Grand Connection

Sleepless in Seattle - The Site Visit

Lynne just returned from a site visit in Seattle last week - not sure how she saw 8 hotels in 1 1/2 days!There are great options in Seattle for groups of all sizes, it's a SUPER GREEN city - one of the most progressive she's seen.  Another option she recently booked for a small incentive was Puerto Rico and I believe she's off to Vail/Aspen next month.  If your interested in these destinations contact me here through the comment section or email.  Here's a little picture she took from her phone.  Sunset from the Edgewater hotel over Puget Sound.

 

Just so we all know - I do get fanmail for others around here besides Leah:-)  This just in regarding Lynne's coordination of a Cruise Incentive..."Thank you for your help on this adventure - you've been wonderful".  "Lynne's wonderful and is continually juggling many balls - she makes it seem so easy".  Also, "Lynne from Grand Connection truly allows for a great experience that allows you to sit back and enjoy.  Knowing that she's the one behind the scenes coordinating things makes me feel at ease.  Look forward to Cabo next year"!

Leah Fanfest 2010

From Los Angeles showroom openings to a small national sales meetings here in Grand Rapids - Leah's got it covered.  Honestly, I'm a little backlogged handling all the fan mail for her lately...wow!  Girl has some fans out there - from LA to Kansas City and probably places in between.  I know when Scott sends an invoice to a client and the response is "worth every penny" that we are definitely doing something right around here.  Just to give you an idea of the kinds of things that fall under the caption "project management" for one of these meetings..here's a few of the things she did: arranging for payment of speakers, managing all transportation to and from hotel to meeting, ordering decor for retirement party during the meeting, ordering cakes, hiring dance instructors, booking unique meeting spaces, designing the website and managing attendance, booking hotels, etc. 

Snippets from Leah's fan mail collection:

"Your expertise, organization, CALMNESS, patience - you were just great and I cannot thank you enough.  Had you not been involved - well, I don't even want to think about how things might have turned out!".--regarding coordination of a western area sales meeting in Los Angeles

"I wanted to share that Leah went above an beyond today in helping me out when I left my phone behind.  She ran the phone to me at the airport + ensured our shuttle was ready for a noon run to the airport to make my 1pm means a lot to me.  I have to be in STL and am en route to KC - Leah saved me time and worry.  Thank you for having people like Leah representing you and taking care of people like me."  --attendee of national sales meeting 

I like this photo taken at a dinner Leah and I coordinated (okay she did most of the work).  I ordered these special drink menus with clever drink names from the printer and I gave them the frame dimensions WxLxH instead of LxWxH.  So actually the sign was supposed to be longer than taller.  But I actually ended up liking them better this way - so I guess you could say this mistake turned out okay.  It's the nature of the business...there are many things that happen behind the scenes and the key is making sure nobody knows the difference (well, unless you decide to blog about it!).   

Re: Goodbye 2009

Well the holidays flew past and the new year is upon us.  We made it through one of the toughest times in our industry. When I think about 2009 the word re-negotiate sort of sums it all up.  Wow, the hours I spent renegotiating contracts, canceling & rebooking, requesting new rates rewriting vendor agreements...whew....kinda makes my stomach get all queasy just reflecting!  I think 2010 will be the year to rejuvenate...ready or not 2010 here we come.  Just for kicks I asked our staff to come up with their new year's resolution (are you getting the "re" theme yet?!).  Maybe I can get them to comment here with their resolution!

Photos of me as a baby meeting planner!

I just found some super old photos, dusted them off and put them through the scanner - wow these bring back some fun memories.  Here I am as a baby meeting planner circa 1991ish!?  I was in Martha's Vineyard with a group and took the spouses out on a catamaran trip.  I had a super fun boat captain...Hugh Taylor was his name, he's related to a tiny bit famous guy named James.  I remember that we ran out of beer on this excursion so what's a gal to do?!  Well first mate John and I paddled off to shore in the dinghy (motor wouldn't start so we paddled) - we made it back with beer in tow and were super popular with the group.  I can still remember them chanting my name as we approached the boat with a dinghy full of beer.  I always say, "oh the stories I could tell".  Well...there are several more stories but we'll see if I can ever get to them, blogging takes up so much time and I do really need to work.  I threatened Tracy that I might tell about her time working on the cruise ship, yes we all have skeletons.

 

 

These photos do remind me of what a great spot Martha's Vineyard is for a group - a smaller group is best and I think late summer just after school starts would be a great time to visit the Island (it can be really busy in the summer).  Want to know more about holding an event in Martha's Vineyard?  Just ask...I'm ready to go back, I wonder if Hugh still has the Arabella and the B&B?

Hot off the press.....

Here's a link to an interview I did with one of our local papers regarding the state of conventions & meetings in this economy and how it's impacted the local market.  Download MiBiz - Mtgs & Conventions 4th Qtr 2009  in the same edition I also was quoted in an article about selecting the right caterer for your event, click here to see more http://www.mibiz.com/absolutenm/templates/template5.aspx?articleid=16265&zoneid=169.

In the first article I talked about putting together a trip to Western Michigan that would rival the African Safari this group had previously taken.  There was another group we helped that came from all over the world to West Michigan who'd previously been to Palm Springs. I just received the pictures today, so I thought the timing was perfect to post some photos.  Maybe it's because I miss the sunshine in Maui (that post is for another day) - but I find pictures of summer comforting on this November day!  I wish I was going to a party tonight to hear my friend Simone and the gals sing (see below)...

         

Serve Comfort Foods with a Twist (and save some money-while you have fun)!

In these economic times, I've really tried to keep budget in mind while still providing that WOW factor for events.  One solution is to serve everyday foods, but just present them in a unique way. I've spent a lot of time with our vendors coming up with unique ways to serve comfort foods.  For one event, I transformed a warehouse space into a "food court" complete with stations, cafeteria style seating & plastic trays for picking up pre-packed food items like tacos, fried rice, burgers and fries.  We printed customized papers for the trays and rolled the silverware "sealing" the napkins with customized stickers.  You can even get customized fortune cookies and to-go boxes for the Asian stations. 

At another event we served up PB&J sandwhiches rolled like sushi, skewered and served over a mini chocolate milkshakes.  You can even make macaroni and cheese exciting by serving it up deep fried on the end of a fork.  Mini burgers and pigs in a blanket can also be presented with a twist (see photo below).  Ever try chicken nuggets skewered with bamboo shoots?  Shrimp served in the half-shell?  How fun is that??...okay maybe I'm stretching the budget a bit.  Mini desserts have been a trend for a long time, so I'm not sharing anything new there, but try a mini rootbeer float next time...I guarantee you're guests will go back for more.

p.s.  I've had an unfair grudge against balloons for many years - but hey they are cheap and add color, so I'm back to KINDA liking balloons:-)

 

It's all in the numbers...

