Go Green! “Hacienda Tres Rios Resort” in the Riviera Maya receives the Green Globe Achievement Award for 2011.

In January 2012, Hacienda Tres Rios Resort, Spa & Nature Park was awarded the Green Globe High Achievement Award for 2011. Only six hotels in the world received the distinction for their environmental conservation commitments.

The Green Globe Award is the global travel and tourism industry certification program for sustainable tourism. Green Globe Members save energy, water resources, reduce operational costs, positively contribute to local communities and their environment and meet the high expectations of green leisure and business travelers.

The Endless Luxury All Inclusive Plan at Hacienda Tres Rios combines warm hospitality and luxury 273 suites of native materials as well as an incredible gourmet experience. Its 326 acres of pristine tropical rainforest intersects by three freshwater rivers that are decorated by ten cave like sinkhole natural wells and is known as the only nature park in the Yucatan Peninsula that include three distinct ecosystems: jungle, mangrove forest and coastal dunes. 

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Top 5 2012 Meeting Technology Trends

The latest article posted by Corbin Ball Associates, “12+ Meetings Technology Trends to Watch for 2012,” provides an long list of up and coming technology trends for meeting planners and attendees. Here are some of our favorites.

One trend for smartphones that will be very useful in 2012 are the free and low cost phone applications for meetings, conferences, and events. Smartphone applications now have the ability to assist in your event planning through the distribution of event information, venue location finding, improving your green business through reducing paper needs and many more options. There are hundreds of mobile applications targeting meeting professionals and the event business, the possibilities are endless!

Like the idea of a meeting application for your phone? The second trend and most popular area of smartphone development for meeting planning is the “Do It Yourself” phone applications. You can create a customized app specifically for your meeting or event using services such as BiznessApps.com which allows you to customize information, logos and more for a monthly fee. BiznessApps.com is not the only site with an “events” option for creating your personalized event app. There are many other similar services or you can hire a designer per app.

The third smartphone trend for meeting and event planners in 2012 is “Near Field Communication” (NFC). NFC allows devices to communicate when they are touched together. There are many applications for this technology but we love it for its ability to trade business cards and contact information at meetings.

The fourth trend for smartphones in meeting planning business are the “Indoor Positioning Systems” to help attendees find their way around an event, meeting, or trade show. The standard GPS on smartphones stops working for attendees once they walk through the venue door, but what if they can’t find their way around once inside? The “Indoor Positioning System” allows precise positioning, personal navigation through a venue/exhibit hall with optimized routing, friend/contact finding, networking (with permission) and much, much more.

The fifth and final smartphone trend in 2012 most useful to planning professionals is the recent movement towards free and easy access to Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi makes all the smartphone trends possible. It is becoming a more standard contract addition. While some hotels and venues still charge for Wi-Fi many are offering it for free in meeting spaces and common areas.

Smartphone applications are the future of the event industry so be one of the first to utilize these resources and surprise your clients and attendees with your tech-savvy business!

For more information on the 2012 meeting technology trends, visit: http://www.corbinball.com/articles_technology/index.cfm?fuseaction=cor_av&artID=8756

Cowboys Stadium: Host of Super Bowl XLV, 2010 NBA All-Star Game, & National Training Workshop 2012?

Y’all looking for a unique way to invigorate and motivate your company’s key playmakers?  Look no further than Cowboys Stadium.  It’s no longer only the home of the Dallas football team, their famous cheerleaders, or Super Bowl XLV; it is the ideal venue to host corporate meetings, team-building activities, and receptions.

This iconic backdrop has more than 22 flexible event spaces, as well as the option for an indoor or outdoor meeting at the push of a button.  The stadium boasts the record for largest domed building in the world and the retractable roof permits for an open air event with piece of mind. 

The event space includes the field itself, two 30,000 square-foot Main Concourse clubs, two Silver Level clubs that each accommodates up to 225 guests, and two Field Level clubs.  The Cowboys locker room, six end-zone platforms, and a post-game interview room are other unparalleled spaces for private functions available throughout the year.  Each club features a variety of high-definition video displays, and many of them feature complete audio capabilities. 

