• Unique, open-air event lodge
• Perfecting privacy
• Treehouse dreams and island wishes in the Midwest

I​f you and your team are looking for an excuse to jazz up a meeting, there is no better place to look than in the Midwest. Replace visions of four walls with greenery, campfires, lakes, hiking, and waking up in the air among the trees. Bring your group to the great outdoors!

In Glenmont, OH, Laura and Kevin Mooney take meeting in the outdoors to the next level. Located in Amish country, the Mooney’s built an unrivaled outdoor escape for meetings and special events, The Mohicans.

Radisson Red, Minneapolis, MN
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The opening of Radisson Red in downtown Minneapolis brings art, music, and fashion into the hotel atmosphere. Boasting 164 studios, free, high-speed WiFi, and its own RED APP, the Radisson Red has Millennials in mind when working to keep guests connected. The OUIBar + KTCHN stays true to the city’s craft food and drink scene. With 1,000 sq. ft. of events space, RED Fitness, and an inclusive four-legged friends policy, this location near great shopping, art, and nightlife is likely to be a hit for anyone looking for a new view of the city. www.RadissonRed.com

• Don't panic
• Ask questions
• Be confident

Due to unforeseen circumstances last summer, Erin Bowers of Training Resources found herself as a new employee with an event in her lap that needed to be planned. Erin and her team did an excellent job providing a seamless transfer of duties and taking care of all items for the event.

Afterward, Midwest Meetings® spoke with Erin to see what she learned from the experience and any tips she might have for others that find themselves suddenly in a similar situation.

by Emily Giunta, CLE, Inc.

• Versatile event technology
• Make your event space your canvas
• Consider your goals, wants, and needs

One technology we’re hearing more about is projection mapping. You may have seen online videos showing projection mapping projects on the sides of European castles or in blockbuster movies. But the technology of projection mapping can be accessible and useful in a variety of ways. 

• Mixing it up in 2017
• Technology and teambuilding

Let us ‘pose’ a question.

Where do you see your next meeting or event and what types of activities do you have in mind to keep attendees engaged with your content and their surroundings? Consider mixing it up a bit this year, find ways to keep attendees mingling by opting for a great outdoor teambuilder.

When it comes to ‘posing,’ most people know all about #selfies. Starved Rock Lodge, near Oglesby, IL, has tapped into the photographer in all of us with their ‘Selfie Stops.’ Take six selfies from their immense list of opportunities and show them to the Front Desk for your chance at a unique souvenir. Break your group into teams and create a Selfie Stop scavenger hunt for added fun and don’t forget to use the hashtag: #starvedrockselfie when sharing on your social media channels.
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Adventurous groups truly enjoy the area, featuring 13 miles of hiking trails, seasonal waterfalls, 18 canyons, and trolley tours. Jenny Roulston, Sales Director for Starved Rock Lodge, suggests you “allow some free time for your attendees to experience the park and trails. This will help energize and relax the attendee and they’ll become more focused.” It takes about an hour to walk from the Lodge to the top of Starved Rock, in and out of French Canyon, and back to the Lodge.

Resorts and lodges continue to rise in popularity due to their well-rounded, full-service amenity options. These one-stop destinations provide lodging, dining, indoor and outdoor activities, meeting space, often spas, and more. 
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No matter why you gather, Midwest resorts and lodges are creating unique and memorable experiences for groups of all sizes. Offering a welcoming, yet exclusive, feeling, many resorts and lodges are able to cater to your specific needs. Some smaller destinations can even provide you exclusive use of the property allowing more privacy and an added value for groups really looking to get away.

• Scholarship available
• Study Tips
• Now's your time

In July of last year, Midwest Meetings® announced our 2016 CMP Scholarship recipient, Lisa Calhoun. Since that announcement, Calhoun has completed her CMP coursework and passed certification. We want to congratulate her again on her efforts and also give you insight into the process.

by Shawna Suckow, CMP

• Trends and tips for future meetings
• The four C's of meeting: conversation, collaboration, change, and celebration
• Creating participant experiences

If you’ve heard me speak at an industry event in the last five years, you might have heard me tell you that people don’t come to meetings primarily for content anymore. Why? Because we live in a time where content has never been so readily available. If it were just about content, we’d stay home and read books or watch webinars or use Google to get practically any knowledge we desire.
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At MPI’s World Education Congress in 2016, a speaker made a similar prediction – in the future, people will stop coming to meetings strictly for content. 

• Meet Michelle DeClerck, CMP, Philanthropist & Planner
• Focus on others; staff, clients, community
• Perfection is the enemy of good

Michelle DeClerck, CMP is a well-rounded, renaissance woman organizing, serving, and creating opportunities for others in a gambit of local philanthropies. DeClerck serves as President of the Board for Opportunity on Deck, which provides year-round, free athletic programming to underserved children and as co-chair for Matthew 25, an organization addressing hunger and homelessness issues locally and overseas.

