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As an Essential and Informative Forum |
| WASHINGTON, DC (Sept. 26, 2001) � HSMAI�s Affordable
Meetings® is not just a trade show bringing together industry salespeople
and meeting planners � some hotels and meeting planners negotiated and
signed business on the trade show floor, indicating the strong need for
opportunities such as this in which industry executives are brought together
to network.
This comes at a time when the economy has forced many companies to take a closer look at both short-term and long-term plans for meetings and conventions. The impact is even more acute for many associations representing industries across the country as well as large organizations that need to maintain a focus on sales. Buyers and sellers came out in record numbers as meeting planners and hotel, travel and tourism suppliers gathered in force earlier this month for the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association�s (HSMAI) Affordable Meetings® National, which was held Sept. 5-6 at the Washington, DC Convention Center. The 12th annual show continued a history of outstanding attendance with more than 1,700 meeting professionals representing all segments of the meetings industry, with the majority representing corporate, association and independent sectors and the balance from government, non-profit, education, religious, medical/health care organizations, travel agents, trade show management and military. The sold-out exhibit floor housed 689 exhibit booths representing 616 companies. �HSMAI�s Affordable Meetings® is a product proven successful in matchmaking of buyers and suppliers in both a strong economy and an uncertain economy,� stated Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, president and CEO of HSMAI. �These difficult economic times call for pro-active selling and innovative marketing, and HSMAI�s Affordable Meetings® provides the ideal forum for face-to-face meetings, networking and solution-oriented education sessions. Our high turnout reinforces the commitment of both meeting planners and suppliers who made it a point to attend this important event, despite the slowing economy.� �Affordable Meetings® was launched by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association 12 years ago at a time when the economy was down and hotels and convention centers were looking for innovative opportunities to generate business,� said Ilsa Whittemore, HSMAI associate executive director. �We now find ourselves in a similar situation in which the economy has softened and hotels are scrambling to fill rooms, and associations and companies are seeking ways to pump up their meetings. Affordable Meetings® remains one of the bright spots on the trade show agenda in which every segment of the market finds opportunities and sales,� she added. Besides the all-important meeting planners who attend for free, the exhibitors include hotels, conference and convention centers, state and city convention and visitor bureaus, attractions, airlines, car rental companies and a wide assortment of suppliers that facilitate meetings and conventions. �These companies attend Affordable Meetings® because it provides the forum to network with both each other and a large, diverse group of meeting planners from across North America,� Whittemore noted. �Meeting planners also come to Affordable Meetings® for the free seminar program that we provide including well-respected speakers such as Joan Eisenstodt, president of Eisenstodt Associates, Washington, DC; James Daggett, president of JR Daggett & Associates, Chicago; Rod Marymor, CMP, president of Cardinal Communications, San Francisco; Victoria Dunn, president of Hotel Revenue Resources, Satellite Beach, FL; Alan Ovson, president of Ovson Communications, San Francisco; Edina Lessack, CMP, president Meetings & Events USA, Chicago, IL and Jana Kemp, president, Meeting & Management Essentials, Boise, ID. �Creating a must-attend educational program has been our key to success in drawing meeting planners of all levels of expertise from executive assistants to heads of companies,� said Whittemore. The two-day conference program and exposition offered planners 36 educational seminars offering a wealth of new ideas and practical suggestions for producing cost-effective meetings and events; a bookstore presenting more than 100 titles including books, pamphlets, audio and video tapes, written and produced by leading industry experts; a networking reception; and daily prize drawings. The complete conference program, exposition and all show functions were free-of-charge to qualified meeting planners. A total of more than 1,700 meeting planners attended the most recent Affordable Meetings® show in Washington, DC. Here�s what some of the participants had to say: �I just closed a deal with Lauren Prendergast of the Atlantic Sands Hotel & Conference Center and I haven�t even see the property,� said Alice Lutrey, executive assistant with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association. �We love this show,� smiled Lauren Prendergast. �The networking here is fabulous,� said Lynn R. Whitehead, CMP, director of worldwide accounts for Radisson Hotels & Resorts, which is a long-time strong supporter of the show and one of the sponsors at the Affordable Meetings® National Show just completed. �We find Affordable Meetings® to be the best way to reach all levels of meeting planners,� said Todd Payne, national sales manager, Greater Columbus Convention & Visitors Bureau. �This is a great show for networking,� said Shari Critchley at the ShipShape Meetings.com booth. Mary Castro, account executive with Bermuda, was �enjoying catching up with everybody and keeping in touch for future business.� Jeff Cummings, of Cummings Meetings Consultants told us: �this is by far the most productive show I attend each year.� Debbie Zimmerman, CTC, Travel Management for HCA, the Healthcare Company in Nashville, TN, �really appreciates the diversity of the exhibits.� Angela Pitrone, meeting planner with United Technologies Corp., finds �the educational seminars really outstanding.� �Our hotel sees Affordable Meetings® as an opportunity to expose ourselves to a large group of influential planners,� said John Quigley, senior vice president of The Silvertree Hotel at Snowmass Village, Aspen, who also provided a prize at the show which was won by Arlene C. Patterson, Co-President, Me & My Sister Planners, Philadelphia, PA. The prize was for the Mountain Retreat to Silvertree Hotel in Snowmass Village, CO sponsored by: Snowmass Resort Association with air tickets sponsored by: US Airways. Other prizes were won by Kathleen Richter, meeting services specialist, American Gas Association, Washington, DC, (Prize: vacation stay at Club Med in Cancun, Mexico), and Marcia Green, staff development training coordinator, Friends of Children of Mississippi, Inc., Jackson, MS (Prize: vacation stay at Sutton Place Hotel Newport Beach, CA). US Airways provided air tickets for each of the prizes. There were also three cash prizes totaling $10,000 sponsored by HSMAI. The winners were: Denise Rooney, executive director, Association Food & Drug Officials, York, PA (Prize: $2,000); Viola C. Jones, special assistant, Special Occasions by Viola, Washington, DC (Prize: $3,000), and Darlene Williams, administration assistant/meeting planner, National Electrical Manufacturing Association (NEMA), Roslyn, VA (Prize: $5,000). The show included a networking reception at the MCI Center, Washington, DC�s sports arena and home of the NBA Washington Wizards and the NHL Washington Capitals, where exhibitors and attendees had an opportunity to network with colleagues. HSMAI�s Affordable Meetings® shows provide meeting planners with free educational seminars on topics related to meeting and event planning. Furthermore, the shows offer attendees the opportunity to liaise with a variety of suppliers including hotels and resorts, university conference centers, unique meeting sites, convention and visitor bureaus, transportation companies, software and audiovisual businesses, and other meeting and convention suppliers. Year-after-year, HSMAI�s Affordable Meetings® attracts thousands of travel industry executives and meeting planners for a show unlike any other in the industry. Show dates and venues for 2002 are as follows:
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| Kelley Biondi
GLM Ten Bank Street White Plains, NY 10606-1954 (914) 421-3377 [email protected] www.affordablemeetings.com www.hsmai.org |
| Also See | HSMAI Recognize the 'Best-of-the-Best' in Chapter Practices / June 2001 |