feedback, a reality that led to consolidating closing ceremonies at San Francisco City Hall with the Rendezvous fundraiser. The celebration correspondent with the colorful kickoff of Pride Week in the City.

Forward Looking

At the Thursday lunch, attendees were treated to a taste of the festivities that await next year when the annual event moves to the Mexican Caribbean, Riviera Maya, June 12-15, 2023, as a culmination of conversations that have been going on at the highest levels of MPI and the Mexican government since 2011.

In the meantime, 2022 MPI Board Chair Bonnie Carlson, president and CEO of Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau, shared that the organization’s priorities will be on continued advocacy, education and membership growth from 120,000 to 250,000 people.

Other new initiatives include MPI Academy, which is now offering digital badging and credentialing so participants can show off their skill enhancement, a new Healthcare Meetings certification for venues launching in Singapore and an MPI certification program for San Diego State University L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management students.

The much-anticipated launch of in-person European Meetings and Events Conference was announced for Brighton, England, March 2023 where the group has grown to 700 European members.

Read More: TWT: Masks Off for Euro Air Travel

A Foundation for Reflection

Several people taking a selfie in front of Oracle Park in San Francisco. MPI Foundation Presidents Dinner at San Francisco Hilton Union Square marked the 50th anniversary of the organization with a tribute to Brian Stevens, co-founder and CEO at ConferenceDirect. As a longtime industry volunteer, he has played a role in helping the industry through numerous challenges. He started in 1978 with Hilton Hotels Corporation, rising from sales trainee to vice president of sales and marketing. He pioneered a new type of meeting services company in 1998 and raised millions of dollars over the years for industry causes.

Rise Awards recognized the current members stepping up during a critical time. Member of the Year recipients were Elite Productions International Vice President of Events and Marketing Pawntra Shadab, and Destination South Meetings + Events Manager Shannon Jones. Meeting Industry Leadership Award went to CTA Event Designer & DMC Managing Director Valeria Serrano Suzan. Innovative Educational Programming went to MPI Italia Chapter. Industry Advocate went to MPI Kansas City Chapter. Membership Achievement went to MPI Oregon Chapter and Marketplace Excellence went to MPI Caribe Mexicano Chapter.

The dinner is both a recognition of excellence and a fundraiser to support the continued growth of the industry. Gary Schirmacher, senior consultant of talent acquisition at Maritz Global Events, and 2022 MPI Foundation Chair shared that the philanthropic arm of the organization spent $1.2 million to help members preserve their link to MPI’s educational resources over the last two years. He is now working to help legacy members set up endowments so they can continue to have an impact for years to come.

“MPI Foundation is in the kindness business, but also in the business of creating belonging,” he said.

Editor’s note: This Week in Travel (TWT) is your essential guide to smoothing the road from here to there for your attendees and yourself.

Travel Forecast Sees Wobbly Recovery

U.S. Travel Association has released its biannual forecast for travel through 2026—including both travel spending and volume—which projects that all segments of travel, in spite of rising inflation, will likely surge in the short term due to pent-up demand and consumer savings. The survey says, though, that this is not expected to last, leading to slower growth in the later years of the forecast.

U.S. Travel estimates that $1.05 trillion (in 2019 dollars, adjusted for inflation) will be spent on travel in the United States in 2022, but this is still 10% below 2019 levels and 16% below where it should have been in 2022, if not for the pandemic.

The forecast projects that domestic business travel volume will reach 81% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and 96% in 2023. Domestic business travel spending, when adjusted for inflation, will not fully recover to pre-pandemic levels within the range of the forecast.

International inbound travel is making strides toward recovery, aided by the recent repeal of the inbound pre-departure testing requirement. The sector is projected to grow rapidly through the rest of 2022, and then grow at a slower pace in 2023-2026. A full recovery to pre-pandemic levels (volume and spending) is not expected until 2025.

