<B> Meetings Beat</B>
<B>First American CMMs Graduate</B>
Thirty-eight of the inaugural North American class of 44 meetings professionals earned the Certification in Meetings Management designation (<I>Meetings Today,</I> Jan. 25), Meetings Professional International officials announced at the Professional Education Conference in Vancouver last month. The program, which culminated in a week-long course at Michigan State University in September, focused on a strategic approach to meeting planning. Attendees who did not yet attain the designation can continue to work on it, or take the MSU course again in May. MPI will waive the $1,295 tuition fee for repeaters, though they will have to pay travel and housing costs at Michigan State again.
<a name="2"><B>Hammons Building Hotels Again </B>
Springfield, Mo.-based hotel management company John Q. Hammons Hotels, which last September said it was indefinitely suspending new hotel construction, now plans to open six new convention hotels by February 2000, with each providing between 17,000 and 21,000 square feet of meeting space. This year, Hammons will open the Hampton Inn & Rodeo Suites at Rodeo Arena in Mesquite, Texas; the Radisson Resort Hotels in Coral Springs, Fla.; the Embassy Suites Outdoor World at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; and The Renaissance Suites Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. They will be joined in February 2000 by The Renaissance Oklahoma City at Myriad Convention Center and the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center in North Charleston, N.C.
<a name="3"><B>Site Seeks New CEO As Vitagliano Moves On</B>
The Society of Incentive and Travel Executives in New York will usher in the new century under new leadership, as long-time CEO and executive vice president Bob Vitagliano leaves the position on Dec. 31. Vitagliano said SITE has reached the goals he set upon his arrival in August 1993, including establishing a stable financial position and increasing its global presence. Sandi Cottrell, SITE's 1998 president, is heading up the search committee looking for a replacement, which the group hopes to name by October. Vitagliano said he plans to remain in the incentive industry in his next post.
<a name="4"><B>Trade Show Trading Site Opens</B>
A new Website offers suppliers the opportunity to sell their obsolete trade show materials. Suppliers provide Exhibitauction.com, based in Southboro, Mass., with an 8x10-inch photo, a scale drawing if applicable, an accurate description of the materials and their purchase price, and the lowest selling price they will accept. If the item is sold after a seven- to 14-day online auction, Exhibitauction.com gets a cut. There's no charge to customers buying supplies.
<a name="5"><B>Student Planners Seek Internships</B>
Need an extra pair of hands willing to work for free? Students enrolled in Virginia Tech University's meeting management program are available through April to help with onsite meetings, conventions and trade shows in Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. The students, all juniors or seniors, will work for two or three days in return for credit toward their meetings-management courses. This is a graded assignment for the students. Sponsors need to provide only room, board and mileage reimbursement from the university campus in Blacksburg, Va., to the meeting. For more details, e-mail professor Howard Feiertag at Virginia Tech's Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at
[email protected], or call him at (540) 231-9459.
<a name="6"><B>IACC Plans Annual Conference</B>
The International Association of Conference Centers will hold its annual conference at The Resort at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley, Calif., from April 10 to 14. For more information or to register, visit www.iacconline.com.
<a name="7"><B>Kodak To Offer Meeting System</B>
Eastman Kodak Co. in May will debut a product called "Meeting-in-a-Box" that offers planners traditional and digital projectors and local photographic services for event-specific presentations.