ConferenceDirect APM 2012 - Day 4

The day started with presentations over breakfast from some of ConferenceDirect's strategic partners:

• Hello! Florida - DMC services throughout Florida; amazing testimonials from ConferenceDirect colleagues!
• Freeman - long-time partner and supplier of show service; 25% discount on A/V to ConferenceDirect clients
• ExpoMeeting Apps - supplier of mobile meeting applications
• Hosts - DMC (Destination Managment Services) worldwide
• 73 Events - web design and registration solutions for small meetings
• DMC Network - trusted experts in every city (includng Altima Concept in Montreal)

The final general session included awarding ConferenceDirect's annual Impact award - to the supplier who went the extra mile for ConferenceDirect during the past year.  For the first time in my memory with the company it was given to our host hotel, the Peabody Orlando who certainly did a gracious job in hosting us.

We enjoyed a lively presentation from a representative of the Disney Institute - fitting both because we are in Orlando, and because the emphasis on customer service that Disney and ConferenceDirect shares.

Attending the APM each year is a bit like running a marathon, as Executive Vice President and Chief Talent Officer Brian Richey said in his closing remarks. We all seem to reach the finish line very tired - but inspired! - and that's what face-to-face meetings do best.

Final look at the Peabody's Grotto pool where we gathered on the Sunday before the conference started for some informal networking.
You can't do that at a webinar or teleconference :)

ConferenceDirect APM 2012 - Day 3

Bonjour!  Tourism Montreal hosted our breakfast this morning, which was followed by a variety of breakout sessions. I attended one that provided updates on the wide range of additional services being offered by ConferenceDirect to our clients, the most popular being full conference management, and housing and registration.

At the coffee break I joined in the Zumba team and pumped it up a bit!

Lunch was hosted by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Raffles, and Swisshotels. At the end of the meal they showed a couple of videos: on the magestic Faimont Hotel in Banff,  and one from Travel Alberta that blew everyone away.

The first part of the afternoon was spent meeting with hotel partners again, as well as other suppliers offering solutions to our client's meeting planning challenges. Then at a joint General Session of ConferenceDirect associates and our partners (~1000 people) the Canadian Tourism Commission presented a coast-to-coast snapshot of what's happening in the hospitality industry in Canada, including the recent or soon-come openings of four luxury hotels in Toronto: Ritz-Carlton, Trump, the *new* Four Seasons, and the Shangri-La.

InterContinental Hotels Group CEO Mike Fegley made a short presentation, and mentioned the launch of two new brands under the IHG umbrella: one that will offer a luxury experience to the Chinese traveller, and Even Hotels - for road warriors who want to maintain their healthy lifestyles while away from home.

IHG also sponsored a speaker from MMGY Global who gave a fascinating and entertaining talk: Emerging Lifestyles and Travel Trends - getting into the reasons behind some of the things we're seeing and making some very plausible predictions about what to expect.

The highlight afternoon, though, was the "fun nun" who spoke on behalf of Sisters of Charity and the work they're doing to protect children from being forced into prositition and sexual slavery.  It was a paticularly poignant message to that audience since much of the abuse takes place in hotels around the world.  She spoke about training programs for hotel staff to recognize the signs and what steps to take. ConferenceDirect and IHG made a generous joint donation to ECPAT USA (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking).

That evening Team Canada was hosted by Lina Farrell of the Sheraton Niagara Falls to dine at celebrity Chef Todd Eglish's bluezoo restaurant, (at the Swan and Dolphin) followed by a private boat ride on the Epcot Lagoon to watch the fireworks.

 Dessert was served aboard the boat - sweeet!!

ConferenceDirect APM 2012 - Day 2

Breakfast was hosted by Omni Hotels & Resorts, accompanied by a presentation highlighting some of their newer properties and renovation plans, including the $30 million going into the Hotel Omni Mont-Royal in Montreal. They unveiled a new mulit-year agreement incentive and reminded us again of their unique guest loyalty program - free to join, and avaialable to groups - that provides guests with complimentary morning coffee delivery.

Our General Session opened with a words of welcome from the Peabody, thanking ConferenceDirect for our support. ConferenceDirect CEO Brian Stevens provided company updates, and we learned about new standard contracts in place for our customers with MGM Resorts and Hilton worldwide (Europe, Middle East, Africa). There was a lively panel discussion on "Lead Spam".

VP Training and Development Jim Vandevender and Director of Operations Kini Akaka announce ehancements to our inhouse booking system.

We boarded Disney busses that took us to the Renaissance Orlando at Seaworld for lunch, hosted by Marriott Hotels, and learned about that brands's global growth (including the opening of a reservation call centre in China), their Autograph Collection (including the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas), and the acquisition of the AC brand in Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

Back to the Peabody we met with hotel suppliers all afternoon in a "reverse tradeshow". 

Canadian colleagues Mary Beth Holmes, Kelly Cyr.

 

Dinner was off-site, again, at the beautiful Waldorf Astoria Orlando, attached to the Hilton at Bonnet Creek, and the Peabody hosted an "Afterglow" in their popular Rocks bar.

ConferenceDirect APM 2012 - Day 1

Love this kind of personalised welcome amenity - what delegate wouldn't? 

Arrived late last night and checked-in to the Peabody Orlando - the host hotel for ConferenceDirect's Annual Partner Meeting, bringing together over 300 of our associates with 500+ hotel partners for a week of training, networking, and yes, some showing off by a few of the local properties as to what they can do for our clients and their groups coming to Orlando.

The Peabody was renovated and expanded a couple of years ago, and now offers over 300,000 square feet of function space - over 100 breakout configurations. Like all three Peabody properties - the original in Memphis, and the most-recent addition Little Rock, Arkansas - the hotel carries on the more than 60-year old tradition (started as a drunken prank) of the daily Duck March.

Tonight's Awards dinner, being hosted by Starwood Hotels and Resorts, is taking place at Walt Disney Worlds' Swan and Dolphin.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

The Sutton Place hotel, a bit of a Toronto institution with a long history of welcoming movie stars and hosting the Toronto International Film Festival, is being converted entirely to residences.

I say "entirely" because there have always been rental apartments, with some tenants residing there for decades. Back in the late 1990's I was the Apartment Manager, and we converted some of the units to be used for long-stay hotel guests, similar to the Grande Residence concept at the Sutton Place in Vancouver.

Much has changed since then - obviously.

Four Guests, One Hotel, One Desire

The 4 Star/4 Diamond boutique hotel Le St. Sulpice in Old Montreal is the location (and producer) of a short film which will pemiere May 24, 2012.

You can watch the trailer here

Le St. Sulpice offers 108 spacious and stylish guestroom suites, and can accommodate up up to 48 people classroom in the largest of its three function rooms.
http://www.lesaintsulpice.com/