If you want more eyeballs looking at your property, give them more eye candy.   Pinterest is the place to be for marketing a hotel, expanding its social media presence and increasing brand awareness and engagement.   Not sure what to pin? The hotels that are most successful on Pinterest are pinning...read more

Do you ever feel like you are just going through the motions with online RFP channels?  Do you even know if you are taking advantage of the technology in front of you? Now you can be sure by taking advantage of the helpful guidance in the Venues Overview section. This five-paned window will help you...read more

Whether you’re planning a familiarization (FAM) tour or marketing an event, there can be a lot of gray area for a non-traditional public relations team at a CVB or hotel. For instance: How far in advance should you send an event press release? Should a release be sent after the event as well? Who...read more

Since the "GSA Scandal" and "AIG Effect" prompted a media frenzy a few years ago, it seems as if most of the meeting industry has continued to shy away from resort hotels and conference centers because they might appear as opulent or over-the-top. While these two meetings were egregious examples of...read more

Technology solutions such as the Cvent Supplier Network have made it easier than ever before for planners to research destinations, find venues and send electronic RFPs (eRFPs). Prior to the existence of eRFPs, it was difficult for planners to identify ALL of the possibilities for their upcoming...read more

One of the best ways to market a meeting venue is to share your story through digital and print magazines. For a larger brand, a media team exists at the corporate level/home office, but for hoteliers without these resources, what can be done? In an interview with Randy Hennen, Publisher for Midwest...read more

When trying to understand a meeting planner’s needs for their upcoming event; the facts are essential, but understanding the demographics is beneficial too.    Have you ever made an assumption about the preferences of the planner or the attendees based on their age(s)? Maybe you assumed Gen Y places...read more

While living in metro Detroit for over thirty years, I have experienced the highs and lows of the great Motor City. What is happening now is so exciting that talking about it with you brings me chills! The media has provided the nation with a plethora of perceptions, focusing on the darkest days for...read more

Do you sometimes feel like you’ve exhausted all ideas for increasing group business at your venue? Or maybe you’re struggling with the ways you currently handle attracting group business. Whatever the case, you need dive in deeper, take a look at your group business plan and come up with ways to...read more

Watkins Research Group, a business-to-business research organization, published its  2012 Meeting and Convention Planners Survey where they polled 730 veteran planners about their love/hate relationship with CVBs and DMOs. Below is a synopsis of the research as presented in the January edition of...read more

Speed-dating a potential client isn’t a bad idea, is it? Especially when it guarantees you’ll be able to talk and make a one-on-one connection. Reverse trade shows where suppliers meet buyers for seven-minute appointments has skyrocketed. Where traditional trade shows were the original format,...read more

Leisure, group business, and weddings are three traditional avenues that generate revenue for your hotel. Both a destination and a hotel can have peak, low and shoulder seasons based on how individuals and group business travel; influencers on these cycles can be geographic weather, the fiscal year,...read more

The last few weeks demanded a great deal of energy and time from you as the revenue manager at your hotel, but the 2012 reports are on the books and you have done everything you can with your team to build the bottom line most successfully. Just when you thought you could exhale, the fiscal cliff...read more

The business teeter-totter from 2008-2011 really began to level off in 2012, giving relief and hope for a better bottom line. Time spent finding new ways to fill rooms, juggling dates and rates and scrambling to stay afloat creatively has defined a more streamlined approach to group rooms business....read more

t’s true, hospitality professionals don’t always take time to invest in their professional development. Instead, we take pleasure in satisfying clients that invest in their organization’s performance and morale at our meeting venues. On the other hand, there aren’t many educational workshops for the...read more

If you are a hospitality marketing representative, I know you answer  al lot of Request For Proposals (RFPs). And even though "dates and rates" are still part of the process, they are not the total package. Think instead of your RFP response as a way to tell your story. Yes, it will take more time...read more

As a Senior Product Consultant on Cvent’s Client Services team, I frequently work with properties around the world that quote meeting and event prices using package pricing in their proposals, rather than a standard sleeping room rate. Often, these properties struggle to show the planner what costs...read more

Meetings and Conventions Magazine recently polled 242 meeting professionals in order to find out what is a real turn off when it comes to hospitality marketing efforts. As it happens, the hard sell is probably the fastest way to make certain they never call you back.  But hotels and convention...read more

As you look down the road at 2013 group business, CVB and hotel marketing folks think they can sell their destination either through digital efforts such as LinkedIn and Facebook or by advertising a meeting venue in publications. But what about old fashioned "snail mail"? Is it passe? I say no...but...read more

Many hospitality staff members will be sitting down with their team this month or next to set goals and strategies aimed at booking hotel group business in 2013 and beyond. And many sales reps have the same complaints, year after year: "There is too much hotel competition in our region." "The CVB...read more