Smart Meetings | Page 485 of 603 | Corporate Event Planning: Business Events, Meetings, Conferences

Choo! Choo! The leaves are changing color, the air is getting crisp and the trains are chugging along. Trains were the main form of transportation in yesteryear and they are a great way to keep fall meetings moving. C’mon, baby, let’s do the locomotion aboard these seven sightseeing railroads.

Angels Flight in Los Angeles

Photo credit: Eric Garcetti

If you’re hosting an event in Downtown Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center or any of the major hotels, consider treating your guests to a ride on the historic Angels Flight Railway, the world’s shortest railway. The steep tracks take passengers 298 feet uphill and downhill between Hill Street and Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill. Since its inception in 1901, Angels Flight has given 100 million-plus rides. It closed in 2013 due to a derailment and has since undergone extensive upgrades. It reopened in August with prices that will make you feel like it’s still 1901: $1 per person, or 50 cents with a Metro Tap Card.

Napa Valley Wine Train in Napa Valley

No designated driver is necessary for the Napa Valley Wine Train. This old-fashioned railway was established in 1864. Groups of up to 300 can enjoy gourmet dining, local wine tasting and scenic views of 25 miles of vineyards through the railcar’s large windows.

Revolution Rail Co. in Adirondack Mountains

How’s this for a fun team building activity? Railbiking through the beautiful Adirondack Mountains during the fall foliage season! Riders pedal their way down the tracks in North Creek, New York, for a six-mile guided tour over the river and through the woods.

Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh

Feast your eyes on breathtaking views of Pittsburgh from 400 feet above the ground. The Duquesne Incline began operating on May 20, 1877, and is one of the country’s only remaining inclines. The rail system continues to use its original cable cars. Groups can schedule complimentary tours of the upper station, which contains a museum of the city’s history and the machine room.

Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City, North Carolina

fun trains activity

Photo credit: Bryson City / Swain County NC Chamber of Commerce

Get your tickets to board the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad that takes passengers through the countryside of Western North Carolina. There are diesel and steam powered trains, depending on which line you ride, that travel across 53-miles of track, through two tunnels and over 25 bridges. With 125 varieties of trees along the route, including oak, birch, sugar maple and Fraser fir, this is a great way to take in the fall foliage. The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is so picturesque it can be seen in The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford; My Fellow Americans, starring Jack Lemmon, James Garner and Dan Aykroyd; Digging to China, starring Kevin Bacon and Evan Rachel Wood; and Forces of Nature, starring Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck.

Guests over the age of 21 can reserve the first class car, which includes luxurious furniture, a meal, large windows and a souvenir tumbler. You can even designate a special seat for tour bus drivers to come along for the ride. Plus, everyone gets to visit a Lionel train museum. Another fun option is renting out the caboose for a picnic.

Royal Gorge Route Railroad in Canon City, Colorado

Royal Gorge Route Railroad is gorgeous. In addition to stunning scenery, Royal Gorge also offers murder mystery events, a rolling restaurant for lunch or dinner and Ales on Rails, a beer pairing experience. It has been family-owned since 1999 and accepts group reservations.

Scenic World in Blue Mountains, Australia

The #ScenicRailway has carried more than 29mill passengers since 1945, with the new look railway welcoming 4mill pax since the 2013 upgrade🚂 pic.twitter.com/iR52wHUocu

— Scenic World (@scenicworld_aus) August 23, 2017

Hold your breath and leave your fear of heights at home. Australia’s Scenic World features an amusement park ride in the middle of a forest. Not quite a rollercoaster, the Scenic Railway is the steepest passenger railway in the world. Thrill seekers can choose their own adventure of up to a 64-degree incline.

Since 1945, the Scenic Railway has welcomed more than 29 million passengers and was completely refurbished in 2013. It descends through a cliff-side tunnel and takes 84 passengers through the Jamison Valley floor, giving guests stunning views of Three Sisters rock formation. Scenic World is also home to event space for conferences.

Gabriela Ong

Gabriela Ong was promoted to vice president of sales for Meet Puerto Rico, where she has been brand sales manager, northeast for three years. Based in the New York area, Ong will drive sales and grow brand awareness through meetings, incentives and marketing events. She’ll be holding promo events worldwide in Frankfurt, Barcelona, Mexico City, Chicago, Orlando, Las Vegas, Toronto and Montego Bay, Jamaica. Ong previously worked in sales manager positions at the InterContinental New York Barclay, Marriott International, Sheraton Stamford and InterContinental New York Times Square.

