The Enigma of Unresponsive Markets
Housing at Healthcare Conventions
Skepticism in Healthcare Convention Marketing?
The Healthcare Exhibitor's Matrix of State Laws and Regulations
The Future of the Exhibit Hall
Exhibit Managers: The Critical Link in the Revised PhRMA Era
Here We Go Again – The Revised PhRMA Code and Medical Conventions
Tradeoffs (and other renegade thoughts) on Green Meetings
Merck, Schering and Why Healthcare Meetings Will Always Matter
Your opinions and observations are important and we want your feedback.
Have a comment about the blog postings?
(Posted June 2010)
My last blog (The Enigma of Nonresponsive Markets) generated a lot of feedback. Some of it demonstrated that excellent ideas for turning exhibit halls into responsive markets are out there and being implemented.
One association exhibition manager wrote, “some of us associations are working and trying to hold down exhibitors costs. Due to our meeting schedule, [we] now purchase one additional move in day so that we can work to reduce or eliminate the need for many exhibitors to set up on overtime and have their utilities also set on straight time. We work with our general service contractor to strategically target freight in, and the GSC also works with the facility to have access to the halls earlier if possible, and this also increases the time available for utilities and other exhibitor services, such a rigging, to be handled on straight time.”
“In 2007 [we] went out to bid for our general service contractor, and I fought for and was able to select a service contractor based a great deal on the fact that we were able to reduce our exhibitor material handling costs. For two meetings taking place four years later in the same venues, we were able to provide exhibitors with lower material handling rates.”
Another wrote: “Our association recently raised exhibit hall rates with the purpose of reinvesting the funds back into the Hall in order to increase its educational value. Increasing the educational value was a process discussed and adopted in a meeting by 14 industry representatives in early 2010. We sent out invitations to many other industry representatives who could not make this strategic session. Our mutual plan is to conduct market research this summer with our membership in order to offer services that are truly valuable, enhance their overall educational experience and drive them into the Hall. Of course, when I speak of education it is not in the CME context of the word. Whatever results from the market research, we will implement for 2011. Possible ideas were discussed with the 14 industry representatives and they shared and contributed to our vision moving forward. These new features will be additional expenses to our association - marketing, service contractor, physical structure, software, hardware, plasma rentals, printing, audio visual, amenities, etc - and we expect them to increase the value of our Hall. We also plan to monitor our first year efforts in 2011 and make appropriate changes to issue a better product in the future. Did some exhibitors complain? Yes, but only a small minority since we were able to discuss the process we developed with industry’s help and the funds will be reinvested back into OUR Hall.”
“So I believe making a blanket statement regarding associations and price increases begs for more explanation. Your generalities make us look unsophisticated and nonresponsive when in fact we may be developing strategic projects in cooperation with our industry partners that will make OUR product better and give HCEA ideas for the future.”
These are great stories, and a powerful reminder to all of us that when this industry works in partnership, there’s nothing we can’t overcome. Societies like these are the progressive, responsive proof of that. They deserve to be celebrated.
Replies
There's one aspect to the issue of managing conference and exhibition costs that has not been emphasized: the cost to produce conferences and exhibitons is also increasing. Healthcare associations are also faced with increasing costs: The list of higher costs includes:
a. Facility rental costs - both exhibit space and meeting room space
b. Food & beverage costs
c. Hotel room costs
d. Shuttle bus costs
e. Promotion costs, including printing and postage for those who direct mail
f. Advertising costs to promote the event for those who place paid advertising
g. Digital costs to maintain and upgrade Web sites, mobile applications, social media services, electronic floorplan management, etc.
h. Vendor costs, including general service contractors, registration services, security, floral, photography, housing services, AV and computer rental.
i. Paid speakers and Entertainment costs
There's more, but you get the idea. So when any association is faced with increasing costs to promote an event, generate an audience and produce and event, it logically looks to increasing its revenues: registration fees for attendees, exhibit fees, sponsor/support fees, paid advertising in conference publications, etc.
Our approach is to increase exhibit and support fees a small amount (3-5%) annually, rather than wait for 3-5 years and be forced to increase exhibit and support fees by 10% or more. We also tell our exhibitors that in order to deliver a substantial audience which will give exhibitors and sponsors an acceptable ROI, we must deliver a strong educational program. In recent years, we've had success with that.
Randy Bauler, CEM, AACN
(Posted March 2010)
I’ve gotten interested lately in a phenomenon that I’ll call “nonresponsive markets.” I’m no economist, so I’m sure I’m not coming up with anything new here, and it probably already has a (different) name. But what concerns me is this: I wonder whether we’re seeing an example of a nonresponsive market in the healthcare convention industry. I hope not.
My wife is a speech pathologist. It continues to amaze me that, even in the midst of the worst economic downturn in our lifetimes, she still gets one to two completely unsolicited job offers every week. The demand for speech therapists is sky high, and has been high for decades. You’d think with that kind of demand, she could command the salary of a baseball pitcher. Alas – no.
The same seems true in nursing. America suffers from a chronic shortage of nurses, yet nurse wages remain relatively low.
Why is it that some markets don’t seem to respond to the ordinary supply and demand pressures that are supposed to dictate a free market? I don’t have the answer to that (though I have some theories about both of the examples above). But here’s the question it causes me to ask about our industry: why is it that certain sectors of the healthcare convention industry don’t seem to respond to the ordinary supply and demand pressures of a free market, either?