U.S. Travel said policy changes could help growth in the sector. If the U.S. reduces wait times for visitor visa interviews to less than 30 days, the U.S. could gain an additional 2.2 million international visitors and $5.2 billion in spending by the end of 2022, the organization says.

Flight Attendant Lays Down the Law

A self-described “flight attendant” named Kristie Koerbel went viral on Facebook with a post shared over 90K times.

“Flying this summer is ROUGH!!!,” Koerbel says, who then goes on to list tips such as “Things are not good…if its less than 7 hours – DRIVE! I’m not kidding. There is nothing enjoyable about flying right now…”

Koerbel goes on to list some tips if you must fly, such as download and use the app of the airline you are flying. “Usually these apps will tell you a flight is canceled before the crew even knows!”

She also suggests passengers should “Fly MUCH earlier than you need to – a whole day early if its [sic] important!!! This week I saw many people miss important things like weddings, funerals, cruises, international connections, and graduations. The tears were very real, for very real reasons, and there was nothing I could do! If you have to be somewhere, spend the extra money, go a day early. Have a glass of wine and stay in a hotel, enjoy your night not being stressed while everyone misses their events.”

Other points of use to meeting planners: “ALWAYS fly the first flight in the morning so you have all day to be rebooked if the s—t hits the fan. Yes, that means it might be a 3:00 alarm, but morning flights don’t cancel nearly as often.”

She also recommends long layovers (one hour is not enough anymore, she says and recommends a three-hour minimum).

She warns against connecting in Newark (or any New York airport) “It is literal hell,” she says.

Flight cancellations, weather issues and staffing (including pilot) shortages have caused chaos in airports and in-flight and on the tarmac both nationally and internationally.

On June 23, FlightAware listed 9,176 delays as of noon and 2,221 cancellations at that time with potentially hundreds more to come.

STR Records Highest Occupancy Level of Pandemic Era

Hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) has reached an all-time weekly high (adjusted for inflation) according to data for the week of June 12 through June 18 released this week by STR.

June 12-18, 2022 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019*):

Occupancy: 71.8% (-4.8%)
Average daily rate (ADR): US$155.02 (+14.9%)
Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$111.29 (+9.4%)

The occupancy level was the highest of the pandemic-era thanks to the country’s highest weekly demand (28 million room nights sold) since August 2019. While occupancy was up, the occupancy comparison with 2019 softened slightly from the week prior. ADR was down marginally from the previous week as was the ADR comparison to 2019.

Among the top 25 markets, San Diego saw the only occupancy increase over 2019 (+0.5% to 86.0%). New York City (86.6%), San Diego and Seattle (85.0%) led the major markets in absolute occupancy for the week.

United, American Airlines Announce Cuts

A woman in the foreground looks out of the window at an airplane parked at a gate.

United Airlines announced that it would cut 50 daily departures from Newark, New Jersey, starting July 1, which represents a 12% cut in the airlines service there.

United’s Executive Vice President of Operations Jon Roitman said in a statement that the move is meant to keep things operating smoother after a series of bad days so far this summer.

“After the last few weeks of irregular operations in Newark, caused by many factors including airport construction, we reached out to the FAA and received a waiver allowing us to temporarily adjust our schedule there for the remainder of the summer,” Roitman continued. “We do not anticipate any schedule changes at our other six domestic hubs this summer.”

In another airline cut, American Airlines announced that it would end service to Islip and Ithaca in New York; Toledo, Ohio; and Dubuque, Iowa. The airline cited pilot shortage—a problem causing flight delays and flying chaos worldwide—as the cause for the cancellations.

“We have 100 regional aircraft on the ground that we want to fly but can’t due to lack of regional pilots,” American Airlines spokesperson Brian Metham said in a statement. “Like many network carriers, we have reduced our regional flying in recent months in response to the regional pilot shortage.”

