It’s interesting to see the different ways hoteliers and their CVB (sorry, I mean DMO — having a hard time making the switch still) partners are marketing their wares in tight times.

On one end you have Northern Kentucky, which promotes the destination’s lack of glitz and glam with this tagline: “You won’t get the third degree when you choose Northern Kentucky.” On the other end is this Lauderdale Lux promotion of Greater Ft. Lauderdale’s high-end properties. Each is playing to its strengths, and both campaigns are pretty brilliant in their own ways.

(Thanks to Bill Geist’s Zeitgeist, where I found both links in separate posts.)

When in doubt, map it out? Hey, it worked for Matt Moore at actKM 2009, a knowledge management conference. After hitting the wall on a few other ideas on how to make his session more interactive, he says:

Then the thought struck me. Get the participants to draw maps. So that’s what I did. Six tables, six maps. In each case I asked them to map out knowledge management as an imaginary nation and then identify who else this nation might interact with (through trade, war or something else).

The results were really interesting, and made me wish that someone would do something like this for sessions I go to. Johnnie Moore, who I got the link to Matt’s post from, adds,

I have sometimes found getting people to express their ideas through a medium or metaphor seems to unleash more refreshing, often less refined/polite ideas and observations. It’s as if it bypasses some of our defenses against stepping into riskier territory.

And then goes on to tell what happened when he used a similar technique for a meeting he was facilitating. It’s fascinating.

You have to love New Orleans — where else would you expect to find a confluence of blood transfusion and cellular therapy professionals and vampire enthusiasts, just in time for Halloween? According to a press release, that’s what’s happening right as the 2009 American Association of Blood Banks Annual Meeting TXPO arrives in town at the same time as the 2009 Vampire Film Festival. Though it doesn’t sound like the two groups will be hanging out together much, you have to like this quote:

“‘This weekend New Orleans wants your blood!” said Vampire Film Festival director Asif Ahmed, ‘We are thrilled to be in America’s most gothic city here along with AABB. Our vampire filmmakers are arriving from around the world and are already intrigued with the many charms and haunts of this city. Remember once you invite a vampire in, it’s hard to get us to leave!’”

We’ve gotten all too good at renegotiating room blocks downward as the economic crisis worsened over the past year, but are you ready for a rebound? Mike McCurry has a great post about managing room blocks when and if the economy unexpectedly rebounds higher than you anticipated. Don’t miss his three suggestions on hedging your room block bets.

Now let’s all just hope that this becomes a problem…

I was baffled during my recent trip to Australia by the hour-and-a-half time zone change between Sydney and Uluru — why the half hour? I asked a few people, but I guess it’s just one of those things people don’t think about; it just is. So I asked around here, and someone told me that the only reason we have one-hour increments in the U.S. time zones was to limit confusion on our intercontinental railway system. According to Wikipedia, this is in fact the case. Still, I’ve never encountered a half-hour change before, and am wondering if this is common and I just haven’t gotten around enough?

The answer (from Wikipedia):

“Today, all nations use standard time zones for secular purposes, but they do not all apply the concept as originally conceived. Newfoundland, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Burma, the Marquesas, as well as parts of Australia use half-hour deviations from standard time, and some nations, such as Nepal, and some provinces, such as the Chatham Islands, use quarter-hour deviations. Some countries, most notably China, use a single time zone, even though the extent of their territory far exceeds 15° of longitude. Before 1949 China used five time zones (see Time in China).”

So, that’s my new thing learned for the day!

