According to this article in USA Today, it looks like almost every city and town in the U.S. has something to brag about. This is one of my favorites on their list:

“Albertville, Alabama
Capital of world claim in: Fire hydrants
Albertville, population 17,246, declared itself the Fire Hydrant Capital of the World in 1991 after the Mueller Co. produced its one-millionth hydrant - a polished chrome number that now sits in front of the Albertville Chamber of Commerce. If dogs could make pilgrimages, this is where they’d go.”

Thanks to Joan Eisenstodt of the MIMlist listserv for the pointer.

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More research from IMEX (click here) found more than the usual “survey the industry”-type results with a new study. Along with confirming that association meeting planners still have their usual perennial concerns about offering better value at their meetings and broadening the appeal of their programs–especially to the younger generations and international attendees, the study found that

Association planners display strengthening attitudes towards the emerging issues of global warming and climate change. Already more than half (53%) of respondents acknowledge that more should be done by the meetings industry to respond to these challenges. As examples some suggest that ‘only ecologically-sound venues should be used’ … whilst others agree that ‘it is no longer acceptable to create high levels of waste’. It is recognised that certain destinations which lack environmental credentials are already beginning to miss meetings opportunities. A small proportion argue that ‘this is not our task … and that association planners should not be entering into a political debate’. They do not consider that meetings deserved to be labelled a ‘major pollutant’.

Some big news for her, for Maritz, and for women in this industry! Meeting, incentive, and travel management giant Maritz Travel Company just announced that Christine Duffy will take over as president and chief executive officer of Maritz Travel, effective immediately. She takes the place of Jeff Reinberg, who, says the press release, “is leaving the company to pursue other career interests.”

Duffy comes to Maritz Travel with more than 20 years experience in the travel industry and was most recently president of Maritz McGettigan, which was acquired by Maritz in 2001. “Christine is extremely well-suited for this position, and I am confident that she has the critical skills to lead Maritz Travel,” said John McArthur, chief operating officer at Maritz Inc….Under Christine’s leadership we will focus on growth by maintaining and building strong relationships with both our existing and new customers. We are ready to take the travel business to the next level by leveraging the full suite of Maritz products and services, which includes our incentives, interactions, learning, loyalty marketing, research and rewards businesses.”

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This is pretty wild–according to hotelchatter.com, the new and very posh Nine Zero hotel in Boston is taking innovation beyond new ways to fold napkins:

Back in July, right before the DNC, Nine Zero, became the first hotel in the world to install the option of iris identification for their extra special Cloud Nine guests. Nine Zero is known to house VIP guests (X-Tina and Adam Durtiz top the list), who frequently stay in the Cloud Nine suite, and these folks now have the option of forgoing the archaic plastic key and opening the door with an eye of their choice.

LG Iris Identification takes a photo of the guests iris, encrypts it into a number code, and presto, your eye is now your key. Once we heard about this we ran down to Nine Zero to check it out. The technology worked perfectly, and it was a very sci-fi experience.

Not quite sure how I feel about this one, though I like the idea that, once you’ve been scanned, you can skip the checkin altogether: The hotel just e-mails your room number, and your key is, well, right in your face. But it’s still a little oogy to me–if you’ve ever read Dale Brown’s Angels and Demons, you’re sure to know why!

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I’ve been listening in to an e-exchange among some meeting planners today who are worried about the retiring boomers leaving associations who are not being replaced by the next generation. There does seem to be some hope in a so-far-unsubstantiated rumor that those just leaving college now will be more boomer-like in their association membership habits. Can anyone substantiate that rumor?

In the meantime, according to a press release from IMEX, a new study asked 192 professionals what factors are most important to getting them to join, or to leave, an association.

Results show the majority (61%) join in order to gain access to best practice. 58% do so to keep up-to-date with industry news whilst 51% want to benefit from educational activities. Networking for business or social reasons (49%), learning about job vacancies (35%) and meeting professional requirements (33%) were also important ‘attraction’ factors.

It also said that preliminary results are being issued during the M&IT show at Olympia (UK). A fuller, more detailed report, following six months’ further research, will be presented at the IMEX Association Day in Frankfurt on April 18th next year.

The P.R. said that the full report, “What members want membership renewal & retention,” can be downloaded from associationgateway.org (you have to register) or imex-frankfurt.com, but the link didn’t go anywhere when I tried it. Maybe you’ll have better luck.

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