Meeting planners takeaway: Flight chaos continues. Cancellations, delays and price hikes continue to plague travelers. While the airline industry struggles to manage the crisis, planners should take heed of the viral flight attendants’ comments above: if you are booking clients’ airfare, do not book short layovers, use the most flexible airfares possible and consider booking nearby hotel rooms for passengers who have tight connections that can’t be changed.

As “pent up” vacation demand abates after the summer holiday season and airlines add needed staff, these issues may improve after Labor Day but plan cautiously when it comes to flying on either short or long-haul flights.

If your meetings are international, note these issues are occurring globally, not just in the U.S.

U.S. Travel Association has announced that Geoff Freeman will be taking the role of president and CEO.

After almost 10 years away, a period in which he held leadership positions as president and CEO of American Gaming Association, and president and CEO of Consumer Brands Association (his current position), Freeman will be joining Sept. 1. He is also currently a board member of the compensation committee for American Gaming Systems.

In his previous position as chief operating officer for U.S. Travel, Freeman headed the work that led to the establishment of the Travel Promotion Act of 2009, which created Brand USA, U.S. Travel’s tourism promotion arm. He has also been instrumental in the creation of TSA PreCheck and the Meetings Mean Business Coalition.

“We are proud to welcome Geoff Freeman back to lead the U.S. Travel Association,” said Christine Duffy, national chair of U.S. Travel Association and president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Geoff is highly regarded in Washington and well known across our industry for his strategic work to conceive campaigns and programs that opened new pathways for growth in the travel economy. Now, returning to lead the association, Geoff will continue bringing a fresh and strategic approach to advancing the mission of U.S. Travel in its next era.”

Freeman will succeed Roger Dow, who is stepping down as president and CEO of U.S. Travel, a position he held for 17 years.

“I am eager to get to work on behalf of this incredible industry, which has long held a special place for me,” Freeman said. “There are few industries more essential to the nation’s economy, more connected to consumers and more critical to bringing Americans together than the travel industry. I believe U.S. Travel’s talented team can continue to raise the bar, and I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and get started.”

Editor’s note: This Week in Travel (TWT) is your essential guide to smoothing the road from here to there for your attendees and yourself.

The Bahamas Cuts Covid-19 Test Requirement

In a much-anticipated move, the Government of the Bahamas announced this week that fully vaccinated travelers would no longer be required to submit pre-travel Covid-19 testing to enter the country.

However, all unvaccinated travelers aged 2 and older will need to get a negative Covid-19 test (either negative RT-PCR or Rapid Antigen test) taken no more than three days before travel to the Bahamas. Negative test results must be shown at check-in prior to travel.

The change goes into effect Sunday, June 19.

“The Bahamas is adapting to the continued evolution of this pandemic. We want to streamline the entry process for travelers as much as possible, all while ensuring we are protecting public health,” said the Honourable I. Chester Cooper, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation in a released statement. “We hope the changes to the pre-travel testing requirements combined with the elimination of the Travel Health Visa will reduce friction for travelers and further the recovery of our tourism sector.”

Read More About the Bahamas: Season Ticket: Island Meetings

Choice Hotels Acquires Radisson Hotel Group Americas

Choice Hotels International Inc. announced that they’ve entered into a definitive agreement to buy the franchise business, operations and intellectual property of Radisson Hotel Group Americas for roughly $675 million.

The move adds 624 hotels and about 68,000 rooms to Choice’s portfolio in the upscale and core upper midscale hotel segments, with a focus on the West Coast and Midwest. In a release, Choice said the move would make it easier to “expand Choice Hotels’ presence to additional locations in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Travel Ad Survey Highlights High Tech and Bleisure Trends

A woman on her laptop sits in front of a distant mountain range.

A new survey by AdTheorant/Harris Poll Survey Data designed for travel advertisers highlights travelers’ preferences in trends and technology of interest to both meeting planners and suppliers.

The survey results just released found that “travelers are interested in new types of travel as well as emerging technologies.”

