Sustainability has been a key focus during facility construction, and new builds will serve continuing purposes after the games are done. The city is minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, waste at project sites, and the impact of the Games on wildlife in and around the sports venues. The Olympic Park, constructed along the River Lea in East London, includes roads and bridges that will meet the demands of the games and the long-term needs of the community.

The majority of the Olympic venues are divided into three zones around the city. The Olympic Zone contains the new Olympic Stadium, an 80,000-seat stadium that will host the opening and closing ceremonies. Other venues in this area include the newly built Aquatics Centre, which will showcase the swimming and diving events, and the Basketball Arena. The 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium in the Central Zone is the site of the soccer final, while the iconic Hyde Park hosts the triathlon event. The River Zone runs along the River Thames and is home to Greenwich Park, which will be converted into an equestrian center with a competition arena for the horseback-riding events and a cross-country course for the modern pentathlon.

Also in the River Zone is the city’s 5,000-seat international exhibition and convention center, ExCeL London. With more than 1 million square feet of exhibit space and 17 meeting rooms, this recently renovated facility will host events such as boxing, table tennis, wrestling and fencing during the Games, and revert back to a top meeting spot for conferences and conventions following the Olympics.

With five international airports servicing 300 destinations worldwide, London is one of the most accessible cities in the world. To prepare for the games, it added more than 13,000 new hotel rooms, which brings the city’s total to more than 1 million.

SEC Championship games are obviously big business for the cities that host them. Tell us about how you decide where to take the games each year.

CM: We award championship events through a bid process. For football, we have contracts in place at the Georgia Dome through 2017. For basketball, we have sites through 2019 and baseball will continue to be at Regions Park [in Hoover, Ala.] for the next five years. We work years in advance to try and solidify these sites. It’s beneficial to us financially to do that and also to get a handle of the facility and get a good idea of what’s out there. For instance, for men’s basketball, we stay five years out at all times. Interested cities will contact us and ask for a bid package that’s always ready to go. In four to six weeks, they return it. We consolidate bids, present them to the conference’s athletic directors and committee, and vote.

What are you looking for in host cities?

CM: We look at everything in a city from the facility itself to the locker rooms to playing surface to hospitality space. In addition, we look at surrounding hotels to serve as team hotels and look at ease for fans to get in and out of the city. We rely a lot on local organizing committees, sports commissions and CVBs.

What does your planning staff look like?

CM: We have 30 staff members. Some work in championships full-time; others work in other full-time positions. Some work with media relations. We all wear a lot of hats when championships roll around.

KPS: I’m in my 16th year with the SEC. Before this, I worked at Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort with front desk, group housing and convention services. I work a lot with hotels [for the SEC events], but I don’t do everything that works with hotels. I also plan our annual meeting in Destin and special events.

You organize football, basketball and baseball championships. What’s the easiest one to plan?

CM: Believe it or not, football is probably my easiest event. We’ve been at the Georgia Dome since ’94, and the biggest difference is that it’s virtually a one-day event and the basketball tournament is four. It’s about to be a five-day tournament. There’s a good bit more involved. It’s the same thing with baseball. We just expanded our bracket to a 10-team format [with the addition of two more teams to the SEC Conference]. It will be a six-day tournament this year. We will work through the night on Sunday through Monday to have the stadium ready to go on Tuesday morning. It’s the length of those events that make them hard to plan. With football, the teams come in on Friday for practice at the Georgia Dome, they play the game on Saturday and they’re gone.

The football and baseball championships don’t move around to different cities much, but basketball does. Why is that?

CM: For football, that time of year, we need to have an indoor facility. Atlanta has proven itself to be the city to host that event. Basketball differs somewhat because there are so many nice facilities to choose from. Most years, we’ve been in Nashville and Atlanta, but we’ve done Tampa and New Orleans. Memphis has the FedEx Forum, and Orlando has a nice facility with the Amway Center. We like to pick a city where the facility has entertainment and places to eat right there in walking distance.

There are a lot of people who love sports, and would love the opportunity to work in sports. What do you love about your job?

