While Hurricane Ernesto turned out not to be too big a deal for Florida, climatalogically speaking, it sounds like it did score a direct hit with some meetings scheduled for that state. According to the Miami Herald, the National Association of Black Bikers cancelled its 150,000-person rally in Miami this weekend after hearing about the storm (the article says the association is currently negotiating with hotels over the cancellation. That could potentially be a huge attrition bill). But some meetings aren’t scared of hurricanes. I loved this bit:

For three years, the Army picked Fort Lauderdale for a summer technology conference.

This year’s gathering, which ended Sunday, was the first time the meeting wasn’t forced to evacuate in advance of a hurricane.

”I told them it feels funny” not to be bidding them an early good-bye, Broward County tourism director Nicky Grossman said.

There are always going to be “value” groups who will take the risk in exchange for cheaper room rates, but with Katrina so fresh in everyone’s minds, I can imagine that even the free convention center space being offered by Broward isn’t enough to lure too many meetings to hurricane-prone areas this time of year. And now Ernesto is moving up to the Carolinas, though so far they don’t think it’ll strengthen too much by the time it hits Myrtle Beach and Charleston. And then there’s Hurricane John threatening Mexico, including Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. I really hate the feeling of dread I get this time of year as we start tracking storms. Stories like those that came out this time last year are not stories any journalist wants to write, much less experiences anyone wants to live through.

Be safe out there.

Well, yeah. In fact, if you haven’t dipped into blogs, podcasts, wikis, and all the other tools out there to market your events, the time is yesterday to get started. Really. Check out this article from Chief Marketer for some examples of how companies and other organizations are using social media (here’s another gem of information about using tech tools for marketing). And remember that it’s not about the technology; it’s all about your employees, your members, your attendees. How can you use all this stuff to help them do their jobs better? That’s what it’s all about. Just like that’s what your meeting is all about. How could the two not go hand in hand?

With all the Internet hype, and bracketed by real-life plane diversions of unprecidented numbers lately, I figured Snakes on a Plane would be at best, well, uncomfortable, if not uncomfortably bad. Did I mention I’m not too wild about snakes, and have a bad case of fear of flying? Yet off we went yesterday to the movies, and I have to say that I haven’t laughed so hard in a while. It’s not a broad parody like Airplane was, it was obviously done tongue firmly in cheek (and snakes firmly, well, everywhere).

Who would have guessed that this actually happens? (In Amsterdam, on a helicopter, well, I won’t go on.) At least we no longer have to worry about terrorists bringing bottled snake venom on board—not that that had ever crossed my mind before. If you don’t mind crudity, nudity, and lewdity, not to mention a giant boa constrictor, I’d give it two thumbs up. If you go to see it, don’t forget to check your audience participation script first.

Just be glad you’re not this guy, who after dropping an iPod in an airplane loo got in a situation that probably made a few cobras seem tame. Ain’t travel grand?

At least, those who are doing something interesting with social media (blogs, wikis, podcasts, and beyond). Jeff De Cagna’s Association Community Blogs and Podcasts Wiki, which I couldn’t find when I posted about it earlier, is up and running.

If you or an association you know is doing something interesting in the social media space, c’mon and let us know about it by adding it to this resource. Many thanks to Jeff for putting this together.

On the MiForum listserv, there’s been much talk today about how people tell time (probably as a way to waste time, this being Friday and all). Since I’m always curious about things like this, I had to set up a poll:

Update: I just ran across this Reuters piece on this very topic. Go figure.

I read this today in an e-mail from Patricia Digh, author of several books and the thought-provoking, fabulous 37 Days blog, and it occurred to me that if we all did this, the world would be a very different place:

If dialogue is intended to open the doors for understanding how someone arrived at their position, rather than at debating over the “rightness” or “wrongness” of that opinion, and that approach is coupled with assuming positive intent even if that stretches our own world view, perhaps there is hope for holding opposite viewpoints yet living peacefully together.

I can think of any numbers of scenarios where this would be close to impossible to do, but how powerful would it be to try?

This has nothing to do with meeting planning, other than the fact that so many planners are women; even married women. Check out “Don’t Marry Career Women” in Forbes (which started out as a standalone article, got taken down, then reappeared with a counterpoint. Hmm.) A snip:

Guys: A word of advice. Marry pretty women or ugly ones. Short ones or tall ones. Blondes or brunettes. Just, whatever you do, don’t marry a woman with a career.

Why? Because if many social scientists are to be believed, you run a higher risk of having a rocky marriage. While everyone knows that marriage can be stressful, recent studies have found professional women are more likely to get divorced, more likely to cheat, less likely to have children, and, if they do have kids, they are more likely to be unhappy about it.

And it goes on from there. Sorry for the off-topic post, but this one made me crazy. For a gender-bender version, check out Don’t Marry Career Men, Jennifer Saylor’s rewrite of the article that replaces all the “she”s with “he”s.

Cathy Chatfield-Taylor has posted some great tips on how to get paid what you’re worth, based on a teleconference by Chris Marlow. While it’s aimed at freelance writers, the advice applies just as well to independent meeting planners who want to hit that sweet spot in the pricing area.

European discount airline RyanAir doesn’t appear too happy about the new airport security measures passengers have to go through (in fact, it’s so mad about it, it wants to sue the government over lost business that has resulted). So it posted a photo of people stripping down en mass, with the caption: Put Fun Back into Flying. (Link, with the warning that it does show naked people.)

Here’s a handy list of TSA-compliant toiletries.

Via Rebecca’s Pocket, with thanks to Patti for the pointer!

For TSA’s official list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to carryon items, click here.