These include:

79%: Microcations (i.e., a short leisure getaway, no more than four nights)
69%: Second-city travel (i.e., traveling off the beaten path, swapping a destination for a lesser known but similar alternative)
67%: Ancestry travel (i.e., visiting a destination based on family history/roots)
67%: Cash-free travel (i.e., traveling without cash)
54%: Solo travel (i.e., going on vacation alone)
54%: Motion-based travel (i.e., trips that involve motion and physical activities such as biking or cycle-based trips, bike-to-boat vacations, swim tours, etc.)
54%: Eco-tourism (i.e., travel that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people, including carbon credits when booking a flight, renting an electric vehicle, volunteering, etc.)
51%: Group retreat travel (i.e., wellness retreat, corporate retreat, music festivals)
46%: Bleisure travel (i.e., combining business and leisure travel in one trip)

The survey also found that travelers are interested in the following emerging technologies that can enhance the travel experience:

66%: Virtual guides for tourism (i.e., a virtual guide that can be accessed via mobile device to provide information about a destination, such as nearby activities, restaurants, and attractions)
66%: Smart hotel rooms (i.e., a hotel room that includes ‘smart’ electronic devices to help guests control lights, room temperature, tv, etc.)
64%: Digital ID (i.e., adding a driver’s license/state ID to a smartphone digital wallet to use as ID while traveling, for example, at TSA checkpoints)
60%: Biometric check-in at airports (i.e., using facial recognition technology to check in at gates and board a flight instead of using a boarding pass or mobile device to check in)
60%: Recognition technology at hotels (i.e., using biometrics, such as facial, voice or fingerprint recognition, to make guest interactions like checking in at hotels, opening hotel room doors, paying for stuff at the hotel more efficient)
51%: Internet chatbots while booking travel (i.e., to assist with the travel booking and reservation process or to help find and book tours/excursions)
50%: Robot concierges (i.e., either a physical robot or virtual assistant that sits at the hotel reception desk to assist guests such as providing info on nearby attractions, booking activities, serving food/drinks)

Meetings takeaway: Travelers are increasingly comfortable with high-tech interfaces in hotels and beyond. Bleisure continues to be a strong driver for people to leave home for meetings and business. Sustainability has become more than a trend, it is now a standard expectation for travelers.

A whopping 69% of travelers are interested in visiting “second-tier cities.”

The 10th NYC Experience Wellness and Travel Media event presented by Organic Spa Media on June 17, 2022 highlighted five major wellness trends that meeting planners should be aware of in booking spa experiences or resorts with wellness-centered offerings.

These trends have relevance for planners in a variety of ways. From what products to put in gift bags and what type of resort to choose, to what experiences groups can enjoy together to maximize wellness, these trends are what spa, resort and wellness pros are talking about now.

In panel discussions and in a release prior to the event, participants mentioned:

Clean Beauty & Self-care: Healthy and natural ingredients; sustainable sourcing; plastic-free packaging, along with diversity and inclusivity in brand leadership and treatments, are more important than ever. Beauty (along with fashion, wellness lifestyle and wellness travel) is embracing ethical responsibility and socially responsible business practices, and touting a commitment to people and planet, with B Corp and Fair-Trade certifications.
Mental Wellness: From psychologists on staff at spas to new meditation and mindfulness practices at wellness centers, to psychedelic healing, an increased focus on mental health can be found throughout the industry, geared toward reducing stress and anxiety.
CBD/Medical Marijuana: CBD is everywhere, and it’s also all over the spa industry, from products and treatments for pain relief to stress reduction, mental balance, anti-aging and inflammation. Next on the horizon: medical marijuana treatments. At the panel discussion on CBD, however, experts warned that CBD can interfere with a wide variety of medical conditions and issues and must be used with caution and much advance information about these potential interactions.
Wellness Journeys: Travelers who no longer want to wait to fulfill their travel dreams and desires, as they “trip-stack” –book longer, back-to-back trips. Popular wellness treatments include red light therapy, infrared saunas, vitamin drips and injections, salt therapies and sound healing as hotel spas and fitness clubs bring “medispas” –and out-of-the-box mind-body modalities–to the mainstream.
Beyond Sustainability: There are eco-trailblazers in luxury hospitality, from those who sought LEED certification early on to carbon-neutral and plastic-free resorts. Not only are bigger brands now signing on, they are looking beyond sustainability toward regenerative practices: regenerative agriculture, giving back and sustaining local communities, Climate Neutral certifications, as well as crafting high-end offerings like plant-based Michelin and five-star menus.

