Four Tips For Choosing Your Next Corporate Meeting Destination
Choosing the right corporate destination contributes a lot to having a successful – and memorable – business trip or event. But it is more than just choosing a lovely place and going there. Andy McNeill and Todd Bludworth share their most important tips when picking event destinations for a corporate purpose. Looking into their own experiences, the two break down how to make meetings and events as organized as they can be by learning the proper way of determining the most suitable place out there.
Andy McNeill and Todd Bludworth are travel and hospitality entrepreneurs and owners of the global meetings organization, American Meetings, Inc. From sourcing hotels to corporate event management around the world, their team selects corporate event venues and meeting planners for a wide array of enterprise business clients, providing ideas for convention themes and strategies for running global meetings and events. Learn more at www.mtgshealth.wpengine.com.
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Four Tips For Choosing Your Next Corporate Meeting Destination
Your chosen destination for a formal business event can make or break your trip. Therefore, in-depth planning is required when picking a venue for such an important gathering. With various factors to consider, remember that it is not only about the place’s overall atmosphere. Instead, you must also take into consideration the current weather, the activities you want to perform, and a lot more.
Andy McNeill and Todd Bludworth look back on their own corporate travel experiences to list down seven essential business tips in finding the perfect business destination out there.
- Contact the local CVB
The Convention and Visitors Bureau or CVB serves as a wealth of knowledge about a particular area. Through their help, you can discover what to expect in that place, from what kind of venues you can rent to which restaurants you can dine in.
Moreover, CVBs typically offer incentives to bring in business. By taking advantage of their rebates, you can get access to special deals and build direct relationships with other businesses within the local community.
- Create a list of top things you want to do
Narrow down your choices by listing down everything you want to do once you are at the destination. Be specific with each one so you can come up with the best keywords and make your research more targeted and quicker.
- Consider the time of year based on the destination
A simple Google search will help you discover the weather in your chosen destination depending on the time of the year. For example, heading to Florida in the summertime will make your nose a little hot and sticky, but visit San Diego in June and expect to have an awesome time.
With this information, you can carefully choose the most appropriate month and date for your trip to ensure an optimal and memorable experience.
- Do a quick Google Map search
After deciding the venue for your event, it is time to know the establishments next or near it. Again, a quick online search will help with this. Using Google Maps, you can see detailed pictures of the buildings and neighborhoods around the hotel’s vicinity. This can contribute to your activity planning around the area, from comfortable walking/jogging paths to biking/skiing lanes.
Most importantly, checking out Google Maps will allow you to estimate travel times between your venue and the places you want to visit.
- Get in touch with the hotel concierge
Aside from your salesperson or conference service person, the hotel concierge is your next best source of information. They will be your best friend not only in getting directions but also in embracing the place’s overall feel. In fact, they can even assist you in choosing the loveliest restaurants around to get the most exquisite food.
- Research about lifts
Although it seems not that necessary, checking available lifts within your chosen venue is a great idea. This can determine if the attendees will either have an easy or hard time reaching and leaving your venue. Once more, looking up the features of the place online can greatly help you in discovering the lifts’ location and how to access them.
- Read reviews about the venue
Finally, secure your trust in your chosen venue by searching reviews about it on the internet. This will offer you a general idea of their services, the level of their customer service, and any edge it has against other potential venues.
Another great sign of a good hotel is if they keep an active account in online forums. They may also be interacting with former guests by leaving replies on the reviews about them, both favorable and not.
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Liliana is responsible for the MICE Segment at Penha Longa Resort. She has been at the resort for 7 years now, first starting in the Golf Department, then moved to event operation, and finally sales. Travelling is one of her biggest passions and hobbies, and one of her favorite trips was to Japan.
Diogo is originally from Porto, and is currently based in Cascais (Lisbon). He enjoys traveling the world searching for the best restaurants and is always in the loop for what’s new. He is a food and wine enthusiast where the choice of restaurants take a central part when booking a trip. He studied Economics and after two years working in Financial Auditing, he made a shift to hospitality. As a feverish traveler, he has more than 40 countries under his belt.
Wesley is a business and community leader who is passionate about bringing people together and making good things happen. Since joining Bacardi in 2017, Wesley has served as General Manager of Casa BACARDÍ Puerto Rico, the second most visited tourist attraction on the island. The visitor center is home to the iconic BACARDÍ rum and welcomes 200,000 guests annually for tours, classes and events at the beautiful waterfront campus.
After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in Accounting, Brad Dean worked as a financial analyst for General Electric, and in 1993, he joined the Rank Corporation as a Unit Controller for its Hard Rock Cafe chain. In 1995 he was tapped to open and lead the Myrtle Beach unit, which became one of the most successful in company history. Three years later, Brad joined the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce as its Chief Financial Officer, and in 2003, was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber.
What are the new and exciting hotels around the world you can check out for your next meeting destination? The show’s guest today is 
Michael is actively involved in leadership roles in the Meetings and Events Industry including the executive committees for US Travel Association and Meetings Mean Business Coalition. He speaks in the industry often on topics of disruption, the state of the industry, the economy, behavioral lessons. Michael was recognized in M&C Magazines survey of top industry speakers and was an invited speaker at South by Southwest in 2018. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!