Managing motorcoaches and hotel rooms, how can I make this sound exciting...especially when nothing really goes wrong?  Well, I can try to dazzle you with some numbers!  Holly worked with branch managers to coordinate 16 client day-trip and overnight coaches to deliver people to Grand Rapids, Columbus and Louisville for large industry shows...successfully transporting 800 clients.  Jamie managed a total of 8 hotels in 3 cities equating to about 2000 room nights.  I need to confirm with Jamie but I'm pretty sure that just about every single attendee makes at least 1 change.  Keeping rooming lists accurate is her specialty though and she makes it seem so easy.  Mary is sort of the backbone on-site, having managed this event for us for 9 years.  She and her staff worked in 45 degree weather (starting off most days in the rain).  We figured they moved roughly 1600 people from 9 satellite parking lots!  In total she managed dispatch for about 34 coaches...most importantly she and the staff did this with a smile despite the weather conditions.  We really do understand that events aren't all about fun and fluff...it's those 12 hour days standing in the rain, surrounded by motorcoach fumes, making changes on the fly that truly put any event planner to the test!  If you can do that with a smile everything else is a piece of cake.  Here's picture proof below (note...Mary has worked with Ted, one of our drivers, for 19 years)!  

Art Prize

If you haven't heard about Art Prize yet, then you don't live in Western Michigan that's for sure.  It was an open art competition, giving away the worlds largest prize -- the art "judging" was done by the public.  For the past few weeks we've been involved with helping manage the shuttle service for this event.  The shuttle was offered so that as many people as possible could get around and view the art work.  It's been a while since Tracy has headed up the transportation component of an event!  She's usually behind the scenes creating websites and occasionally handling a gala event.  I think she had a great time, she recruited her family to help out and managed to create some lasting memories!  Which reminds me, I need to give a shout-out to intern extraordinaire Kelsey:-)  Thanks for lugging signs around, events aren't all glamor and fun, huh?!  Tracy sourced some new signage for this event and also now has experience getting coaches "wrapped".  Art Prize was a HUGE success garnering national attention and drawing thousands to downtown Grand Rapids.  The secret's out...this is a pretty cool town.  We're happy to be part of this inaugural event and hope that it becomes an annual affair, check it out at www.artprize.org.

   

Swine Flu - what would you do?

What if swine flu breaks out at your meeting or event?  Do you have a crisis management plan in place with your vendors and venue?  At Grand Connection we address the crisis management plan upfront with the venue in the form of a clause inserted into the contract.  Each venue and situation is different though and I'd like to discuss ideas here on the blog, since this is a relatively new challenge and I'm not finding a lot of guidance in trade journals or online yet.  If the flu breaks out at your event, would you quarantine guests to their rooms and set up a plan of communication?  I think a way to communicate to attendees could be to set up a website to broadcast messages, send out mass messages via the hotel pbx system and make sure you have everyone's cell number and you know if they accept text and email.  When you are potentially dealing with several hundred or a thousand guests it could be difficult to contact each person indvidually.

It's a good idea to take precautionary measures to avoid the outbreak of the flu at your event - as Ben Franklin said "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".  Please comment if you have any ideas you'd like to share, these are just a few I came up with...I'm hoping to stimulate thought and conversation on the topic:-)

1. Have a crisis management plan in place with your key vendors.
2. Try to have a first responder/medic onsite at your events when possible - some independent travel staff have credentials.
3. Use larger meeting rooms to spread people out more, seat 8 at a table instead of 10 for meals.
4. Communicate preventative measures in welcome packets and on confirmations just to remind attendees of the importance of handwashing, etc.
5. In your swag bags or at hospitality desks include individual hand sanitizers or hand wipes.
6. Have hand santizer available at the entrance to all meeting rooms and the beginning of all buffets.
7. Use customized credit cards or coupons for meals allowance - or box lunches to avoid group meals (and save money)!
8. Make sure your attendees know who to contact incase of illness.
9. Make sure the point of contact for emergency is familiar with the local hospital, never let a guest drive themselves when sick.
10. Did you know many upscale hotels will send up chicken noodle soup for free to sick guests? 

Beach Parties - Rain or Shine OR Snow!

Here's a link to an article about the beach dinner in January (yes you read that right) and RCMA conference I helped with this past winter.  The article appears in Michigan Meetings & Events Summer Issue. http://www.mimeetingsmag.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=8DF3CB62F7644C27B420DCA99B691AD5&AudID

I'm seeing a definate theme develop this year with the events we've coordinated - beach parties!  The latest one was August 21 and was scheduled to be on the shores of Lake Michigan, complete with tent, reggae band and fun flamingo decor (the flamingo decor made sense in context with the group's theme for the week).  I showed up to meet the set-up crew the morning of the event and realized that mother nature was not going to cooperate with our event.  We were able to get resourceful and move the event to a lovely location at a Marina with a nice view of the harbor and boat docks.  I figured since the entire group ended up swaying together under the stars, while singing the famous Bob Marley song "One Love" - - we had a successful night!   Here's some pics - Andy will love that I posted the one of her putting Fulton's boxers on him, I just couldn't resist.  Oh - and the Duck Boat Tour...HUGE hit...as well as the locally grown blueberry, cherry and apple pies I helped serve for dessert (that's me in the blue shirt).  So we had a little rain - didn't stop this group from having a great time. 

     
  

  

Grand Connection nominated as small business of the year

This is kind of old news - back in the spring Grand Connection was nominated for Small Business of the Year through our local Chamber of Commerce.  It's a huge honor and something we are very proud of - especially exciting to have that happen during our 10th year in business.  Holly and I attended the luncheon and were able to mingle with many of the other companies that were nominated, it was a fun day - not sure why it took me so long to post this news on the blog!

Former President Bill Clinton Speaks at ACUPCC 2009 Summit

Lynne and Leah were working registration and check-in last week for the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment 2009 Summit in Chicago.  The conference more than doubled in size over last year with 270 attendees.  The Palmer House was the venue…and did an awesome job.  Especially with all the last minute adds because of the exciting speaker.  Lynne created the booking website and managed all registrations, payments, hotels, confirmations and questions related to those logistics.  This freed our clients up to work on meeting content - you know doing stuff like securing BILL CLINTON to speak at their event.  Lynne adds this event to her long list of "green" projects she's worked on...she's our go-to-gal when it comes to making meetings and events green. 

