Speaking of Starbucks... Only July 1, 2008, Starbucks announced that they will close 600 Stores. Starbucks Store closures will begin this month & continue throughout The first half of Fiscal Year 2009. Click here to see Starbucks Corporate announcement & official statement.
Will your neighborhood Starbucks be on the list? Click here for the long awaited list...
"If you had the foresight to know that the economy was going to crash, that you knew that commodity prices were going to go up, you'd do a lot of things differently," the former CEO of Starbucks, Jim Donald shared in a video posted on CNN Money/Fortune last week.
The video entitled "Lessons from the Fall" answers the question of what Donald would have done differently if he had some insight into the future prior to his dismissal in January 2008.
Donald was replaced by the returning Starbucks founder, Howard Schultz, as Starbucks stock plummeted to 50% of it's 52-week high. Schultz immediately ushered in several changes within weeks of his return-- closing every Starbucks for 3 hours to re-train employees on service & the Starbucks experience, introducing Starbucks reward programs with free wi-fi offerings & launching a online community named www.mystarbucksidea.com. Also, Starbucks started grinding coffee beans in the store to enhance the experience by boosting the aroma of coffee.
Donald goes on to say "When you are running a company that is dependent on opening 2,000-2,500 stores a year, you've got to be well out in front of site selection. You can't just naturally slow this growth down. However, if you knew 18 months beforehand, you just might be able to do something about it."
What does Jim Donald & Starbucks have to do with the world of Meetings?
Like Starbucks, our meetings are about THE EXPERIENCE. And all things being equal, people are willing to pay for the experience. Why else would we stand in line so long that we're late to work to pay $5.50 for a Venti non-fat Vanilla Latte when we could go to White Hen, QuikTrip or Wa-Wa & pay 99 cents for an equally-good tasting cup of French Vanilla cappuccino? (Yes, I realize that this is a controversial statement. I am merely trying to make a point.)
Have we forgotten that our attendees DO have many different channels of distribution to educate themselves, capture CEU's or CME's or even share Best Practices? Have we forgotten our silent competitor, the internet serves up on-demand & oftentimes comparable educational content to the innermost recesses of our potential attendee? And usually for a lot less money-- and headaches given the airline travel.
In fact, consider this sobering statement by Roger Dow, President & CEO of the Travel Industry Association: "The air travel crisis has hit a tipping point -- more than 100,000 travelers each day are voting with their wallets by choosing to avoid trips," Dow stated in an CNN article released on May 30. The article was entitled "Americans take 41 Million Fewer Flights, survey shows."
Again, my point you might be wondering?
In light of the current downward direction of our economy & the many different options available to last year's meeting attendees for next year, it wouldn't hurt each of us to pay heed to the words of Jim Donald in the "Lessons from the Fall" video when asked the question "What would you do differently" if you had an 18-month window into the future?
"If you had the foresight to know that the economy was going to crash, that you knew that commodity prices were going to go up, you'd do a lot of things differently.... if you knew 18 months beforehand, you just might be able to do something about it."
Translating this into our world, the question could better be phrased 'What could we do differently in Meetings/Trade Shows/Conferences/Conventions if the economy does NOT correct itself before our next Annual Meeting or Trade Show? (No, I am not a doomsday conspiracist, I have just always subscribed to the theory that one should Expect the Best, however Prepare for the Worst.)
The next few blogs will be geared to that very question-- of what we can do differently in meetings if the economy does not correct itself either BEFORE our next meeting or convention OR stays in a downward trend long enough to re-train our attendees into seeking educational content through the internet.
My good friend, Rick Boale, Vice-President of Meetings with the Advertising Research Federation will be a guest blogger on Branding & Re-Branding your Meeting. (Can you think of ANY better person to share his thoughts about branding than this well-seasoned & prestigious Madison Avenue based meeting executive?")
We'll also look at at least one sexy, AMAZINGLY-priced meeting destinations that I would nearly bet money that you've never considered. (Hint: Watch out San Francisco!) This destinations will drive attendance at your meetings all-the-while offering great value & venues designed to maximize networking & community-building.
Then, we'll take a look at the EXPERIENCE of meetings & how to build buzz around your meetings & conferences. Or how do you "Starbuck-ize" your attendees meeting experience. That is, of course, pre-stock drop experience.
Lastly (but not least), we'll be asking for your feedback in these specific areas. And we'll even make it worth your while to offer your thoughts. But more about THAT next time.
This is a true story.
