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EVENT INSIDER: MEETINGS MAYHEM – a startling reality check behind live events

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Meetings Mayhem

Meetings Mayhem is what happens when you tumble dry the principles of Murphy’s Law with surprising mishaps experienced by hospitality, meetings and events, and entertainment industry experts, and then have a professional meeting planner collect and fold them into a passion project ready-made as a “how to respond to nightmare scenarios and come out a winner” book. I vacillated between laughing out loud and gratefully moaning, “Thank goodness it wasn’t me in that situation!”

You don’t have to be in the aforementioned industries to appreciate that “no matter how well you plan, there is always something beyond your control that can drastically upend at the last minute.” What author and professional meeting planner Terry Matthews-Lombardo, CMP demonstrates is that no matter how dire the situation might seem, the anecdotes contained within the pages of this easy-to-read 182 pages are an amusing guide for what-to-do-if…

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HOTEL HAPPENINGS & PROGRAM PROMOTIONS – LATE APRIL 2019

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GRAND OPENINGS

A terrace of El Llorenç Parc de la Mar overlooks the Palma neighborhood in Mallorca


One of the oldest neighborhoods in the Palma area of Mallorca will be getting awakening jolt of modern sophistication when El Llorenç Parc de la Mar opens this July. The 33-room boutique hotel will have a three-tiered rooftop terrace providing 360-degree views of the city, as well as two restaurants, a lobby bar, and a wellness center called Natura Bissé. Renowned island chef Santi Taura’s culinary offerings will reflect traditional cuisine, with ingredients sourced locally, such as signature black pork from an island producer. El Llorenç Parc de la Mar is located within the ancient quarter known as La Calatrava, an area once inhabited by Jews, Muslims and Christians. Highlights include the Arab baths, the Church of Santa Fe and the Church of Monti-Sion and the Convent of Santa Clara, where the nuns of the Order have lived and prayed for more than 750 years. The quarter is located just a short distance from some of the city’s major landmarks, including the Palma Cathedral, Almudaina Palace, Cort Square or the S’Hort del Rei Gardens. Swedish designer, Magnus Ehrland. Incorporates geometric motifs reflective of the local history and Moorish influence on the island. Read more

WANT A MEETING PLANNER’S BUSINESS? LISTEN UP AND LEARN!

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Sweet treats from Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at the goampi Meeting Planner All Stars program. photo by Lauralee Shapiro CMP

Sweet treats from Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at the goampi Meeting Planner All Stars program. photo by Lauralee Shapiro CMP


What does a meeting planner want?
That question is as enigmatic as a clueless husband wondering what more could his wife could want after his birthday surprise of a new vacuum cleaner didn’t go over quite as expected.
The answer to what a meeting planner wants varies as much as who may be asking. Is the person pondering the hotel coordinator who’s servicing a group’s meeting or trying to solicit that business, or is it the AV tech/florist/caterer/transportation or furniture décor rep? Is the planner working for a corporation, association, or independent?
The simple answer to what a meeting planner wants is a smoothly-run event, surrounded by attentive and reliable vendors in a fantastic venue that was generous with incentives, and to have the client’s attendees wowed by the entire experience.
Easy peasy to pull off, right?
Or not, which is why an audience of about 85 were so intently focused on the questions and responses given by a panel of six Meeting Planner All Stars at the January luncheon meeting of the Greater Read more