The results are in from the latest Special Events survey:

Corporate business events will recover in 2009: 17 percent
Corporate business events will recover in 2010: 32 percent
No change expected: 20 percent
It’s only going to get worse: 15 percent

Based on nothing but reading the paper and gut instincts, I’m with the 32 percent who expect to see the events picture brighten next year, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

After a jam-packed few days in Uluru, it was quite a shock to the system to come to the ultra urbane city of Sydney, which is the top incentive destination for Australia, according to International Congress and Convention Association and Union of International Associations rankings. I knew I was going to like the place when I got to my 20th floor room at the Four Seasons and saw this view out the window (Note: To see a larger version, click on the photo):

We had an opening night welcome dinner at The Loft at the Doltone House at Darling Wharf, where they take going green really seriously. This new venue boasts a system that treats sewage for reuse in watering the adjoining parkland; is constructed of concrete made from recycled products and high-performance glass, insulation, and building materials to minimize heat loss and gains; and includes C02 sensors and variable-speed fans to ensure high indoor air quality. And the food was spectacular, too. It was interesting to come together with the rest of the Dreamtime international buyers groups, who had pre-con fams in Adelaide/Kangaroo Island, Brisbane/Sunshine Coast, Melbourne, and Sydney while we were grooving in the Red Centre.

One of my cohorts had predicted that, after being used to getting up for the sunrise, we’d all be up at 3:30 am the next day. I cursed him as, sure enough, I bounced out of bed before 4. But I had the morning off, so I trotted off along the harborfront to see the sun rise over the famed Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge, then wandered around the Botanical Gardens, into Hyde Park, and all around the business district before heading back for lunch with the rest of the international media at the Glenmore Hotel.

We worked off our lunch climbing up the Sydney Harbor Bridge as part of the new ExpressClimb route. I’d never even heard of climbing a bridge, but scrambling up through the infrastructure to emerge victorious at the top was a hoot, even with what seemed like gale-force winds threatening to blow us off (we were safely attached to supports throughout the whole climb, so any danger was all in my head).

Dinner that night was at a very cool new venue called The Ivy, operated by Merivale. Our group was at the poolside party area, which is just one of the many restaurants, bars, and lounges available for groups at The Ivy. It was a little nippy out that night, but the heat lamps, food, and wine kept us feeling toasty.

Then it was down to business for the next two days, with a full-day lineup of press conferences, one-on-one appointments, and a leadership forum to cap off the last day. What I learned most from the business portion of Dreamtime was that there was so much more to this country, both for incentive groups and for me personally. For incentive groups, there were three properties that really stood out both to me and to the U.S. incentive buyers I talked with about it:

Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa, a new property that recently opened in the Greater Blue Mountain World Heritage Area. I spoke with some people who did their pre-con fam there, and they said it was absolutely first class all the way.

Qualia, a luxury resort on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, on the Great Barrier Reef. Super high-end, gorgeous, with lots to do and see for those who want it, lots of relaxation and pampering for those who just want to dial it down.

The Southern Ocean Lodge, on Kangaroo Island. Just looking at the pictures of it made my shoulders relax. Again, those who had been there just raved about it as an ideal incentive spot.

At the press conference, tourism officials acknowledged that the economic downturn has caused a dropoff in business, especially from the U.S., and that the economic problems have been compounded by concerns about the perception some have of incentives as being nothing more than junkets. There was agreement all around that we need to do a better job of proving that incentives are good business tools, not boondoggles.

But it’s still a good business for Australia. They went over the results of a recent study conducted by Tourism Research Australia in 2008, which found that although business event and incentive travellers accounted for just 3 percent of all visitors to the country, they accounted for 5 percent of visitor nights and 7 percent of tourism expenditures. Also, nearly three-quarters of international business event travelers said they wouldn’t have come to the country were it not for the event, so meetings and incentives continue to play an important role in the country’s tourism mix.

It was interesting to attend a business meeting in the middle of Luna Park, an amusement park that also has a trade show hall (which used to be the bumper car emporium, someone from the park told me), a restaurant and bar (which was transformed during the daytime hours into the media/press briefing area), and a theater that was home to a Slayer concert by night, and the Leadership Forum by day. The back wall of the room looked out over the park, which was kind of fun because I could swivel around from watching the speakers on the stage to see kids on the Tilt-a-Whirl flying by. Must have been a little strange for the presenters, though. Lunches on both days were held under an outdoor tent at the end of the park, and were catered by the Luna Park chef. The food was outstanding–no cotton candy or hot dogs in sight, just excellent cuisine.

