That’s what most of the event pros interviewed by Special Events magazine said in this article when asked if they’re feeling any pain from the financial situation we find ourselves in these days. The consensus seems to be that the pain will start to set in with the new year, since many budgets are already set for the remainder of ‘08. Then again, the Motivation Show that just wrapped up ended up with lower attendance numbers than originally projected. From a MeetingsNet article on the show:

While pre-registration was up over 2007 numbers, said Pete Erickson, managing director, Hall-Erickson Inc., “verified attendance was down from 2007 … very disappointing. It appears that people were planning to come and then didn’t. The news of the day certainly didn’t help us.”

So, we continue to wait and see…

Not since the days of National Airlines’ “fly me” commercials have I heard of such blatantly sleazy airline promos as I read about this morning in this editorial on E-Turbo News. From the article:

Subject lines like “We’re having a threesome,” “We’re proud of our DDs,” “Don’t go south without protection,” “Need some strange?” or “Barely legal fares - from only 18¢” are totally inappropriate for an airline that markets family vacation destinations.

I haven’t seen any of these ads myself, but if they’re really sending this around, the airline has really hit a new low:

Stop it. Just stop it.

If you’re like me, you’re spending a lot of time learning about things like credit default swaps (check the date on this article–could we not have seen this coming?) and other financial WMDs in hopes of understanding what’s going on in the U.S. financial industry, and what the government is proposing to do about it (update here). Which is difficult enough to get my arms around.

Then I sit in on this conversation (free registration req’d) at Meetings Collaborative about what it all could possibly mean for the meetings business. Hotels will find it harder to get financing for expansions and renovations, most likely. Will construction of new hotels in the pipeline come to a screeching halt? Here are some perspectives.

And the meetings themselves, well, in the financial world, all these mergers and acquisitions likely will mean more meetings, at least in the short term. In the rest of corporate America, business travel–the canary in the meetings coal mine–is continuing to slow. I expect corporate meetings will likely remain mostly status quo, since they’ve been contracting and eliminating all but essential meetings for a while anyway, due to air issues and the economic climate we had before things got really toxic. We may see more of an uptick in virtual meetings, but that was happening anyway, too. Some independents are finding today’s struggling economy the perfect time to expand their business. Others, not so much.

Association meetings? Who knows. So far, I’m hearing that everything is still going as planned and attendance is for the most part holding. Some, like the Interbike bike convention, say business is actually booming more as conditions worsen.

So, I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this all will shake out, both in terms of the financial market/government rescue plans, and they’re effect on meetings. One thing I’m fairly sure of is that it’s going to be a bit of a rough winter for a lot of us, both personally and professionally.

P.S. I have to pass along The Subprime Primer
from Business Pundit. While it has no shortage of profanity, especially toward the end (so do not click through if you’re offended by foul language), it actually made me laugh about the mess we’re in, which was a first.

This could come in handy for those outdoor events: An online portable potty calculator to help you figure out how many you’ll need. United Site Services also offers some help in choosing what type of potty you need, and related regulations you should be aware of.

I like it when vendors have useful info like this on their sites. Thanks to Debra for the pointer.

From Wired:

So you can see why the cruise ship model compels. It’s not so much going places as going to a single place, and then that place goes places. It is travel without movement, a Zen koan with a seafood buffet.

Like the Wired writer, I’ve yet to take a cruise that lasts longer than a few hours, but the way he describes it, maybe I’d like it after all. Except maybe the chess cruise he talks about…

Something to think about when doing the site selection for your next meeting: How does the personality of a place mesh with that of your group? According to this article in the Wall St. Journal, there’s a study that looked at the geography of personality, and came up with some trends that fit with the usual stereotypes (stressed New Yorkers, for example), and some that don’t (denizens of West Virginia and Mississippi also are stressed, for different reasons; North Dakota is the most outgoing state).

This bit made me laugh:

In Florida, meanwhile, tourism official Dia Kuykendall groped to explain her state’s high “conscientious” ranking. She was having trouble reconciling that with, say, the party scene on Miami Beach. “Conscientious of how they look?” she wondered.

The research did give Ms. Kuykendall an idea for a new Florida tourism pitch: “Come visit us, we’re not neurotic!”

From MSNBC: As Fares and Fees Rise, Passengers Want Service. Ooh, stop the presses. You mean, if we pay $25 to get our bag on the airplane, we want it to actually get there? Wow, what a concept.

OK, enough of the sarcasm, but really folks, this is not (ahem) rocket science. Then again, if you have to get there soon, you really don’t have any options but to hold your nose, pay the fees, and fly. And, of course, complain about it. Fortunately, MSNBC also is offering its Top 10 Ways to Avoid Airline Fees so if you don’t get good service, at least you’re not paying extra for it.

I know, it hurts my brain too, but check this Wired post: Dropping oil prices hurt airlines. Huh? It’s what happens when airlines literally hedge their bets on oil futures. From Wired:

Here’s a very simplified explanation of how fuel hedging works, using a hypothetical scenario: Let’s say oil is selling for $130 and the price is expected to rise. An airline signs a deal with a supplier to buy, say, three months worth of fuel at $110 a barrel. That’s called a fuel hedge. The price of oil rises to $140 a barrel, but since the airline is locked in at $110, it can sit back and laugh as its competitors pay more for fuel. Smart move.

But let’s turn that scenario on its head and say the airline hedges at $110 but the price drops to $92. Oops. Now the airline is paying more for fuel than it costs on the open market, placing it at a competitive disadvantage. The balance sheet craters.

This is why I am not a gambler–my luck tends to be more like United’s than Southwest’s.

Hotel Chatter poses an interesting questions: What hotel amenities do you consider totally useless? While I disagree with them on the uselessness of ironing boards and in-room coffeepots (while fully understanding the dangerous potential of the latter), there are some things I could do without.

The giant stack of ad-driven brochures on the city, for example. While I suppose it might be useful to some, I’d infinitely rather find a restaurant through word-of-mouth or its cyber equivalent. And I am always shuffling the stack from one place to another–it’s always in the way, wherever I put it. I’d also do away with shower caps (I hope they don’t replace those every day and throw away the unused ones. Talk about waste!). I’d go with just one kind of soap, too, instead of having face soap, shower soap, hand soap, etc. And all those itty bitty pillows–begone!

And you?

From Indexed, one of the most brilliant sites around IMHO:

Although, as someone who lives with a 13-year-old Australian Shepherd, I’d argue that curious old dogs aren’t that different from people…