Not just the macro environment of Mother Earth, but the micro environment of your meeting space. I know, I talk about this a lot, but I just saw the photo of the Catalyst Ranch hosting EventCamp 2011’s annual meeting on this The Conference Handouts blog, and I wish more than ever I’d been able to be there. (And then I clicked through to see more pictures, and yet more, and really, really want to go to this place, even if I couldn’t make the conference.)

Poster Patty Keller shares some good thoughts gleaned from a presentation by John Nawn about conference design, including this question I wish every planner would not just ask, but do something about: “Is the environment stale with buzzing florescent lighting and rows of chairs or does it provide a sense of creativity and learning?”

In a totally brilliant grab off recent headlines, the Rockford, Ill. CVB invites people to come hide away in its fair city — even if you’re not a Wisconsin Democratic senator. Awesome.

Thanks to Bill Geist for the pointer!

I don’t normally think of Las Vegas as the greenest of cities, but it sounds like it’s making some serious eco-efforts, including everything from a sustainable Sunday brunch at The Springs Café by Wolfgang Puck to the Las Vegas Convention Center’s 66 percent average recycling rate for shows (the press release says it recovers on average 422 tons of cardboard, 250 tons of plastic, 173 tons of carpet padding, 99 tons of mixed paper, 83 tons of various metals and 58 tons of wood annually).

Thanks to Patti Shock for the pointer.

Here’s a handy report from Hotel Online about the U.S. cities that have experienced the biggest hotel rate increases and decreases for October, as compared to October 2009. Omaha, Neb., dropped the most at 8 percent, followed by Richmond, Va. (-8%), Sacramento (-4%), Calgary, Alberta (-3%), and Las Vegas (-2%).

The biggest gains were seen in San Francisco (+23%), New Orleans (+22%), Miami (+21%), Niagara Falls, N.Y. (+17%), and Honolulu (+16%).

Boston hasn’t always been known for its diversity, but, according to this editorial in Sunday’s Boston Globe, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority’s work in wooing the black convention market is starting to pay off. It says that next summer the city will host up to 15k attendees at the National Urban League and Blacks in Government conventions. I loved this bit, which I believe is so true of Boston:

“If conference attendees encounter sneers next summer it will be because of “geography of personality,’’ not race hostility. A 2008 University of Cambridge study on the phenomenon ranked Massachusetts residents near the bottom of the 50 states on extroversion and agreeableness. And that study controlled for variables such as race. But the same study ranked Massachusetts near the top of the nation on openness to new ideas. Urban League attendees may not get a cheery greeting from our twisted lips. But they are sure to find an open-minded local audience for their presentations on the state of black America and other research topics.”

I’m a firm believer in mixing a little fun into meetings, and I heard from a colleague who got to experience playing the geolocation game SCVNGR at an MPI New England event that that’s one good way to go about it. So I want to give a big kudos to the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau for making the SCVNGR social gaming platform available to show organizers.

It sounds like the first round is happening now. From a press release: “The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), the country’s largest manufacturing technology show takes place September 13-18 and is the first convention at McCormick Place to offer interactive gaming to its 90,000+ attendees and exhibitors. The IMTS 2010 trek includes 12 challenges – three challenges in each of the four McCormick Place buildings in an effort to familiarize attendees with McCormick Place, the nation’s largest meeting facility, and drive traffic to exhibitors. Participants who complete at least six of the challenges can unlock badges to receive discounts at the IMTS store.”

Very cool idea. I’ll be curious to see how many of those 90k people play along.

We found this awesome post about Opryland’s recovery from this spring’s 100-year flood on Lodging Hospitality’s Front Desk blog and asked Ed Watkins if we could reprint it. He said yes, so here it is.

Opryland Turns Disaster into Opportunity
By Ed Watkins
There’s a fascinating story playing out in Nashville, and I can’t wait to see how it ends. As you may remember, the Opryland Hotel was devastated by a hundred-year flood this spring that knocked the 2,881-room mega-convention hotel out of commission until some time this fall. It was a tragedy for Gaylord Entertainment, the hotel’s owners; the 1,700 workers who lost their jobs; and for the entire Nashville tourism economy.


But according to a recent story in the Nashville Business Journal, the company is turning disaster into opportunity. Led by charismatic CEO Colin Reed, Gaylord has used the three months since the hotel closed to build for the future, not look to the past. In a speech to local leaders last week, Reed says the company has nearly completed the flood cleanup, which caused $225 million in damage (in addition to $62 million in lost business so far.) And until the planned November reopening, crews will perform nearly $30 million in additional upgrades that were planned before the tragedy struck.


And the company’s sales team has been hard at work: Reed says the hotel has booked 300,000 room nights from January to June of 2011. That’s a 10-percent increase in advanced bookings from the same date last year. Even more heartening was news the hotel has begun rehiring its laid-off work force.

The secret, Reed told the business group, was the company’s extensive disaster plan. And as he so eloquently said, “It’s absolutely stupid for organizations—it doesn’t matter how big or how small—not to be prepared for emergencies.”

I’ve heard MPI throws a mean party, but last night was nothing short of amazing. They lit the Olympic cauldron for only the second time since the Olympics (the other time was for Canada Day, I heard). The whole thing was held outdoors in the open space next to the convention centre, with those incredible views of the harbour and mountains as the sun slowly set. But that was the only thing that was slow. Amazing fresh seafood and sushi was flying off the woks and platters, people were drinking some strange blue concoction I didn’t dare try but I heard was good, and we were entertained by all manner of interesting acts.

There was this one, where these incredibly fit young men and woman jumped off this structure onto a tramp, flew back up and defied gravity in all kinds of ways. Actually, that could have been the theme of last night’s event — defying gravity — as attendees got jollier and jollier and BMX bikers spun off ramps and twisted through the air, and young women did some complicated, Cirque du Soleil type of twisty dancey thing hanging from shirts and pants on clotheslines.

