Partnerships Are the Key to Their Success © Oscar Einzig Photography / NAHB A COASTAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION PUBLICATION MAY 2022 VOL. 15 NO. 3 $13.00 AMERICA'S TOP MEETING & CONVENTION DESTINATIONS SPECIAL SECTION CITY-WIDE EVENTS NBA Hall of Fame basketball player Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. speaks at a recent NAHB event in Orlando. GAMING RESORTS UPDATE MEMORABLE EVENT ENTERTAINMENT ORLANDO PUERTO RICO ARIZONAMONTEREY COUNTY, CA Meetings in California are like no others.Around here, an anything-is-possible meets an everyone- is-welcome mindset. So, it’s no coincidence that California is a hotbed for groundbreaking ideas. Visit the land of innovation, free thinkers, and can-doers to discover the perfect environment for getting the most out of your next event. Meet What’s Possible for your next meeting at VisitCalifornia.com/meetingsIN THE BIRTHPLACE OF OUTDOOR MEETINGS ARE ALWAYS IN. STATE PARKSIN THE BIRTHPLACE OF OUTDOOR MEETINGS ARE ALWAYS IN. STATE PARKSDEPARTMENTS DESTINATIONS FEATURES 40 34 22 30 16 VIEWPOINT 10 COVID-19 Has Changed Event Planning There Are Dozens of New Details That Must be Considered BY JULIE ANN SCHMIDT 12 Readiness Recalibration 3 Surprising Reasons Your Crisis Management Plan May Fail BY MERILEE KERN, MBA 14 Hidden Gems The Best Mentees May Not Be Who You Think They Are BY BERT THORNTON AND DR. SHERRY HARTNETT 16 All About City-Wide Events Partnerships Are the Key to Their Success BY CHRISTINE LOOMIS 22 A Winning Role Gaming Resorts Offer Everything Under One Roof BY NANCY MUELLER 30 A Lasting Impression Great Entertainment Makes Memorable Experiences BY MAURA KELLER 4 Publisher’s Message 6 News & Notes 66 Career Track 34 Puerto Rico An Array of Experiences for Attendees BY KEITH LORIA 40 Arizona Offering All the Amenities Attendees Appreciate BY MAURA KELLER 46 Orlando Attendance Always Rises at the Theme-Park Capital BY KEITH LORIA ISSN 21628831 | USPS 003500 | A COASTAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION PUBLICATION | MAY 2022 | VOLUME 15 | NUMBER 3 AMERICA'S TOP MEETING & CONVENTION DESTINATIONS SPECIAL SECTION PAGE 53 MAY 2022 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES 3 ISSUECONTENTSA COASTAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION PUBLICATION PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Harvey Grotsky harvey.grotsky @ themeetingmagazines.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kristin Bjornsen kristin.bjornsen @ themeetingmagazines.com MANAGING EDITOR Henry Fitzgerald henry.fitzgerald @ themeetingmagazines.com EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Rachel Galvin rachel.galvin @ themeetingmagazines.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Sophia Bennett Cynthia Dial Dan Johnson Maura Keller Christine Loomis Keith Loria Nancy Mueller David Swanson PRESIDENT & CEO Harvey Grotsky VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Middlebrook david.middlebrook @ themeetingmagazines.com ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES 2500 N. 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Provide old and new addresses including zip code. Enclose address label from most recent issue and please allow five weeks for the change to become effective. Printed in U.S.A. ©2022 Harvey Grotsky Publisher We care about event professionals and the environment. Hilton shares your commitment to making the world a better, more sustainable place. Our Meet with Purpose program oers opportunities to execute more impactful meetings and is driven by a focus on environmental responsibility. A key component is LightStay, which provides metrics for events to ensure you meet your environmental and social impact goals. Available at every Hilton location, LightStay measures a hotel’s impact and tracks the hotel’s environmental progress. Ask your Sales Manager about the Impact Calculator and ensure meetings are sustainable and measurable in the ways that matter most to you. Learn more at meetwithpurpose.com . You have everyone else’s back. Hilton has yours. Your time is a precious resource and so is the planet. linkedin.com/company/ ACFacilities @ACFacilities @ACFacilities facebook.com/ ACFacilities linkedin.com/company/ ACFacilities @ACFacilities @ACFacilities facebook.com/ ACFacilities FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESMAY 2022 PUBLISHER’SMESSAGE 6 It’s Time to Adapt and Overcome T he proactive nature of meeting and convention planners compels them to move forward until they find the solution. During the past two years, most planners were looking for networking and educational opportu- nities to learn the best practices for dealing with those tough times. Today, there’s a common denominator some of you are still facing — how to build attendance at your events. The challenge to associations in today’s economy — with rising costs of almost everything, including hotel and airfares — is not whether to hold the meeting. Asso- ciation meetings