Crowne Plaza Debuts Three-Day Master BillCrowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts has polished its nearly one-year-old meetings program that promises specific levels of service for every corporate meeting
(Meetings Today, Dec. 9, 2002). In addition to the original promises of a two-hour response to all requests for proposals and the establishment of a senior-level staff member as a single point of contact, the chain now offers to fully complete the master billing process in no later than three days, said vice president of brand management Kevin Kowalski. The addition comes in response to what Kowalski said is onsite planners' difficulty due to time constraints in conducting a daily briefing with hotel management of all billing changes during an event, as promised in the 2002 initiative. "It's tough for them to find the time for the daily meeting debrief, especially at the end of the meeting," he said. "We have some revisions, and we'll turn the master billing program around in three days. We've heard that two weeks to a month is standard in the industry, which is too long, as planners are on their next six meetings by that point and changes made during the meeting are a distant memory." The chain will be able to meet its master billing goal because the daily debrief will lay the administrative groundwork, he said. The chain also announced an improved bedding and sleep initiative, which it pitched as a meetings enhancement. "This is icing on the cake, but it can tip the scale, if we deliver all other meeting components as well or better than everybody else," Kowalski said.
PGI Unifies DMCs, Splits ProductionWashington, D.C.-based events marketing and communication agency PGI Inc. last month reorganized its various event management offerings, unifying 24 worldwide destination management companies into a single brand, called Destinator by PGI, and aligned its production, exhibition and meetings management services into a second brand, called PGI—The Strategic Events Agency. The company chose to split its offerings by the audiences it intends to reach, officials said, with Destinator services marketed to event, incentive and meetings professionals and Strategic Events pitched to sales, marketing and brand executives. "We will continue to work in complete harmony on projects that blend both the strategic and logistical disciplines," said Robert McCormick, COO of the Strategic Events division. "Since points of contact may differ, however, we are communicating with our markets in ways that are clear and direct."
Gaylord To Measure Mtg. PerformanceGaylord Hotels—owner of the vast Opryland properties in Dallas and Nashville and the Kissimmee, Fla.-based Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center—has selected Carrolton, Texas-based meetings technology firm UniFocus to measure meeting planners' evaluations of property performance. UniFocus' MeetingScope tool offers meeting planners an extensive appraisal of citywide hotel performances in a variety of categories and provides hoteliers with comprehensive benchmarks of their abilities to attract and retain corporate meetings business
(Meetings Today, Sept. 24, 2001). "For over three years, we have been providing Gaylord Hotels guest and employee satisfaction measurement services, and they have proven how these key measures, when integrated into management philosophy and a strategic program, yield the type of financial performance demonstrated in their latest earnings report," said Joe Sullivan, president of UniFocus' survey division.
LA. Tourism Official Tapped To Head Dallas CVBThe Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau appointed Phillip Jones, formerly secretary of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, as its new president and CEO. The CVB has spent much of 2003 searching for a replacement for former CEO David Whitney, who resigned in January
(Meetings Today, March 24). CVB officials said several marketing programs that were developed during Jones' tenure increased Louisiana tourism. "Our search committee went looking for a demonstrated leader who not only appreciated the importance of customer relationships and the delivery of world-class service to both meeting planners and visitors, but who also had the ability to redefine how CVBs do business in an increasingly competitive environment," said Dallas CVB chairman J. Peter Kline.
~Chris Davis