Meeting News - May 25, 2009 - (Page 4)

News Shareholder Mtgs. Raise Remote Conf. Use The use of virtual conferencing technology within shareholder and investor meetings and conferences is increasing, in some cases reducing the size of physical meetings or completely replacing them. While companies have been making some use of remote conferencing, pressure to reduce spending, technology advances and the ability to reach a greater audience have spurred its adoption. Private equity firm The Blackstone Group has been ramping up its virtual events as in-person internal meetings are being cut back. Recently, the company completed its first Webinar with investors. “Senior management walked into the room and they were really surprised at the whole thing and the whole technology,” said David Landgraf, Blackstone vice president of events and conference planning, at this month’s Financial and Insurance Meeting Planning Conference in New York. “It was a virtual conference. People could talk to each other globally. We were answering their questions live. From a technology perspective, it opened the door to have one-on-one meetings to follow up. I look at that as the next road for the firm. It is a door, not a blockade.” The company also hosted a Webinar for its portfolio group, which 588 people attended—far higher than attendance at the company’s limited partner conferences. On top of achieving savings in travel time and hotel costs,“it opened up other doors and relationships for them and the sales force to make their impact,” said Landgraf, who manages a department of three that plans about 175 events annually. Fortune 500 transportation services holding company YRC Worldwide has been aggressively moving meetings and events to virtual environments (see page 16) and is considering implementing such technology for shareholder and investor relations events after initiating an employee stock equity plan in January. “Part of the reason we want to explore that is because now we have all of our employees as owners,” said executive vice president of enterprise solutions group and chief marketing officer Greg Reid.“How are you going to connect with them and let them know how the company is doing on an annual shareholder-meeting basis? It creates a great opportunity for us to consider other ways to connect with those employee owners.” By Seth Harris sharris@meetingnews.com While corporations can now reach broader audiences through remote electronic means either entirely or as a supplement to their in-person meetings, planners need to understand their audiences and how to adapt the technology for certain types of meetings, including shareholder events, where all stock owners require access, no matter how large or small. In these cases, balancing audience needs outweighs the benefits of cost savings because the company does not pay much of the shareholder attendee travel expenses. “The challenges becomes: Is it fully virtual with no physical gathering, continued on page 67 CIC Revamps International CMP Plans The Convention Industry Council will redesign the Certified Meeting Professional designation program for an international audience by changing the language to encompass international terminology and simplifying some of the application fields. International applications for July’s CMP exam are twice the amount submitted for all of 2008, according to CIC’s Christina Buck, director of the CMP program. To meet the demand, CIC is hosting exams in Johannesburg, Seoul and Singapore—the most international locations in CMP history—along with 17 North American locations. CIC’s Buck The first 2009 international exam is scheduled for May 25 at the IMEX Show in Frankfurt, Germany. “As the event industry is globalizing and certifications are becoming more significant, they are understanding the standardization and establishment the CMP has as an international benchmark,” Buck said. Although the CMP program has grown rapidly, it has done so much more slowly internationally. Currently, of the more than 10,000 CMPs in good standing worldwide, only 146 are from outside North America. Since the program’s 1985 inception, 14,000 professionals have earned the CMP designation, according to Buck. — Seth Harris Contents No. 8 May 25, 2009 Vol. 33, s Newsmakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 s MeetingNews Research . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 s Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 s Meetings Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 s Meetings Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 s Construction Cites . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 s Meeting People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 s Incentive Insider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 s Travel Dashboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 s Dateline: Reno, Nevada . . . . . . . . . . .22 s East Regional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 s Dateline: Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 s Mid-America Regional . . . . . . . . . . . 28 s Golf Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 MEETING NEWS (ISSN 0145-630X, USPS No.356-010, May 25 2009, Vol. 33, No. 8 is published monthly by Nielsen Business Media, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-9595, tel. 646-654-5000. Subscriptions are offered free of charge to individuals actively engaged in planning meetings or conventions in the U.S. and Canada. The cost of a subscription to non-qualified subscribers is $79 in the U.S. and $95 in Canada (Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40031729). The cost of a foreign subscription, payable in U.S. dollars, is $195. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. MeetingNews is a trademark owned exclusively by Nielsen Business Media. Copyright © 2009 by Nielsen Business Media Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this magazine, in whole or in part, is prohibited unless authorized by the publisher. For address changes (please include mailing label), single copy sales ($10 per issue including shipping and handling, prepayment required), subscription information, and other customer service inquiries, write to MEETING NEWS, P.O. Box 1189, Skokie, IL 60076-8189 or call 847-763-9050. Printed in the USA. POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to MEETING NEWS, P.O. Box 1189, Skokie, IL 60076-8189. 4 MeetingNews May 25, 2009 www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - May 25, 2009

Meeting News - May 25, 2009
Contents
Newsmakers
MeetingNews Research
Viewpoint
Meetings Tech
Meetings Spotlight
Construction Cites
Meeting People
Incentive Insider
Travel Dashboard
Dateline: Reno, Nevada
East Regional
Dateline: Texas
Mid-America Regional
Golf Meetings
Resort Showcase Contents
Atlantis
Beau Rivage Resort & Casino
Bellagio
Harrah’s/Harveys Lake Tahoe Casino & Resort
The Venetian and The Palazzo Las Vegas
Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa
Special Section: Florida

Meeting News - May 25, 2009