The Prince Corporation's annual Fall Booking Trade Show is hosted over the course of a weekend, and “customers appreciate the fact that they can attend the show and spend time with their family,” Huber says.
passed down for generations. It only makes sense that we would try to include everyone when we host our annual Fall Booking Trade Show. Our event is hosted over the course of a weekend, and our customers appreciate the fact that they can attend the show and spend time with their family. This special event is highly valued by our customers, especially in today’s economy. Nancy Kavazanjian: We had to do something to attract more people
to our annual meeting. The show was dying at our previous con- vention center location. Linda Hale: Our prime decision for holding several of our events
at a waterpark was actually location-related. Since a number of the waterparks in Wisconsin are centrally located, all of our members can get there easily. We also made the change to include a water- park for our annual convention due to the size of the convention center and the number of sleeping rooms available.
MM: Did you have any objections to overcome when proposing
a waterpark venue with your boss or colleagues? How did you sway them to try it? Huber: Prince Corporation [has] been holding this trade show at
the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells since 2001. Moving the venue over the last ten years and into the future has not even been a consideration. Our guests love this facility too much to move anytime soon! Kavazanjian: Definitely, there were many people - our board of
56
directors and many of our exhibitors - who didn’t want to move and thought there would be too many distractions at the waterpark. We even surveyed attendees and a majority said they didn’t want to move, but we agreed to try it one year, and if it didn’t work, we’d go back to the old location. Since then, we’ve managed to grow attendance by 100 people or more every year for the past seven years. We’re at the point now where we’re actually challenging the facility to handle our numbers, but we wouldn’t think of leaving this location because it’s worked out so well. Hale: When we first considered a waterpark, one of our business
members was dead set against it. I put together a survey regarding service, travel, cost, and projected attendance increases. I sent this survey to other meeting professionals in Wisconsin and then pre- sented the findings to our CEO. We now hold our largest event at a waterpark on alternate years.
MM: How did a waterpark facility connect with the goals your event was trying to accomplish? Huber: Families will travel from states away, spend the day walk-
ing the convention area, and then relax at night by enjoying the waterpark or one of the many restaurants. Everyone is refreshed, having fun, and ready for day two of our trade show. The water- park helps keep the family members who are not at the trade show occupied and happy. We find that if we offer people the relaxed atmosphere of a family getaway, they can focus better on the new products and ideas featured at the show. Kavazanjian: We wanted to attract Wisconsin farmers, who are
family business owners, and the waterpark offered us a chance for these farmers to go on a business trip with that family. We actively
MIDWEST MEETINGS FALL 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132