Click on the link for story and video...also Lynne & Leah make a quick cameo (leaning against the wall wearing white shirts).  I have the image below but it's sort of like a "Where's Waldo" deal -- so good luck finding them!  http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/08/bill-clinton-make-college-campuses-greener.html

...and this just in from the client, "thank you for your incredible attention to detail and fast response time to all of my insane inquiries some days.  You have been a life-saver more than once.  Looking forward to working with you more in the future!"

  

If you build it they will come!

Last week Marybeth pulled together all the final details for an important customer who was bringing guests from all over the world to West Michigan.  These guests needed the royal treatment and I'm pretty sure MB delivered from the sounds of the emails I've been seeing!  She coordinated all airport and around town shuttles, golf scrambles, off-site meals, fishing & mountain bike excursions, trolley transportation, dine-arounds, swanky dinners and receptions...so many details all done flawlessly.  One of the most impressive events was the beach resort and evening party she put together.  It's not an easy task to find a spot on Lake Michigan for a private group to have a resort like experience right in the sand, right next to the water...jet skis and all.  Lawn chairs, cabana's, grills, tents, tables, linens, china, flatware, stage, speakers, band, food, you name it...all brought in especially for this group.  We basically put together a private luxury beach resort for one day/night!  Marybeth coordinated every single detail to perfection.  We should have some professional photos shortly, but here's just a few amateur shots.

Check out the sand sculpture and custom signage!  Oh and the BAND...best band ever?!  They decided to clear the night and not do pre-scheduled program/comments and just let the band play. 

      

  

Climatologist Convention has perfect climate for beach dinner!

Last night was an amazing evening on the shores of Lake Michigan.  I organized a dinner for 140 Climatologists from around the world.  The convention was hosted at the Amway Grand Plaza hotel, so we needed coaches to transport guests for the 35 min drive to the coast.  The convention organizers wanted their guests to experience Michigan in the summer, and what better way than to have dinner on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan.  Finding a place to have dinner on the beach and serve alcohol is pretty tricky and you really need a local "in the know" (such as Grand Connection!)!  I have to say honestly that I have NEVER worked with a nicer group of people.  I was helping scoop ice cream and every single person through the line thanked us and was so appreciative of the work that went into building the event especially for them.  It really makes the trips up and down the 100 or so stairs to the beach setting up worth while when you get to be around such nice people.   I saw a little girl from Nebraska taste the water because she couldn't believe it was not a salty ocean.  She summed up everyone's thoughts when walking up the stairs at the end of the night she said to me..."I just didn't picture it being like this, this was so cool."  It's hard to explain the beauty of Lake Michigan to those who have never seen it...here's some pics.

   

The case for expert housing management

It's tough times out there - but our team is really picking up the pace and showing great value to our customers.  It's times like these when we can really "showoff" our expert team and why we've always hired over-qualified staff to do what has typically been considered data entry.  We believe in having housing management experts manage contracted room inventory.  There are some event professionals who prefer to have attendees contact hotels directly, that's their choice...but I'm about to argue the case for oversight and management.

Here's a little bit about the industry lingo I'll be using, hang with me:-)  No-shows happen when a pax (industry lingo for passenger) fails to show up for a reservation, the hotel releases the room and charges the customer.  When the customer comes in the next day they don't have a room AND they have a charge on their credit card.  It's not a fun scene for anyone involved.  Sometimes it's also called a NSR (if you want to get really down with the lingo).  Attrition happens when a client doesn't fulfill their commitment to the hotel with regard to the number of rooms promised or food and beverage amounts outlined in a contract.  For example, say you decide to send 100 people to a show instead of the usual 300 people.  Since the city always sells out and you have to have a hotel, you sign a contract sometimes as far out as 3+ years in advance.  This is so that you have a great rate and also a place to stay.  The hotel has you sign an agreement so that you don't hold all their rooms off the market and then dump them at the last minute - leaving the hotel with rooms they could have otherwise sold.  Everyone's happy right?  Well that's what happens most of the time, but recently rates are much lower now than anyone ever thought they would be.  Add to that the fact that the client needs far fewer rooms than they originally thought they would need...and it's no surprise that we've been doing a ton of renegotiation this year.  Hotels do sometimes re-work existing agreements, we're very lucky that we have excellent relationships with several of the hotels and have been able to work out win-win situations for everyone involved. 

Christina just finished managing 900 rooms in Chicago at The Intercontinental and The James.  She had ZERO no-shows and is working on a solution so that the client may not have attrition penalties.  Christina loves working with these hotels, she's a huge fan of the Intercon.  Jamie also managed a room block in Chicago for client with roughly 500 rooms at The Hyatt and The Fairmont, she runs a tight ship with regard to watching her client's pick up and working with the hotel and client to add, or in this case, release rooms.  She was able to negotiate lower rates and the client opened their block to their vendors and business partners..thus selling more rooms to make up for a smaller staff this year.  I truly believe we have the best staff in the industry and now more than ever we are able to show our value.  Total combined savings for these clients alone add up to more than $200,000.00.  That doesn't even count the no-show management issue and how we do such a great job of avoiding ANY no-shows.  I'll have to come back and post an update later, because some of the negotiations are ongoing so that number could climb even higher.   

Now more than ever you should have an industry professional review or negotiate hotel agreements.   Recently I've created my own clauses from scratch so that we could get the hotel and the client what they needed.  I'm not going to give away trade secrets, but with careful advance planning you can avoid challenging situations like these altogether.  

No Place Like Home

Here's a link to an article in Meetings & Conventions Magazine regarding companies that decide to keep their meetings at home.  Hunter Slayton interviewed me for my input regarding a couple large events we've helped coordinate here in our hometown of Grand Rapids. 

http://www.professionaltravelguide.com/Travel-News/Meetings/Features-No-Place-Like-Home-p2106827

I can't brag enough about "My Giant Little Town" and was happy to do so in the article!  I also enjoy the time I spend serving on the Board of the Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention and Visitors Bureau.  Any chance I get to brag about my hometown..I'm there!  Check out this song the Convention Bureau is using in it's promotional efforts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQzfIOt0zLA .  Isn't that song great?  Brian Vander Ark is an incredible musician, you should really check him out if you don't already know him.  Personally, I've been following him since college, but I won't say how many years that that's been:-)

All this hometown talk reminds me of Marybeth's 25+ attendees from 15 countries that just left for home!  Marybeth had them quite busy visiting the Meyer May House, dinner atop the hotel, sand dune rides + lunch on the lakeshore on their way to Chicago where they capped off their trip with some shopping and a helicopter tour!  Marybeth did a lot of work to make sure this group had as much fun as they had on their trip to Africa last year.  Among so many of the coordination details, she made sure each attendee knew how to obtain visas for travel to the U.S.  With 15 countries represented that kept her pretty busy.  Pictures are on their way, Marybeth has raving fans from all over the world!