​She also founded Iowa Hospitality Donation Network: a collaborative effort involving Des Moines area hotels, venues, and hospitality partners to collect leftover food, personal care items, and housewares to be distributed to charitable organizations and is involved in many women’s initiatives, including National Association of Women Business Owners, Iowa Women Lead Change (IWLC), and Million Women Mentors (MWM).

by S.S. Shiva Singh Khalsa, E-RYT 500

• Bring mindfulness to your meeting
• Be present through breath
• Relate to your thoughts and others better

The nice thing about some trends is that they become the norm. Meditation is a trend, just notice the many advertisements or billboards for health-related businesses and products. Fortunately, meditation is one of those trends that is sticking around.

​A very common term used to describe the most basic approach to meditation is mindfulness — stepping outside your mind’s thought process and becoming more aware of your surroundings.

• A Chicago suburb sweet spot
• Balanced translation of flavors

B. Patisserie, which opened last summer as part of Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center’s newest restaurant, B., has found its sweet spot. Chicago’s western suburbs have a love of custom cakes, artisan breads, and decadent desserts allowing B. Patisserie to engage the local bakery scene while simultaneously elevating the B. restaurant experience for patrons.
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Award-winning Pastry Chef, Erica Tomei puts her unique ability for flavor profiling to work daily. Her beautifully balanced creations, like the Lemon Tart, have won over guests since the Patisserie opened. 

• Giving back through a good night's sleep in Wisconsin
• A state of mind, a state of being, a way of life

T​he world goes pink in the month of October in honor of breast cancer awareness. Many work to help organizations giving to the cause in memory and honor of someone touched by the disease in their lives.

​At InterContinental Milwaukee, thinking pink is a year-round endeavor as guests help to fight cancer in their sleep.

Every year, professional chefs who are members of the American Culinary Federation (ACF) are surveyed by the National Restaurant Association. The survey results become the “What’s Hot” list — a look into food, beverages, and culinary themes on the horizon.

​In the most recent survey, approximately 1,300 chefs ranked 169 items to uncover where their kitchens will be focusing in this new year.

by Christy Lamagna, CMP, CMM, CTSM

• Insightful thinking and strategies
• Planning for changes in the meeting and event industry
• Asserting planner value

My close friend is a bespoke tailor. He is always impeccably dressed. It’s a natural byproduct of what he does for a living and he realizes he is a walking billboard for his services. Another friend is a designer of kitchenware and is married to an architect. You should see the remodel they just completed on their kitchen. Everyone who visits wants to hire them, and rightly so. My girlfriend who owns a salon never has a hair out of place and is a walking ad for what a great stylist can do to enhance your looks.

• The resort sets the tone for your event
• Making the most of the surrounding area
• Mackinac Island provides memorable moments through relaxation

Mackinac Island is a living historic destination; it embodies a sense of Americana. Located at the intersection of two Great Lakes, Huron and Michigan, there are no cars, only horses and bicycles. Life is simpler. Upon arrival one  immediately disengages from the daily distractions of mainland. For meeting planners this is critically important. Without outside distractions, attendees can have a much richer, more meaningful meeting experience. 

by Dan Posch

• Maneuver the 2017 meetings territory
• Give planners ample time to plan for better bottom line results

Right now it’s a seller’s market in the business travel industry. Demand is outpacing supply in most major markets, causing the average price of sleeping rooms, meeting space, flights, ground transportation, and virtually every other ancillary cost to increase. Today, I challenge you to employ the courage to trust your team. I guarantee that if you have a travel department within your company, the head of that department is sitting on a great strategy, if you just empower them to employ it! You can maneuver your way out of these inflating costs by taking two simple steps:


1. Increase Your Meeting Lead Times


2. Allow Flexibility With Your Meeting Dates

• Utilizing local cocktail ingredients
• Seasonal beverage sensations
• Memorable flavors made simple

“A long time ago I went to a bar and ordered a classic
martini, I can remember distinctly the bartender using a beautiful perfume bottle for the vermouth, instead of adding vermouth to the mixing tin, he spritzed the glass. When I asked him about it, he told me the vermouth wasn’t supposed to be a flavor it was supposed to accent the vodka. Needless to say it was the best martini I have ever had,” reminisced Molly-Lynn Christina Dale of Levy Restaurants.

Dale has been in the hospitality industry for 19 years and with Levy Restaurants for three years.

T​he meeting budget is an important document, usually prepared in spreadsheet format, that outlines expected expenses and anticipated income (if your event is profit driven). Your budget is a working document and should be constantly reviewed and updated with both pricing estimates and actuals as soon as they become available. In all cases there will be both fixed and variable costs.

Fixed Costs – usually outlined in contracts:
• Sleeping room rates  (singles/doubles/suites)
• Meeting/exhibit/event space rental fees
• Taxes, gratuities, and ‘other’ fees as outlined per contract
• Equipment rental (audiovisual, staging, and furniture rental)
• Speaker/entertainment fees
• Food & beverage costs (usually quoted with per person prices)
• Travel/transportation costs (per person airline tickets, bussing for group movements)