New and Renovated
City Slickers

by MARIA LENHART

· Few developments breathe new life into a city’s downtown core like a run-down hotel that has been carefully restored to its former glory. Despite the economy, there are plenty of prime examples of urban hotels going beyond renovation to reinvention, emerging as entirely new gathering places for visitors and locals alike.

The Chicago Way
When Sage Hospitality completed an 18-month, $128 million renovation of The Blackstone, A Renaissance Hotel last year, a piece of Chicago history was reborn.

click here for more…

Sponsor

Kansas City Marriott Country Club Plaza

The just renovated Kansas City Marriott Country Club Plaza puts you in the heart of Kansas City. The hotel creates an elegant and comfortable setting for leisure, business or meeting guests. Your guest room blends business-friendly features like 37-inch LCD televisions and high-speed Internet access with many other thoughtful amenities to provide an upscale, homelike feeling. The hotel’s 16,000 square feet of flexible meeting space makes a great place for any meeting or event.

Click here to learn more.

Talking Tech
There’s an App for That?

by RODMAN MARYMOR

· There has been wide distribution of the newest generation of smart phones such as iPhones, Blackberries, Treos and all the others, along with a vast variety of affordable and accessible applications. Meetings industry professionals have mobile access to treasure troves of planning resources that give them instant information to make them more efficient, in the office and on-site. With this lofty assumption in mind, I called a few industry pros and asked them how they were adapting and incorporating new apps from amongst the available thousands.

click here for more...

2010 Meetings Market Trends Webinar

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Every year, Meetings Media publishes a comprehensive survey of the meetings industry, and the data coming in for 2009 is eye-opening. This year's survey featured complete responses from more than 800 North American meeting planners, and they had a lot to say. In this webinar, top hospitality industry consultants Robert Mandelbaum, director of research information services of PKF Hospitality Research, and Lana Yoshii, vice president of product development for Smith Travel Research, analyze industry trends that materialized in 2009 and gaze into the crystal ball to share a perspective on what to expect in 2010.

Join Meetings Media for this complimentary webinar Wednesday, Dec. 16, and learn more. There is no fee to register.

Visit MeetingsFocus.com/webinars to register or learn more.

Sponsored by: Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority, The Battle House, A Renaissance Hotel and Spa, Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa, Hyatt Hotels, Palm Springs Desert Resorts, Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans and VenuWorks.

Site Scene

Iowa

· After closing late last summer, the Howard Johnson Burlington reopened recently under a new owner. The 156-room hotel, which closed with little warning, upgraded its banquet room. The room can be divided into four smaller rooms to have multiple events at the same time. The hotel can hold events from 30 to 450 people. In addition, the guest rooms have been upgraded and the indoor pool, hot tub and sauna were also refurbished. The property offers Wi-Fi access. For more information, call 319.237.8000 or visit www.hojo.com.

click here for more...