Staff, Meeting Attendees Rally In Wake of San Diego Area Fires

Officials from the San Diego Convention Center Corporation mobilized resources to ensure attendees, exhibitors, and meeting planners were updated on the impact of the devastating fires in the San Diego County region in October.

Only one large group, Sharp Healthcare's annual employee meeting, expected to attract 12,000-14,000 local attendees, cancelled its event at the convention center due to the fires. Attendees, primarily health-care providers from the San Diego region, were asked to marshal resources in response to the fires.

The more than 6,000 attendees who participated in the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) annual meeting http://www.ashg.org/genetics/ashg/ menu-annmeet.shtml at the downtown convention center ended their meeting Oct. 27, but not before taking extra efforts to help local citizens hard hit by the fires.

Event attendees freed up hotel rooms for evacuees by doubling up on sleeping rooms, volunteered to provide medical assistance, and ASHG launched a fund to help provide additional resources to local relief efforts.

"We have been deeply touched by and appreciative of the incredible efforts made by ASHG attendees, exhibitors, as well as ASHG meeting organizers who have gone above and beyond in their efforts to support the relief efforts," said Carol Wallace, president and CEO of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.

Beginning Oct. 28, the National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), with approximately 2,000 attendees, held its three-day conference in the convention center. The next meeting at the center was the Society for Neuroscience, with 32,000 attendees, from Nov. 3-7.

These three events alone are forecast to generate more than $150 million in economic impact to San Diego and contribute nearly $2.5 million in tax revenue.

MILI, the Meeting Industry Ladies Invitational, also went off without a hitch on the courses at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., Oct. 28-31. According to MILO (Meetings Industry Ladies Organization) President Jo Ann Hoffman, the San Diego CVB as well as the entire community was "tickled that we continued to hold our event." In response to the wildfire crisis, MILI switched charities and donated clothing and other needed articles to the local Red Cross, as was recommended by the San Diego CVB.

Hawaii Brings Attendance Program to China

June Matsumoto, Hawaii Convention Center's (HCC) director of international sales and marketing, was in Beijing and Shanghai, Oct. 22 - 26 to promote the center's international attendance-building program to key Chinese travel agencies with connections to potential delegates. Matsumoto, along with a HCC representative in China, met with the tourism and commerce departments at the U.S. Embassy to present the program. The HCC is focusing on bringing Chinese delegates to the following conventions in Hawaii:

• Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) - February 2008 
•  Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS)/Asian Society for Pediatric Research (ASPR) - May 2008
• World Brewing Congress - October 2008.

Editor's Note: Read more about Hawaii Convention Center's attendance-building program in the July 2007 issue of Convene.

$3 Billion Development Under Way In Scottsdale's Downtown

Twenty-five planners had the opportunity to "Explore the American Southwest" and see firsthand all of Scottsdale's new developments at a Fall Fam held by the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Oct. 14-17.

Nearly $3 billion of development, made up of large projects like the Scottsdale Waterfront, Southbridge, and new hotels such as the W Scottsdale Hotel, is nearing completion. In spring 2008, InterContinental Hotels Group is scheduled to open its first property in Scottsdale called InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa. A luxury, eco-friendly hotel concept by Starwood Capital Group, "1" Hotel and Residences, is expected to break ground in spring 2008. Kimpton Hotels also debuted in April with the FireSky Resort & Spa, formerly Caleo Resort & Spa. Mondrian Scottsdale also opened in January, one of 10 hotels in Morgans Hotel Group.

Scottsdale offers more than 13,600 guest rooms, with some resorts providing more than 600 rooms and 60,000 square feet of meeting space. Larger Scottsdale properties offer on-site cowboy "towns" for Western cookouts. Off-site options include the WestWorld Equestrian Center, Pinnacle Peak Patio, MacDonald's Ranch, La Puesta Del Sol, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, and Scottsdale Stadium. Arrangements can be made for Native American hoop dancers and Southwest artisan displays.

By the end of the intensive fam - 14 site tours in two and a half days - three planners had already decided to return, including:

• Kim Barker, of Ames, Iowa-based Ortho Computer Systems, who confirmed a booking for the Ortho II 2009 Users Group Meeting for 400 attendees Feb. 18-22, 2009. She held a meeting in Scottsdale in 2003 for 280 attendees.
• Andy Hoogensen, of The Bemis Company in Omaha, who is considering returning to book his company's annual sales meeting Feb. 18-20, 2008. The paper company held its national sales meeting here in 2006 with 40 attendees.
• New York City-based The Conference Board, which may hold its Council on Compensation II meeting from April 9-11, 2008, according to Renay Arthur. The Conference Board was last in Scottsdale for its Council of Financial Executives meeting (58 attendees) in 2000.

TBR, TIA, and Discover Partnership America to Combine Forces

At the beginning of the new year, the Travel Business Roundtable (TBR), Travel Industry Association (TIA), and Discover America Partnership will begin the process of becoming a single organization in 2009.

During the past year, the travel industry has achieved legislative success and raised its voice in Washington through cooperation among the TBR, TIA, and the Discover America Partnership. Efforts focused primarily on facilitating international travel to the United States through reform of U.S. visa and entry processes and the creation of a sustainable, nationally coordinated promotion program.

Components of this process include:

• TIA will absorb the staff of the Discover America Partnership.
• TBR and TIA will jointly create a multi-faceted public affairs program.
• TBR and TIA will strengthen their internal government relations capabilities, create an industry-wide grassroots program, and establish a public policy research center.
• TBR and TIA will explore a new name for the combined organization, based on market research and industry input.

This coordinated effort will require active cooperation and participation with other travel industry associations to best represent the broad domestic and international issues that affect the entire $1.2 trillion U.S. travel community.

Disney Creates "Welcome" Video To Attract International Visitors

As part of the "Secure Borders, Open doors" initiative to improve the entry experience for international visitors to the United States, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts commissioned a short video, "Welcome: Portraits of America," to greet visitors into the country.

Featuring Americans from all regions and walks of life pictured against such iconic backdrops as the Grand Canyon and the Golden Gate Bridge, the seven-minute film and hundreds of still images were donated to the U.S. Government at its premiere Oct. 22 at the American Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Karen Hughes, under secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Department of State, spoke at the premiere, thanking Disney for its "significant contributions to our efforts to make America's embassies and airports more welcoming to our international guests." (Hughes was a keynote speaker at the 2004 PCMA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.)

Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, believes the video will help build back international visitation to America, making meeting planners' jobs easier in the future. "The video can start the process," said Rasulo, "letting guests to America know, 'I really am welcome here.'"

The video (to be incorporated into posters, banners, and other imagery) will be featured at Houston's Bush International Airport, and Washington Dulles International Airport. The film and still portraits are meant to convey the diversity, friendliness, and optimism of the American people.

The United States Senate also recently passed a bill that will provide $40 million to pay for audiovisual equipment, banners, improved signage, and additional customs officers at the two model airports, and 20 international airports in the United States with the highest number of international visitors.

 Nearly 29 million international visitors pass through the airport federal inspection areas each year. To see the video, go to http://discoveramerica.com, then click on: View "Welcome: Portraits of America."