Topgolf @Topgolf
Topgolf is the perfect place to host your corporate event! Flexible food & drink catering menu options and a dedicated staff make it fun and easy.
Caesars Entertainment offers meeting and event planners one dedicated team that works as a united front, committed to providing the most successful meeting experiences possible. Enjoy elite perks, rewards and privileges with our Total Rewards Meeting Diamond Program.
Click here to fill out the survey for your chance to win!
It’s impressive how Montreal has embraced 3D projection mapping technology for content delivery.
3D projection mapping has the power to transform environments and event experiences. With this technology, that uses video projectors to display images and footage on a variety of surfaces and shapes, event professionals can create truly immersive experiences. You can transport participants to gardens, mountains, waterfalls, lakes, the desert and, in fact, any setting you choose.
3D projection mapping has applications that transcend décor, staging, backdrops and entertainment. For example, images can be projected on faces and costumes.
Tablescapes anyone?
In conjunction with Montreal’s 375-year anniversary, there are a number of 3D projection mapping installations that deliver historical content in a compelling and memorable way.
Aura
In Old Montreal, the city’s historical district, Notre-Dame Basilica (where Celine Dion was married) is transformed nightly through Aura, a truly immersive 3D projection mapping experience. Aura is a splendid example of how spaces can come to life through the magic of 3D projection mapping.
Aura is a fresh approach to presenting the history and architecture of Notre-Dame Basilica, one of Montreal’s most iconic buildings.
Expo 67, live
In 1967, during Canada’s Centennial, Montreal hosted the World’s Fair. Terre des Homme was an important experience in Montreal’s history that energized the city and left a number of legacy event venues and outdoor spaces that are still in use today.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Expo 67, a concrete esplanade between the buildings of Place des Arts, which was also unveiled in 1967, was transformed through 3D projection mapping. Expo 67 Live created a living time capsule. This electrifying presentation gave Montrealers a chance to re-live Expo 67 and the era in which it took place. It was also an opportunity to share it with generations that were yet unborn when it took place.
Cité Mémoire – Montréal en Histoires
In collaboration with Michel Marc Bouchard, Montreal artists Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon have created not one, not two but 29 installations as part of Cité Mémoire – Montréal en Histoires. (The experience started with 23 and more have been added as the year has professed.) In a welcome departure from boring presentations about history, giant tableaus spread throughout Old Montreal, trace the history of the city through engaging, urban multi-media experiences.
Video footage is projected on a variety of surfaces including giant screens, buildings, a clock tower, fountains, trees, alley ways and parks. Some of the tableaus are interactive and, as people move through them, the images are transformed.
Take a peek:
Before heading off to Old Montreal, the public is invited to download the app for guidance to the augmented reality that enhances the experience.
The next time you need to transform an event venue or breathe new life into what would otherwise be boring historical or technical information, consider 3D projection mapping.
Caesars Entertainment offers meeting and event planners one dedicated team that works as a united front, committed to providing the most successful meeting experiences possible. Enjoy elite perks, rewards and privileges with our Total Rewards Meeting Diamond Program.
Click here to fill out the survey for your chance to win!
The cost of education—from college all the way to professional development throughout one’s career—is significant. Knowing this, groups throughout the meeting and event industry have banded together for years to help ensure a sustainable pipeline of skilled professionals. As a result, there is now an incredible supply of scholarships to be had, thanks to generous donations from your planner peers, industry suppliers and professional associations.
The following rundown of scholarships available to students and professionals in the meeting and event industry isn’t all-encompassing, but it will help you plan the next steps in your career growth in a way that utilized existing resources and tools without draining your savings.
Meeting Professionals International
Last year, the MPI Foundation disbursed hundreds of scholarships and grants totaling more than $250,000. The ways in which these funds can aid your professional career are as wide and varied as the organizations and individuals who sponsor the programs. Following are some examples of available scholarships from the MPI Foundation.
The Membership Scholarship covers the cost of a new Preferred MPI membership (up to a $489 value).
The Professional Development Scholarship, only available to MPI members, covers, partially or fully, the cost of any MPI Academy courses, including the Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM), the Healthcare Meeting Compliance Certificate (HMCC), MPI’s Experiential Event Series programs, Basics Bootcamp and much more.