Recent Site Inspections

I just returned from a site inspection of the Sun Valley Resort (Lodge & Inn) in Sun Valley Idaho -- this was for an incentive group customer.  If you would like a copy of my 4 page report just let me know.  Getting there is a bit difficult, but well worth the trip if you appreciate great skiing (and they have TONS of other activities).  I love the laid-back feel of the town and resort not to mention the rich history.  For Whom the Bell Tolls was written in room 207..I stayed next door in 206...just a little spooky considering it's where Hemingway spent his final days.  The rooms are freshly renovated with new soft goods, the ticket exchange program is a great perk.  I didn't experience the heated outdoor pools but they looked like a lot of fun.  And yes, I did have potatoes!  Off to Boston and DC for more site inspections next week...racking up those miles.

Also...Holly recently toured MGM Grand in Detroit and Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City.  Holly can share her experiences and recommendations for groups at these locations.  If you are interested in knowing more about these destinations or any others...just contact me through the blog here in the comment section or email me.

Jamie and the traveling trade shows

Every year Jamie manages hotel room blocks for a series of trade shows for one of our long time clients.  She just finished up with the spring shows in which she managed 1 hotel and 230 nights in Schaumberg, 3 hotels and 158 nights in Novi, 2 hotels with 265 nights in Cleveland and 3 hotels in Ft. Lauderdale with 354 nights.  Jamie was able to forsee that the client's room block was too high for one of the events and managed to save our client BIG money by avoiding attrition penalties. 

With our transportation queen out making babies...yes it's true...Mary has a new baby boy!  Holly continues to manage the motorcoaches for this event - 10 client coaches.  She's received rave reviews.

Just as Jamie finishes up with this hectic project she takes off running by managing a large block in Chicago at the Fairmont and the Hyatt.  For this group she's again dealing with the careful management of the actual bookings vs. what's been contracted.  Hopefully she can work her magic on this event and help the client avoid attrition penalties.   Trying to find the positive side - it might be the first year ever we won't have to worry about some of our attendees getting "walked"!

Super Wonderful Amy Cole!

Amy Cole's been working away on the reservations for the United Church of Christ 27th General Synod in Downtown Grand Rapids in Late June and early July.  The block has actually grown and Amy had to secure more rooms...we're up over 7500 room nights.  I'd like Amy to comment on how many sub-blocks she's managing, I can't remember but I know it's substantial.

Amy enjoys working with this group and I know they enjoy working with her from the nice notes they send her.  Amy has such great customer service focus, I think it has to do with her bubbly personality.  Or maybe it has something to do with all those customer service programs we went through 10+ years ago at the travel agency!  The customer is always right, huh Am!?  Amy was our first project manager at Grand Connection, she's been with us for 10 years...I think we've worked together for maybe 15 years! 

The client, Christina, said "We've been talking in the office and all are in agreement - you have been super wonderful to work with and we just love you!  Thanks for everything!"  We couldn't agree more with her, Amy really IS super wonderful and we also love her!

Those scissors really cut!

Yesterday we "posed" for a ribbon cutting ceremony/photo op through the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce.  We're celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year and Holly organized this nice little PR event for us.  Mary, Amy and Lynne couldn't make the photo though...I should be able to figure out a way to photo shop their faces into the picture. Thanks to Kevin at the Chamber for coordinating the photo and putting up with us chatty gals and showing us how to use really big scissors!

 

http://www.grandrapids.org/news/ribboncuttings/recentevents/

Look close at our logo....can you see the juggler?

Leah's been busy managing registrations for a computer users conference in Detroit.  I know this is going to be SHOCKING but attendance is actually up this year!  In addition to juggling a couple thousand hotel reservations she managed to make time for booking a couple meetings in Napa Valley and she did a site visit @ the Hilton O'Hare in Chicago.  Our little multi-tasker also managed to keep up on her on-line registration fee processing project involving several small groups.  All this, while keeping up on every reality/drama show that exists!  Take a look at our logo sometime - can you see it's actually a smiley guy juggling balls?  I think this little post represents why that image is perfect for us here at Grand Connection!

Holly's Hobby

We're happy to announce that we now have a Director of Business Development - our own Holly Froumis!  After 10 years of word-of-mouth growth we decided it's time that we go out and actively pursue new business.  For the past eight years or so Holly's managed one of our larger accounts and also taken on a couple projects a year.  Starting this year, she's putting on that sales hat she wore for many years as part of a large hotel group. 

Holly's also embarked on several other networking efforts; getting involved with our local chamber and sitting on committees with the CVB.  Recently she co-facilitated a session on site selection at the Religious Conference Manager's Association Convention and spoke at a gathering of hotel and event venues about creative packaging.  http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2009/03/grand_rapids_kent_county_conve.html

Here's a few photos of Holly in action at a recent table top exhibit at the Chamber of Commerce.  I guess it's more than a hobby...but she looks like she's having so much fun:-)!

     

The "Key" to our success...

Lynne was in Key West last week with one of our small incentive groups.  The group was housed at the Casa Marina Resort & Beach Club (which is now part of the Waldorf Astoria Collection).  Built in 1920 the resort is a great mix of contemporary luxury and old Key West Ambiance.  For a 2 night incentive - Key West gives that perfect island getaway feel, without taking groups too far from home.  It was a busy week for the resort and we're glad Lynne was onsite to assist with room check-in and oversee functions and room deliveries.  We design these trips with a lot of flexibility for the attendees, we think the opening welcome reception is a great part of the trip.  Everyone can meet and talk about their plans for the weekend.  We think these trips are the perfect mix of "together and alone" time.  The "Key" to the successful design and execution of these trips is Lynne's perfect mix of logistical expertise, attention to detail and marketing experience.

I've seen a few nice emails come in to our client regarding the trip, here's a little bit of one, "Thank you very much to all of you.  Everything was top notch...This trip was another fine example of what a class organization you are.  We are very lucky to be able to work with all of you."

Book Off Season - Save Dollars!