A portrait of Mayan healer Fernanda Montiel holding a healing instrument. She is wearing a blue striped blouse and a white lace skirt. — Fernanda Montiel

The event also featured Mayan healer Fernanda Montiel who worked with participants to clear their auras and offer healing stones as gifts, infused with special intent for each person who undertook the healing. Montiel was at the event with the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal. She is an important indigenous healer who is often a special guest at the resort where she offers similar experiences in a backdrop of the resort’s stunning natural beauty.

The event also featured the Belize Tourism Board’s Senior Travel Trade Officer Mrs. Deborah Arana, who gave an intimate press conference on how the country of Belize is marketing itself to both leisure and business and meetings travelers.

Birding, visiting Mayan ruins, horseback riding and white-water rafting are just some of the experiences groups can have when visiting resorts in Belize, a country that has long been on travelers’ “hot” lists because of its uniqueness and its ease of accessibility to the lower 48 U.S. states.

Memphis, Tennessee, is famous for a lot of reasons—a diverse, creative food scene that capitalizes on the fresh, local ingredients in the Mississippi River town; one of the top pediatric neuroscience programs in the country; the home of soul, blues and rock and roll music; and a dedication to revitalizing historic buildings, rather than starting over, even when the city is in the midst of a building boom.

June’s Le Bon Appetit fundraiser for Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, a 255-bed facility that serves as a primary teaching affiliate for University of Tennessee Health Science Center and one of the top facilities in the country for children in need of brain surgery, incorporated all four of these pillars and brought the cumulative total dollars raised for medical equipment and programming to more than 1 million.

Smart Meetings was in attendance and brought back this report on how to blend the richness of a destination into the agenda for a meaningful event.

A Personal Mission

A tall display of colorful macaroons at the Le Bon Apetit fundraiser.

Chef Kelly English, owner of award-winning Memphis restaurants Iris, Second Line, Fino’s, Panta and Magnolia House, hosted the fourth bi-annual event at Crosstown Concourse (more later on the venue). Rather than preparing his ingredients, however, the morning before the gala found him at a pre-event Chopped-style breakfast cook-off featuring four of the main event celebrity chefs at FedExFamilyHouse, which provides free housing and respite for out-of-town families receiving treatment at Le Bonheur.

Current and former child-patients served as judges of the M&M pancakes and breakfast smoothies as a way to stay connected with the reason for the fundraising dinner. It was in front of this VIP audience that English explained why the cause is so near and dear to his heart.

At the age of six, he spent two months in an adult hospital recovering from a life-threatening fall and his desire to provide a more nurturing environment for treatment and recovery inspired him to partner with Le Bonheur Club. The philanthropic women’s organization started in 1923 in Memphis to sew clothes for a local orphanage and 29 years later established Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and continues to play an integral role in both the fundraising and volunteer arms of the hospital.

Providing children with a toy of their choice from Bunny Lane before surgery to give them a sense of power and hope is one of the personalized traditions Le Bonheur Club manages. But the group also plays a major role in advancing the innovative care for bodies, minds and spirits of child-patients by installing a studio to broadcast art and entertainment from the facility to individual hospital rooms and building a park where patients can get fresh air with their family.