CM: After months and sometimes even years of preparing for an event, then getting on-site and seeing the student athletes and fans having a good time at the event that you helped plan and put together is pretty gratifying.

KPS: I enjoy that it’s not the same every day. I do a lot of the same things year to year, but I don’t do the same things day to day. I interact with our

bowl people, universities and the NCAA. There’s always a new challenge or a new opportunity that I wasn’t doing last week. I enjoy that it changes.

You never really have the issue a lot of planners have: getting attendees to return.

CM: No, for football, we have around 20,000 tickets that are sold publicly, and our renewal rate is 98 to 99 percent.

KPS: You see people [at the football championships] that have pins from the last 20 tournaments they’ve attended. Year after year, they’re going to go because they appreciate college athletics. They look forward to that every year.

Do you ever get to just be a fan?

CM: I don’t get to really personally enjoy the actual game that’s being played. All I’m thinking about are the potential things that could happen or what’s going on. At the same time, it’s gratifying to see it all come together.

KPS: A lot of my planning happens in advance. It’s a frenzy up until the game. Once it begins, [I] can take a breath and sit down and look around and appreciate the work that it’s taken to get to that point. I’ve always been a college sports fan, but never much of a pro sports fan. I love college baseball, and I try to enjoy the games when I can.

Biggest Event:  Since 2005, Scully has helped plan the State Games of America every other year. The multi-event sports festival brings together amateur athletes of all ages who have qualified through their own state games to compete nationally. The 2011 State Games of America in San Diego attracted more than 9,200 amateur athletes and their families from 47 states.

About the State Games:  The State Games of America include athletic competition, entertainment, opening ceremonies and athlete parties. Planning for the State Games is a three-year process, says Scully. “Requests for proposals are typically sent out in early January or February, more than three years prior to the event. Contracts are typically signed with the winning bid entity approximately two and a half years prior to the event, and work begins immediately with the LOC [local organizing committees], local state games and the National Congress of State Games working together every step of the way.

Ideal Destinations: Scully looks for family-friendly, tourist and vacation destinations such as Colorado Springs, Colo., St. Louis and San Diego. “We expect that our host destinations will have easy access for travel by air and automobile, and will be able to provide sufficient numbers of hotel rooms,” says Scully. “We are also strongly aware of the need to have other vacation options available for athletes and their families, and expect that many of our competitors and their travel companions will spend an entire week or more building their vacation around the SGA events.”

Planning Resources: “One of my favorite tools is Google Alerts,” says Scully. “Every day, information about state games, CVBs and sports commissions is added to the Internet, and I find it educational to pick a few and try to learn something new, which can help me locally with my own state games in Maine. I think that if you don’t find the time to learn about new resources, as well as new ideas and even participate in group discussions, it’s very easy to get left behind.”

Advice for Fellow Planners: “It’s OK to climb into the ‘box’ and do what is safe and known and trusted,” he says. “However, make sure you know where the secret passageway is to get outside the box, because that’s where the fun is. Trust your instincts, take risks, and don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do something you firmly believe in.”

| In Scully’s Words |

When I’m planning events…

I can’t live without my phone and Diet Coke.

I most miss my family.

I am most inspired by every athlete who competes in the Maine Games. Each one has an amazing story to tell.

I learn the most from my colleagues all over the country who do the same thing I do, and who aren’t afraid to share information, ideas and support.

My favorite music is ’60s and ’70s stuff. Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, Johnny Rivers, Little Feet.

My favorite books are “The Real George Washington,” “A Season of Life” and anything by Mark Twain. When I can, I enjoy reading American history. I’m fascinated by our founding fathers, what they went through to give us the country we live in, and I’m amazed at what history can show us about our future.

My favorite movies are “It Happened One Night,” “Casablanca” and “Blues Brothers.”

My favorite quote is “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

What are your favorite destinations? Destin, Fla., because of the friendly people and its beautiful white beaches; Chicago for its architecture; New Orleans for the food; Atlanta because of its culture, food and entertainment; and Cancun, Mexico, for its beautiful sunsets, food and Mayan history.