Moving from La Guardia Airport to my hotel in the Upper West Side of NYC last Wednesday, I glanced through Corbin Ball's e-zine with particular interest on his article "The Speaker-Audience Balance is Shifting" on my Treo. Having just posted a blog on Web 2.0, I was compelled to read more.
"Web 2.0 technology is moving the balance of power from the speaker to the audience," Corbin opens with this understated statement in his article.
Corbin goes on to write about a shocking incident at the March 2008 annual "South by Southwest Conference" held in Austin, TX which involved a live interview with the 23-year old billionaire founder & CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, a BusinessWeek columnist named Sarah Lacey and an increasingly impatient & surly audience during a Keynote Plenary session.
What happened next is every Conference organizer's worst nightmare.
As the session's live interview drug on, attendees "pulled out their cell phones and started twittering. (www.twitter.com) Twittering is a Web 2.0 phone-based networked community (think text-message meets the chat room.) Text comments about how 'lame' the session was started flying in the hall. The audience increasingly became dissastisfied. Someone posted a dare to yell out "Zuck you suck". Someone took up the offer. And the whole session devolved from there. As the social media took over, the crowd started shouting out questions on their own. The session went off the rails from there," Corbin writes. Click here to read the article in entirety. Many of the actual participants were far less staid & polished in their description of the event.
While reading this, I began to envision the Jerry Springer-style mutiny, how with nothing other than cellphones & web access, these attendees revolted. They stormed the stage & took over the microphone both virtually, then literally-- demanding that their unprecedented voice to be heard, like a group within the confines of Lord of the Flies gathering together to overthrow the island & shouting 'Enough! We demand to be heard.' (Read another far less genteel account here in blog on Wired Blog Network.)
While I would have loved to have personally witnessed this revolution, I would lay money that SXSW will approach things differently next year. They'll clearly be more proactive in harnessing the power of Web 2.0 for their future conferences.
In fact, here's what they had to say "Certainly the most-talked about session of this day was the Mark Zuckerberg Keynote interview, as conducted by Sarah Lacey of BusinessWeek. For better or for worse, this interview forcefully demonstrated how new technologies enable formerly disconnected crowds to effectively communicate with each other about their feelings -- in this case, their dislike of the content at hand."
Read the official SXSW comments here.
I share this story with you NOT to scare the daylights out of you. But rather to again say that there IS a new breed of meeting attendee. And their weapons of the day include nothing other than Web 2.0 and a cellphone.
Arm yourself before going out there.
Don't think that your group is techno-saavy enough to use these weapons? Perhaps not today, but someday soon. I promise. Unless perhaps you are like one of the groups that I wrote about in my previous blog, where you don't have the younger Facebook generation engaged in your attendance. And if this is the case with your attendance, then you have far bigger problems than being concerned about having your General Session Stage overrun by mutinious attendees.
Email me by clicking here for some tips on how to navigate through the maze and how to manage Web 2.0 for your organization.
The cover story on the Wall Street Journal this weekend was an intriguing article, "iDo--How the Facebook Generation gets Married." Nearly as compelling to me as a hot Starbucks, I tore into the article on my 6am flight out of San Francisco yesterday morning.
My takeaway? That the 'wikification' of our global world has now penetrated into the very core of wedding planning. Websites like Weddings.com, WeddingTracker.com and WeddingWindow.com are reporting substantial user increase in their online polling options, reporting between 15-20% growth since this time last year. Polling questions run the gamut from "Should I wear my hair up, Down & Straight or Down & Curly?" "What type of wedding cake should we serve?" Click here to read the Wall Street Journal article.
Why my intrigue? After all, I have been married for 18 years & planning for another wedding seems quite distant with my 6-year-old son. My intrigue actually springs directly from my customer's challenges. The majority of my association customers tell me that universally, they are having a more difficult time garnering the attention & participation of the younger generation. The end result of this seemingly insurmountable challenge is that unless the younger members join the older members to become engaged and attend association events, the associations stand to lose relevance and even their future.
Communicating value proposition & relevance to this Facebook Generation is difficult to articulate in a compelling manner as they define it differently than the rest of our generation. This younger generation defines Social Networking through a different medium than what was available to us as we came up. And not only this, but we NEVER would have even thought to poll our Wedding Guests to find out what type of cake they preferred, or how we should wear our hair. So what has changed?
