According to travelwirenews, there’s a show in Sydney, Australia, that caters to the travel needs of gays and lesbians. Which is very smart marketing, given that “The gay market has more disposable income, and has a propensity for travel. There is a trend toward more diversified travel experiences, and this‹combined with discretionary income and a greater variety of options‹puts the “gay market” in a league of its own,” according to Community Marketing. The market is conservatively estimated at $47 billion just in the U.S., or approximately 10 percent of the total U.S. market.

The Aussies are in good company in their attempts to tempt this niche:

If I’m reading him right, Rich Westerfield poses an interesting scenario for trade shows: buying out an all-suite hotel for the whole shebang, not just for sleeping rooms, and skip the convention center altogether. Exhibitors could use the non-sleeping portion of their suites as booth space. He makes a compelling case–I especially like the part about the bathrooms being just five feet away from any exhibitor! And I really can’t think of a downside.

So I’ll just echo his question: Why isn’t anyone doing this? Or are they, and I just haven’t heard about it?

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Having trouble getting volunteers to put together those meeting packets? Wonder how you can keep your best volunteers from burning out and quitting on you? Here are some good resources:

casanet.org

serviceleader.org

lbcc.cc.or.us

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Hey, according to this USA Today article, one of these days we will all be able to zip around in our car-planes, just like George Jetson.

OK, it probably won’t be any time soon: “Researchers stress that the ultimate dream — an affordable, easy-to-use vehicle that could allow regular people to fly 200 miles to a meeting and also drive 15 miles to the mall — is still probably decades away.”

But it is kind of fun to think about, isn’t it?

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According to a survey by the Air Travelers Association, security line wait times are the biggest concern travelers have by far—90 percent ranked it first on their list.

If you’re among that 90 percent, this link to TSA’s security wait time calculator might come in handy.

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