Cowboys Stadium also houses the award-winning food and beverage service, Legends Hospitality Management.  The team is dedicated to using fresh and locally grown ingredients for a distinguishing and inventive culinary experience.   Any event at Cowboys stadium can be kicked up a notch with a visit by the beautiful Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders or Rowdy, the Cowboys’ cheerful Mascot.  The events staff can also arrange a behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium and the stadium’s museum-quality art collection.

Cowboys Stadium is located in Arlington, Texas, just 20 miles west of Dallas, making it the perfect location for nationwide companies. 

For more information, please click here.

The Social Media Policy Tightrope

As the social media scene changes policy becomes more important. Some companies will fall behind and some will become the cutting edge of social media policy. But almost everyone will try to over control their employees or members when walking the policy tightrope.

This is the age of smart phones and tablets and you will see more and more people interacting with social media to talk about their company, association or events that they attend. It is no longer considered forbidden to have your cell phone out during a lecture or to tweet from a networking event. But how do we control everything people say about our companies or events? We can’t.

Trying to over control the output of employees, members and attendees can create disgruntled social media gurus who will in turn post negative things about you. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t restrict posting at all, it just means your policy should be realistic. If your employees want to tweet about a long day at work you can’t stop them. But you can make it a policy not to disclose client information or confidential company information.

Trying to stop all conversations from people that interact with you can actually be a detriment. This stops the genuine conversations that now happen predominantly online. These conversations actually help to give your brand credibility and bring a human aspect when needed. Starting the conversation can be as easy as interacting with employees you already have via social media.

When walking the tightrope of policy, make sure to think about all the consequences of your restrictions and rethink any that don’t align with your company values or your goals for social media. A policy is necessary but it’s up to you how to use it.

For more information click here.

A New Horizon for a Small Island

Hyatt Hotels Corporation recently has announced the opening of Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas. This will be the first resort style property on the island of Saadiyat the UAE.

This Park Hyatt will boast 306 guest rooms and villas and has been designed as an “urban resort” concept by New York-based architect Perkins Eastman and Singapore-based designer Wilson Associates. This resort style hotel also boasts a 18 hole golf course and top of the line spa. Located on the Arabian ocean front the views from any part of the hotel are spectacular.

Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi also has enough meeting space to host anything from a banquet of 500 to an intimate board meeting. With plenty of outdoor areas for receptions and special events the Park Hyatt really has it all.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority expects to receive 2.7 million visitors by 2012 and has plans to open many new attractions including museums to become a hotspot for the culturally curious.

For more information visit www.hyatt.com

Do It Yourself…..Dinner?

New catering trends now boast thing like “interactive” and “customizable.” The days of being stuck at a table for several hours at a banquet or other meal function are over. Caterers across the country are putting their own twist on bringing the kitchen to you like Creative Edge Parties in New York who offers a cut-your-own pasta station with hanging sheets of handmade pasta.

Not only does this trend lead to make it yourself buffets like devil-your-own egg bar, it also brings chefs out of the kitchen so that you can see them hard at work. A new device called the “anti-griddle” is being used in these up close chef interactions for freezing things instead of cooking them.

Chefs are not the only ones that get to come out of the kitchen and have some fun with these new trends. More and more catering companies are also offering carts of different food and drink items that can be prepared on the spot or served up to mingling guests. These carts can carry anything from ice cream cones with toppings to a full carving station that comes to you.

Guests will also benefit from this move towards more interactive food. Long meal functions can tend to drag in a large room setting where the only people you talk to are those seated to your right and left. Being able to get up and mingle with people while you create something together can help to bring your guests together or to break them out of long business sessions at the end of the day.

Moving Your Meetings Into the Techno-age

Most delegates and meeting attendees are now glued to their smart phones and tablets. According to One+ tablet and smartphone sales surpassed desktop and laptop computers in 2011.

