This afternoon I stopped in at the St. Thomas Service Center for their open house. The print shop's director, John Barron, is a creative and enthusiastic guy. The fun and games open house was set to up showcase their services and the new iGen Xerox machine. I felt like Edith Ann (OMG reference circa 1970) as the machine towered over my head by at least 5'. The shop can print custom baseball cards, table tents, beautiful folders, vinyl adhesive for floor advertising and so much more. Really good prices and the team takes their work seriously. It's easy to see they take a lot of pride in getting the job done right. Email John, jpbarron@stthomas.edu,  for a quote.

I'm listening to the service at Fort Hood. What a sad event to plan. I'm thinking about the routine and importance of tradition. They ended the service with a roll call. Names of soldiers were announced and they responded "Here Sergeant Major". However, every other name called was the name of a soldier killed at Fort Hood and there was silence. It really brought the point home that they are no longer here. So sad for the families and a reminder of the all military personnel who have lost their lives. Especially poignant the day before Veterans Day.
 

 

Tera Fox, Sales Manager, from the St. Paul Hotel hosted a few Indys for a Wild Night Out. That's what I'm calling it. I was a hockey virgin until last night. Not only did I learn Tera is a Wisconsin girl, like me, she was the first bride to have a reception at Lambeau Field after its renovation. Tera grew up in Green Bay so you can see where her loyalties lie. My niece is having her wedding photos at Lambeau next year. Hey ya gotta love a Packer fan!

In 2010 The St. Paul Hotel will celebrate its 100th anniversary. The property has so much charm and as you know great staff only enhances the property's appeal.  I love the feel of the cozy bar and the food is fantastic. The sleeping rooms are nicely appointed and have great views of the city. Tera mentioned the rooms had bathrooms in the original design. I've been in historical properties that have been reworked to accommodate modern conveniences and look hinky. That's not the case here. The hotel has nice meeting space on the street and lower level including a sophisicated boardroom and the M St. Cafe available after they serve lunch.

The property is a hot spot with all the activities at Excel, Ordway and the Civic Center. The twinkle the trees across the street in Rice Park make it a romantic spot or good scenery for a girls night out. Check them out online St. Paul Hotel.

All the best!
Diane

I'm working on a project setting up small meetings around the country. No sleeping rooms just a meeting for 25 with F&B. I've called four properties in Birmingham, Alabama and none of them will book a space for me until I'm 30 days out. The rule is I need a minimum of 10 sleeping rooms to book. A few have offered with a big room rental fee. I've set up about 24 meetings and except for a few I'm booking them right away. It's interesting to do so many at once to compare the response time and how easy they make the process.

All the best!

I was calling VA (Veterans Administration) centers for a project today. The automated voicemail system gave me these prompts. First choice: "If you are having a medical emergency hang up and dial 911."  Second choice: "The suicide hotline is 800-..." Third choice: If you are calling about the swine flu..." Dial 1 if you are calling during regular adminstrative hours. "I dialed 1: "If you are having an emotional crisis dial 1." If I wasn't having one before, I'm having one now!!

A Calhoun Beach Club client is unhappy and it goes further than their administrative office. CJ, the Minneapolis StarTribune columnist writes about the Liz Logelin Foundation experience. Read more CiU1PciUoaEYY_4PcUU" target=_blank>C.J.s Column.

I'm back!
Diane

I participated in a webinar today hosted by One Smooth Stone a strategic partner of Hinton & Grusich. I thought it was really valuable and informative. A talking point that struck me was that companies are not necessarily cancelling events because of cost but in this environment it's about reputational risk. As planners we need to help our clients make the case for the value of meetings. I've got some thinking to do to create talking points for my clients. Two new websites that may interest you are www.meetingindustrycrisiscenter.org and www.meetingsmeanbusiness.com.  

All the best!
Diane

I just returned from Orlando where I was a TD on a 1500 pax program held at Rosen's Shingle Creek. The two-year old property has 1,500 guest rooms. It's big, 445,000 sqare feet of dedicated meeting space, my feet will vouch for it's size. I thought it was a great property and the staff was really on the ball.

Hotel owner Harris Rosen owns and operates seven Orlando properties. He's known for his casual demeanor and hands on work style. He made an appearance at our event as he partnered with the meeting group for a charity component. The attendees stuffed animals, put together shelves, rocking chairs, washed used toys and more all in conjunction with donations to Central Florida charities.  

Rosen is very involved in the community. He made a $20 million gift to fund 165 scholarships and established the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, which opened in 2004 at the University of Central Florida. http://www.hospitality.ucf.edu/.

Pictures from my walk out the back of the hotel to the nature trail around the hotel.

     

Established caterers Create Catering opened Dining Studio, an event space near Jackson & Broadway Streets, in Northeast Minneapolis. The space is an open warehouse room and it has a real warmth to it, I'm not sure if that was due to the rug and lighting or the kind hosts and talented chefs/owners...probably both. Chef Philip Dorwart has been catering for the past two years. Prior to that he was at Tryg's, Table of Contents and Tejas.  Phil and his wife, Desiree, have a farm in Wadena and use the farm's produce in their catering creations 

My experience at the Dining Studio was an event planner open house. The open house featured two other vendors: a chocolatier Brian Conn of Ruby-Moon and Elli Ansari and Barb Birr of Flavorroad. Brian creates his chocolates in the caterers kitchen. He has great placement for a new product., the Ivy uses his chocolates in their turndown service. 

The second vendor was Flavorroad. They specialize in branding food products. Elli and Barb are two smart women that understand food, branding, marketing and business. The can source food products for a gift or create the food item. 

So that's what I know,
Diane
 

Yesterday I attended the State of the Industry event hosted by Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal. IVL provided key pads for surveys during the presentations. The key pads had a microphone feature. The sound quality varied on the audience member but it was better than running through the audience trying to get a microphone for comments.

One of the keynote speakers was Joe Pine author of the book Authenticity. It's his second book about the experience economy. We all know people are not just looking for an event but an experience. I thought his first slide showed a great example of taking something ordinary and making it an experience. The picture was a gumball machine that dropped the gumball thorough clear plastic spiral. Each attendee received a copy of his book which I plan to read.

Finally the event was held at the new Westin near the Galleria in Edina. It's a nice looking property. The lunch was tasty and the staff was friendly and really on top of the service.  I liked the green themed break: Green apples, green cans of Immune Nutrisoda, chips and guacamole and an oversize cylinder of all green M&Ms. You can imagine what state everyone left the hotel after eating only green M&Ms.

All the best!
Diane