Photo Credit: Meet Puerto Rico

Darren Temple

MPI appointed Darren Temple chief operations officer. He previously served as the association’s chief business development officer. He’ll be strategizing and executing business plans to grow revenue, oversee global sales and manage the education, events, marketing and communications departments. Temple served on the MPI Board of Directors from 2012-2014 and joined the MPI Global Team in September 2014. He previously worked for Visit Dallas, PSAV Presentation Services and Freeman.

Photo Credit: MPI

Will Jones

Montage International named Will Jones hotel manager of Montage Palmetto Bluff, where he’ll oversee rooms, food and beverage and the spa at the Bluffton, South Carolina resort. He was previously general manager of Keswick Hall and Golf Club in Charlottesville, Virginia, and has worked at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island and Beaver Run Resort & Conference Center in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Photo Credit: Montage

Craig Thomas

Montage International has appointed Craig Thomas director of sales and marketing for Montage Deer Valley in Park City, Utah. In this position, he’s responsible for revenue strategies and managing the sales and marketing teams. He previously worked at The Ritz-Carlton in Cancun, Jamaica and Caribbean and the Peninsula Hotel Company.

Photo Credit: Montage

Brittany Cordova

Brittany Cordova has been promoted within the Anaheim offices of Edlen Electrical Exhibition Services. She is now assistant general manager. Cordova first joined the company in 2014 and has played a pivotal part in the company’s partnership with Los Angeles Convention Center.

Photo Credit: Edlen

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walkie talkie

Communication is key during natural disasters and meeting planning. When cell phone reception is shoddy, millions of people are now turning to the walkie talkie app Zello.

Alexey Gavrilov founded Austin-based Zello in late 2011, but the communications tool was not getting mainstream media attention until last week when it played a pivotal role in the Hurricane Harvey rescue efforts in Houston. It allowed first responders and volunteers to connect with people who needed to be rescued.

As Florida braces for Hurricane Irma, Zello has seen a surge in downloads. It’s gaining more than one million new users per day, making it the number one app—even over popular social media apps Facebook and Instagram, according to CEO Bill Moore.

This is not the first generation of push-to-talk mobile technology. Remember the old Nextel cell phones that enabled walkie talkie conversations with other Nextel users? Whatever happened to those? In 2005, Sprint acquired Nextel, which had 25 million subscribers at the time.

The cellular provider’s “replacement wasn’t Nextel anymore,” says Moore. “[People] often miss it and so when they find Zello, they love it.” Several former Nextel Communications executives have since branched out to form pdvWireless, a New Jersey-based push-to-talk and two-way radio technology company that offers service in several major U.S. cities.

Hotels & Events Say Hello to Zello

Hundreds of hotels have also turned to Zello, typically installing the app on iPods or employees’ Smartphones. Each department within the hotel can create their own radio channel to facilitate group communication amongst supervisors and staff. For instance, there can be separate channels for housekeeping, front desk, valet, maintenance and banquets. Hotels can set up a dedicated channel for a meeting professional and their team for an event. An unlimited number of channels can be created.

The range also knows no bounds, which is a handicap of the traditional walkie-talkie where users must be in close proximity to one another. Zello users can participate in a conversation or listen in to a channel no matter their distance from the action. Managers can monitor productivity from near or far.

Zello does rely on a Wi-Fi or data connection, so there is no guarantee it will be accessible in all situations. Moore offers a flicker of hope, though. “Zello works often when nothing else will,” Moore says. Many hotels and casinos, for instance, have dead zones where people struggle to make and receive phone calls. It only requires a 2G connection, much lower than other methods of communication. Much less of the “Can you hear me now?”

Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Moore has seen major improvements by mobile providers, taking note of a significant decrease in cell site outages. “In Harvey, it was under four-percent,” he says. “The probability that there is zero cell coverage is pretty low.” Users should also be careful to conserve cell phone battery power if there is a blackout and not drain all the remaining juice by over-using this or any feature.

Zello is free to download and has the option of private and public channels. Moore ensures that it’s highly secure with military-grade encryption. Meeting professionals seeking an added layer of security can subscribe to Zello Work for only $6 per-user, per-month, which enables an administrator to require verification for anyone requesting to join the channel.

One of Zello’s clients used to spend $50,000 on radios for conferences, but saved a ton by switching to the app, totaling under $600. The South by Southwest (SXSW) and Tournament of Roses are just two major events that have signed on to utilize this push-to-talk tech.