Event-goers more often than not want to connect their audience with the event they are attending in real time they like to share their experiences as they happen and not after the fact. This creates new demands for events.

Wi-Fi connections are now standard in contract terms. Depending on the size of your meeting you may need a tech expert from your venue to help you establish things like the number of connections needed and the bandwidth and whether or not you will need extra power. These things can now significantly affect how long your attendees stay in their sessions. Though cell phones now often have 3G coverage service can be spotty and attendees are likely to walk out in order to send important emails or respond to messages if you don’t have the internet connection available to allow them a solid connection.

When the room is full of smart phones and tablets you should use that to your advantage. No doubt these folks engage in social media so why not ask them to follow you on twitter or join in a discussion on your Facebook community? Your resources for more web traffic and word of mouth marketing are sitting right in front of you.

There are many more roads we can go down with technology such as apps for you conference, video interviews in the hallways, and ways to take the conference with you on the go however groups and companies should be careful of jumping into the tecno-world too fast. If you are not prepared to build your own app then don’t do it but we should all be moving forward with all the fully executable options available to us.

For more information click here.

The World of Water

Water is the oldest resource used in the meeting planning business, but it also provides one of the newest food and beverage options. With all the choices for water today: still, sparkling, bottled, tap? None of the former possibilities offer the taste bud excitement of the newest food and beverage trend. Infused water- water infused with real fruit, spices, and herbs, is the newest trick in the meeting planning industry for a low cost, delicious, and aesthetically pleasing treat for your reception.

At your next meeting, get creative and ask the venue for infused water at the water station instead of the usual plain water station set up. Infused water set ups include at least three carafes of different infused flavors. Flavors can include lemon-lime, pineapple-orange, mixed berry, cucumber mint, with an additional touch of flavors such as basil, cilantro, rosemary, and even habaneros. The choices of flavors are endless and stop only with the limitations of your imagination!

These tasty flavors provide a healthy and low cost alternative to sodas and coffee for your reception. The infused water also provides décor for the room with the array of fruit floating colorfully in the carafes. With all the healthy and yummy fruit floating around, your attendees will want to try all the possible flavors adding some spice to your reception. The new infused water trick cuts the need for plastic water bottles and soda cans helping make your meeting more environmentally friendly. Using carafes and glasses for the reception water station helps your meeting reach its green meeting goals.

When planning your next meeting, try this new trick for enhancing your reception by adding flavor and color to the usually boring water station. Your attendees will love the tasty and healthy alternative you provided, and your clients are sure to appreciate the earth-friendly, cost cutting benefits of serving this yummy treat.

Travel to Cape Town, South Africa

Sawubona! That means hello in Zulu, one of South Africa’s eleven official languages. In the past decade, South Africa has transformed from a struggling nation to a country with a prominent influence on the world’s economy. There has never been a better time than now to visit the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa’s second most populated city. Whether for work or vacation, Cape Town’s vibrant culture and exquisite sights are sure to create an experience of a lifetime.

Cape Town is the perfect location for any meeting. With a citywide room count of around 32,000, this bustling city has more than enough space to accommodate any type of meeting. For the past two years, it has held the top ranking spot for global gatherings in Africa and the Middle East for the International Conference and Convention Association. The success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup proved that this coastal city can accommodate all types of travellers and a variety of meetings.

There are many reasons why Cape Town should be on everyone’s trip list. In one day you can relax on the beautiful beaches of Camps Bay, take a trip up Table Mountain to see the breathtaking views, and have a true South African experience in one of the many craft markets around town. For business professionals looking for the perfect venue, try the One & Only Cape Town or the RadissonBlu in the heart of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront harbor. For a team building exercises, why not go wine tasting in the Stellenbosch wine lands or try Great White Shark Diving? It’s obvious that no matter what the purpose of your visit, Cape Town is bound to exceed every expectation.

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