Allstream Centre.

September 2, 2010

Allstream Centre, in Toronto’s Exhibition Place, has received the Environmental Stewardship Certificate, from Direct Energy Business, for its commitment to green power.

Since opening in 2009, Allstream Centre has been powered with 100-per-cent green energy, through the purchase of Renewable Energy Attributes (REAs) and is also targeting LEED Silver Certification.

Between October, 2009, and September, 2010, the venue, on the radar of meeting and event planners. was provided with 4.2-million kilowatt hours of Renewable Energy Attributes, equivalent to the amount of electricity used.

These REAs, which come from EcoLogo-certified generation facilities, prove that one megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from a renewable source – wind, solar, low-impact hydro, biomass, biodiesel or geothermal power – and delivered into a power grid.

By comparison, the same amount of electricity produced using conventional fuels emits a national average of just over 5.607-million pounds of carbon dioxide.

Visit their site

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Catering Trendz, a new full-service catering company in Toronto, is open for business.

Domenic Chiaromonte, longtime executive chef at Match restaurant, is leading the culinary charge, cooking up contemporary Canadian cuisine for both social and corporate events.

The company’s creative consultant, Joanne Kulha, says Catering Trendz offers services for events such as private dinners, cocktail receptions, food stations and instructional cooking lessons.

Specialty dessert items include candy sushi made with Rice Krispies and cupcakes designed to look like mini-hamburgers.

While not an official partnership, Catering Trendz has a working referral relationship with event and design company Designing Trendz.

Kulha, who spent 15 years as the catering services manager for Truffles at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, says the formal launch will take place later this month.

For more information, please visit the website.

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Events are held to achieve a purpose – motivate and reward high achievers, build relationships and loyalty, educate and inform clients, partners and employees, or discuss issues and find resolutions.

Basically, an event is held to improve business and personal results.

If you attended any of the educational sessions at M&IT’s mid-August IncentiveWorks trade show, in Toronto, this was abundantly clear.

The two keynote speakers (Simon Sinek and Gary Vaynerchuk) focused on asking, “why?” (to determine how to best achieve an objective) and outlined “how to get to where you need to be” (by using social media to complement events).

Many of the individual sessions were designed to give participants insight and knowledge to improve the value of their events.

In the Executive Perspective session I moderated, it was interesting to hear the executives talk about how they measure the success of their events in so many different ways.

But one thing they all agreed on – an event is really an investment.

The best meetings are those that are well designed (both logistically and content-wise) to complement a company’s business or marketing objectives.

Any event that does not help achieve an objective is either poorly designed – or just an excuse for a party.

The past 18 months have shown that in recessionary times, planners compete for limited budget with all of their company’s or clients’ other business initiatives.

The great planners are those who take the time necessary to understand the objectives of the event sponsor and then help design a meeting or incentive programme to achieve real (and measurable) business results.

They have earned that “seat at the executive table” that, for years, has been the goal of professional planners.

Achievement of tangible business results – not holding a meeting – is the objective.

There is an old saying in direct marketing: People don’t want to buy half-inch drill bits; they want half-inch holes.

Go one step further in your planning activities and ask yourself: What does your client really want?

The Hilton Toronto Airport's new look

The Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel & Suites, located directly across from Pearson International Airport, has completed a nearly two-year, $15-million project that modernized one of the airport’s biggest hotels.

Under the creative direction of renowned interior designer Anna Simone, the hotel’s interior has been updated with modern furnishings, rich colour schemes and textures.

More than 23,000 sq. ft. of meeting space has been remodelled, allowing the hotel to accommodate groups as large as 960 people.

The multimillion-dollar renovation began in the fall of 2008 and was conducted in three phases. In the first phase, 268 guest rooms were renovated, along with the hotel lobby, guest registration, lobby lounge and Bliss Restaurant & Lounge. In phase two, 151 guest suites were renovated and in phase three, which began in 2009 and was completed this summer, 19 meeting rooms were redone, as well as the corridors and fitness centre.

For more information about the company, please visit www.hiltonworldwide.com.

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Beginning Dec. 9, 2010, WestJet will fly non-stop from Ottawa to Las Vegas.

August 30, 2010

WestJet has announced new seasonal non-stop service between Ottawa and Las Vegas. As well, the airline will also increase the number of flights from Ottawa to such sun destinations as Cancun, Punta Cana, Montego Bay and Fort Lauderdale.

“There is a strong demand in the region for affordably priced travel and, if the success of our service from Ottawa to other sun destinations like Orlando and Tampa is any indication, our new non-stop flights to Las Vegas will be well received by travellers from the Ottawa area searching for a great guest experience at a reasonable price,” said Hugh Dunleavy, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Strategy and Planning.

Beginning Dec. 9, 2010, WestJet will fly non-stop to Las Vegas twice weekly until April 28, 2011.

