Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal

State of the Industry Survey Launches

Just as we finish up one thing, we are on to the next. Its the nature of the business for a lot of us. So it should be no surprise to you that now that the Vision Awards nomination process is at an end (deadline today; we'll be reviewing those for the next few weeks), we're moving on to focus on our annual State of the Industry survey, sponsored this year by Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau.

This is the sixth year that Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal has presented the survey, so many of you may already be familiar with the process. If not, here's a bit of background on what this is all about.

The State of the Industry survey is an online questionnaire presented each summer by the magazine. In the survey we ask planners and vendors (there are two different surveys) to give a little background on their own experiences in the local hospitality industry (budgets, size and location of meetings or events ...) and to share their views on what's changing in the industry at large (trends, economy...). The survey takes about 10 minutes.

So, should you take it? Of course! We encourage full- and part-time planners (you count even if "planner" isn't your official title) to take our PLANNER SURVEY and anyone who provides services to the industry to take our VENDOR SURVEY.

Your input on this survey is important to us. We'd really appreciate it if you took a few minutes to click through and speak up. While individual results are confidential, the data collected will be presented in our winter issue's State of the Industry report.

As incentive, we're offering survey participants $10 off admission to our Feb. 2, 2010, State of the Industry event at Saint Paul RiverCentre; participants are also entered in a drawing for a weekend getaway "up north." So get started! If you have questions, please comment below.

Thanks, the editors of Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal
@MeetingsMHJ (#mnsoi)

The Hospitality Touch

For an avid Apple fan like me, I always enjoy it when the rumors start flying about an entirely new piece of hardware about to be introduced. Many Mac fans will probably already know this, but the Internet has been abuzz lately with the rumors of a new Apple tablet--a handheld touch-screen computer akin to an iPod Touch on steroids. Do I have a need for one? Not yet. But Apple has always been good about making me feel like I didn't know what I was missing.

Some reports claim that the new device will essentially offer all of the applications found on an iPhone but with a larger screen (10-12 inches) and with applications specifically designed for the new device. Other rumors even have Verizon providing wireless access.

In doing my rumor research about the new touch device, I found a few applications that are already in place for the hospitality industry. Fast Company magazine reported a story that showed just what a touch tablet could do, by showcasing a few of the applications that have already been created for Microsoft Surface. Here are a few applications the magazine highlighted:

Cross Country Mobility by ERSI
This software calculates routes to your destination at the drag of a fingertip.

Sheraton Seattle Hotel
A virtual concierge

Rio Hotel in Las Vegas
My favorite. A unique use of the touch technology that not only utilizes the touch interface of the Surface itself, but also makes good use of security cameras.

--Joel Schettler
Editor

Twitter Status Update

MinnPost’s Corey Anderson wrote a column about the news site’s Twitter usage – who they follow, who follows MinnPost and so on. It’s more of an FYI than anything, but I thought it was well written and it inspired me to write down a few bullets about our own tweeting (follow us at @MeetingsMHJ).

+ Currently, we have 369 followers from around the world. We get about five new followers each day. We started our account at the end of January 2009. We’ve tweeted 330 times since then.

+ As of today, we follow back 223 tweeters. We’re a little more picky about who we follow. You have to be related to the meeting planning and hospitality industry, whether locally, nationally or internationally. We’re not going to follow a mechanic from Nebraska—though if he wants to follow us, more power to him!

+ We follow several local news, arts and PR organizations, because as journalists it’s important for us to stay on top of the news of the day.

+ Like the MinnPost article eludes to, we won’t follow you if we don’t know your real name, you don’t tell us where you’re located, or you haven’t tweeted at all.

+ Before clicking “follow,” we read through several of the person’s previous tweets to make sure what they’re saying is relevant to our magazine. If it’s all about your dog and what you had for dinner, we take a pass (no judgment, those posts just don’t meet our mission of using Twitter). If you offer up valuable links and insights, we sign on.