Add Austin to the top of the list of Christina's favorite locations to hold an event.  She was at the Four Season's managing a computer users conference in January.  The rates at the Four Seasons were very reasonable because it was considered an off-peak time of year for conventions.  However, the weather was fabulous - in the low 60s most days.  The grass was green and there were Flowers blooming.  The hotel is located on the river that runs through the city and there was a long bike and walking trail that many of the guests put to use.  The conference went very well.  Christina did report that she learned something new though.  Evidently, it's quite common and appropriate to have an open bar during lunch in Texas.  There was a group using the other half of the ballroom and Christina was surprised when they rolled a bar into the foyer to go along with their lunch.  I'm pretty sure we couldn't get away with that in Michigan.  Austin is one of those cities that has everything.  There's great shopping and fantastic restaurants, all within walking distance of the hotel.  Austin is also known for its live music, so you can catch a band any night of the week at multiple locations.

What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas

Leah and Lynne just returned from the Wynn in Vegas after working on a CEO Management Conference, I don't have any photos or any stories.  Strange.  The only quote I could get out of Lynne was, "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas".  I do know that Lynne could probably give a seminar on attrition and rate negotiations.   I also know that the conference was successful and Lynne did a great job as always managing the budget. 

Four Seasons Whistler BC

Christina hosted an incentive trip in Whistler, BC last month and reports that it was well worth the trip.  This trip was part of our new "free to choose" designed trips...2 night trips in the US that allow winners much more flexibility in the choice of their destination and more free time than your average incentive trip.  To get to Whistler you fly into Vancouver and then drive about 2.5 hours north, into the mountains.  The skiing on Blackcomb and Whistler Mountains is said to be the best in North America.  The 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in the Vancouver/Whistler area so there have been a lot of improvements to the roads and public faciltities.  The new peak to peak gondola just opened in December.  So, now you can ride from one mountain top to the other in 11 minutes.  It really is a ski and snowboard paradise.  The group was housed at the Four Seasons.  It's the second Four Seasons for Christina in less than a month.  The staff there was top notch.  Feedback from the group was fantastic, with all of them saying that they had the time of their lives.

One client said, "I want to say thank you to everyone involved in this weekend's trip to Whistler.  Everything was absolutely perfect.  We had an unbelieveable time.  The hosts were awesome.  The hotel was beautiful. Myself and my guests really can't explain how thankful we are.  Thank you very much."

   

37th RCMA World Conference and Exposition

Here's a link to a video describing the event last week...Jamie did hotel coordination and management for this group and I provided project management consulting services.  http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/rgtv012909.aspx?utm_campaign=The+Making+Grand+Rapids+Beautiful+Edition&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_term=RGTV%3A+Religious+Meeting+Capital%3F

From the client ..."Dear Jamie: Thank you! Thank you! I want to express deep appreciation for your wonderful help in making the 37th RCMA World Conference and Exposition such a success.  Your enthusiasm and careful attention to detail on housing the "multitudes" meant much to us.  You are indeed the consummate professional.  Do know we shall long remember your fine contribution to this RCMA event.  Thank you for everything." 

From an attendee (there were several letters)..."In all of my years of the conferences from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to 4 star hotels in Orlando & Houston, I have never tasted banquet food as delicious as we were served during the RCMA Conference!  ...Add to the food, the fabulous services of the Grand Rapids CVB and you have the perfect foundation for an excellent function.  I don't know how Ft. Worth is going to stand up to the performance of Grand Rapids!  Honestly, everything was wonderful.  The entire experience was top notch.  Thank you for all of your efforts.  A conference of that caliber doesn't just happen.  It takes a lot of effort and coordination to pull off such a huge success!  Kudos to your entire staff."

p.s.  That IS a ferris wheel inside Devos Place!  ...and another thing, I can't help it...I have to spill the story of transporting linens for 2 dinners for 1000 people in my SUV from Detroit to Grand Rapids (kids, hubby and 2 dogs in tow).  It was a bit crowded to say the least!  I love the quote above "a conference of that caliber doesn't just happen".  It's so true - there are so many "behind the scenes stories" and those are the ones I like to focus on here.

 

Ten Year Anniversary

Okay so the economy might not be so great, but we do have something great to celebrate.  January 2009 was our 10 year anniversary at Grand Connection!  I can't believe it's been 10 years already, Tracy and I joke that some marriages don't last that long!  The scariest thing in the world is to leave a job and start your own company...the sleepless angst ridden nights don't seem so far off in the past (infact I still have many of them). 

So how do event planners celebrate you ask!?  Well, by throwing a great party of course.  "Tini's and Toes" was the theme and we sure had fun with the rest of the GC team.  We stayed at the JW here in Grand Rapids and enjoyed spa treatments at Vasaio along with Petit Fours and Martinis from Six.One.Six.  It was worth 10 years of hard work just for the party, infact I might just work another 10 years just so we can do that again!  Everyone received a customized robe with a "special" title...along with some other goodies.  Mary from Krisam group even came up from Chicago for a surprise visit (with Sushi in tow).   The GC team gave Tracy and I the coolest gift - a Flip Mino video camera.  So guess what...I now will have digital video footage for the blog.  WATCHOUT...it's about to get exciting. 

     

Happy New Year

It seems strange to start off the new year talking about an event that happened last year...but I guess that's what happens when the company blogger decides to spend Christmas vacation in Florida trying not to work.  I don't think I ever really gave proper coverage to the huge sales & dealer meeting in November. It was one of those "all hands on deck" events.  Christina, Jamie, Mary and Marybeth worked their tails off on this giant sprawling event.  I don't really know if there's enough room here to describe the work that goes into an event of this scale.  In addition to overseeing every aspect of GC's role, Christina handled off-site events including a gala at the JW Marriott and a dine-around for 400 people at 6 different restaurants.  Her phone rang constantly for weeks prior to the event.  The girl can multi-task and some!  Jamie managed the registration and hotel data, plus oversaw room drops onsite.  Of course Mary orchestrated motor coach moves for 1000 people all around town seamlessly, she makes it seem so easy!  Marybeth came in at the last minute to manage pop-up meetings.  Rumor is that she can clone herself, she had simultaneous events happening all over the place.

5 days onsite. 9 total GC staff.  10 venues.  15 coaches.  60 pop up meetings.  1000 attendees. 1900 room nights.  Sleeping soundly after the last day of the conference:  PRICELESS

Winter Wonderland

Marybeth assisted with all details for a group of 35 international guests who were in Grand Rapids to participate in a Caribbean Dealer Conference.    What a fun experience for these guests to see snow for the first time ever.  For their offsite dinner they walked a short way from the hotel to the art museum in light snow, past the skating rink & the glow of Christmas lights - a winter wonderland.  A few of the attendees had a snow ball fight after dinner on the way back to the JW Marriott.  Good thing Marybeth bought winter gloves for one guest who wasn't prepared!

