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Team San Jose Names CEO

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Meetings Focus - the Destination Experts
Meetings West Newsline
MARCH 8, 2011
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Industry News
Team San Jose Names CEO
Team San Jose (the city's CVB), in partnership with the City of San Jose, named Bill Sherry as its new CEO.
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GBTA Survey Shows Oil Price Concern
The Global Business Travel Association released findings from a survey of travel managers about the current crisis in the Middle East and its impact on travel costs.
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San Diego Marriott Gets Marquis Brand
With part of a major renovation completed, the San Diego Marriott has been rebranded as a Marriott Marquis property and is now called the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina.
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Arizona's Wigwam Unveils Enhancements
The Wigwam, a historic resort in Phoenix, completed a renovation that included a new pool area, farm-to-table restaurant, lobby and outdoor plaza.
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Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa
Visit our Sponsor Experience the all new Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa, the premier resort in the heart of the Palm Springs Valley! We're so confident you will love the changes, that once you see the property, you'll bring your next meeting to Palm Springs. And we're making it easy to visit with a complimentary VIP stay. Simple as that.

To find out how to qualify, click here or contact Dan Keyser at (760) 862-4554 or dkeyser@rancholaspalmas.com.

 
Featured Story
Palm Springs  

Palm Springs

Desert Bloom

By MARLENE GOLDMAN

Reflecting the biodiversity of its desert surroundings, Palm Springs continues to blossom in all directions, from its center as a resort town to its external fringes as an outdoor paradise.

"You can have a very nice four-star dinner at a beautiful hotel resort property, do the spa and all those other things you would expect in the finest of destinations, and then get in a Jeep and go out into the natural canyons and oases and go horseback riding," says James Canfield, executive director of the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism. "You can sunbathe at the pool and then put on winter clothes and travel through three climate zones to the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and go snowshoeing at the top on the same day."

Read more about Palm Springs ...

 
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Select the top 15 hotels and resorts that went that extra mile...the ones that offered the best in rooms, value, service, F&B, amenities and activities. All registered voters will be entered into a drawing where we will give away four $100 Visa Gift Cards.Your fellow planners value your input and so do we, so give your favorite properties some love!

Voting takes just a minute…what are you waiting for?!? Vote now!

 
Site Scene

On Location - The Red Carpet - Palm Springs

By MARLENE GOLDMAN

22nd Annual Palm Springs
International Film Festival and Awards Gala


Any photographer relishes a paparazzi moment. So when the dashing Jake Gyllenhaal stood a hair's breadth away, waiting in line for his stroll down the red carpet, I put my finger to the shutter, hoping for good gossip magazine fodder.

Gyllenhaal was just one of a slew of superstars attending the 22nd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival and Awards Gala in January, originally the brainchild of Sonny Bono and today an unofficial kickoff to awards season. It also starts off two weeks of foreign and domestic film screenings in theaters around the city.

Read more On Location – The Red Carpet – Palm Springs »

Property Profile - The The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe

Right at Home in the Highlands

By LORI TENNY

You know you're in for a comfy stay when a resort calls its lobby area the Living Room.

While the West has no shortage of mountain resorts, properties that can deliver top-notch service and amenities while making guests feel like they're in a cozy home away from home are a bit harder to come by. The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, the first resort of its caliber in the region, pulls that combination off effortlessly.

"You can come here and be in a Ritz-Carlton and feel comfortable in ski boots," says Heather Allison, director of sales and marketing for the property. "We position ourselves as a luxury mountain resort but with an unpretentious, very relaxed environment."

Read more Property Profile – Ritz Carlton, Lake Tahoe »

MeetingsFocusForum.com
Click here Log on now and get in on the conversation with Joan Eisenstodt, industry education leader, and your fellow meeting planners. Talk about planning issues, destination dilemmas, issues with contracts, ROI, CSR and more. Just join in, post your question and we know you'll find the answer!

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Past Issues
Convention Industry CEOs to Collaborate - 3/01/11
Amex Study Shows Biz Travel ROI - 2/22/11
Ravella at Lake Las Vegas Debuts - 2/15/11
Five Major Resorts Declare Bankruptcy - 2/08/11
Calif. Hotel Foreclosures Soaring - 2/01/11
U.S. Travel Partners with IMEX America - 1/25/11
New CVB Planned for Escondido, Calif. - 1/18/11
Vegas CC Becomes World Trade Center Site - 1/11/11
 
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LATEST VIDEOS
Meetings: On Location!

Marcus Pennington, Area Director of Operations, The Americas, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company
What's the state of the resort segment of the meetings industry? Asking someone from Ritz-Carlton would be a good way to get an answer. And that's just what Chief Content Director Tyler Davidson did at the recent Luxury Meetings Forum at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Nigel. Marcus Pennington, Ritz's area director of operations, The Americas, provides the intelligence.
 
Meetings Focus Poll
How has your view of planning for contingencies changed in the last year?
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Negotiating: The Numbers Game
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Join Meetings Focus and negotiation expert Bill Reed, senior vice president for Experient, one of the meetings industry's leading meeting management companies, to learn the latest negotiation strategies in these changing times. With the hospitality industry waking up after a long slumber in a cash-strapped buyer's market, now is the time to sharpen your negotiating skills.

Sponsored by: Cedar Rapids Area CVB, Knoxville Tourism & Sports Corporation, Lago Mar Resort Hotel & Club, MassMutal Center, Sonesta Hotel & Suites Coconut Grove, Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, Lied Logde & Conference Center, Chesapeake Conventions & Tourism, Las Vegas Hilton, Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, Marriott Eastern Regional Office, Utah Valley CVB, Loews New Orleans Hotel, Eldorado Hotel and Loews Ventana Canyon Resort,

Visit our webinar page to register or learn more.

 

Meetings West
Hot Deals

Koloa, HI
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa
$240
5/10/2011 - 6/18/2011
 
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