<B> Meetings Beat</B>
<B>P&G Gets A Grip On Meetings</B>
The Health Care Division of Procter & Gamble Co. in Mason, Ohio, will be consolidating its meeting spend with McGettigan Partners of Philadelphia. McGettigan estimates it can generate 15 to 20 percent savings in meeting spending in one year. Onsite McGettigan employees will use the agency's CORE Discovery software to capture and report meeting data.
<a name="2"><B>Puerto Rico Gives Planners Credit, In Cash</B>
The Puerto Rico Convention Bureau is offering cash rewards to groups that try the island for a meeting or incentive. The refunds--ranging from $1,000 for a 100-room-night event to $7,500 for meetings with more than 1,000 room nights--can be used for airline tickets or activities related to the event, including transportation, team-building activities or speakers, said PRCB executive vice president Felix Laboy. To be eligible, planners must sign a contract by Dec. 31 and hold the meeting before Dec. 31, 2001.
<a name="3"><B>TTG Upgrades Meeting Tech Line</B>
Travel Technologies Group's 4.0 version of Meeting Partner planning software, introduced at BTN's Corporate Travel World trade show in New York last month, allows planners to fax confirmation numbers to attendees, track invitations, and sort, filter and match hotel rooms based on room preferences, including type and smoking preference. Dallas-based TTG, a spinoff of Atlanta mega agency WorldTravel Partners, also produces Planning Partner meeting and group expense-tracking software.
<a name="4"><B>Non-Members Invited To A SITE Inspection</B>
As a way of drawing in new members, the Society of Incentive Travel Executives is allowing sponsors of its regional University educational programs to sponsor "scholarships" for non-member incentive buyers. For an application or information, call Terry Epton, executive vice president of USA Hosts, at 504-524-8687. "The goal is to use the scholarship as an introduction to SITE," Epton said. The program will be inaugurated at SITE's University of the Americas, June 19-23 in New Orleans.
<a name="5"><B>Bringing The Mall Home</B>
The Meetings Industry Mall Web site (www.mim.com) has added an e-mail-based listserv and discussion group moderated by Joan Eisenstodt, president of Washington, D.C.-based Eisenstodt Associates. Members will automatically receive e-mail messages posted to the list, and can reply to the entire subscriber list or to specific messages. Signup is free at (www.mim.com/mimlist). The Meetings Industry Mall is hosted by Cardinal Communications of Berkeley, Calif.
<a name="6"><B>Wyndham Puts Florida On Sale</B>
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is offering 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for meetings of at least 100 rooms booked at any of the chain's seven Florida properties--including three in the Miami area, two in Tampa and one each in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando--on specified value dates through Dec. 30. Groups also receive one free guestroom for every 40 booked, a free one-hour reception and one complimentary upgrade to a suite. Events must be booked between now and June 30.
<a name="7"><B>Portland Convention Center To Grow By 2002</B>
The Oregon Convention Center in Portland will undergo an $85 million expansion to add 80,000 square feet of exhibition space, a 35,000-sq.-ft. ballroom and 30 breakout rooms by April 2002. Portland Oregon Visitors Association president and CEO Joe D'Alessandro said the larger space "will allow us to host two smaller conventions simultaneously, something we've not been able to do in the past.