NFL Draft Boosts Philly’s CVB

Are you ready for some football? Just in time for last tonight’s NFL Kickoff game between the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) recently released statistics about the benefits of hosting the NFL Draft in April of this year.

“When we chose to pursue the Draft, we did so with the goal of an economic win for our city and region,” Julie Coker Graham, PHLCVB president and CEO, says in a press release. “We are thrilled that not only did it generate substantial economic activity for Philadelphia, but we were also successful in showing the world that this city is a premier destination for sports, big events and tourism in general.”

And win they did. The Draft generated an estimated $94.9 million for the City of Brotherly Love, exceeding their projections of $80 million. Over the course of three days, attendance was recorded at 250,000 people. Out-of-towners from 42 states accounted for 63 percent of attendees with 17 percent choosing to stay overnight. These stats boosted hotel revenue by 11 percent in comparison to the same date range the previous year. In total, 18,991 room nights were booked in the region.

Data was collected and analyzed by Temple University’s Sport Industry Research Center (SIRC). Results were published in the NFL Draft Event Impact Report. PHLCVB also worked closely with Visit Philadelphia to pull off the massive undertaking.

A bit of Draft trivia: Philadelphia hosted the historic first NFL Draft in 1936 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. It returned to the city in 1949-1950, 1953-54, 1956 (first three rounds) and 1957-1961. Other past host cities include New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

Daniel Surette

Omni Hotels & Resorts named Daniel Surette vice president of sales. He’ll create and implement profitable strategies for the brand and oversee the global sales team and regional directors of sales and marketing. Surette previously worked for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for more than 15 years and Hyatt Hotels Corporation for more than 10 years. He’s been a member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI).

Photo Credit: Omni Hotels & Resorts

Amber Kasses

Amber Kasses joined Sofitel New York as director of sales and marketing. She’s coming off nine years at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, most recently at Fairmont Newport Beach. Kasses previously worked at The Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston.

Photo Credit: Sofitel New York

Ron Sandvig

Conrad Bora Bora appointed Ron Sandvig director of sales and marketing, where he’ll be leading efforts for the U.S. and Canada. He was most recently at Island Hotel in Newport Beach, California, and previously spent a decade at Terrenea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. He’s also worked for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and The Westin in Long Beach, California.

Photo Credit: Conrad Bora Bora

Ed Skapinok

Ed Skapinok became senior vice president of sales, marketing and revenue at Aqua-Aston Hospitality in Honolulu. He previously worked for Hostmark Hospitality Group in Shaumberg, Illinois, Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants, Sheraton Hotels and InterContinental Hotels Group. Skapinok dedicates time to Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) as chairman of the organization’s sales advisory board.

Photo Credit: Aqua-Aston Hospitality

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When out-of-towners visit California, one of the most frequently requested must-stops is In-N-Out Burger to get a Double-Double, go all-out with Animal Style or get adventurous with the secret menu. Although the fast food chain is conveniently located all over the state, if you’re busy in meetings, wouldn’t it be way easier for the restaurant to set up shop at the convention center?

Well, good news! Meeting professionals can hire the In-N-Out Cookout Trailer to park on-site and bring the popular eatery to you. But, take note: the signature fries are not available. Potato chips are served instead.

Food trucks have become synonymous with California culture. Event spaces all over the Golden State have designated zones for these restaurants-on-the-move. Trucks can line up outside the Anaheim Convention Center along the 36,000 sq. ft. of usable space in the Grand Plaza.

Slightly north of there, The Long Beach Convention Center debuted The Cove event space this summer, which Visit Long Beach is calling “Southern California’s premier street party venue.” Covered by a concrete ceiling, you can host an outdoor food truck event rain or shine. Inspired by the design of a TED conference, The Cove is adorned with six crystal chandeliers, barnacle-looking light fixtures by Caesar’s Las Vegas designers, marine décor and more than 110 LED lights.

Up in the Bay Area, Spark Social SF is a food truck park located in the Mission Bay neighborhood. They have partnered with more than 150 different food trucks that rotate daily for lunch and dinner, so there’s always something new to try. The space is available to rent for private events or their Streat Fleet can arrange for trucks to drive over to you.

If you don’t have time to dedicate to coordinating a food truck festival for your next event, a company such as Off the Grid can book the vendors for you. Their catering team has a tremendous roster of 200 food trucks.

