Successful Meetings - April 2009 - (Page 22)

The Industry Fights Back THE tO M SR By Andrea Doyle, andrea.doyle@nielsen.com Photography by Matthew Furman PERFECT Slammed in the press and pilloried by Congress, the meetings industry is fighting back T he American International Group (AIG) fiasco erupted as the economy soured, creating what Christine Duffy, president and CEO of Maritz Travel, calls the perfect storm. “The AIG impact was difficult for us as an industry, but it came on top of the economy heading into a recession,” she says. “We’ve been pushing to do something because this crisis matters so much to us as a company.” The first woman president at Maritz, Duffy leads a team of 650 in Maritz Travel. “This crisis has had a direct impact on our business. We’ve had to reduce our work force. There is nothing more difficult for a leader to do than to have to let people go, especially those who have been doing an exemplary job.” Maritz, with more than $500 million in total annual sales, reports that from October to January, sales revenues were READER R I • Update on the industry’s initiative to change the public perception of meetings and incentives • What you can do to help the industry-wide efforts 22 I SM I April 2009 I SuccessfulMeetings.com http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - April 2009

Successful Meetings - April 2009
Contents
Editor's Letter
News Update
The Industry Fights Back
Gaming Meetings
The Coolers
Vegas Big, Vegas Small
Golf Meetings
Places + Spaces
Colorado
Central Florida
Missouri
Puerto Rico
U.K.
Cape Town

Successful Meetings - April 2009