Meeting News - September 22, 2008 - (Page 3)

Perspectives Here’s To Celebrating Life On the morning of Sept. 11 this year, I was sitting with Waynette HoKwon, Lori Sablas, and Christina Yumul of the Maui Visitors Bureau, who were visiting New York City on a media mission. The day before, they had been to Ground Zero and were struck by how nice New Yorkers they’d met had been—unlike our reputation. It wasn’t the first time I’ve heard that backhanded compliment. I know how New Yorkers are known for their single-minded pursuit of career, which can make us seem uncaring compared to other parts of the country. I shared with them a story from the first Thanksgiving after 9/11, which I experienced through the eyes of planners and suppliers from Europe, who were trying to get me on the phone around the time of the holiday. “What’s going on in New York?” they asked. “We can’t reach anybody.” What was going on? A major shift in perspective. Following the World Trade Center tragedy, New Yorkers discovered something more important than their careers—namely, their families and friends. They were single-mindedly celebrating Thanksgiving (cutting out on Wednesday, etc), and they were not taking calls. This is how all holidays should be celebrated; life is too short. Unfortunately, that is not always the case, which is what our Exclusive Research explores in this issue. While 67 percent of all meeting planners who responded said they would never schedTerri Hardin, ule a meeting over a significant religious or secular Editor-In-Chief holiday, we all know it happens. Later in the evening, I worked late and walked to Penn Station as the sun was going down. I walked down 31st Street, past the Engine Co. 1/ Ladder Co. 24 firehouse, just as I did seven years ago after waiting in line for six hours to donate blood for the Trade Center victims. This year, all was dark; but on that day, a filthy, ash-streaked fire truck sat in the street, and all the firefighters stood dazed. They lost many of their colleagues—including Father Mychal Judge, the Franciscan priest who was a Fire Department chaplain and a frequent presence in the house. He went to the Trade Center on 9/11 to administer last rites. New Yorkers uncaring? I don’t think so. r S e p t e m b e r 2 2 , 2 0 0 8 Vo l u m e 3 2 , N u m b e r 1 6 Editorial Editor-In-Chief, Terri Hardin (646) 654-7364; terri.hardin@nielsen.com Executive Editor/Hotels, Rayna Katz (646) 654-4421; rayna.katz@nielsen.com Managing Editor/International, William Ng (646) 654-4451; william.ng@nielsen.com Research Director, Nancy Lazarus (646) 654-7272; nancy.lazarus@nielsen.com Editorial Fax: (646) 654-4428 Editorial Address: 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-9595 Corporate/Sales Nella Veldran, Vice President Travel Group Phone: (646) 654-7325 Southeast/Mid-Atlantic/Ohio Larry Mischik, Ad Director/Account Manager 3054 Four Oaks Drive, Atlanta, GA 30360 Phone: (770) 604-9641 NY/NJ/New England/Bermuda/Caribbean Diane DiMaggio, International Advertising Director 770 Broadway, NY, NY 10003; Phone: (646) 654-7332 Contributing Editors Corrie Dosh, Kinley Levack, Robert Carey Gretchen Kelly, Bob Curley, Heidi Waldrop Bay Fred Gebhart, Marshall Krantz Florida/Cruise Arthur Hyman, Associate Publisher/Account Manager 1267 Via Fiume, Boynton Beach, FL 33436 Phone: (561) 736-5374 Art Art Director, Richard Prestia (646) 654-4424; richard.prestia@nielsen.com Midwest/Texas/Louisiana Patrice Carman, Account Manager 200 West Jackson Blvd., 27th floor, Chicago, IL 60606 Phone: (312) 583-5522 Marketing Sr. Marketing Manager, Jennifer Pepper Stam (646) 654-7263; jennifer.pepperstam@nielsen.com CA/HI/Colorado/Arizona/Nevada/NM Sharon Freeark, Account Manager 2950 31st Street, Suite 100, Santa Monica, CA 904053037; Phone: (626) 578-0700; Fax: (626) 578-0720 Production Production Manager, Adam Schaffer (646) 654-7295; Fax (646) 654-7318 adam.schaffer@nielsen.com Subscription Information: (847) 763-9050 Subscription Fax: (847) 763-9037 Single Copy Sales: (847) 763-9050 Asia/Pacific/Southwest/Colorado Edie Garfinkle, International Advertising Director 2510 G Las Posas Road, #505, Camarillo, CA 93010 Phone: (805) 383-1326; Fax: (646) 654-4456 Custom Media Editorial Director, Marilyn Moore (305) 884-0295 Executive Editor, Alison Golub Executive Editor (performance), Karen Gines Associate Editor, Sara Veit Creative Director, Denniston Brown Art Director, Michelle Tropiano Associate Art Director, Jonathan Chang Associate Art Director, Tessa Sestina Digital Sales Jared Smith, National Account Manager 770 Broadway, NY, NY 10003; Phone: (646) 654-5520 International CANADA: Wayne St. John, President; Penny Dickenson, VP Sales; Alex Kinninmont, VP Sales/Admin.; Francoise Chalifour, Cyndy Fleming, American Publishers Canada Phone: (416) 363-1388; Rosalind Genge, Western office, Phone: (604) 988-0730; MEXICO & LATIN AMERICA: Veronica Castro; CASS Media; Phone: 52-55/5605-1757 EUROPE/AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST: Diane DiMaggio, International Advertising Director, Successful Meetings/MeetingNews; Phone: 646-654-7332; Fax: 646-328-0218; Cell 914-299-4394; Spain Luis Andrade, Luis Andrade Publicidad Internacional; Phone: 34-91-441-6266; Fax: 34-91-441-6549; Portugal Paulo Andrade, Ilimitada Media International; Phone: 351-21-385-3598/45; Fax: 351-21-388-3283 ASIA/PACIFIC: Singapore Lavendar Tan, Al Media, 733 Bukit timah Road #03-05, Singapore 269748; Phone: (65) 469-9321; Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines Annie Blanchard & Associates, Phone: (632) 532-6827; Fax: (632) 584-2110; Korea Mr. Jung-Won Suh, President, Sinsegi Media Inc., Phone: +82 2 3275 5969; Japan Etsuko Ichinohe, Pacific Business, Inc.; Phone 81-3-3661-6138; Fax: 81-3-3661-6139; Macau, Hong Kong, China Stephen Hutton, Hutton Media Limited, International Media Representatives, Suite 2102 Fook Lee Commercial Centre, 33 Lockhart Road, Wanchai Hong Kong; Phone: 852 2528 9135; Fax: 852 2528 9281 Information Marketing Associate Director, Audience Marketing, Tracey Dwyer (646) 654-5879 tracey.dwyer@nielsen.com Reprints The YGS Group Barb Karmilowicz (800) 290-5460 x106 MN@theYGSgroup.com List Rentals For postal mailings: Julius Single, (845) 731-2731 For emailings: Nicole Guarascio, (845) 731-3828 Group President Business Manager Sabrina Crow Leslie Musick President, Greg Farrar Senior Vice President, Human Resources: Michael Alicea Senior Vice President, Marketing: Mark Hosbein Senior Vice President, Finance: Derek Irwin Senior Vice President, Entertainment: Gerry Byrne terri.hardin@nielsen.com Senior Vice President, Marketing, Media & Visual Arts: Sabrina Crow Senior Vice President, Retail: David Loechner Senior Vice President, Online: Linda McCutcheon Senior Vice President, Building & Design: Joe Randall Senior Vice President, Central Services: Mary Kay Sustek Vice President, Licensing: Howard Appelbaum Vice President, Manufacturing & Distribution: Jennifer Grego Vice President, Audience Marketing: Joanne Wheatley IN THIS ISSUE ® ® ® ® ® ® ® What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Inside the Meetings Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 People Making News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Green Beat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 MN Webcast Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Live from the Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 www.meetingnews.com September 22, 2008 MeetingNews 3 http://www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - September 22, 2008

Meeting News - September 22, 2008
Contents
What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com
Inside the Meetings Industry
People Making News
Hotels & Resorts
Convention Centers
CVBs
International
Green Beat
Destination Insider
MN Webcast Report
Ad Index
Live from the Forum

Meeting News - September 22, 2008