Conference Scholarships, only available to MPI members, cover costs to attend events such as the World Education Congress (WEC), IMEX America and IMEX in Frankfurt.
The Academic Scholarship is specific to students attending the Rosen College at the University of Central Florida and universities in Toronto. Universal Orlando Meetings & Events also funds two scholarships each year for students attending San Diego State University’s Master’s in Hospitality and Tourism Management program.
The PCMA Education Foundation funds more than 150 scholarships each year to help students, faculty and experienced professionals in the industry. Following are some examples of scholarship opportunities that have been offered from the PCMA Education Foundation (check online for application deadlines).
The Convening Leaders Global Scholarship is awarded to 10 industry professionals who are based and plan events outside of North America. This scholarship includes complimentary registration, accommodations and airfare to attend PCMA’s Convening Leaders event.
The Roy B. Evans Student Scholarship provides $7,500 in tuition assistance to up to two PCMA student members.
The Deborah Sexton Education Scholarship is available to four individuals with at least three years of experience in the event industry. Recipients get continuing education and travel funds of $7,500, a free ride at the Convening Leaders conference, three years of PCMA membership, one-on-one coaching with Sexton and more.
The Foundation Scholars Program offers a tuition award of $3,500, registration, airfare and accommodations to attend the PCMA Convening Leaders event and more for up to five undergraduate students.
The Network of Executive Women in Hospitality
The Network of Executive Women in Hospitality (NEWH) has given more than $6 million in scholarships to more than 2,350 students over the past 35 years. These funds are reserved for students seeking a career in the hospitality industry. Following are some examples of scholarships from NEWH. Applications for these scholarships are typically due by late summer or fall.
The NEWH Leadership $10,000 scholarship is open to hospitality management students every other year. Applications for this sizable award open in spring 2020.
The NEWH Icon of Industry $7,500 Scholarship is awarded to one design student at the Boutique Design Gold Key Awards Gala.
The NEWH BrandED $7,500 scholarship is open to hospitality management students and awarded in winter and late summer.
Scholarships named for Ken Schindler and Clifford R. Tuttle each provide $5,000 to one student in hospitality interior design and includes a paid trip to attend HD’s Platinum Circle Awards event.
The International Association of Exhibitions and Events
The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) grants several scholarships and financial awards each year while remembering important leaders who left a mark on the industry.
Helen Brett Scholarships are given to students pursuing careers in exhibition management. In 2019, the scholarship was given to eight recipients with each receiving $5,000 in tuition assistance. Applications are due June 1—so you’ve got time to get situated for the 2020 deadline.
Available for a variety of purposes such as attending professional events worldwide and pursuing the CEM designation, the Bob Dallmeyer Education Fund has no specific financial limit. There are two annual deadlines for the grants, April 1 and September 1.
Other industry scholarships
The Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) David Riddell Memorial Scholarship funds the costs to attend the organization’s education programs, including the Global Conference (up to $3,000), for numerous future leaders each year. The process includes submitting an essay. Two individuals received this scholarship last year.
The Timothy S. Y. Lam Foundation was established in 2012 to honor its namesake and aid those in the hospitality industry. The foundation awards $2,000 tuition-based scholarships for students as well as exam-related scholarships to help professionals attain certifications (CMP, CPCE, CSEP). The foundation also provides travel (up to $2,000) and research grants (up to $10,000).
The Patti J. Shock Scholarship, offered through a partnership between The International School of Hospitality and The Foundation of NACE (National Association for Catering and Events), grants catering as well as meeting professionals the cost of tuition and fees for the Meeting and Event Catering Certificate Program ($1,800). Applications are now open
There are numerous scholarships specifically available to industry professionals pursuing the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation.
The Midwest Meetings CMP Scholarship covers the CMP exam fee for up to four U.S. Midwest-based MPI members. Applications are accepted year-round.
The MPI Foundation’s Professional Development Scholarship can be granted to reimburse MPI members for costs related to attaining the CMP.
While this article is directed at speakers, meeting professionals can sneak a peek to better understand the preparation undertaken by effective speakers. From this, planners can learn to better ascertain the suitability of a specific speaker—and even do some advance prep to ensure things run smoothly.
