Doing More With Less
Looking ahead to 2018,Marc Kaminetsky, director of sports, tourism and conven- tion sales for the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board (VFTCB) in Pennsylvania, notes that the VFTCB expects that the entire meetings industry will lean more heavily on CVBs in the coming year. “Planners are being tasked with doing more with less, and CVBs are the ideal resource to help them accom- plish this."
"In 2018,” he continues, “a major goal for the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board is to transform the perception of a CVB - from our services to our marketing initiatives, the VFTCB will continue to revo- lutionize what a CVB does."
Kaminetsky further notes that experiences will be a major focus for 2018, as well. “Instead of traditional meetings and events, clients are going to look for ‘out- side the box’ ideas. For instance, one of our clients chose an event at iFLY King of Prussia instead of a typical holiday party."
years and many of those initiatives have already paid off. The industry is as robust as ever. New technology and its incorpo- ration into mainstream events affords us all great opportunity. And now it’s just a matter of empowering our team to deliver on our promise to our clients, to invest in their success, and to provide the right tools to ensure that their goals are met. If we take care of our customers, the rest will fall right into place. We are excited to continue doing that for an increasing number of partners."
Event Safety
"We are very excited and encouraged by the increase in interest and awareness on the topic of event safety,” observes Jason Showers, vice president of production for Advanced Staging Productions. “As part of our Affiliate Sponsorship of the Event Safety Alliance, we have attended the Event Safety Summit for the last three years at Rock Lititz. We have seen the audience size grow at an exponential rate each year, with the turnout this year being the biggest ever. We were proud to spon- sor the attendance of five of our clients as well and spend three days in a collabora- tive environment focused on several important topics, including: risk assess- ment; weather monitoring; and emergency action planning, to name a few.”
iFly, King of Prussia, PA
iFLY is an experiential entertainment com- pany that created modern indoor skydiv- ing within a safe environment.
Taking Care of Clients
Steve Wildemann, president of Advanced Staging Productions, says that 2018 holds great promise for both his company and also for technology within hospitality as a whole. “We have laid the groundwork for growth over the past two
“The increase in attendance certainly points to a changing mindset in the indus- try as a whole, and this will certainly lead to ‘success stories’ for clients, companies and individuals who continue to follow the Event Safety Alliance (ESA) motto, ‘Life Safety First’,” he continues. “More information on the ESA and their annual events can be found online at
www.eventsafetyalliance.org.”
Giving Back to the Community
"CSR (corporate social responsibility) is becoming more popular within meetings,” observes Michele Polci, director of city- wide catering sales for Caesars
Entertainment in Atlantic City, NJ. “Planners want their meetings to give back. We personally partner with Three Square foodbank and Clean the World, along with other [charitable organiza- tions]. We can bring CSR projects on property or go visit their facilities.”
“We will see success stories in the CSR component, as planners are looking for great opportunities in giving back to the community. We held an event in Atlantic City this year and did an awesome CSR project where we built bikes for kids in need in partnership with Impact for Good. Our group built 30 bikes. We also had the recipients of the bikes surprise our atten- dees to [come to the event and] accept their new bikes. It was a very special experience for the kids - and for us.”
Polci also says that meeting planners will look for even more social interaction as part of their event experiences in 2018. “Social media opportunities… and digital voting opportunities within meetings. I think we will also see more live music being included into programs,” while also noting that social interaction will be encourage through the use of more “resi- dential style” furnishings that will promote a more comfortable, relaxed environment, such as bean bags, poufs and couches.
"For 2018, I think we will see a continua- tion of embracing technology,” continues Polci. “Apps for conventions are becoming a component at successful events. Apps are great because a planner can push information to attendees about the event, schedules, location changes and updates. I predict, within two years from now, apps will be key in communicating with meet- ing attendees… Long ago, when you would attend an event, you would be given a tote bag with a thick binder, which would include information, sched- ules, menus and so on. Communication evolved with the introduction of the Internet. Guests were encouraged to go online and print their own information. Now, we are evolving a step further and it is exciting.”
"In catering,” notes Polci, “we will see fun foods with a healthy twist [in 2018].
Mid-AtlanticEvEnts Magazine 59
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
