An interesting question from marketing guru Katherine Stone on the recent Fast Company Now Blogjam: “Plenty of people talk about customer evangelism from the standpoint of consumers raving about companies, brands and products, but why is it that we rarely hear about customer evangelism from the standpoint of companies raving about their customers?”

We all know the benefit of having those great attendees who come to every meeting, and tell all their friends, colleagues, and just about everyone but their pet groomers about how fabulous it was. But how often do you go out of your way to tout your attendees? If you’re with an association, what do you do to help them connect with each other in their area of expertise, beyond stuff you get money for like expos and sponsorships?

In the comments section, some people said they were using discussion forums and customer profiles to highlight their best customers; and establishing a directory where clients can tell other clients about what they do. “It is my hope that this will lead to some interesting cross-polination of customers as they develop their own relationships and remember that I was the person who brought them together,” commented one guy.

What are you doing, both at your meetings and on an organizational level, to spread the love in both directions? What can we do, as industry magazines, to show you how much we appreciate your readership (and, if you’re on the supplier side, advertising with us)?

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Just try to get this through airport security on your next trip–the Kalashnikov MP3 player, which looks alarmingly like the real thing to me.

According to the Web site, the AK-MP3’s creator, Andrey Koltakov, says: “Hopefully, from now on many Militants and Terrorists will use their AK47s to listen to music and audio books. They need to chill out and take it easy.”

Sure, this’ll work (said with heavy sarcasm). What’s next, a grenade-launcher suitcase?

A news flash from mickeynews.com: The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., has added a new slate of professional development curriculum presented by the Disney Institute. From the press release: “The new programs, available as an added feature for groups meeting at the Disneyland Resort, coincide with the Resort’s launch of a comprehensive new meetings website and a sales and marketing campaign aimed at meeting planners nationwide.”

Led by Disney facilitators, these programs are designed to show “the business behind the magic,” in either 90-minute presentations or three-hour workshops “designed to help participants adapt specific Disney strategies to their organizations.” Among the offerings are “Nurturing a Creative Culture”; “Framing Up the Opportunities”; “Innovation: Bringing Creativity to Life”; and “A Walk in Walt’s Footsteps” Tour. These four new meetings workshops are exclusive to the Disneyland Resort. Other Disney Institute seminar topics such as customer loyalty, quality service and people management are also available.

I’ve experienced Disney facilitators at various industry meetings, and the ones I’ve seen really do a fantastic job. I’d love to experience these new workshops first-hand…

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out the ins and outs of various airports. Thanks to the MIMlist listserv, here are some links to sites that will make it easier to figure out:

airnav.com

quickaid.com

independenttraveler.com

flyertalk.com

airportnet.com

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.