There are many ways to successfully deliver a presentation and even more ways to fail at it. Here are common mistakes that speakers make—professional speakers included—each of which have to do with a lack of adequate preparation.
Not understanding the assignment
Before ever leaving your own office, it is critical to understand why you have been scheduled to speak to this group at this time. Such understanding necessitates that you read about the organization, get information about the audience’s current challenges and hot buttons and learn what the meeting planner has in mind for the presentation. Five-minute conversations over the phone don’t tend to supply you with all you need to know in that area.
If you’re a celebrity speaker, you are brought in so that attendees can go home and say, “I saw so and so.” It barely matters what you speak about as long as you are semi-coherent and don’t offend the group. From the rest of us, however, the people in the seats desire to hear things that directly relate to the professional and personal challenges they face. Or, they want to hear about issues of universal importance, i.e. affecting their communities, state, nation or the planet.
The only way to come armed with the proper information about the scenario and setting is to spend at least an hour researching the group and the situation.
Failing to know your audience
Beyond understanding the setting and why you are invited to speak, knowing the audience is itself an art and a science.
Probe even further. How far have they come? Do they know each other or are they assembling for the first time? What will they hear before and after the presentation? What did they hear last year or at a similar meeting? How would they like to feel and what would they like to “get” as a result of your presentation—when they leave the room, how will they be changed?
As you can quickly surmise, the answers to these questions are not ones that you can intuit. You have to ask the meeting professional who hired you, the movers and shakers who will be in attendance and other key operatives of the organization. This usually requires an email request, sometimes reviewing the questions by phone since your contacts will be very busy.
Unless you find answers to these types of questions, and there isn’t much more that you could know, don’t accept the presentation. Without this information, your presentation may hit the mark if you are incredibly lucky, but chances are that you will simply dance around the periphery of what you need to do and say to be successful. If it’s a one-time presentation and you don’t intend to do much more speaking, you’ll probably be able to get away with this. If you want to speak professionally, however, there is no effective substitute for knowing the audience.
Not arriving with sufficient clearance time
Whether your presentation is across the world, across the country or across town, increase your probability of success by arriving in plenty of time. This may require coming in the night before you’re scheduled to present.
When you arrive early, you gain a considerable advantage which can often be the make-or-break factor in the success of your presentation. You get to settle in, calm down, check out the facilities, walk the room, talk to people, check out equipment and arrange things. In doing so, you give yourself the edge over the speaker who arrives “just in time.”
These days, with affordable mobile technology, you can be productive all day long wherever you are, so arrive early!
While this article is directed at speakers, meeting professionals can sneak a peek to better understand the preparation undertaken by effective speakers. From this, planners can learn to better ascertain the suitability of a specific speaker—and even do some advance prep to ensure things run smoothly.
There are many ways to successfully deliver a presentation and even more ways to fail at it. Here are common mistakes that speakers make—professional speakers included—each of which have to do with a lack of adequate preparation.
Not understanding the assignment
Before ever leaving your own office, it is critical to understand why you have been scheduled to speak to this group at this time. Such understanding necessitates that you read about the organization, get information about the audience’s current challenges and hot buttons and learn what the meeting planner has in mind for the presentation. Five-minute conversations over the phone don’t tend to supply you with all you need to know in that area.
If you’re a celebrity speaker, you are brought in so that attendees can go home and say, “I saw so and so.” It barely matters what you speak about as long as you are semi-coherent and don’t offend the group. From the rest of us, however, the people in the seats desire to hear things that directly relate to the professional and personal challenges they face. Or, they want to hear about issues of universal importance, i.e. affecting their communities, state, nation or the planet.
The only way to come armed with the proper information about the scenario and setting is to spend at least an hour researching the group and the situation.
Failing to know your audience
Beyond understanding the setting and why you are invited to speak, knowing the audience is itself an art and a science.
Probe even further. How far have they come? Do they know each other or are they assembling for the first time? What will they hear before and after the presentation? What did they hear last year or at a similar meeting? How would they like to feel and what would they like to “get” as a result of your presentation—when they leave the room, how will they be changed?