THANK YOU

On this eve of Thanksgiving, I thought I would take just a moment to express my thanks to all our great project managers, clients and vendors.  We're coming up on our 10 year anniversary in January and I'm so thankful for the past 10 years!  Today when I opened the mail I found 4 amazing thank you letters about our brilliant staff and the work they did last week taking care of 1000+ conventioneers.  The letters were handwritten by a high level executive at a large corporation.  That he took the time to write us a thank you note means so much, and also reminds me of the importance of sending hand written notes in this age of email and text messaging.  It's my New Year's Resolution - to handwrite more thank you notes.  I think it's great they came in the mail today - it really made me smile.

Now back to my preparations for hosting a big family meal tomorrow....

 

Working with a Celebrity Chef

I just found some pictures of my friend Michelle, she is often on FoodTV in the cake baking competitions.  Cakes aren't just for weddings anymore!  Cakes can be centerpieces and since you eat them they are environmentally friendly and a good green alternative to table decor!  A cake can also make a marketing statement...talented people like Michelle can make chairs or books or anything at all out of cake.  I've also used fancy cookies & marzipan fruits as table decor and even had menu cards made out of sugar!  You'll have to look close in the photo below (with wine bottle) to see the tiny fruits made of sugar and that first photo - that is a cake wine bottle.  Chefs can also do small instructional sessions for corporate groups, birthday parties, spouse programs or team building. All of these photos are from events I've planned.

NOTE:  Michelle and I carried that table and cake to it's resting spot - I was FREAKING out!         

Grand Rapids or Africa?

Last year a German tour group was rewarded with a trip to Africa, complete with river rafting and a visit to Victoria Falls.  That same group is coming to the USA this year and would like a similarly exciting trip - including a visit to their corporate headquarters here in Grand Rapids.  The group decided a post trip to Chicago sounded exciting, complete with sailing excursions and helicopter tours (and a little shopping!).  One of our original suggestions was bringing Bob Bondurant Driving School here to the Grattan Speedway (not far from Grand Rapids).  We are providing a powerpoint slideshow with photos and music to be used in the promotion of the trip.    

Going South!

Two of our project managers were in Orlando this week to help our clients with a Trade Show called CORENET Global.  Leah managed food and beverage events associated with the show.  Lynne put on her dusty “tradeshow” hat and managed client sponsorship of the R&R Lounge and Delegate Lounge. This included event orders, set up, managing the giveaways and install.  I’m sure they were happy to escape the first snow! 

Here are some photos of the gals hard at work this week in downtown GR.  I think I have this right - we had 14 out of town motorcoaches and 9 local shuttles.  Jamie had hundreds of hotel rooms to manage.  It's a grueling week but somehow they make it look fun - see the photos for proof.  Marybeth took a break from her Chicago trips (she had 3 groups there last week) to help out onsite.   

Despite the recent news about the economy we have very exciting new groups and clients coming on board in 2009 - with business being proposed for as far out as 2014! 

PS  Welcome to Scott Smith our new book keeper!  Glad to have you on board - We need to get Scott onsite soon so he can really get the feel for what we do - and I can add his photo to the blog!

      

I've not been a very good blogger lately, a friend sucked me into Facebook and I'm finding it awful complicated to manage both a blog and a Facebook page...so I think I'm taking a break from online networking for a while!  Last week a bunch of us attended the IT&ME show in Chicago.  One of the finds I'm excited about (there are many) is the Raffles resort on Canouan Island.  The address is St. Vincent and the Grenadines, West Indies.  Sounds good to me...I've been to the Grenadines and it's absolutely beautiful, this hotel is on my list of must see properties.  We brought clients this year, I think I racked up something like 6 parties in 2 days:-) We networked with all of our vendors and took an entire day researching all the exciting destinations and suppliers in the world (all in one day)!  It was a great trip. 

Also last week I spoke a hospitality/tourism class at GVSU.  I can't say I enjoy public speaking but the class was very nice and I actually did end up enjoying myself.  I think it's great that there are actual courses in college - when I was in school I didn't even know this career existed.

Check out this link if you are interested in seeing my recent article in MI Biz (flip to page 7) http://www.mibiz.com/pdfs/2008%20supplements/meetingsandconventions9-2-08.pdf

GAS MAIN BREAKS 2 HOURS BEFORE UNITED WAY EVENT! BUILDING EVACUATED.

I worked on an event last Thursday for United Way - what a great group of people and such amazing causes they champion.  The event was a luncheon for 200 VIP's to launch the new campaign "Live United".  We secured a fantastic local caterer who does amazing BBQ - Sandman's.  He comes equipped with his huge mobile smoker that gets everyones taste buds going immediately.  I highly recommend them as being a great value and incredible food - pulled pork, BBQ chicken, burgers..yum-- I'm getting hungry just thinking about it and it's 9:45am!  In order to save costs, be green and provide dessert - I ordered jumbo cupcakes for the centerpieces.  Carrie @ D&W lettered them so I could spell L.I.V.E U.N.I.T.E.D out on the  long picnic tables.  I picked up the 2 gallon water jugs with spickets instead of using bottled water.  The tent, linens, chairs, video screens, microphones were all set and ready to go when MURPHY came to visit our event.  8am day of event..it is raining - okay that's fine we can just put the sides on the tent.  9:30am the fire department shows up to evacuate the building for a gas main break nearby!  10:00am we decide not to wait out the situation and just move the event.  So in 2 hours we moved the entire event to the YMCA - it was picture perfect teamwork.  The United Way staff & volunteers really stepped up...they helped set up tables, throw linens, set up food and worked with me to set up a shuttle plan to bring people from the parking lot.  We were able to get the word out to all the people who RSVP'd that the event location had changed.  It was still raining through all of this - we looked like a bunch of drowned rats!  I'm so glad I had the sound/video in the hands of my friends at Aria Show Technology.  They probably had the most work in moving equipment and making everything come across seamlessly with regard to the presentaions.  Ronnie, Janine and Bob at United Way all had a huge part in making the event a success - the team worked very efficiently and I heard more than one person say that it was good to practice the crisis plan!   

I called Marybeth after the event and said "hey...my gas main break trumps your roof on fire"!  We had a good laugh.  I think that's the thing to remember, as long as nobody's life is in danger it's okay to have a little laugh at your situation.

p.s. For future reference - bringing donuts to the firemen works wonders in keeping the line of communication open:-)

Danke Marybeth!!

Marybeth had back-to-back-to-back groups in Chicago.  One of which was another tour of a Grand Rapids based company's headquarter facilities with a side trip to Chicago.  I have to say I have never received a more glowing thank you letter EVER.  Here's a little bit about the trip...