Also in December, the airline will increase frequency from Ottawa to Cancun from two to three times weekly, from Ottawa to Punta Cana will increase from once to two times weekly, from Ottawa to Montego Bay will increase from two to three times weekly, and from Ottawa to Fort Lauderdale from one to two times weekly.

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The San Diego Convention Center has earned a gold certification from the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC), the only U.S. convention facility, and just the second in North America, to achieve gold status.

This news comes as the convention centre, located on Sand Diego Bay, prepares to move forward with its proposed expansion, which would be good news for meeting and event planners.

Plans call for the addition of 200,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, 100,000 sq. ft. of meetings rooms, 80,000 sq. ft. of multipurpose ballrooms and 40,000 sq. ft. of bayfront retail.

With service and support space, the overall gross square footage of the expansion totals 1.26-million sq. ft., amounting to roughly one-third of the entire San Diego Convention Center upon completion of Phase III.

The expansion cost, including a proposed pedestrian bridge linking Fourth Avenue with the waterfront, has been estimated at $752.7-million.

Visit their site

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Today, go somewhere different, meet someone new and before the day draws to an end, read something you normally wouldn’t read.

In essence, today is a very good day to make your brain ‘sweat’!

Our brains are extraordinary and capable of learning more than we think.

The brain is our ‘universe within.’ How will you develop your universe within?

My suggestion is to start with action-based learning. Learn to speak a new language, play a musical instrument, sign up for study, create with your hands, use a new technology tool, travel far and wide, try a new sport, or have a conversation with someone thoughtful.

It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you follow your fascination and practice getting better every day. Setting a pace for action learning is about activity, growth and performance.

We are at our finest when we are learning.

What are your plans for making your brain sweat this month and next?

Aug. 17 and 18, I made my brain sweat at M&IT’s IncentiveWorks trade show, in Toronto. With networking opportunities, a wide variety of interesting topics and great speakers from which to learn, the show provided ample opportunity to give my brain a good workout.

As the back-to-school advertisements fill the newspapers, I start thinking about my own interests for learning something new and having fun doing it.

Happily, I am signed up for a four-week course on Dream Analysis, with two Jungian Analysts who promise to guide me through a process of dream interpretation.

While I have no expectation to incorporate dream analysis into my professional work, I am following my fascination.

And I know I will have fun learning about the dreams of others!

Alan Smithson.

August 26, 2010

Star Productions’ president Alan Smithson has been appointed president-elect for the Toronto chapter of the International Special Events Society (ISES).

“My vision for ISES Toronto is to grow the membership by more than 50 per cent,” says Smithson in a release. “I would also like to boost the visibility of the organization, build cooperation with organizations such as Meeting Planners International (MPI) and Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), and strengthen the position of the meetings industry in Canada. That’s an aggressive goal, but if I can get the team of 13 board members working together, it is totally achievable.”

For more than two years, Smithson has been a member of ISES Toronto’s board of directors, serving as vice-president, membership.

As president-elect from June, 2010, Smithson will be groomed for the role of president, beginning June 2011.

Visit ISES’ site

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Toronto’s Star Productions has launched an event-production company and a DJ-focused Atlantic Canada division.

The new subsidiary company, Event Marketing Agency, is based in Toronto and designs, produces and executes meetings and events, Canada-wide, on behalf of clients largely in the telecommunications and pharmaceutical sectors.

Heading the company is Julie Smithson, CMP.

Star Productions’ Halifax-based Atlantic Canada division provides niche high-end DJ entertainment around Halifax and throughout the East Coast.

Launched during August’s IncentiveWorks show, in Toronto, the Halifax office is managed by Josh Kelly, the company’s new director of sales, Atlantic Canada Division.

Founded in 1996, Star Productions has evolved from an independent freelance service to a premium DJ service, offering entertainment for private events and corporate events.

Visit their site

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A 264-guest mega-yacht will sail in Antarctica this winter on 10- and 15-night voyages exploring the White Continent from Nov. 24, 2010, to Feb. 8, 2011.

A certified “clean ship,” the 466-ft. Le Boréal offers a staff-to-guest ratio of 1:2. Amenities include a theatre; the Main Lounge with a dance floor and live music; the Panoramic Lounge for live entertainment and an area for Internet access; a library; two open-air bars and two restaurants.

There’s also 24-hour room service, a spa and fitness centre, key attractions for incentive travel groups led by meeting and event planners.

All but eight of Le Boréal’s 132 suites and staterooms feature verandas. Measuring between 200 sq. ft. and 484 sq. ft., suites and staterooms feature king or twin beds; bathtubs or showers; flat-screen satellite TV; DVD; satellite direct-dial telephone and WiFi.

Le Boréal can reconfigure 40 staterooms into 20 suites, creating 24 suites and 88 staterooms. For its Antarctic sailings, Companies du Ponant will restrict the number of guests to 200.

Visit their site

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