The introduction of Web 2.0 has totally revolutionized how an entire generation does life. They seek Social Proof, they create buzz through Web 2.0 tools in managing the events of their life. "Online polling fills a need for feedback among a narcissistic 20-something generation," says Jean Twenge, an associate Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University in the same Wall Street Journal article.
So why is this relevant to YOU? Both inclusive & exclusive of this Facebook Generation, it is clear that there is a NEW breed of Meeting attendee. And we can learn something from our younger counterparts in how to speak relevantly to this new breed of attendee.
Remember the wedding polling I mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article? Proof, I say that Web 2.0 must be ushered into every association seeking relevancy to it's members. If Brides who are managing a one-time event embrace this new model of communication to execute a flawless event, then how much more should we as professional meeting planners embrace it for our multiple meetings? After all, wedding guests are far more forgiving than exhibitors & meeting attendees, so our margin of error is much more slim. Just because we don't have the same emotion attached to our events doesn't mean that we can't put our heart and soul into our events.
Along these lines, Experient has embarked upon a tireless mission to seek out & find the best offering which offers the ability to embrace Web 2.0 and morph into the language of our members. We set out to find the crossover functionality between Online Communities and Knowledge Repository. We left no stone unturned.
The end result? We have identified the Best-of-Class to lead into the clearing. Click here to email me if you want to learn more about our Best-of-Class discovery. I think you'll be happy to know that you have a guide with a flashlight through the fog of Web 2.0.
Experient has expanded into China!
Our very own Ping He will be traveling to Beijing, China in a few weeks to meet with our partner, CITS & make preparation for Caterpillar International & their top 100 distributors for a 3-week trip to the Summer Olympics. Ping also oversaw a very successful meeting for the Miami-based Terralex, a global association of law firms.
Historically, China has been a difficult country in which to conduct business as nearly every transaction required for group travel within China must have approval from the Chinese government, because they are a Communist country. Experient has partnered with CITS, as they have great connections within the Chinese government which makes the approval process flow more smoothly.
Ping shared with me on the phone this morning that NOW is the best time to start planning for meetings in China because they have built an entire infrastructure to support the Summer 2008 Olympics in Beijing, including a state-of-the-art conference center which will house all press for the Summer 2008 Olympics. Connected to the Conference Center is a 3,000 room hotel. This infrastructure carries the hotel & conference center community into the 20th Century & insures that the needs of today's meetings are addressed in a relevant manner. Ping even added that the Beijing conference center is actually more advanced technologically than most comparable facilities in first-tier destinations within the United States. Both Northwest & Delta offer several daily flights into Beijing from the United States.
Also consider that Shanghai which is preparing for the 2010 World Expo.
International Meetings is a robustly growing market as the economic stage is truly being flattened. (Consider Thomas L. Friedman's recent book "The World is Flat" in which he presents a compelling argument that the convergence of technology has flattened the globe through instant accessibility, in addition to other factors.) In light of this "flattening world," Ping He will be one of the main speakers at 2009 PCMA on International Meetings. Ping brings a very relevant set of skills to the table as she moved to the United States in 1994 from China.
Email me by clicking here for for article which appeared in MeetingsNet on how we've been able to tap into the "growing, but hard-to-crack, Chinese market."
Is your organization considering meeting in China or any other international destination? Email me by clicking here if you need more information on how to make your planning easier.
Just returned from total immersion in the polite grittiness of New Orleans for the past 4 days. And the verdict is clear, that New Orleans is OPEN FOR BUSINESS & more eager to do business than ever!
If you are like me, I expected the old New Orleans to charm me. However, the NEW New Orleans stepped up to woo me, spinning me around like a skilled leading dancer. It was an effortless, yet intoxicatingly seductive dance. What a different city New Orleans is since Katrina rolled through town & quite simply it has never been more real. The sites are the same & the food is still divine, yet the the people are different, with a new resolution. Cancer survivors know something that the rest of us don't. And the people of New Orleans are stronger for surviving.
My mission for traveling to NOLA? To experience New Orleans first-hand so that I could report my findings back to my customers on the viability of New Orleans for meetings & conventions. My Findings? Again, that New Orleans has NEVER been cleaner, nor more eager to do business with meeting planners, conventions and tourists alike. In fact, we even encountered some former NOLA residents while sitting across the counter eating Muffelatta sandwichs at the Central Grocery who confided in us that the city was SO clean, that they actually missed the Pre-Katrina odors in the French Quarter which they remembered as distinctly New Orleans. Those locals were in good company, as Anderson Cooper stated last July "The French Quarter is cleaner than I've ever seen it."