Do you use volunteers for your events? Yes, I love using volunteers. We reach out to the local community colleges and universities as well as utilize volunteermatch.org.

What’s your favorite planning resource? Other planners. I appreciate learning new things from my peers and trying new approaches to my sometimes outdated routine. I also utilize the online resource MeetingsCommunity (MeCo).

How do you stay informed on the industry? I subscribe to and read many industry digital and printed publications and participate in several online webinars and conferences. I am a member of National Association of Women Business Owners, MPI-Carolinas Chapter, Christian Meetings and Conventions Association and Senior Planners Industry Network.

Did you always want to be a meeting planner? At first, I wanted to be a marketer and focus on product launches. I was going to travel the world promoting a Fortune 500 company’s products within various venues. Little did I know, I was thinking like a planner.

How did you get into meeting planning? I worked as a front desk clerk at a local hotel while I was in college and I noticed that we bent over backwards for this one particular lady when she had her meetings at the hotel. So, I asked her what she did and she changed my path from marketer to meeting planner. I began my pursuit to become a planner by working on a local conference and then moved to Maryland and worked for several nonprofits within their events departments.

What’s your best advice for fellow planners? You must be comfortable with change. A change to your program can happen one week before the event or one minute before the event begins. You must be able to handle it with grace under fire. If you cannot adjust to the idea that there will be changes all the time, maybe this is not the career for you.

In Caraway’s words:

When I’m planning events…
I always visualize the event from the attendee’s point of view.
I can’t live without a massage and a pedicure. We all know being a planner is hard on your feet. As soon as I return home from the conference, I am at the spa and nail salon. Oh, and my lip gloss!
I communicate with my mother, daily.
I most miss salespeople being genuine and truly appreciating your business, from the signing of the contract to the event payment.
I am most inspired by the people that implement my details—the convention service managers and staff. They become an extension of my team and show me that I’m in their “house” and they are going to take care of me, my client and the attendees.
I learn the most from my grandmother. She taught me that even if you don’t have a high school diploma, you can always learn. Things change all the time in this industry and if I am not willing to adapt to new technology and other changes, my business and my professional growth would suffer.
My favorite music is tough to choose as I appreciate R&B, hip-hop, neo-soul, rock and jazz. I love Mary J. Blige, U2, Adele, Jill Scott, Lady Antebellum, Anthony Hamilton, Kem and Boney James.
My favorite book is the Bible and books by James Patterson.
My favorite movies are “The Color Purple” and “The Notebook.”

Watch Caraway and other planners in videos from our Connect Marketplace events at youtube.com/connectmeetings.

Caraway’s photo by Luther Thomas.

Burt Cabañas
Chairman and CEO
Benchmark Hospitality

From exile to hotelier to entrepreneur heading a leading U.S.-based independent hospitality management company, Burt Cabañas’ experience has been as interesting and diverse as any in the industry. Here he reflects on 30 years in the business.

Background:
Cabañas came to the hospitality industry in 1961 as a 14-year-old pool boy, after leaving Cuba in the aftermath of Castro’s revolution. He became a general manager at 25, ran a multi-unit operation at 27 and headed a private management company at 34, purchasing it at age 39. After periods with hotel brands such as The Shelbourne, Sheraton, Doral and Stouffers, he now leads Benchmark Hospitality International, which he founded 30 years ago. The corporation currently has a portfolio of 35 properties and more than 6,000 employees coast to coast, in Hawaii and Japan.

What’s the biggest single change you’ve seen in the hotel business?
E-commerce and technology; the ability to drive hotel occupancy through online and cross-channel, web-based marketing distribution platforms. Web-based hotel booking has leveled the playing field against the chains and franchises that monopolized occupancy through their “800” number portal for years.

What about the meetings segment?
Growth in meetings as a percentage of industry business volume has slowed due to alternative ways to communicate, but the need for “pressing the flesh” will never leave our society in good times or in recessionary periods. It’s a motivator and a bonder.