Benefits of food trucks include having a wide variety of cuisine to satisfy the taste buds of everyone. Plus, it gets attendees outside to enjoy some beautiful California weather.

Wave Street Inn

Inns of Monterey tah-dahed the opening of Wave Street Inn in Monterey, a complete renovation of what was previously Otter Inn. The 32-room, ultra-hip property near Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium joins sister properties Monterey Bay Inn, Victorian Inn and Casa Munras.

The Jeremy West Hollywood

Starwood Capital Group acquired the 286-room The Jeremy West Hollywood this summer and will transform it over the next year into 1 West Hollywood as part of the eco-conscious 1 Hotels luxury brand. It features 10,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and a rooftop bar and lounge with killer views of the Hollywood Hills and downtown Los Angeles.

Hotel Drisco, Pacific Heights

Hotel Drisco, Pacific Heights, a 1903 Edwardian boutique hotel sitting prettily atop San Francisco’s most upscale neighborhood, renovated all 48 guest rooms, adding new furniture, sound insulation and radiant heating in the bathrooms. A new, high-speed elevator and updated lighting and carpeting in the dining room (scene of one of the city’s best continental breakfasts) and boardroom focus on comfort.

Kimpton Everly, Hollywood

The 216-room, brand-new Kimpton Everly Hollywood savors 360-degree views of classic Hollywood skyline. Built around an open lobby with towering 28-foot ceilings and an all-glass Library room. The property includes 10,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including a high-ceilinged ballroom. Two restaurants—Jane Q and Ever Bar—and rooftop pool with cabanas offer more gathering options.

Krysten Douglas

Visit Indy has promoted Krysten Douglas to senior sales manager, D.C. market. Douglas will work closely with organizations in D.C., Virginia and Maryland to draw large meetings to Indianapolis, which was named the number one convention city in the U.S. by USA Today. She’s been with Visit Indy since graduating from Indiana University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in tourism management.

Photo Credit: Visit Indy

Cindy Zimmerman

Le Pavillon Hotel in New Orleans hired Cindy Zimmerman as director of sales and marketing. She joins the team from Georgetown University Hotel & Conference Center in Washington, D.C. Zimmerman previously worked at the Helmsley Hotel in New York City.

Photo Credit: Le Pavillon Hotel

MarQuies Willis

Kimpton Solamar Hotel in San Diego promoted MarQuies Willis to associate director of sales. He’ll oversee business development, train and mentor the sales team and assist with creating and developing revenue plans. Willis began his career in hospitality when he joined Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in 2006 in the Washington, D.C., area. He relocated to the San Diego property in 2014 as sales manager.

Photo Credit: Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants

Andrew Gee

Outrigger Hotel and Resorts in Sydney, Australia, appointed Andrew Gee to vice president of sales and marketing, Asia Pacific. He was previously regional director of sales and marketing, Australia and New Zealand. Gee worked at Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort for more than 13 years and was at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts before that. He entered the hospitality realm as a travel consultant for Thomas Cook Travel, before becoming marketing manager for Taronga Zoo. Gee won the New South Wales Young Achiever in Tourism Award.

Photo Credit: Outrigger Hotels & Resorts

Connie Hagston

Benchmark Resorts & Hotels named Connie Hagston director of sales and marketing at Chaminade Resort & Spa in Santa Cruz, California. During her 20-plus years in the business, she won 2014 Sales Team of the Year at The Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California, and Key Contributor and Sales Leader of the Year awards at The Lodge at Sonoma, a Marriott Renaissance Resort & Spa in Sonoma, California. Hagston also previously worked at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.

Photo Credit: Benchmark Resorts & Hotels

Michelle Engstrom

Davidson Hotels & Resorts introduced Michelle Engstrom as corporate director of venue marketing and programming for Pivot Hotels & Resorts. Her background is in nightlife marketing. At SLS Las Vegas, she worked with The Foundry, Foxtail Nightclub & Pool and The Sayers Club. With TAO Group, she worked with TAO, LAVO, TAO Beach and Marquee Nightclub and Dayclub, also in Vegas. Engstrom spent time in event marketing for Bolthouse Productions/SBE as well.

Photo Credit: PRNewsfoto/Davidson Hotels & Resorts

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The silver lining behind the dark clouds of long layovers, flight delays and just plain painful gate seating areas is the airport lounge. It is an oasis of luxurious decor, healthy snacks and relaxing chair massages in an otherwise noisy, uncertain world.

