A lot of cities are dealing with the same situation as Kansas City, as explained in this article.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association has set up its own disaster site, which includes a listing of what various hotel companies are doing for guests and employees, and for those impacted by the hurricane; a message board where members can share stories and resources; and a career center listing 3,000 or so hospitality jobs.

There’s a really nice report from The Herald that outlines just how dedicated hotel staff can be. A snip:

The hotel staff has dwindled to 20 management-level employees who spend their days responding to guests’ crises and coming up with remarkable little luxuries, such as a wireless Internet connection in the boarded-up lobby or hot scrambled eggs and grits for breakfast.

But there are too many crises to leave the employees much time for luxuries, such as the New Orleans zoo director who was caged in the elevator for three hours Saturday when the generator died. Hyatt employees used a crowbar to open the elevator.

“These guys at the Hyatt are incredible,” said just-freed Robert Foreman, of the Audubon Society, which runs the city’s zoo and aquarium. “They’re doing everything humanly possible to help the people here.”

I just found Scipionus.com, a site that has a map of all the affected areas, updated by visitors to the site who have information about the people and places in the various neighborhoods in the cities. It’s pretty wild. I can go into the Mandeville city map and see what’s going on around my friend’s brother’s church (he’s a minister). Yet another ingenious way people are trying to help.

The fruits of my labor of the past couple of days is now live: Our list of links to resources. It has links to: News from affected cities, meetings/hospitality-specific Katrina news sites, rescheduled/cancelled Gulf Coast meetings, hotel, convention center, and airline status updates, airline cancellation/rebooking policies, car rental policies, related airport info, risk management/contingency planning resources, job boards and housing sites for displaced people, sites to find people uprooted by the hurricane, displaced meetings resources, industry-specific, national, and local disaster relief efforts, and related government agencies. I think that’s all of it.

I’ll continually be updating it as I hear about new sites, so if I’m missing a useful link, please let me know. (I still haven’t check in on all our industry associations yet, for example.)

Kare Anderson of the Say It Better Center just let me know that the National Speakers Association has established a fund, a network of speakers who will provide one-to-one contact with an affected speaker for the next year, and other immediate resources for speakers who have been affected by Katrina.

Check nsaspeaker.org for more info.

From the CIC disaster site:

Association of Destination Management Executives (ADME)

* Destination Management Company executives are finding temporary employment with other ADME members.

* ADME members are cooperating with DMC’s impacted by Katrina and offering to provide service at cost for meetings/events that are relocated to their city – profit will be sent to the originating DMC to help them to rebuild/stay afloat through this.

* Some ADME members are volunteering a spare room in their house for a single parent and child (so the child can be enrolled in school as soon as possible).

* These above efforts will be coordinated through the ADME office at adme@meinet.com

* As the need becomes clearer, ADME members stand ready to contribute what is needed – money, supplies, etc.

I couldn’t find anything about this on the ADME site—hopefully they’ll update it soon.

From ASAE & The Center:

ASAE & The Center have automatically extended the memberships of all its members in areas devastated by the hurricane for a minimum of six months. In addition, we will match any monetary contributions our staff members make to the relief efforts.

We will keep you updated as we hear reports about the activities of other associations and local SAEs as we work together to help those in need.

From a press release:

The Convention Industry Council (CIC) with is working with its 30 member organizations to assist the destinations affected by Hurricane Katrina and their meeting, convention, and exhibition customers.

In the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, the long-term impacts on many facets of life in the Gulf region are unknown. Despite the uncertainties, the members of the meetings, conventions, and exhibitions industry are firmly committed to supporting the destinations affected, their citizens, and their economies.

In order to provide a one-stop resource for planners and event organizers in need of information and guidance, the Convention Industry Council has created the “Hurricane Katrina Information for Event Professionals” resource. This resource includes:
Links to local convention and visitors bureaus, and any new offices that are established, in the areas affected by the hurricane;
Descriptions of resources offered by CIC member organizations and other industry organizations, and links to those resources; and,
Contact information for hotels and other industry companies to facilitate rescheduling and/or relocating.

The contact information for hotels and other companies is being provided in answer to the question from many event organizers of “Who should I call to reschedule my meeting?” The Convention Industry Council’s first recommendation is that if a group has booked with a hotel in a specific chain and needs to reschedule, that they should reschedule with that chain if at all possible. This contact information is provided especially to better direct those who booked directly with a property damaged and/or closed by Hurricane Katrina.