will no doubt continue because they are often a major revenue stream for the organization. The challenge is to make the event worth the attendees’ while to attend by ramping up the meet- ing’s relevancy and substantially answer the question of “What’s in it for me?” There obviously is a renewed sense of urgency in these times to measure and prove the benefits of attendance. The rev- enue stream’s trickle-down economics start with the meeting, where an enrich- ing experience advances and develops the individual, and ultimately, the orga- nization. Plan it and promote it right, and they will come. The military motto ”Adapt and Over- come” fits the challenges our industry faces. Our survival and success going for- ward will depend on a renewal of good old-fashioned relationship building. Today, there are new opportunities to forge collaborative, win-win partnerships not only with association members, but with hotels, suppliers and CVBs. Check out the destinations in this issue that rise to meet your ever- challenging needs. Also, if you haven’t registered yet, plan now to attend the ASAE Annual Meet- ing & Exposition in Nashville, Tennessee August 20-23. See you there!We care about event professionals and the environment. Hilton shares your commitment to making the world a better, more sustainable place. Our Meet with Purpose program oers opportunities to execute more impactful meetings and is driven by a focus on environmental responsibility. A key component is LightStay, which provides metrics for events to ensure you meet your environmental and social impact goals. Available at every Hilton location, LightStay measures a hotel’s impact and tracks the hotel’s environmental progress. Ask your Sales Manager about the Impact Calculator and ensure meetings are sustainable and measurable in the ways that matter most to you. Learn more at meetwithpurpose.com . You have everyone else’s back. Hilton has yours. Your time is a precious resource and so is the planet.themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESMAY 2022 PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS — Atlantis Paradise Island is going bigger and bolder in 2022 by announcing multimillion-dollar renovations at the iconic resort located on 5 miles of white-sand beaches in the Bahamas. For nearly 25 years, Atlantis, best known for exuding Bahamian culture, serving as a marvel and custo- dian of marine life, and its land- mark pink architecture — spe- cifically the highly recognizable Royal Towers and Bridge Suite — has paved the way for luxury, hospitality and entertainment in the Caribbean and around the world. Now, the resort is raising the bar even higher by embarking upon a new chapter with an array of massive upgrades, and striking enhancements, that include the redevelopment of The Beach Tower and all Royal Tower guest rooms and suites, and a reimagined Atlantis Casino. The property enhancements include renova- tion of all guest rooms and suites in The Royal East Tower, which will be complete later this summer, followed by newly renovated rooms and suites in The Royal West Tower. Design elements celebrate the natural seascape of aquamarine waters, white-sand beaches, and coral reefs to inspire a soothing environment where guests can relax and unwind. Atlantis Paradise Island Announces Groundbreaking Enhancements ST. LOUIS, MO — Regional leaders recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the America’s Center expansion project known as AC Next Gen. The groundbreaking kicks off the much- awaited expansion and face-lift for the America’s Center Con- vention Complex, last updated in 1995. The first phase of the multimillion-dollar project includes a 72,000-sf exhibit space with natural lighting and a new entrance at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Ninth Street; more than twice the number of loading docks for access to the exhibit space; a food farm; and other improvements to meet the needs of today’s events. The AC Next Gen Project will be funded by existing hotel tax pay- ments and will increase spending of meetings and events at the center to $394 million annually, generate 491,000 in room-night demand and support 4,950 jobs post-expansion. LONDON — International departures will reach 68% of the pre- COVID-19 levels globally in 2022, and are expected to improve to 82% in 2023 and 97% in 2024, before making a full recovery by 2025 at 101% of 2019 levels. However, the trajectory for the recovery in international departures is not linear across regions or countries, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. “International travel from North America had shown improvement in 2021 as international departures grew by 15% year-on-year,” says Hannah Free, travel and tourism analyst at GlobalData. “The U.S. rose to become the world’s largest out- bound travel market in 2021. In 2022, outbound departures from North America are projected to reach 69% of 2019 levels, before making a full recovery by 2024, at 102% of 2019 