One might say the whole thing was very well orca-strated (heh heh):

As it was all winding up, I found a friend to go see the fireworks that were a part of Vancouver’s Celebration of Light (I didn’t bring my camera, but here is a nice Flickr stream from those who did).

I fully intended to check out The Big Deal poker tournament Harrahs was sponsoring that night, but my dogs were beyond barking at that point, they were downright howling. So I retired for the evening, read a chapter or two of The Girl Who Played with Fire (awesome second book in the series), and passed out to have my first really good night’s sleep since I got here. Exhaustion will do that to you!

Speaking of which, I haven’t picked up my official show pedometer yet, but so far here’s my steps on Canadian soil:
Thursday: 10,623
Friday: 12,947
Saturday: 30,053 — hence the exhaustion! Forgot to mention that I spent the afternoon wandering the city, from a stroll through Stanley Park to shopping mecca Robson St., which I decided was out of my price range, to Yaletown, took the Aquabus across False Creek to Granville Island, then back over for a wander along the seawall past the Science museum and through Chinatown, then through Gastown, where I just so happened to be there on the hour to see the famous steam clock do its thing, then wandered my way back to the hotel.

I may beat my record set at ASAE last year after all.

Off to the morning sessions. Looking forward to some great learning and some puppy cuddling!

(Disclosure: I received a comp registration for MPI WEC 2010)

Check out the sand sculpture MPI logo in front of the Olympic torch holder by the convention center– tres cool, isn’t it? The sculptors from Sandemons said they thought it’d be finished by early afternoon. Every time I’ve gone by there have been flocks of tourists who probably have no idea what MPI is gathered around taking pics and videos of it. Registration seemed to be going pretty smoothly so far, but it was fairly sparse, too. It’ll probably get crazy later on.

So weird to have a little spare time this afternoon before the opening reception — that never happens. Should I work? Nah, too nice a day for that! Maybe I’ll rent a bike and take a ride around Stanley Park, or go explore some of the interesting neighborhoods we saw yesterday. Have to do something to burn off some of the incredible food I’ve been scarfing down since I got here (seriously, deep-fried sourdough bread that had been soaked in egg overnight, topped with maple syrup, plus scrambled egg with Dungeness crab for breakfast at The Market restaurant at the Shangri La hotel. And I don’t usually even eat breakfast).

Not to dwell on the food around here, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Japadog hot dog stand that I hear draws huge lines of locals at lunch time. Yup, Japanese-style hot dogs, complete with seaweed, that are amazingly delicious, according to our hosts here. I’m not a big sausage person, but if anyone at MPI WEC tries it, let me know if it lives up to its reputation.

(Disclosure: I received a comp registration for MPI WEC 2010)

Just got into town for MPI WEC last night around 5 pm local time, and already I have fallen just a wee bit in love with the place. Of course our hosts from Tourism Vancouver and the Vancouver Convention Centre are showing us a most excellent time on a pre-fam press trip, from swaying over the Capilano suspension bridge to an unbelievable dining experience last night atop the Grouse Mountain Resort (the trip back down the mountain on the tram, with a partial moon glowing over the city lights, was downright magical).

Then today we got to check out the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel (you would not believe how green the place is — built to be zero waste, and achieving it), and the Fairmont Pacific Rim (oh, oh, oh, I want to stay there some day, and if you ever get the chance to eat at Oru, grab it!). We also go to hob nob with the critters at the Vancouver Aquarium, including tossing gobs of raw fish to two of the cutest sea otters ever, gawking at the beluga whales, and cooing over the dolphins. Then we took a quick spin through the new Klahowya Village attraction in Stanley Park, which I have to get back to and experience more fully. Like the aquarium — can you imagine breakfasting with Beluga whales? — it of course can be rented for group functions, including First Nation cuisine and interaction with aboriginal artisans, crafts people, and cultural tour guides.

This afternoon we did a quick spin through some of the cool neighborhoods and shopping areas, from Chinatown (second largest in North America after San Francisco, they told us) to Granville Island (must return and shop extensively). There are so many interesting venues our hosts kept pointing out as available for group functions that I’m almost wondering if there’s anywhere in the city that wouldn’t be amenable to a group event.

The most striking thing about Vancouver, well OK, one of the many most striking, is its relentless stalking of the green. The new convention center — pardon me, centre — is LEED Platinum-certified, for goodness sakes. Even its roof is green, literally, with local grasses and other plants. The food is locally sourced and made from scratch, the bits that jut into the water are designed to accommodate and encourage the water flora and fauna to flourish. I heard tonight that the aim is to get not just the city but the entire province to a state of environmental neutrality by the end of the year. It may take a bit of offsetting, but my money’s on them making it.

To the environmentally friendly meeting evangelists among us, prepare for a major green geek-out. For the foodies, you’re in for a treat (like gelato made with honey from the bee hives that live on the centre’s roof!). For scenery lovers, well, you’ll see for yourself. And I hear the weather is supposed to the current warm-but-not-hot temperature, low humidity, and clear skies we enjoyed today. Granted, we’ll be in the convention centre most of the time, but it’s nice to be able to peer at that gorgeous weather through the enormous expanses of glass and experience it vicariously.

OK, I’ll stop going on and on, but just have to mention this, because I’ve not never seen it or even heard of it before. When we were touring the new convention centre building late this afternoon, a wedding party had taken over one of the upper levels, which had an outdoor terrace overlooking the harbor, for a reception. Bridesmaids and groomsmen beaming and toasting. In a convention center. Really.

(Disclosure: I was attending a press pre-fam trip hosted by Tourism Vancouver, the Vancouver Convention Centre, and MPI)