+ Three of us (Amanda, Ellie and Marni) share the same Twitter account and tweet for Meetings: Minnesota’s Hospitality Journal. Since all of our tweets are going to be hospitality related and from the magazine’s perspective, we feel it would actually be more confusing if we each had our own account with our own photo. You can see our photos and names on our Twitter homepage.

+ We try to tweet a couple times each day, which is harder during deadline time.

+ Dreams for the future? We’ve successfully used Twitter to find contacts for stories, but we’d like that success rate to increase. We’d also love to see more people comment on our blog posts, which we often point toward through Twitter.

Overall, we’re happy with our Twitter account and have seen a bit more traffic to our Web site and a bit more name recognition for our magazine. So, tell us, what our your Twitter stats? How do you feel about it?

--Amanda Fretheim Gates
Managing Editor

Vision Awards: The Deadline Approaches

In case you missed it the first times we mentioned it on the blog, we're really excited to be hosting the first Vision Awards this year. The awards focus on rewarding best practices in the local hospitality industry in seven different categories.

This Friday is the deadline for nominations (July 31). That means you have just this week left to tell us who is deserving of a Vision Award. Who inspires you? What event impressed you? What vendor do you depend on? Which planner deserves kudos? Don't forget to look in the mirror when you are thinking of these. It's perfectly acceptable to nominate yourself.

The entire process is online. Just click on over to Vision Awards central and look through the seven awards: Customer Service, Stewardship, Event of the Year (Planners Only), Planner’s Choice—My Favorite Vendor, Leadership, Innovation and Inspiration. Think about who you want to nominate and share your thoughts with us. You may nominate multiple times in multiple categories.

We look forward to hearing from you!

--Associate Editor Ellie M. Bayrd

Events at the Weisman Art Museum

I stopped by the Weisman Art Museum's open house last night to check out their event space. The last time I  visited the

museum was the opening of  Changing Identity: Recent Works by Women Artists from Vietnam in January. Both events were lovely--the Dolly Fiterman Gallery just has a great vibe, with windows overlooking the river and natural light bouncing off the clean white walls and ceiling.

The William G. Shepherd room was lined with tables from the Weisman's nine caterers, so I hung out there a lot. I was happy to see Kafé 421 owner Georgia Sander standing behind a table overflowing with flaky phyllo dough morsels filled with all manner of Mediterranean goodness, from figs to feta to olives. Besides having a major thing for Greek food, I have happy memories of her cozy Dinkytown bistro. When I was a wee Gopher I often ate there for the food, the hospitality and student-friendly prices. (They're advertising a $25 date night on the Facebook page right now.) Anyway, I didn't know she catered, so that's exciting!

What else? Said hello to a few friends, including Christine Cunnington, the Weisman's events coordinator, Diane Pearson (MPI) and Lisa Marie Borchert (ISES), both familiar faces from our magazine, and planner Geri Wolf, who you'll hear from in the Fall 2009 issue of Meetings. In the upcoming issue you'll also get more details about events at the Weisman and four other Twin Cities museums, so stay tuned!

--Marni Ginther
Assistant Editor

Photos from Weisman Web site

A 'Change' at the Guthrie

Last night the Meetings editors and many other people helped Chef Tim McKee celebrate the opening of his brand-new Guthrie Theater restaurant, Sea Change. (For a thoughtful profile on Tim McKee and Josh Thoma, see our Summer issue.) Sea Change, a sustainable seafood restaurant, takes the place of Cue, which opened with the Guthrie in 2006.

The new restaurant's interior, toned in greens and purples, was quite welcoming. Crowds gathered around a semicircular bar where cooks prepared delectable bites of food. Champagne was passed and wine was offered. A soothing jazz ensemble played in the center. People raved about the food, which included octopus, clam croquettes, tuna and scallops. The desserts, chocolate-caramel cake and blueberry cheesecake, were the perfect end to the evening. Sea Change officially opens today.

