When Bad Times Happen to Good People

President's Message

By Brian Stevens

The past few months feel a bit like 2002 all over again. Back then, we saw hotels take management to a four-day work week, corporate meetings were postponed, and pink slips were common. There was a clamp down on business travel, and we endured incredibly long lines to get through airport security.
 
While there are people who never fully recovered from the cutbacks; most did rebound and, in many cases, actually benefited from the changes. Colleagues who started their own businesses note that they're still working out well – and in many cases, are more professionally satisfied than they were before. According to executive outplacement consultants, Drake Beam Morning, 60% of people let go from their jobs get better-paying jobs, and 30% change careers entirely.
 
The good news is that our industry can always use more good people. We see a record number of people becoming associates for companies like ConferenceDirect. Our success@conferencedirect.com is being accessed by a myriad of people who departed corporate jobs and are looking to make a change that allows more independence and freedom. Recently, one of our customers left her high-tech company and joined the conference management side of our business. Who better to serve the company she came from?

There are 40,000 career and job-hunting websites. Jobfox.com is a new site that takes resumes and offers employers a peek at rated matches to their openings. Our industry web sites – ASAE, PCMA, MPI and IEAM – all have job postings. While we encourage use of these virtual services, there is still nothing more important than making sure that everyone on your contact list knows you are available and looking for a certain type of job. Another good place to start your search is searchwide.com – a hospitality search company. I've observed that people move from hotels to CVBs and from hotels to convention services companies. A growing trend is jobs which are virtual in nature – eliminating the need to relocate.
 
Truth be told, ours is actually a small industry and as we navigate through a weak economy, let's be sure to help each another. If you're looking, communicate your aspirations and your need for a new job or career. We want this current climate to be short-lived, but in the meantime, we're here to save our customers time and money and, along the way, help our industry colleagues as much as possible.

STAYING AHEAD OF THE GAME

IndustryInsights Customer Seminars - Presented by ConferenceDirect

ConferenceDirect will be inviting customers to a half-day educational seminar in four locations across the United States.

• Hyatt Regency Houston – November 6, 2008
• Westin Buckhead, Atlanta – December 3, 2008
• Microsoft Studio/Hyatt Bellevue (Seattle/Redmond) – December 9, 2008
• Hyatt Convention Center, Denver – February 3, 2009

The day's packed agenda will include industry experts offering insights on saving money, meetings in a bear market economy, updates on the latest in meetings technology, and Strategic Meetings Management Program (SMMP) presentation. We look forward to seeing you!

Industry Insight: To Green Your Meeting, Start with a Green Hotel

By Elizabeth Blozan

"Go Green!" is the battle cry resounding through the meetings industry. But let's face it, meetings and conventions are a tough spot for the green revolution. By their nature, they generate a lot of one-time use waste. Meeting planners have quite a challenge trying to stay on budget, keep attendees happy, and stay on track with their organization's green objectives.

A bit flummoxed about how to "green up" your next event?

Here's one decision you can make early on to help ensure the principles of "reduce, reuse, recycle" are showcased at your next meeting: book a green hotel.

Not all green hotels are created equal. These days, most major hotels advertise some type of "green practice". At the baby-steps end of the scale, you'll find almost every hotel touting linen reuse programs and energy-efficient light bulbs.

But to go seriously green – and walk away with the stats to prove it – book a green extreme hotel. These hotels are so far ahead of the curve they actually lead green event management policies. And if you find the right hotel, they can even help you set your own green best practices.

How do you spot the green extreme hotel that can turn you into the greenest meeting planner or organizer? Start with this checklist:

• Does the hotel have an environmental event best practices policy? If a hotel is serious about going green, it will have a green website dedicated to you, the meeting planner…and a crack sales team who can walk you through every detail.
• Does the hotel have a green certificate from a program like LEED, GreenSeal, or ISO 14000/14001? These well-established certifications score everything from a construction to environmentally-smart practices. No green extreme hotel would be caught dead without one.
• Can the hotel track the resources you're gobbling up? An aggressively green hotel will have a tracking system so savvy it can parse out the resources your event's using – a handy tool for tracking your own green progress.
• Are the hotel's green practices user-friendly? Great green hotels have things like no-brainer recycling bins that make it easy for attendees to go green.
• Does the hotel partner with responsible vendors, like local farmers and green cleaning product suppliers? A good green hotel not only has green vendors, it brags about them.
• Does the hotel offer you plenty of options for choosing reusable over disposable resources? Ultra green hotels have thought it through and offer details like low-impact meal service packaging and paperless meeting updates broadcast over a dedicated TV channel.
• Does the hotel have a fantastic point person? The greenest of hotels have a staff that can handle everything from setting meeting room heating, cooling, and lighting limits, to answering all of your questions with patience.

Being responsible to your attendees, your budget, and your planet all at the same time is a tricky balancing act. But remember, even small steps can make a big difference. For a group of 2,200 attendees, simply requesting china instead of paper plates is an easy way to keep 1,800 pounds of waste out of a landfill.

About the Author: Elizabeth Blozan is freelance writer specializing in green travel and is based in Santa Monica, California.