This was a reward trip for a dealer who had doubled their sales from last year and were rewarded with a trip to Grand Rapids to see the Global Headquarters, new product, and many of the great areas of the city.  They loved their stay at the JW Marriott and their ability to utilize a Suite there as a touchdown space for late night gatherings. This group especially enjoyed their tour and dinner at Meyer May house while in Grand Rapids. They were then flown into Chicago, like jet setters via corporate jet. While in Chicago, they spent a plenty of time in the Chicago office. They then took the architectural boat tour , a speed boat tour on Lake Michigan, ventured to the top of the Sears Tower, walked Millenium park, shopped of course, and ate at some fabulous restaurants including RL (Ralph Lauren), House of Blues, and The Signature Room on the 95th floor of the Hancock building. We were called into action when they wanted to schedule activities into their “free time”. Marybeth always loves a good challenge. It was a great trip from start to finish. The weather held off even though it called for rain showers – what more could we ask for? 

The client said "I had to forward this email as it speaks well for all the work that our collaborative team did together - and Kay and I will share with everyone who had a part in this visit. Every piece fit and we all stayed flexible to make sure the Berlin Group had a memorable time. Its always a joy to work with Grand Connection knowing that you are all best of class."  This was attached to 2 other notes from Germany that are to long to post here - but lets just say they were absolutely glowing reviews of the trip.

Battle of the Over Acheivers

At GC, we all know Lynne and Leah to be overachievers…so when you put them onsite together…we never know what will happen!

Lynne project managed the board meeting with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan last week, and it was a great success.  She planned and managed all of their activities for Adults, Teens and Children.  Ann Marie (from our newly established Northern Michigan office) managed all of the transportation. The group hasn’t had a children’s program, so it was really important that it went well.  We brought in Traveler’s Childcare out of Detroit…they specialize in child care at conferences—and they were great to work with!  On Friday night, we had them at “the farm” at Meijer Gardens while the parents dined in the main building…entertainment was provided by DJ the Clown, a face painter, kid friendly food and activities!  Lynne took lots of pictures of the event and decided to print copies of all pictures, picked up some photo albums and foam stickers…which she delivered to the Saturday kids PJ party at the Amway Grand…where the kids happily made photo albums to put their pictures in.  The parents were really excited to see how much fun they had!  In the meantime, Leah scored a prime fireworks spot at the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival for a group of teens. She arrived at 12:01 on Thursday night/Friday morning to find quite a bit of the grass covered…she found a location she could check on, and repeatedly checked on it until the teens and care givers arrived on Saturday night—now that’s dedication! There’s not enough room in this blog to write all of the “extras” Lynne and the team did, but the client was extremely happy with the transportation to all events and excursions, and the 12 excursions/events we set up for them. 

Client quote: "Lynne, I also thought the event was a huge success. A big THANK YOU to you, your team and the Travelers team for seamlessly serving our guests and their families. Everyone was wonderful to work with and they bent over backwards to ensure our guests were well taken care of. I heard many positive comments from our guests throughout the weekend!"

Behind the scenes at the Gaylord National in DC

Once again Tracy, Leah, and Christina worked in perfect unison on a sales conference in Washington D.C last week. Well maybe not perfect unison. The rumors are that Christina got mad at Tracy for sighing at her too much, Leah was ridiculed for eating cheesecake off of a tray jack (in her defense, it was off of her own plate) and Christina was accused of being bossy and mean. It was all in good fun, of course. The event was held at the Gaylord National Resort. It's a brand new property. The hotel performed very well, especially considering that it had only been open for 3 months. It's actually amazing that they made it to the hotel at all. The National Harbor area is so new that it doesn't show up on GPS systems. The girls are all completely dependant on their Tom Toms and managed to turn a 15 minute drive to the hotel into an hour long adventure. The sad thing was that you could see the hotel from the airport (just across the river) and they'd been there multiple times before on preplanning visits

This was a multi-faceted event that included complicated registration, meeting space management, offsite events and a formal awards dinner. Leah managed registration and all of the data that went along with it. She worked closely with the client to design the registration website so all of the data easily moved into reports for all of the various events and sessions that were available. Each attendee received a personalized agenda at check in which was extremely helpful. It’s miraculous that she was able to personally manage the volume of data that she did. Tracy did an amazing job planning and implementing the awards dinner. The client decided to move from a formal plated dinner to a buffet and Tracy managed to make a buffet dinner more elegant than any plated dinner anyone has ever seen. Christina managed all of the function space, food and beverage, and a/v. It’s a difficult job to be the contact point for the hotel but she walks that line very well. She makes sure that the client is getting the best deal possible from the hotel and at the same time manages gain the respect of the hotel staff. This makes them want to help her in every way possible. It’s a win-win for everyone. The offsite event was a huge hit. They went on a dinner cruise on down the Potomac River in a boat that was specifically designed to go under the low bridges in D.C. Then the next day about 1/3 of the attendees signed up to take a speed boat up the river to see all of the sights in Washington. The tour company was a pleasure to work with. Check them out at www.entertainmentcruises.com.  

What to do when a boat washes up on shore at your event!

Where to begin with this post.  Mary just planned an amazing dinner on Lake Michigan at Camp Blodgett for about 200 people for the National Secretaries of State Convention.  It was an amazing success, the food (served by the Gilmore Collection) was awesome.  The weather couldn't have been better, the sunset was incredible.  We used many of the same vendors as we've used in th past - one of them being the band Radio City (they always manage to get people on their feet and dancing).  It never ceases to amaze me how we encounter onsite challenges that could never be predicted.  Mary rented a Gator to help load in the band's equipment, tent, tables, etc.  It was a great idea that we should replicate in the future.  However, when the band was moving out late at night, the Gator got stuck in the sand!  Also, a piece of a boat washed up on shore the day of the event!  It was in the Grand Haven paper yesterday, apparently a 65' yacht sank near Pentwater this past weekend.   Just incase a boat ever washes up at your event - it's the responsibility of the owner of the boat to remove it.  The insurance company hires a salvage company to pick up the pieces.  Ya know, you never know when you might need to know these things!!!  I just want to say what an amazing job Mary did of handling all of these challenges - she never loses her cool and takes everything in stride.  

Christina manages another conference in SLC and has fun!! SHOCKING:-)

Christina wrapped up our second large conference at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.  We were there last summer and loved it so much that we had to go back. This event was a dealer conference with about 200 attendees. Working with the Grand America again made this program a breeze. It’s fantastic when we can use properties multiple times.  It not only saves on travel related expenses associated with site visits, it also makes working with the hotel staff and navigating the meeting space a piece of cake. Of course we only reuse properties that exceed our expectations, and the Grand America certainly has done that.