Kelly rallied 30 top chefs from the city and the country to dish up special creations ranging from crawdad stew and refined poached salmon to colorful macarons. Yes, the city is justifiably famous for barbecue and hot chicken, but this event highlighted the sophisticated foodie scene emerging in many of the neighborhoods, many with Michelin Stars to their name. Memphis native and Food Network Chef Claire Robinson joined as the special guest.

Smart Tip: When the event champion is dedicated to the cause, everyone is invested in whipping up the best outcome possible.

The Venue

For such a meaningful event, the venue had to be just as poignant. Crosstown Concourse is an example of the city’s dedication to preserving its roots while innovating uses. The vertical urban development is a creative adaptation of a massive 1927 Sears, Roebuck & Co. distribution center and retail store less than two miles from downtown Memphis which sat abandoned for decades.

A wall in the Memphis Crosstown Concourse, with text reading, "Memphis means Music." The wall depicts oversized vinyl spines lined up next to each other.

A visionary non-profit knitted together 30 funding sources and commitments from nearly 40 founding tenants, including manufacturer Dextrous Robotics, medical, dental and eye care, a high school and university (Christian Brothers) and a theater for live music, film screenings and conferences with modular telescopic seating, two art galleries, a cafe and Art Bar. Housing fills the 400,000 sq. ft. on the upper floors.

That leaves the core Central Atrium open for tenants and visitors enjoying the culinary goodies from five distinctive restaurants in the hall. Memphis Listening Lab is a sophisticated retro space filled with a curated collection of music memorabilia that doubles as an event space for presentations that benefit from the juxtaposition of the city’s pioneering recording history. South Plaza, the front porch of Crosstown Concourse, incorporates elevated green space, seating, water features and canopies. The adjoining street can be blocked off for a block party vibe.

Le Bon Appetit took up the first two floors with chefs serving up tasty bites, hospital supporters catching up, a VIP area with live music (of course) and lots of local art.

Smart Tip: A distinctive space with lots of areas to explore creates an attendee journey they will not soon forget.

Plan with Confidence

From the neon lights of Las Vegas to Atlantic City’s historic pier, Caesars Entertainment’s coast-to-coast empire is continuously evolving ensuring attendees never have the same experience twice.

Caesars Entertainment is home to 50 first-class properties across 20 destinations. With iconic brands well-loved by regular meeting-goers and planners, Caesars continues to elevate its offerings at each of its destinations with new conference spaces, celebrity restaurants, exclusive entertainment options, and more.

Catch up with everything the empire debuted already in 2022 and get a sneak peek at what’s to come for the rest of the year:

Las Vegas

The newest addition to the Caesars Entertainment family, CAESARS FORUM with 550,000 sq. ft. of conference space hosted the 2022 NFL Draft welcoming thousands of ecstatic sports fans. For the ultra-high-profile event, the FORUM created an enormous stage for the draft and stretched its outdoor space including nearby Linq Promenade parking lots to accommodate the massive audience. Located within direct access to 8,500 hotel rooms at Harrah’s Las Vegas, The LINQ, and Flamingo, CAESARS FORUM provides the two largest pillarless ballrooms in the world, modern design, and flexibility.

In close proximity to CAESARS FORUM, the world of celebrity chefs has taken over Paris Las Vegas with a constellation of star-studded restaurants debuting at the property. The world-renowned Chef Nobu Matsuhisa opened a second Las Vegas location for his eponymous Nobu restaurant. Two restaurateurs you’re as likely to see on tv as in the kitchen, Lisa Vanderpump and Bobby Flay, debuted their new Paris concepts – Vanderpump at Paris and Bobby’s Burgers. Still to come is culinary legend Martha Stewart’s first-ever restaurant, The Bedford, later this year.

A series of skyscrapers on the beach in Atlantic City at sunset

Another legend making his Las Vegas debut is EGOT-winner John Legend whose “Love in Las Vegas” residency at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino runs through October. Sharing a theater with the crooner and providing her own flavor of boot-tapping entertainment is country music sweetheart Miranda Lambert with her “Velvet Rodeo, the Las Vegas Residency” engagement in September.