--Amanda Fretheim Gates, Managing Editor

MAC Approves Name Change for MSP Airport Terminals

Say goodbye to the Humphrey and Lindbergh terminals.

The Star Tribune reports that the Metropolitan Airports Commission board members decided today to spend $2.2 million on new signage for "Terminal 1" and "Terminal 2." I ranted about this in a blog post a few weeks ago.

I really don't think the names of the terminals are the problem--I think the problem is that a lot of people don't know:

• that MSP even has two terminals
• how far apart the two terminals are (even the quick LRT ride between the two can affect whether you miss a flight)
• which airlines fly out of which terminal

With respect to that last point, I am glad to hear that the airlines that serve each terminal are going to be included on the new signage. Although, are you really going to read highway signage that closely while you're driving? I don't know.

With respect to the $2.2 million, folks should know the money isn't coming out of taxpayers' pockets. It's mostly from airport revenue. Still, it's a lot of money.

For further reading, MAC has posted a document of "Myths vs. Facts" regarding the terminal name change.

--Marni Ginther
Assistant Editor

CLARIFICATION: I should point out from the "Myths vs. Facts" document that "The proposal is not to eliminate the Lindbergh and Humphrey names from the terminal titles, only from highway signs and other wayfinding aids..."

The Art of the RFP: Outtakes

Who knew I could enjoy writing an article about RFPs? Don’t get me wrong, they’re an important part of the biz, but they’re not the most glamorous thing to create an article around. But, I had some really fascinating interviews with local vendors, so I wanted to share some outtakes of those interviews (quotes that didn’t make it into the story), as well as some other spots where this conversation has been happening over the past several months.

Other RFP conversations

What’s Your RFP IQ?: Very similar to my article, this story quotes several people who face challenges with RFPs. ["Requests for Proposal (RFPs) can be a headache. As such, many distributors will overlook them or throw their hands up at the whole process. Before you do that, read these business-bidding tips and success stories, straight from the experts."]

Are RFPs Still Worthwhile?: This blog post from ASAE & the Center’s Acronym blog received several interesting comments. ["I have to tell you I am happy to be included on RFP distribution lists but the more I receive the more I wonder if it makes sense for me to respond and more importantly for associations to send them out."]

Why RFPs Hurt Everyone Involved?: I found this when reading the comments from the above blog post. It’s from an association-marketing point of view. ["...proper questioning is not present leaving the vendor making a number of assumptions. These assumptions are bad for the client, because any incorrect assumptions will most likely result in additional costs down the road."]

Scenario-based RFPs: Time to Change the Game: This article from Service Performance president Chris Arlen offers an alternative version of the RFP. ["The premise is for a customer to present its service scenario to a short list of pre-qualified contractors."]

RFP is Not a Four-Letter Word: From Frank Fortin’s Guilt by Association blog (I love the blog’s title), this post talks about another alternative: the un-RFP. ["I need some process to cast a wide net, review multiple proposals, and make a smart decision."]

Minneapolis Named Best City For Families

Virginia might be for lovers but Minneapolis, apparently, is for families. Bert Sperling's Best Places, a research company based in Portland, Ore., has placed The City of Lakes at the tippy-top of its list of "The Happiest Cities for Families," according to a Star Tribune article.

Yay, Minneapolis! I won't rehash the article, but we got kudos for our stellar park system and our frequent family-friendly neighborhood social functions, among other merits.

On a side note, have you ever poked around on Sperling's site? It's a fun place to stop and read reports comparing all aspects of life across different cities, including climate, cost of living, crime, education, etc. There are always a few quirky reports like America's Manliest Cities (Nashville tops the list, in case you were curious fellas) and fun activities like the Find Your Best Place quiz (which tells me I should be living in San Francisco).

--Marni Ginther
Assistant Editor

Photo from MeetMinneapolis.com

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