What was your greatest challenge?
Investing in systems and services that better serve our properties and our customers, while working through four recessions in 30 years. Last year, we invested $2 million in an advanced technology platform [to enhance] our ability to customize reporting and decision-making tools.

What are the top three management lessons you’ve learned about motivating employees?
If you have a hotel that needs renovation but your employees know that they are the difference in the customer experience, no one will notice the slightly frayed carpet. Trust but verify—accountability must be made clear and fair. Open doors at all levels to allow employees to comment, recommend, commend and, when necessary, complain.

What are your top three business lessons?
Attitude and determination far outweigh experience and education. Nimbleness and adaptability to constant change are core skills today. Benchmark Hospitality’s brand is not as important as our properties’ brands.

What advice do you have for young people considering a career in the hotel/hospitality industry?
If you love people, enjoy service, do not mind working when everyone else is on vacation, like the fact that no two days are ever the same, and that your future is in your own hands, your career in hospitality should be satisfying and rewarding, and I’d encourage it. Additionally, they should know that all the marble, silver and gold in a hotel are never more important to a guest’s experience than friendly service and a smile.

What will the hotel industry look like 30 years from today?
Technology will play an even more critical role in all aspects of management, marketing and customer relationships. The desire to protect the environment will increase and be a critical expectation of customers in selecting our hotels over the competition.

In His Words:

How I relax: I don’t! But if I have to say something…by the ocean or on a golf course.

Must have when I travel: iPad, good beds, great showers

Favorite book: “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand

Favorite Movie: “The Old Man and the Sea,” based on the book by Ernest Hemingway

About: David Schargel describes himself as a high-tech refugee. He built a successful career in the computer industry on the East Coast, but one day he and his wife decided to make a big change. “I was always enamored with what my wife calls high touch rather than high tech—or dealing with people,” Schargel says. He’d always loved the Pacific Northwest, so they moved there, first to Seattle and then to Portland. Schargel began working as a hotel concierge before getting the urge to start his own company. Ten years ago, he launched Portland Walking Tours, which is still running today. He also established Hometown Advantage, a destination management company in Portland for conventions and meetings. Run Brain Run, Schargel’s latest adventure, started five years ago.

Run Brain Run: Schargel began organizing morale-boosting and teambuilding events with Run Brain Run, but he wanted to do something more. Three years ago, the company’s focus changed. “It’s what I call philanthropic teambuilding, where you feel good about having fun but you feel good about helping others.” Now, Run Brain Run helps planners organize fun teambuilding exercises (think scavenger hunts and bicycle races awarding the slowest rider) that incorporate a charitable component, giving back to children in the community or troops serving overseas.

Advice for Planners: “It’s really easy to do these events,” says Schargel, referring to charitable teambuilding activities. “Even if they don’t hire us and do it themselves, it’s not insurmountable to pull these things off. There are resources in every city to do this,” he says. “Also, early on, pick who you want to benefit. Kids? Adults? Military? When we start asking those questions, people on the other end of the [phone] line start smiling, because all of a sudden it’s tangible.”

Favorite Part of Job: “I really love that I’m able to employ people who are doing this,” says Schargel, who has 53 full- and part-time employees between Portland and Seattle. “They are all like, ‘I’m getting paid for this? Pinch me.’” The other part he likes about his job is knowing he’s helping people. Weeks after events, Schargel receives thank-you notes from people who benefited from an event organized by Run Brain Run. “I can’t help but think, ‘Wow, we did that,’” he says.

In His Words:
I am most proud of making it happen as a successful entrepreneur.
I have never asked anything of my team members that I haven’t or wouldn’t do.
I always try to stay flexible.
I can’t live without my iPhone.
I am most inspired by smiles.
I learn the most from listening.
My favorite music is Talking Heads.
My favorite book is “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand.
My favorite movie is “Cinema Paradiso.”
Favorite quote: “Do or do not. There is no try.” —Yoda

About: The International Association of Facilitators 2011 North America Conference, held annually for North American facilitators in support of group process methodologies, took place in Denver in April. The first half of the conference included one- and two-day training workshops. The final two days had shorter educational workshops in 90- or 180-minute sessions. “IAF conference attendees are asked [for feedback] at every conference so the next year’s planning committee can tailor their conference to meet as many requests as possible,” says Adams.