In addition to massive meeting spaces, decadent eateries, and extravagant entertainment, Caesars Entertainment has not failed to update the backbone of any visit: the accommodations. Harrah’s Las Vegas’ rooms and casino floor have undergone extensive renovations. Meanwhile, Bally’s Las Vegas is undergoing a complete transformation from its exterior to its rooms and casino floor to reintroduce itself as Horseshoe Las Vegas by the end of 2022.

Atlantic City

Across the empire, Caesars Entertainment’s three Atlantic City Properties – Caesars Palace, Harrah’s, and Tropicana – are receiving Las Vegas-style makeovers. The $400 million master plan involves beach and bay inspired room remodels, new celebrity dining concepts, showstopping entertainment, and more to create the ultimate seaside conference destination.

At the Tropicana, Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen will be bringing the heat with its second Atlantic City location. Just like its sister property on The Strip, Caesars Atlantic City is getting its very own Nobu restaurant. For entertainment, Spiegelworld – the creators behind the oddball cabaret Absinthe in Las Vegas – will be debuting an original show at Caesars Palace in 2023.

In addition to exciting new food and entertainment concepts, Caesars Entertainment’s investment is making strides in sustainability. DSD Renewables and Caesars Entertainment broke ground this April on an 8.4 MW solar portfolio spanning the Atlantic City properties. Projected to be complete in late 2022, the installations are expected to generate 10,425,453 kWh of clean, renewable energy annually helping propel Caesars toward its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100 percent before 2050.

Plan with Confidence

At Hilton, we’re grateful for the event professional behind the curtain, and as the world seeks out new and innovative ways to get together again, peace of mind is top of our mind. That’s why we pioneered Hilton EventReady with CleanStay, designed to provide curated solutions for every step of the event planning process. From redesigned event spaces and innovative technology resources to inspiring food and beverage options with thoughtful presentations, EventReady with CleanStay provides rigorous cleanliness protocols, book-to-billing flexibility and safe, socially responsible solutions for the most discerning safety and service-conscious event professionals.

And to help our partners in planning breathe a little easier while producing a higher standard of meetings and events, we’ve also created the Hilton EventReady Playbook, accompanied by Local Pages specific to your hosting hotel and surrounding area. The EventReady Playbook is a global resource tailormade to offer planners and meeting hosts the guidance, inspiration and tangible solutions they need to design and activate engaging, safe and socially responsible events.

Functional Flexibility and In-Person Possibilities

Now more than ever, we are confident there is no substitute for the value of meeting, networking and forming business relationships face-to-face. We also know an attendee’s event experience will influence their perceptions of your brand or organization long after the meeting or event concludes. To responsibly host events, Hilton is partnering with planners to achieve their event’s objectives while addressing health concerns and the current COVID-19 climate.

From schematics detailing sample setups for registration, coffee breaks and evening receptions to plans outlining appropriately distanced seating arrangements in classroom, boardroom and theatre-style settings, Hilton’s curated and customizable event sets offer our partners the perfect opportunity to visualize their meeting space before the first attendee ever sets foot on site.

Event Sets are always equipped with sanitization stations, and your event hotel will work with you to reflect your specific needs, as well as any physical distancing and event capacity requirements as directed by local ordinance. Additionally, event hosts will have the opportunity to review and approve the cleanliness of each meeting space 30 minutes prior to the event, per the standards outlined in Hilton’s EventReady R oom Checklist.

Inspired, Innovative Food & Beverage Solutions

Just as other components of hosting have changed, the latest event food and beverage trends reflect advances in serving and sharing food more safely. Our team of culinary experts is taking Hilton hospitality to new heights, mindfully adjusting the service experience to ensure physical distancing and sanitation protocols with individual portions, digital solutions for menus and ordering, attended stations and eco-friendly packaging. We do all of these things while continuing to develop creative and sophisticated F&B offerings that deliver on Hilton’s reputation of culinary innovation.