levels, ahead of other regions.” St. Louis Leaders Celebrate AC Next Gen Groundbreaking International Travel Set to Fully Recover by 2025 Atlantis, Paradise Island is embarking on a multimillion-dollar renovation plan that includes upgrades to The Beach Tower and all Royal Tower rooms and suites. WASHINGTON, DC — A Morning Consult survey for the U.S. Travel Association reveals the inbound pre-departure testing imposed by the federal government is having an impact on travelers’ likelihood of visiting the U.S., and remains a barrier to economic recovery. Vaccinated international travelers in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and India say pre-departure testing requirements are making it signifi- cantly less likely that people will choose to visit the U.S. Nearly half of respondents (47%) who are unlikely to travel abroad in the next 12 months cited pre-departure testing requirements as a reason. More than half of these travelers (54%) said the uncer- tainty of potentially canceling a trip due to pre-departure test- ing requirements would affect their likelihood to visit the U.S. WASHINGTON, DC — ASAE and the Association Societies Alli- ance (ASA) reached an agreement that will benefit association professionals nationally and at the state and local level. The agreement centers on three opportunities for collaboration: leadership; the ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition; and advo- cacy on behalf of the association profession. Among the oppor- tunities formalized in the agreement, leaders from ASAE and ASA will meet often to liaison on various initiatives to advance the interests of the association community. ASAE will also work more closely with local SAEs on volunteer engagement and in- market activation of opportunities in the host city for its Annual Meeting & Exposition. ASAE and ASA will also collaborate as appropriate to strengthen the association community. Survey: U.S. Pre-Departure Testing is Barrier to International Travel ASAE, ASA Forge New Partnership Agreement 8 NEWS&NOTESMAY 2022 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES 9 SEATTLE, WA — The Washington State Convention Center (WSCC) is now the Seattle Convention Center (SCC). The North- west’s premier meetings and events facility for nearly 33 years changed its name and visual identity to better align with its hometown. The SCC campus is now composed of Arch at 705 Pike, the original building; Arch at 800 Pike, formerly known as The Conference Center; Summit, opening one block north on Pine Street early next year; and three parking garages. The new SCC logo, with a color palette that embodies the natural elements of its namesake city, represents the fresh perspectives cultivated by guests as they collaborate, innovate and celebrate in the facility. “This is a tremendous milestone as we prepare to launch Summit, the additional building, in January 2023,” says Jeff Blosser, president and CEO, SCC. PHILADELPHIA, PA — Following an extensive national search, the board of directors of VISIT PHILADELPHIA recently announced that Angela Val has been selected to lead the organization and its talented staff as its new president and CEO. Val will spear- head the economic engine for Philadelphia’s tourism industry, which supports local businesses, creates jobs, generates taxes and ultimately enhances residents’ quality of life. This work is even more critical as Philadelphia continues its recovery from the global COVID-19 pandemic, bringing travel and tourism to a halt in 2020. A recognized trail- blazer within Philadelphia’s tourism and hospitality industry, Val brings more than two decades of destination marketing experience to VISIT PHILA- DELPHIA, playing an impactful role in positioning and elevating Philadelphia as a desired tourism destination among regional, national and international audiences. Distinctly, Val has played important roles in every major event Philadelphia has hosted since 2000, including the Republican National Convention (RNC), 2015 World Meeting of Families and Papal Visit, 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC) and 2017 NFL Draft. This role is a homecoming for Val, who spent 17 years at the beginning of her career with VISIT PHILADELPHIA. Washington State Convention Center Announces Rebranding VISIT PHILADELPHIA Names New President & CEO Val Make an impact with your next event at Boise Centre. Our versatile meeting and event spaces, modern amenities, and expert event planning team is at your service to ensure an unforgettable event experience. Located in the middle of the city’s energetic, walkable downtown Boise Centre is surrounded by local breweries, restaurants, shops, hotels and is minutes from outdoor adventures. boisecentre.com • Convenient downtown location • Numerous direct flights and seven minutes from the airport • Surrounded by restaurants, breweries, and nightlife • Over 1,300 hotel rooms within walking distance • Outdoor activities close by hiking, rafting, biking, and moreNext >