These escapes are not all the same, however. Here are some of the best from around the country and what it takes to gain entry to these exclusive retreats.

Qantas LAX Business Lounge

Behold the comforting circle of the communal fireplace, the complimentary bar service, California-style food carts and iMac-equipped work stations. This enclave on level 5 of the Departures Terminal is available to first class and international travelers and Qantas Club members.

Virgin Atlantic JFK Clubhouse

Think cool European bar crossed with a top-rated brasserie and a country-club spa. This decidedly uptown experience located on the departure level of Terminal 4 is available to Virgin America first class and main cabin select passengers who purchase a pass.

Cathay Pacific Lounge at SFO

This newly expanded salle d’attente located on the fourth floor of South Departure Hall in San Francisco International Terminal offers the comfort of the brand’s iconic leather chairs and top-notch noodle bar with the convenience of spacious workstations. Plus, lots of places to recharge electronics and private shower suites. It is available to Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon or One World carrier first class passengers and one guest.

The Centurion Lounge at IAH

The latest American Express benefit in Terminal D of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston is a taste of James Beard Award-winning Chef Justin Yu’s vegetable-forward masterpieces. Like other Centurion lounges in LGA, MIA, DFW, LAX, SFO and SEA, this reprieve from the airport hoi polloi is complimentary for global American Express Platinum Card and Centurion Members. (HKG and PHL options are coming soon.)

Delta Sky Club at ATL

The new flagship escape at Atlanta International Airport, high above B Concourse, is an experience that combines Southern cooking (as interpreted by local celebrity Chef Linton Hopkins), Georgia artists and regional history—all the while making it easy to get business done between flights. Every seat features power outlets and Wi-Fi and there’s the option to rent AV-equipped conference rooms. Other conference room locations include BOS, CVG, DFW and DTW.

United Polaris Lounge at ORD

Newest on the scene at O’Hare International Airport near Gate C18 is the refreshing luxury of spa-like showers with Cowshed products, day beds, white-noise machines and a buffet from award-winning chef Art Smith. Additional lounges are planned for international premium cabin passengers in IAH, LAX, EWR, SFO, IAD, HKG, LHR and NRT.

Steve Jobs Theater at the Apple Campus in Cupertino. Photo courtesy of Apple.

The brand-new Steve Jobs Theater is proud of its curves! The circular building made its much-anticipated big debut this morning at Apple Campus in Cupertino, California. This is where the tech giant unveiled the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and updates to Apple TV, Apple Watch and their retail stores.

Before Apple CEO Tim Cook stepped on the stage to announce the brand’s latest product line, the audience heard the inspiring words of the company’s late founder, Steve Jobs, play over the speakers.

“It was only fitting that Steve should open his theater,” Cook said of the company’s forefather. “It is the honor of a lifetime to be the first to welcome you to the Steve Jobs Theater… We dedicate this theater to Steve because we loved him and he loved days like this.”

The truly out-of-this-world Silicon Valley property is meant to look like a spaceship. The glass-enclosed lobby of Steve Jobs Theater can be seen from the Earth’s surface. The 20-foot-tall, rounded window panes make it the “most state-of-the-art curvaceous theater,” Cook boasted. The 165-foot-wide clear cylinder is topped with a metallic carbon-fiber roof.

Underground, guests will find the 1,000-seat auditorium, where Apple employees and media packed the house for the announcements. Each seat reportedly cost a whopping $14,000.

Attendees can descend into the theater by a staircase or an elevator that rotates. Instead of entering the elevator in one door and exiting through a door on the opposite side of the lift, the elevator rotates, so riders exit through the same door but face in the opposite direction. It looks like a pneumatic tube used by bank tellers, cashiers or The Jetsons. Watch as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak went for a spin:

Woz descending. #appleevent pic.twitter.com/vVopi3xKy2

— David Katzmaier (@dkatzmaier) September 12, 2017

There’s reportedly a retractable wall to keep products top-secret and hidden from view until it’s time for the big reveal. “One of the great things about this theater is an unbelievable hands-on area,” Cook said.

Jobs’ legacy will live on in the theater. It is located atop a hill amongst 9,000 trees on the 175-acre Apple Campus that will open later this year to 12,000 employees. There will also be a retail store and visitor’s center, where the general public can come enjoy an augmented reality experience. Cook said they prioritized renewable energy in the design of the property and they “have one of the world’s largest solar installations.”