To learn more about how Hilton is maximizing connections in the current meeting climate, read a case study about our F&B team’s innovative efforts to provide a virtual dine-around activation for trade show attendees in the midst of the pandemic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wajzVhEKIk

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced a new collaboration this week with Unilever to replace travel-sized toiletries with a less wasteful alternative. Rather than replacing amenities after every guest, Dove (Unilever’s biggest brand) will provide hotels with full-size products that can be refilled as needed.

With widespread American brands like Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, avid hotels, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites involved in the deal, IHG is expecting a massive reduction in single-use plastic. They estimate that this partnership will save at least 850 metric tons a year.

Yasmin Diamond, executive vice president of global corporate affairs at IHG, said in a statement, “Transitioning to bulk amenities across our global estate was one of our first significant steps towards eliminating single-use items throughout the guest stay by 2030. We’ll continue to find innovative solutions for operating more sustainably to deliver our purpose of True Hospitality for Good.”

IHG has been phasing out miniature toiletries in its properties since 2019, when it was the first company to promise their removal. A similar partnership to the one with Unilever was formed in December 2021 with European luxury cosmetics brand Byredo, in which InterContinental Hotels & Resorts received large, reusable shower amenities throughout Europe. The program took effect earlier this year, offering refillable bottles of hand wash, body lotion, body wash, shampoo and conditioner.

Read More: Healthy World: Is Net-zero Enough?

Many Roads Lead to Sustainability

Efforts to reduce single-use plastic are only a small part of the sustainability goals set by IHG. Journey to Tomorrow, their multi-pronged approach to becoming a more globally conscious company, follows many of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The program has several categories of goals, including diversity, community, carbon and energy, waste reduction and water conservation. When it comes to managing waste, IHG has three goals to meet by 2030:

Eliminate single-use items entirely, or substitute them for reusable or recyclable alternatives
Minimize food waste through a “prevent, donate, divert” plan (prevent waste through planning, donate excess food, divert food from landfills to compost instead)
Collaborate with other organizations to reuse hotel commodities in a circular program

Specific, actionable goals like those outlined in Journey to Tomorrow are popular with environmentally conscious travelers. An April study conducted by The Vacationer shows that more than 87% of American adults value sustainable travel. Sustainability commitments attract tourists looking to keep their vacations green.

Meeting planners searching for their next venue can look to these same commitments if they want to reduce the carbon footprint of their business trips.

Unilever’s Environmental Goals

Unilever also has a series of sustainability goals that are benefited by its deal with IHG. With a strategy they’ve dubbed the Climate Transition Action Plan (CTAP), the company is focused on reducing the plastic waste and fossil fuel emissions associated with their products.

Broadly, the program aims to redesign products and packaging to prioritize low-emission ingredients, make sustainable choices available to consumers and continue to grow Unilever’s Climate & Nature Fund. CTAP has specific goals to achieve by 2025 as well, such as:

Halve the amount of new plastic used in packaging, with an overall reduction of over 1,000 metric tons
Collect and process more plastic packaging than it sells in its products
Ensure all plastic packaging can be reused, recycled, or composted
Use at least 25% recycled plastic in packaging

CEO of Unilever International Umesh Shah said about the partnership with IHG, “Unilever is committed to making sustainable living commonplace, and we have ambitious targets across every part of our business. We are pleased to partner with IHG Hotels & Resorts to help extend sustainable living into the travel industry.” He praised the reduction in plastic waste that this deal will produce.

The collaboration between IHG and Unilever is part of the broad trend towards sustainable practices in the hospitality industry. As meeting planners and leisure travelers continue to support ecologically friendly venues, hotels will continue to respond to the need for sustainable travel.