Venue: When asked what made this event different from previous years, Adams points to the venue. “The Grand Hyatt was a delightful setting for our conference,” she says. Adams prefers not to have what she calls “pockets of people” throughout a venue, spreading out attendees for different education sessions or workshops. At the Grand Hyatt, the registration office, exhibit area, breaks, meals and plenary were all located in the same general vicinity. “It enhanced the networking opportunities,” she says.

Challenges: Every hotel is different, and Adams found the meeting rooms within the hotel too long and narrow and sometimes inadequate for the size of the workshops slated to take place within them. She brought it up to the convention staff and they were able to help move larger sessions to different rooms to properly accommodate session participants.

Spring surprise: “The morning we officially opened the conference with the plenary session, it was snowing outside,” Adams says. “When I welcomed everyone to spring in Colorado, I stated that we’d likely have sunshine in the afternoon. We had strolling dinner with a jazz trio planned on the 37th floor of the tower building that evening. As it turned out, we did indeed get sunshine and clear skies, and participants enjoyed the spectacular views of the Rockies and the sunset.”

Coming up: The 2012 IAF North America conference will be May 9-12 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. IAF also has events around the world for international members. Upcoming conferences are planned in Bangalore, India, Sept. 8-9, 2011; Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 14-16, 2011; and Melbourne, Australia, March 7-9, 2012.

Advice for fellow planners: “Develop a budget and stick to it meticulously to avoid surprises,” Adams says. “Have a strong, committed and available team of people to whom you can confidently delegate planning, on-site and post-conference tasks. Most of all, have fun—and make sure your conference attendees do too.”

A few shots from IAF 2011:

Name:

Client: Home Machine Quilting Association

Event: Home Machine Quilting Show

When: May 5-7, 2011

Where: South Towne Exposition Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

Number of attendees: 5,000

This three-day event held each May has 100 quilting and sewing classes for attendees, 500 machine-quilted quilts on display, a vendor mall with about 120 quilting-related companies, free demonstrations by expert quilters, quilt trunk shows, concerts, a late night shopping fest in the vendor mall and a quilt competition with cash awards in 20 categories.

Salt Lake City: “Ultimately, we wanted to host our show in a city that was clean, friendly, safe and economical,” says Pond. “Utah is quite a hub for quilting, so it makes sense. There are lots of fabric shops and longarm machine companies headquartered in Utah.” Pond also says Salt Lake City is clean, easy to get around and stocked with places for attendees to visit after show hours, including LDS Temple Square Gardens and Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsals. “From a vendor standpoint, the South Towne Exposition Center built for the 2002 Winter Olympics is really ideal,” she says. “Parking is free, there are nice restaurants and theaters across the street, the whole building is one level, and the vendors can actually drive right into their booth spaces to unload during move-in.” It’s also inexpensive and a right-to-work state, eliminating the additional costs of union fees for vendors, she adds.

Planning Philosophy: “Ann Collet, the show director, and I are both dedicated to doing everything in our power to ensure that all who participate have a positive and successful experience,” she says. “We review surveys from our attendees, vendors and teachers after our event each year to determine where we can improve the show. We have grown tremendously in the past eight years since we started this event, and we attribute our success to this philosophy.”

Favorite Tool: “I love ACT. It’s a database software by Sage. It helps me keep track of all our attendees, vendors, sponsors and teachers.”
Path to Planning: Pond was part of Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman’s public relations team during the 2002 Winter Olympics. She worked with a local management company called Bruno Group Signature Events. After leaving the mayor’s office, she took a job with the Bruno Group doing PR for clients such as the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Rulon Gardner and winter Olympians. The Bruno Group managed a few other events as well. “It was fantastic work experience,” says Pond. “When Ann Collet approached the Bruno Group about starting a machine quilting show here in the West, it was a great opportunity.” After a few years with the Bruno Group, Pond moved on and started her own company, Paragon Partners, with her husband and became the HMQS show manager. “I feel so blessed to be working in my field and with such tremendous people,” she says.