As you can quickly surmise, the answers to these questions are not ones that you can intuit. You have to ask the meeting professional who hired you, the movers and shakers who will be in attendance and other key operatives of the organization. This usually requires an email request, sometimes reviewing the questions by phone since your contacts will be very busy.
Unless you find answers to these types of questions, and there isn’t much more that you could know, don’t accept the presentation. Without this information, your presentation may hit the mark if you are incredibly lucky, but chances are that you will simply dance around the periphery of what you need to do and say to be successful. If it’s a one-time presentation and you don’t intend to do much more speaking, you’ll probably be able to get away with this. If you want to speak professionally, however, there is no effective substitute for knowing the audience.
Not arriving with sufficient clearance time
Whether your presentation is across the world, across the country or across town, increase your probability of success by arriving in plenty of time. This may require coming in the night before you’re scheduled to present.
When you arrive early, you gain a considerable advantage which can often be the make-or-break factor in the success of your presentation. You get to settle in, calm down, check out the facilities, walk the room, talk to people, check out equipment and arrange things. In doing so, you give yourself the edge over the speaker who arrives “just in time.”
These days, with affordable mobile technology, you can be productive all day long wherever you are, so arrive early!
Topgolf @Topgolf
Topgolf is the perfect place to host your corporate event! Flexible food & drink catering menu options and a dedicated staff make it fun and easy.
Caesars Entertainment offers meeting and event planners one dedicated team that works as a united front, committed to providing the most successful meeting experiences possible. Enjoy elite perks, rewards and privileges with our Total Rewards Meeting Diamond Program.
Click here to fill out the survey for your chance to win!
If you’re growing your professional education while on a budget, hosted-buyer programs may be just the kind of initiative you need.
Hosted buyer program at WEC
Speak with colleagues and search the web to learn first-hand about the particulars of each event’s hosted-buyer program as they do differ and some can feel onerous—but in general they offer excellent opportunities for you to attend the industry’s leading events at little or no cost. The following events have hosted-buyer programs worth checking out (and even if you’re not hosted, the education and networking is the best in the business and certainly worth attending).
According to Psychology Today, retail therapy involves shopping with the aim of improving the mood of the buyer. The main benefits of retail therapy include escape, relaxation and rejuvenation.
In my most recent consumer interviews, online shopping is increasingly mentioned as type of mini mental vacation.”—Kit Yarrow Ph.D.
In fact, in a survey that Psychology Today shared, 62 percent of respondents reported going shopping to improve their mood.
If you’ve been an event or meeting planner for a while, sooner or later, you will come across a corporate client that asks you to cut down on content so that participants will have more time “for shopping.” When faced with these requests, it’s important to remember that shopping and learning don’t have to be mutually exclusive. It is possible to deliver content through a well-designed shopping experience.
I was reminded of this during IBTM Latin America when organizers included a tour of luxury retail center El Palacio de Los Palacios in the pre-show tour of Mexico City for hosted buyers. In small groups, the concierge team provided a tour that focused on how the architecture, sculpture and art work that the group had viewed on the city tour was incorporated into the design, décor and displays of the shopping center. For event professionals, it was an opportunity to pick up ideas for décor, tablescapes, color schemes, floral arrangements, lighting, catering and furnishing.
Designing the experience
Shopping experiences can be designed to appeal to all audiences, ages, professions and industries. It’s a matter of changing the focus. Clarify your objectives and the demographics of your group. This will determine the departments for participants to visit. Behind-the-scenes tours can be an opportunity for architects, restaurateurs and professionals specializing in IT, customer services, marketing, logistics and even engineering to uncover best practices.
Shopping experiences during foreign retreats and incentive trips can provide an opportunity to discover emerging technological trends to stay ahead of the curve. If there is a spousal program or if families are invited to join employees on the trip, some groups can visit fashion, tech gadgets, toy and children’s clothing departments. Avoid a cookie-cutter approach and customize the experience.
Here are some ideas for incorporating retail therapy into meetings, conferences and events.
For team building, I have arranged for teams to interview executives from luxury brands to identify best practices and how they could be applied to their own businesses. There was also a mystery shopping challenge for each team. To add the fun factor, photo challenges, trivia and shopping challenges were incorporated into the experience.