One thing which has NOT changed is the stalwart Cafe Du Monde. In fact, Cafe Du Monde is to the morning what Bourbon Street is to the night-- something which you simply should not miss. Sitting strongly in
the French Quarter at 800 Decatur St, the fare is simple-- warm, heavenly beignets sprinkled inches high with loose powdered sugar (3 for $1.85) and dark roasted Coffee au Lait with chickory. Yes, please. Open early and late, Cafe Du Monde's sidewalk tables are the quintessential spot for people watching as they stroll past Jackson Square. If you're lucky, perhaps the musicians who serenaded us during a lazy Sunday morning breakfast with my very favorite song, Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" might set up shop on the sidewalk. (Be sure to click on icon to the right to experience impromptu jazz first-hand at Cafe Du Monde.)
And speaking of Bourbon Street... Pat O'Briens is THE perfect spot to rent out the Briar Suite on the top floor for groups up to say 120. Click here to email Vicky Landry for more info. You can stand atop the famed balcony & hurl shiny beaded necklaces
down to party-goers below. It's like playing with human cats as they dance, perform, bat at & dive for those crazy, coveted beads. Oh YES. There WAS one incident which involved OUR beads, a man, his pants, his bared posterior AND the Police. It happened so quickly that we nearly questioned whether it really happened at all. Where DID all those police come from? And where DID they take that man so quickly with his pants around his thighs? Watching the event unfold from above, we were stunned.
Meanwhile, back on Canal Street, I was gleefully happy to see the New Orleans Marriott on Canal Street's transforming renovation since Katrina rolled through town. The Hotel looks AMAZING with a friendlier & embracing lobby bar, beautiful ruby red blown-glass chandeliers, new artwork, front desk pods-- all projecting a feeling of intimacy. The lobby welcomes you in & invites you to stay awhile. The New Orleans Marriott offers meeting space for groups to self-contain within 80,000 sq ft of meeting space-- meet & feed up to 2,000 attendees. Sleeping rooms at the New Orleans Marriott offer the new crisp Marriott-branded "Revive" bedding which confidently ushers the standard Marriott room into the very-now residential feel of a current hotel. The tufted feather-bed topper lulls you right into sleep when you lie down. Click here to email me if you are interested in good value dates for your group at the New Orleans Marriott.
Directly across Canal street, sits the Sheraton New Orleans. With it's wide-open, spacious glass lobby, you are assured of plenty of sunlight & great people-watching. The Sheraton also has great space one floor up for groups wanting to self-contain their program for up to 1,200 attendees using up to 1,000 rooms on peaknight. The Sheraton New Orleans sleeping rooms offer Sealy Posturepedic Plush top mattresses, famous "Sweet Sleeper beds" surrounded in warm, earthy tones. Again, a very residential feel. Click here to email me for Value Dates if you are interested in availability for your group at the New Orleans Sheraton.
Which other hotels TOTALLY blew my hair back? Check back for my next blog!
USA Host served as our group's DMC (destination management company) escorting us around the city, down the streets of the French Quarters during a scavenger hunt-- passing by the Cabildo, the fortress-like building where the Louisiana Purchase was signed, through Lafitte's pub, the oldest in the city dating back to 1722, past the grammatically-rebellious William Faulkner's home & into Margaritaville with the most comfortable tire swings dangling as bar chairs in front of the upstairs bar. I'll share more about USA Host in my next blog on New Orleans, such as how to arrange your very own private Parade right down Canal Street complete with a Marching Band performing "When the Saints go Marching In" and a Police Escort. USA Host really are the people to know to make it happen!
Lastly, you might have seen some negative press in the past few months about New Orleans, about how the 9th Ward is still wiped out along with other internal issues in New Orleans. And while it is true that certain areas within the greater New Orleans metropolitan area are still unacceptably under-served-- YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE & breathe life back into the areas most needing our help. Support New Orleans by booking your meetings-- both large & small. The Trickle-Down effect can substantially impact those areas most devastated by securing jobs for those desperately needing to support themselves & their families. These very families are the ones who lost it all. Also, Consider signing your group up for a Community Service Project while in town. And hey, you just might have fun! In fact, the vast majority of groups meeting in New Orleans sign up for Community Service Projects. Click here to email me for more information on Community Service Projects. Again, the convention district & Bourbon Street are safer & cleaner than ever. SUPPORT NEW ORLEANS!
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on Time Out at SXSW: The Sarah Lacy/Mark Zuckerberg interview