Advice: “Treat everyone you work with how you would want to be treated; base your decisions on [that] golden rule,” she says. “When you sincerely care about those you interact with, they can feel it. I’ve found that everything runs smoother when people are happy,”

What: Association of Family and Conciliation Courts 47th Annual Conference

When: June 2-5, 2010

Where: Denver, Colorado

The annual AFCC decided to go green at last year’s annual conference in Denver. The primary reason was the size of the conference proceedings books—averaging 1,000 pages and printing a minimum of 1,000 for attendees each year. Walker made a few other changes to the programming as well, and attendee reaction was mixed.

Green changes: The tote bag for conference registration materials was made of recycled materials and had a flat bottom to make it ideal for groceries and other uses once the conference was complete. The two-inch thick proceedings books were replaced with advanced access to online handouts for attendees who wanted paper copies for their sessions or the option to receive either a CD or USB flash drive on-site. Program pages previously reprinted in the proceedings book were merged with meeting room assignments and printed on 100 percent recycled paper. Other necessary printed items were also on the same paper, with the exception of 30 percent recycled color paper when it was needed. Attendees could only access overall conference evaluations online.

Attendee reactions: “Attendees’ reactions were mixed, as expected,” says Walker. She sent a quick post-event survey after the conference, and when asked how attendees viewed the session handouts, 180 printed them before the conference, 43 used a laptop with the flash drive or CD, 17 used a laptop with materials downloaded from the web and 145 did not look at handouts during sessions. Walker did receive a few responses when asked how to improve next year’s conference like “Bring back the conference proceedings book” and “Written materials should be available (as in the past) for those who want them.” Walker says there were a number of positive responses about the green initiative, too. “The positive comments outweighed the negatives,” she says.

Future events: “We will continue implementing the green features that we put into practice last year, adding all evaluations to daily electronic surveys,” says Walker. Last year, only the overall conference evaluation was online; session evaluations were still printed.

—Libby Hoppe

Details: About 250 meeting industry professionals attended the live event, while another 60 people participated online by watching live streaming video and communicating with other attendees on Twitter and Skype. The conference was mostly education-based, with speakers addressing sustainable meetings topics in general sessions and breakouts.

Game On iPad app

New ideas: Conference organizers integrated a gaming component to the event. Attendees were divided into teams when they arrived, and each team was given an iPad. Throughout the conference, team members applied knowledge they learned during breakout sessions to complete a case study challenge as a team. Members were also encouraged to Tweet, post blogs, attend sessions, visit exhibitors and take part in a volunteer event, all of which added points to the team total.

The good and bad: A number of attendees commented that the gaming component really got them involved. It increased the number of attendees in sessions, created a team environment and helped people apply what they were learning in sessions directly to the case study. But the gaming component also hindered networking time as any free time between sessions was used to brainstorm with team members. There wasn’t enough time built in to the schedule to complete the tasks and have free time throughout the day. Also, team members often sat together during breakfast and lunch sessions, further separating them from other attendees.

Sustainability: Organizers chose the Doubletree Hotel because of its reputation as one of the nation’s greenest hotels. Meals included locally sourced food as part of the hotel’s FLOSS program, which stands for Fresh, Local, Organic, Seasonal, Sustainable. Attendees were encouraged to ride the light-rail transit system to and from the airport. All conference materials were given to attendees electronically in advance; schedules, speaker bios and other information could be pulled up on smartphones, iPads or laptops, but no printed materials were handed out during the conference.

Big announcement: Attendees were hoping to hear good news about the GMIC’s APEX green meeting standards, which have been in the works for a few years. They were hoping to hear a release date, and instead, the big announcement was that the standards would be released “soon.” Sue Tinnish, principal at SEAL Inc., and Lawrence Leonard, APEX program director at the Convention Industry Council, hinted that soon probably means sometime by the end of the year.

—Libby Hoppe