Debriefing retail therapy experiences
After the tour in Mexico City, participants were given 90 minutes to relax, shop and spend more time in areas of interest. Some participants walked around in groups. Others grabbed snacks in the café. I took advantage of the opportunity to sit quietly and reflect on the experience. I felt inspired to write this blog post so I spent part of my time blogging. Other approaches to debriefing the experience include the following.
Re-configure the teams and give team members a chance to compare their experiences. If you use this approach, don’t make it too formal. Give the teams the option of sitting and chatting or walking around and sharing what they’ve learned.
Some participants may welcome the opportunity for quiet reflection and recording their experience through journaling or blogging.
Participants can share their experiences informally if you serve afternoon tea or coffee and refreshments at the end of the tour.
Asking participants to document their experience by taking photos and sharing them on Instagram or through a Pinterest Board.
Upon returning to the meeting room, the re-configured or original teams can be given time to develop short presentations or reports to share with the entire group.
A panel interview with a representative from each team can also be used to share highlights from the experience.
Places to go for retail therapy
Any luxury retail center or discount shopping mall can provide an opportunity for groups to learn through retail therapy.
Mexico City: El Placio del Palacios
Paris: Galeries Lafayette
Dubai: Ibn Battuta Mall, Mall of Emirates
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Starhill Gallery
Singapore: Orchard Road, Marina Bay Sands
New York: Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany’s, Union Square
Toronto: Yorkville Village, Eaton Centre, Holt Renfrew, Yorkdale Mall
Some establishments even offer structured tours or shopping experiences.
If your meeting or conference is falling into a rut, consider spicing them up with a retail therapy experience.
As a mom, I wouldn’t dream of bringing peanut-laden snacks for my sons after being told there was a child in the class with a serious peanut allergy. Our meetings should be likewise considerate of people with food allergies—because it’s the right thing to do. If that’s not reason enough, then because of the growing risk of liability for failing to do so.
Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) estimates that 15 million Americans have food allergies; nine million of those are adults. Seventeen million Europeans have food allergies. These figures don’t even include people with other dietary restrictions (e.g., low-sodium, low-cholesterol) or people following specific diets or styles of eating (e.g., Paleo, vegetarian).
Thrive! Meetings & Events, which has a special expertise in managing food allergies at meetings and events, estimates that 38% of meeting attendees worldwide have food allergies or other dietary restrictions. FARE suggests that close to half of fatal food allergy reactions are triggered by food consumed outside the home, which could easily include meetings or eating while traveling. It’s simply not possible for meeting planners to ignore the problem and yet planners often ask me, “Do I have to provide special meals for <insert dietary restriction>?” The ethical answer is, “Of course!” The legal answer, as is typical: “It depends.”
Yet for years, courts construed the ADA narrowly, and refused to grant disability status to those with severe food allergies. Cue sigh of relief from meeting planners, hotels and restaurants—and cry of frustration from those with serious food allergies.
But here’s the thing—times (and the law), they are a-changin’.
Like many new laws, over time it became apparent that the ADA was not being applied quite like it was intended. Indeed, the law was often being used as a sword rather than a shield—it was being used to exclude people from coverage rather than to include them. To fix this, the Americans with Disabilities Act was amended in 2008.
The Americans with Disabilities Act as Amended (ADAAA) made many clarifications, including what constitute “major life activities” (including eating and breathing). The amendment was made in an effort to make the ADA more inclusive and is broader in scope than the original.
The gravity of these changes was made imminently clear in 2013 with the case United States Department of Justice v. Lesley University, in which a group of students with food allergies brought a complaint that the university required them to purchase a meal plan but refused to provide food options that accommodated their special needs. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed with the students and this became the first major case to apply the ADAAA to food allergies.
There will likely be more complaints and lawsuits to come, and the meeting and hospitality industries seem likely targets.
Shopping experiences during foreign retreats and incentive trips can provide an opportunity to discover emerging technological trends to stay ahead of the curve. If there is a spousal program or if families are invited to join employees on the trip, some groups can visit fashion, tech gadgets, toy and children’s clothing departments. Avoid a cookie-cutter approach and customize the experience.
The 
