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INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, MEETINGS AND INCENTIVES CONFERENCE IN BANGKOK
CALLED OUTSTANDING SUCCESS
By: Nolida Peterson, CIMP
“The best conference ever”, “As always, great, cutting-edge
information”, commented repeat attendees, “This is the first time we ever
had speakers of this caliber in Thailand. Absolutely marvelous!”, wrote
Christian Frei and other local PCOs and hoteliers in Thailand. “Just a quick
note to tell you how great this year's conference was. The location, program
& speakers -everything was super. Thanks for providing this very special and
unique conference”. Wrote Ann Godi, President of Benchmarc Meetings. “I
thought those speakers were talking to me alone - about my life, my job and my
problems”, said Rosalie Small, Executive Director of South Florida Dental
Association.
“My only regret was that we did not have enough time for tours and
shopping”, companions whined. True. The lure of bargain custom-tailored suits,
elephant rides, Thai bargain merchandise, night market shopping were just
too much. It was very difficult to balance substantive meetings and great fun.
One free afternoon and 2 free evenings were simply not enough. The site
selection committee chose Radisson Hotel because it was not in the middle of
Bangkok’s bustling commercial center filled with too many tourists. But taxis
were very cheap so in the end, that did not make much difference.
Oh- well at least we definitely contributed to Bangkok’s economy. And we
did manage to deliver a superb program.
HERE ARE WHAT YOU MISSED: We were extremely proud of both our professional
and industry speakers. Together, they made the conference substantive, inspiring
and entertaining. A summary of their presentations will be available at www.cimpa.org
shortly. Their contact information and description of all their programs can be
accessed at www.clicknplan.com
if any planners would like to book them.
Worthy of note are the technology presentations by Keynote Speaker Tom Antion, a
non-technical speaker who has learned to use technology to make a lot of money
and Corbin Ball, named by Meeting News as one of the 25 most influential persons
in the meetings industry. Emanuel Payton, security expert from Sprint,
talked about computer security.
Jeff Justice, Tim Gard and Scott Friedmann used humor to most effectively
deliver their respective messages. Bruce Balmer talked about an innovative
system for lowering the cost of learning for organizations a system CIMPA
is seriously considering for its educational programs.
“Who in this room has never encountered rejection?” asked Bob Urichuck. The
answer, understandably, was :Nobody”. His presentation on “Coping With
Rejection” was very well received. So was Charles Jenkins’ presentation on
the 3 vital secrets of great leaders.
“Fighting Fires Without Burning Bridges” by Rhoberta Schaler, PhD;
“Who Am I? Who Are You? How Did We End Up Working Together?” by Kelly
Watkins,MBA and “International Issues” by Leonard Kopelman, PhD, Harvard
University, received excellent marks.
Easily the most mesmerizing talk was given by Stef du Plessis from South Africa
on “African Lessons For Living”. To start, he said, you are
here for a reason - and the key lies in your past experiences...look back and
you will see the future. North is always in the same place, he emphasized - the
path to true enlightenment has been travelled by many before you - all you have
to do is follow. Through the wisdom of Masiwa, last of the great African
trackers, Stef led the audience in a spellbinding journey through the African
forest and our own contemporary lives.
The industry session on “Meeting Horrors” was most educational. It was also
cathartic for many of the attendees. Having survived seemingly catastrophic
problems, these planners were confident they could handle anything. Some of the
horrors: Busses of attendees got caught in a traffic mess and delayed the
Opening Ceremonies at an out of town location by 4 hours; exhibitors cancel en
masse due to a site selection gaffe causing immense loss to the organization,
non-profit association had to cancel meeting twice in one year due to weather
conditions, attendee suffers heart attack and dies in the middle of a session.
Naturally, in every case, the meeting planner was blamed - for the
traffic, for the weather even for the death of the attendee.
The session on “ How Association And Corporate Planners Find Meeting Sites”
was very useful to the suppliers. “5 Keys to Successful Meetings” ,
“Interactive Events and Meetings” and other industry sessions received
excellent evaluation.
Experienced industry speakers did an outstanding job of discussing industry
issues, challenges and opportunities. As usual, Dr.DeWayne Woodring, Executive
Director of the Religious Conference Management Association, was charged with
the Super Moderator role which he performed marvelously..
CLICKNPLAN
Attendees learned how to use ClickNPlan.com, a new meeting planning tool on the
web. All interested attendees got a chance to get on the ground floor of the new
dotcom company.
SPECIAL CHILDREN OF BANGKOK
CIMPA gave something back to the community by sponsoring a Special Children’s
Party for the Special Children of Bangkok. Entertainment was provided by some of
the conference speakers. A donation was made to the Chenglai Orphanage.
FUTURE SITES
The Site Selection Committee met to hear bids from Maastricht, Malta and Turkey
for future conferences.
TOURISM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND
The conference opened and closed with a session on Amazing Thailand conducted by
Khun Juthamas Siriwan, Deputy Governor of the Tourism Autjority of Thailand and
Khun Suchada Yuvaboon, President of the Thailand Incentive and Convention
Association. PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) co-sponsored the Opening
Seminar.
TAT came back to the conference on the last day to give us a warm send-off: A
Gala Dinner complete with Thai entertainment and a Thai band for dancing.
Closing speakers were Jeff Justice and Ed Scannell.
IN SUMMARY, this conference was a resounding success because of the outstanding
speakers, quality attendees and full support from the Tourism Authority of
Thailand, Thai International Airways, Radisson Hotel Bangkok and Ricco DMC.
Radisson Bangkok is a great hotel for meetings. They provided exceptional
services. I cannot praise the staff enough. They were extremely polite and very
well trained. Thai International Airways provided support from beginning to end
of this conference. We cannot thank them enough. Ricco DMC did everything within
its ability to help make the conference a success. Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration, Malaysia Tourism Board,, Malaysia Airlines, SI Tours and Travel,
MICEThailand and CIMPA's other friends and supporters too numerous to enumerate
here all got involved. A MILLION THANKS!
We look forward to working with these folks again.
More details on this conference and its sponsors will be available on this site
shortly.
SEE YOU IN EGYPT NEXT YEAR!
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