This particular conference always leans toward casual so for their offsite event they went to Fat Cats. Fat Cats is a trendy retro bowling alley and arcade. The attendees loved it!  They traded in their wingtips for bowling shoes and didn’t look back. One of the attendees didn’t want to give them back, in fact he managed to make it all the way back on the bus wearing his bowling shoes. He didn’t realize he’d left his shoes inside until Christina went on the bus and held up the pair of left over shoes and asked who owned them. You’ll see a picture of the culprit below. There’s also a picture of Christina and Keri hard at work, managing the event!

The Roof - The Roof - THE ROOF IS ON FIRE!

Marybeth project managed the entire event for the United Methodists who held their North Central Jurisdictional Conference last week at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, MI.  Among her other super hero duties, Marybeth actually saved someone's life.  She made sure the conference had a nurse on duty...just for safety sake.  The nurse recognized the signs of a heart attack in one of the attendees and made him get to the hospital where they found he had 90% blockage.  He proceded to have surgery and is now recovering well.  This happened the same day Marybeth was dealing with her evening venue catching on FIRE.  Apparently the roofers nearby sparked a small fire on the Museum where they were to have dinner, MB had to get a back up plan rolling fast. It ended up that she didn't need the backup plan since they were able to put the fire out and declare the venue safe later that day.  Here's the real news story if your interested http://www.woodtv.com/global/story.asp?s=8692229  I'm sure Marybeth's faith and belief in prayer helped her through this hectic week..

As for the conference, they brought together 12 delegations from the Midwest, each bringing a bishop candidate, to elect one new bishop for the entire jurisdiction, and to also spend time in worship and prayer together as a church.  About 550 ppl attended this event.  The group had a lovely Picnic dinner at the Van Andel Museum on Thursday evening. They reviewed many different areas within the church and heard various reports from several committees. They attended bishop candidate forums to gain insight into each candidate and then met as delegations to discuss who they thought would be best for the position as bishop for the entire jurisdiction.  They gathered back in the Plenary to cast their votes until one candidate received over 163 votes.  This voting process went over a three day period until finally at 6:00pm on Friday when Julius Calvin Trimble from East Ohiowas elected Bishop.  

Teamwork

On the heels of a fabulously successful May event, team L&L (Leah and Lynne) performed again for an important client. With the help of an intricately designed website done by none other than the amazingly Talented Tracy...Lynne & Leah assisted with hotel reservations, transportation, and “white glove” reservation service for restaurant reservations. Ann Marie had the overwhelming task of retrieving rsvp’s for attendees and returning 100’s of phone calls to assist guests! Our client, had this to say about the GC team they worked with:

"First of all, I hope you’ve heard this from me before, but I want to thank all of you for your services provided over the last half of the year.  As you know, we had a very full plate with the “big three” events falling just weeks apart, and we couldn’t have pulled them off without you.  Personally, I want to thank you for making my job that much easier- and for the registration process that we’ve now introduced, which I’m hoping will continue to improve our own internal event processes and our efficiencies."   

Try saying this 3 times fast: American College and University President’s Climate Commitment Conference

The Wege Foundation hosted the annual ACUPCC Conference.  It featured speakers on all aspects of helping college campuses become more environmentally friendly while helping to educate its students.  Together with the fabulously creative folks at A5 Inc. (http://www.a5inc.com) we created a website for hotel registration, session signups, meals and activities.  We managed the room block at the JW Marriott—which did a fabulous job on all aspects!  We also managed the food and beverage, secured chocolates from Patricia’s Chocolates (made from Michigan Cherries and blueberries), floral arrangements, transportation, and registration.  Of course the team did a fabulous job making all the attendees feel welcome to Grand Rapids!

"Your team did a fabulous job as always...Lynne is so "cool" to work with and everyone does such a wonderful job of not just assisting, but "connecting" with our guests.  The clients are still raving."

Europeans Tour Grand Rapids and Chicago

Mary and Marybeth have been quite busy working on back to back groups from Germany.  They are packing in all sorts of sightseeing opportunities from factory tours, art museums and visits to Lake Michigan to motorcoach trips to Chicago where they dined at the Trump Hotel and experienced the Architectural tour aboard a boat.  They did a super job according to our friend and client Edris Takeda...by the way can we get a photo of Edris on the next round of tours this week!?   

Inspector General

Here's a link to Ann Marie's article on site inspections that appeared in the recent issue of Michigan Meetings & Events magazine.  http://www.mimeetingsmag.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=7A10B224B9254E559D0D5930CBFF64B9&AudID=

San Francisco again!

Marybeth just returned from managing a small group's events at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins in San Francisco.  This is part of a large contract we have with a company...we do a few of these meetings every month.  I believe Leah, Ann Marie and Marybeth all work on these periodically.  We do the websites and online registration, hotel bookings + payment collection for these groups.

Let's see...today we also have Lynne onsite with a group in Holland and Leah is in Chicago.  Ann Marie's headed to Aspen shortly with a group...so hopefully some good stories will come my way. 

Leah left her Heart in San Francisco

Leah just returned from a site visit with clients to California where she saw the Palace Hotel and Westin St. Francis in San Francisco and then La Costa in Carlsbad (near San Diego).  At La Costa's hair salon they read the Fung Shui of her look and based her haircut on the results.  She is a wood and earth in case anyone is interested...how on earth she survived this long not knowing that I will never know.  We'll know soon which site was chosen for the conference!  I think Marybeth is in San Francisco now doing an event so hopefully I'll have more on that soon.

April Sales & Dealer Meeting in Holland

What a project!  ...17 total GC staff and 18 shifts, 11 coaches a day, 8 different hotels and a little bit of fun.  Lynne managed registration and hotel bookings, Leah was in charge of transportation and Tracy did extensive website design.    Piece of cake for them - speaking of cake if anyone wants to buy off Leah try Strawberry Shortcake from Russ's. 

Client quote  "Amy – I think I echo everyone’s sentiments when I say that your staff did a tremendous job.  The bus transportation (which was extensive) went off without a hitch, which is no small accomplishment!  Everyone we worked with was professional, friendly, and a pleasure to work with.  I want to especially thank Leah and Lynne – who handled the multiple changes and challenges in stride and made everything look effortless when we know it certainly was not. So, please convey my thank you to all!  Now, on to the next… and I’m so glad we have you on our team"

Here's Leah and Lynne hard at work - and some other fun shots.  Looks like some alphabetized luggage on departure day to me.  If you see them ask about the clean windows...it's a funny story and one I shouldn't tell here!