The only other things I have to mention are The Quay restaurant, where the press dinner was held last Thursday night. The function room upstairs is to die for, with a deck overlooking the harbor and 360-degree views of the bridge and Opera House. The food is amazing, if very chi chi. Also, the Australian Technology Park where the final evening gala was held was very cool. It once housed the old Eveleigh Railway Workshops, and now is a state-of-the-art events venue. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was, all gussied up with chandeliers and chef stations. Hard to imagine, I know, but the chefs really outdid themselves cooking in central stations throughout the venue.

I really had to drag myself to the airport the next day. I did not want to leave, especially after hearing about all the other things there are to do and see in Australia. Why oh why didn’t I extend the trip for another week (or month, or year)? I tried not to be too big a baby, but I did snuffle a little and hug my stuffed kangaroo as we took off up the coastline, then off across the Pacific toward L.A. and, eventually, back home to Boston.

Last Sunday morning I landed in Uluru, aka Ayers Rock, in the Red Centre of Australia. I had an aisle seat over the wing and so didn’t get this gorgeous aerial view, but I knew the second I set foot on the tarmac that this would be as magical a place as I had always imagined it would be. (Note: To view a larger version of the pictures, just click on the photos.)

We hopped over to the resort that was hosting the U.S. contingent for Dreamtime 2009’s pre-conference fam trip, Sails in the Desert, one of the Voyages Ayers Rock Resort properties. From the airy lobby and art gallery to the Kuniya and Winkiku restaurants to the huge pool, the hotel really was an oasis after the long haul from Boston (I think it was 20-something hours of flying time, plus a long layover in LA). We barely had time for a quick shower before heading over to the Oval, the sole green space in this corner of the outback, for lunch, dot painting, spear throwing, punu carving, and meeting some of the local critters.

Then we were off again, this time to the Walpa Gorge at Kata Tjuta for a walk before drinks and canapes at sunset (I know, it’s a tough life, isn’t it?).

What the photo doesn’t show is the flies, which while they didn’t bite, were pretty annoying. As soon as the sun set, however, they all disappeared.

We headed back to the hotel for dinner, where I was talked into trying the kangaroo tartare, even though I don’t eat red meat. It was a fabulous meal, but I had to beg off before dessert and crawl to my room for some much-needed shut-eye, especially since we were getting up early for a sunrise breakfast.

Next on the agenda was a bus and walking Spirit of Uluru tour, which took us all around the base of the rock as our guide told us creation stories and myths about how certain features of the rock came to be.

We also took a trip to the Uluru Cultural Centre, where one of the highlights was the “Sorry Book,” a collection of letters from tourists who had taken rocks from the sacred land around Ayer’s Rock and, after either learning that this was inappropriate or experiencing bad luck ever since, were returning the stolen pieces to their rightful home. It’s hard to describe, but you could feel the sacredness of the place, even in a tour bus, and even more so when we got out and walked around to the main watering hole and a cave with some drawings on the walls.

After going to the Outback Pioneer, where I put some honest-to-goodness shrimp on the barbie for lunch (they called them prawns, though), we headed back to the Oval for an intercultural, intergenerational lesson in football with some of the local indigenous kids.

The kids, who ranged in age from pre-teen to almost 20 and were brought to the resort from their homes throughout the region, proved to be good coaches, though the innate shyness of the Anangu, as the local indigenous people are collectively known, did make for a rocky start. After a brief lesson for the Americans in how to kick, hit, and pass the ball, we retired to the sidelines as the boys came out on the field and began to play. Once the game got going and the kids, now in their element, became more comfortable, some of us Americans slipped onto the field and joined the play. Before long, differences in age, origin, culture, and physical abilities melted away as everyone strove to score goals for their team.

