Destinations International is proud to partner with PCMA to provide meeting planners with high-level education for the morning portion of 2019 Destination Showcase. Sessions offered include:
Hard Data on What's Happening with Room Bookings
8:30-9:30 AM
Mark Lomanno and Gorka Amian
It is widely understood that a percentage of attendees at conventions don’t reserve hotel rooms within the room block. Consequently, it’s challenging to accurately quantify the true impact of convention/group business, attendee buying trends and guest experiences, booking through housing companies, room block incentives, third-party partnerships, and shared marketing initiatives.
PCMA, Hilton Worldwide and NYC & Company partnered with a research team led by Kalibri Labs to take a fresh approach to the challenge. Hear a sneak preview of what they are learning from analyzing millions of check-in/check-out guest records from 10+ citywide conventions and a business traveler survey covering booking behavior and decision-making.
Join this interactive session to learn the facts and share your feedback on a room-booking solution that is designed around the attendee and creates value for all event stakeholders.
Effective Contract Negotiation Strategies
8:30-10:00 AM
Kirsten Olean
Negotiation is a part of everyday life, business and personal. Business negotiations can be intimidating and stressful, but they don’t have to be. This session will focus on skills and tips to prepare for and engage in effective negotiation, and will give you the opportunity to practice what you’ve learned. You’ll learn how to get the best deal for your organization AND be a person with whom suppliers want to do business. You CAN get what you want and be a great negotiation partner!
PCMA/Marriott on the Future of Meetings
9:30-10:30 AM
Kate Fairweather
Meetings are not just about tables and chairs. They are about people. People have changed. How they work has changed. PCMA and Marriott International partnered with innovation consultancy Fahrenheit 212 to bring together external voices and develop hypotheses and provocations around trends that will impact the business events industry in the next five years. Whether it be driven by generational differences in the workforce, technological advances, attitudes around food and wellness, or new forms of media and communication, these trends have the potential to disrupt the industry as we know it.
The objective of this session is to bring together external voices and develop hypotheses and provocations around trends that will impact the business events industry in the next five years. The Kate Fairweather was a part of this research initiative and will provide an outside-in perspective to shed light on these disruptive forces.
This session will include group work and discussion of the trends and their impacts on your business.
Inclusive Event Planning; Creating Shared Meaningful Experiences for Every Person
9:30-10:30 AM
Ron Hamlin and Tamela Blalock
A recent study by Bizzabo revealed that 70% of speakers at events across the world are male. The same study found that only a fraction of those same event speakers were people of color.
As a business events planner, you have the opportunity to create experiences that are not just inclusive and accessible, but welcoming to your diverse audiences. While there is a lot to consider, good design is a process. Any progress toward inclusion is a success. During this interview-style session, you will find out how one leading organization has embraced an inclusive culture and insight into their best practices for developing accessible event experiences. The session will also cover ways you can make your events more inclusive for all abilities and cultures. Walk away with tools to support you on your initiatives.
This session is designed to help participants identify the business value in reaching under-represented markets and the critical strategies needed in making your own events more accessible from both a business event strategist or supplier perspective.