Base event themes on attendee experience.  Looking for theme ideas? You might take a cue from Honey Creek Resort in Moravia, IA, where attendees have enjoyed everything from Hawaiian luaus, Mexican dinners, Texas Hold ’Em tournaments, and even Wii competitions. If your event features a themed activity, do it all the way! For example, if you’re going the Hawaiian route, include leis at the welcome reception, fresh fruits during breaks, a Survivor-type teambuilding activity, and island-inspired background music.
Or try tying your event theme to the unique attributes of the resort destination itself. Frank often creates Humana’s themes in conjunction with geography. She explains, “Typically, our incentive program is themed to the location we are visiting.”
Use the purpose to maximize the impact.
Lana Frank, Project Manager with Humana
| Ensure your environment is in sync with the goals of your event. Board meetings, sales meetings, and incentive programs often fit right into the resort atmosphere.
For Humana, Lana Frank plans gatherings from corporate meetings to five-day incentive events. Purposes range from associate recognition, acquisition projects, PGA sponsorship events, consumer-centric information meetings, leadership planning sessions, and a myriad of others that keep Frank’s team of nine planners busy throughout the year.
“Our meetings [and] events involve both internal and external attendees,” Frank says. “Goals as a whole ultimately target engagement and progressing our business strategy forward to continue growth and profitability. Through identifying your goals, you can then begin to work with the resort on establishing a theme to use throughout the event, beginning with the invitations, email blasts, and other promotions geared toward getting your guests involved and excited.”
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by Shadia Cook  Make a meeting impression… at a Midwest resort!
Rolling hills of green, lush foliage, sparkling pools, softly lit spas, plush robes and warm, cozy slippers… sounds like a VIP experience during a premier event at one of the Midwest’s resort destinations, doesn’t it?
After years of cost-cutting and bare-bones budgets, some groups are looking ahead, planning for a better future, and working to inspire leaders and key players to help make it happen. Better yet, some of those inspiring experiences are coming back to Midwest resort destinations. So how do you make the most of your group’s time at a resort? Check out some of the special touches that have scored points with attendees and bolstered enthusiasm to reach goals.
 Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort officials yesterday announced that they have begun construction on an indoor Northern Lights Sky Ropes Course. It is anticipated to be completed and open for business by the end of the month.
According to Joe Eck, general manager for America’s largest waterpark resort, “This new attraction is going to be fantastic! It will tower 30 feet above the Northern Lights Mega Arcade and it will take guests to a whole new level of fun! Adventure enthusiasts wearing full-body safety harnesses will climb their way around 42 challenges in varying degrees of difficulty all while discovering how much of a daredevil they truly are!”
 Eved, an online marketplace for the meeting and event industry, today announced it has raised $9.5 million in a series B round led by New World Ventures and MK Capital.
The funding will enable the Chicago-area company to scale and expand its proprietary online platform, which has been adopted and championed by leaders in the meetings community. The $263 million industry, with 1.8 million annual U.S. corporate meetings and events, is one of few that have yet to migrate online. Eved’s global, proprietary online platform provides all companies in the event industry supply chain a complete sourcing, marketing, and e-commerce solution that allows buyers, sellers, and resellers the ability to interact and transact online.
 UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, continues to develop market research to provide reliable data on the international exhibition market. Several recent studies provide statistics giving a good picture of the industry at three levels: venues, the events held in those venues, and the companies who organize those events.
UFI’s 2011 “World Map of Exhibition Venues” identifies 1,197 venues with a minimum of 5,000 square meters of indoor exhibition space worldwide, corresponding to a total gross indoor exhibition space of 32.6 million square meters. This is an increase of 57 venues since 2006, with an overall growth of 3.4 million square meters (54% of the increase is related to new venues and 46% to extensions of existing venues).
 The Abbey Resort & Spa announced a limited time offer for the country’s heroes. To recognize the work and sacrifices men and women from around the country have made, the resort released a new package deal through May 3, 2012. The Hero’s Package includes a special room rate of $89, plus tax and resort fees, and complimentary admission to Avani Spa and use of all facilities such as the sauna, whirlpool, adults-only pool, and fitness area.
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