It was, as one of the U.S. incentive planners told me, one of the highlights of the trip.

Then we were off to Longitude 131, which is the most luxurious of the Voyages Ayers Rock resorts, a tent enclave nestled into a hillside with spectacular views pretty much everywhere. We went up on a bluff for sunset viewing and canapes, set to the unearthly music of Dwain Phillis on the didgeridoo.

We rounded out the evening with dinner under the stars, complete with a “star talker” who explained the different constellations (it was the wrong time of year to see the Southern Cross, darn it! But I haven’t seen the Milky Way so clearly since I was a kid at summer camp in Maine).

Once again we were up before dawn for more sunrise viewing, this time on camels from the Uluru Camel Farm. Once again, the views were stupendous. Our camel, Wombat, was a pretty good sport about the whole thing, too, though he was determined to get some attention from the guy in front of us, who wanted nothing whatsoever to do with him.

OK, so now we’d seen the rock on foot, by van, and on camel-back — what could be left to do? Oh yeah, fly over it in a helicopter. So we did that, too, before boarding a plane back to Sydney.

I’d never flown in a heli before, much less in a place as starkly beautiful as Uluru, so I was bouncing around like a kid, especially after my new friends let me take the shotgun seat. It was so cool; I was bubbling over about it for hours.

I can’t begin to do justice to this amazing place, the people, the food, the views, the culture. All I can say is that I am so grateful to have been able to experience it.

Despite my good intentions and my new, cute little netbook, I never did post here during my trip to Australia last week. There was just too much to see and do, and no down time to catch up. So be warned, I may just be waxing poetic about my trip for a few posts now that I’m back home and have a 12-hour sleep under my belt. But really, was the nor’easter blizzard that hit Massachusetts really necessary? It was a bit of a rude shock to the system after all the mild-to-hot weather in Sydney and Uluru (aka Ayer’s Rock).

I’m still somewhat in that Dreamtime state of mind, and I don’t think I can attribute it to jet lag (I love Qantas! If you ever fly it long-haul business class, be sure to get some of their pajamas. You’ll not only sleep better on board, but you’ll have a new favorite set of nightwear. Trust me on this). I know I have to jump into work, but my mind keeps going back to the people I’ve met, the places I experienced, the camel I rode at dawn…it really was the trip of a lifetime, and I want to savor it while it’s still fresh in my mind.

But they don’t pay me the big bucks to ruminate, so I better get some work done first…

1. Compulsively check e-mail. All three accounts. Check again.
2. Pace through four terminals before finally realizing that no one sells books here until after you go through security. Unfortunately, there are no books for sale after going through security at the terminal I’m in. Realize it’s going to be an even longer flight to Sydney than I anticipated.
3. Get back to my terminal only to find a Waldenbooks after all. Buy every book they have out of sheer relief (not quite, but almost).
4. Ride the airport hotel shuttles and check out the various properties. Marvel at how many meetings they have scheduled this weekend.
5. Admire lack of colorful foliage on palm trees around airport hotels.
6. Do laps around LAX–cool that you can walk almost all the around.
7. Look at ice cream shop in terminal. Exercise great restraint that is largely due to said ice cream not being the irresistable Ben and Jerry’s.
9. Skype significant other from the World Perks lounge as others listen in (can’t figure out how to make headphones work with new netbook). Apologies, fellow loungers!
10. Buy a gallon of water. Drink. Repeat.
11. Do the inevitable after drinking gallons of water. Repeat.
12. Strike up conversations with perfect strangers. Find them fascinating. Realize that it’s midnight at home and tiredness may have something to do with their fascinating-ness.
13. Think about trying to get some work done. Nah.
14. Check out the latest Twitterings, blog posts, Facebooks, and all the rest of that soc med jazz (that can suck up a good chunk of time).
15. Write blog post about things to do during a nine-hour layover in LAX.

What do you do during long layovers? I already burned out on knitting and video-watching during my last flight and am trying to save my books for the flight.