Specifically: we (HCEA) have been telling the healthcare association community for years that a contraction was bound to happen in exhibit halls. Ever increasing show costs in the face of a shrinking R&D pipeline, increased scrutiny of the measurable return of convention participation, and now the recession, made that about as sure a prediction as one can make. Yet neither associations nor, in many cases, their suppliers, seem to have responded in ordinary ways. Space rates haven’t gone down. Costs of exhibiting haven’t gone down. Or even leveled off. Why is that?
The worst thing for a market is inflexibility. Sometimes inflexibility is introduced from outside, such as government price controls. Maybe in other cases it comes from other sources. But where is it coming from in the healthcare convention industry?
The era of unscrutinized healthcare company participation in conventions is over. As it should be. Don’t get me wrong: I remain convinced that we have a great story to tell, and once it’s out there fully, conventions will stand up to scrutiny better than sales reps, E-detailing, journal ads or just about anything else. At HCEA, we continue to work toward this by funding research on the value of convention marketing, exploring the future of the healthcare exhibit hall, and more.
But some associations and their service contractors still don’t seem to grasp the full scope of this. They try to shore up sagging revenue streams by raising rates or adding on new fees. This is only going to exacerbate the problem. An inflexible market, like an inflexible bridge, can withstand pressure to a point, then it catastrophically collapses. When it happens to a bridge, people have to drive around. When it happens to a market, companies find other ways to reach their customers.
Let’s all work together to make sure this doesn’t happen in the healthcare convention industry. Flexibility is the key. If we remain flexible, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind, the best days of the healthcare convention marketing industry are ahead of it.
Replies
I agree with your basic analysis, however as I now see from my new position as a teacher, what business schools are still all about is value. What is the value proposition of an association show over other forms of marketing? If the association doesn't allow for my business to "sell" my products, which in the case of the pharma industry is to have face time with doctors to "educate them about my product" then it is not worth spending the money on that associations show. For years associations have been taking money and pharma has been paying it just to be there. That is no longer a valid reason for attending. As we all know if there is not true value in return for our investment we will not invest. Yes the costs are going up as they do everywhere, and that has a big impact on attendance, but when I do have to choose which shows I will go to, I need to choose those that will give me the most exposure for my marketing dollars. I will save the impact of the internet for another time.
Raymond Altieri MBA
Program Manager Business
Pennsylvania Institute of Technology
(Posted September 2009)
Something old is something new, it seems. In 2001, HCEA issued a Housing Position Statement. This staked out what HCEA's Board -- made up of representatives from both exhibiting companies and healthcare associations -- thought to be reasonable recommendations and principles on exhibitor housing at conventions. Recently, the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA) issued a housing statement which, as it turned out, was taken largely verbatim from HCEA's 2001 document (which has been available on the HCEA website since then).
We're flattered that TSEA thought so much of HCEA's statement they decided to issue it as their own work. If you'd like to read HCEA's Housing Position Statement first-hand, click here. However the larger question is this: what's the best way to go about addressing housing issues at healthcare conventions?
Convention housing is a complex issue. This is because it involves not two, but three, interested parties, making the naturally somewhat-competing interests of exhibitors and associations more complicated by the interests of hotels. As HCEA's statement points out, every one of these entitities has a responsibility to work on the problem. Because a housing "win" for exhibitors that's a "lose" for associations and/or hotels is not viable long-term. Neither is a "win" for hotels that's a "lose" for exhibitors and associations. And so on.
That's why HCEA has always advocated communication, and the Exhibitors Advisory Council concept. Exhibitors and associations sitting down together to talk about and work out solutions to problems in the most mutually beneficial way possible. A healthcare convention is greater than the sum of its parts. Any party that decides unilaterally what's in the best interest of the convention is usually going to get it wrong. Collaboration, communication, mutual benefit -- HCEA has always chosen this path. We'll continue to do so, even as some of the irrationality surrounding the never-ending housing debate simmers up again.
Here's a radical idea: got a problem with an association's housing policy? Call them. I have a feeling associations are going to be more willing to listen than ever in this current environment. Likewise, associations, you might want to take a look at your historical housing practices. This is not the same world those practices were created in. One way you can keep your meeting valuable to your exhibitors is by improving their cash flow, which means reducing deposit amounts and deadline dates.
Of course, that's just me talking. Your best bet -- always -- is "work it out with your EAC."
(Posted June 2009)
It's very difficult (and may soon be impossible thanks to state prescriber privacy initiatives) to measure the effectiveness of exhibit marketing from a sales perspective in healthcare. That can be true even among devices, where long sales cycles make it difficult to say exactly what medium most directly contributed to the sale.
As a result, our industry needs to get more deeply involved in measuring effectiveness from a marketing perspective. Some of this has been done at a fairly rudimentary level -- booth recall studies, for example, or message awareness research. But to really start to speak the language of the brand teams and higher level marketing executives at healthcare companies, we're going to have to go deeper.
That’s one of the reasons HCEA commissioned an academic study from outside of the industry. The study is being unveiled at the HCEA Annual Meeting in Tampa and was conducted by researchers at the University of Mississippi.
The healthcare marketing research measures skepticism ratings for physicians to marketing messages received from exhibits, salespeople and journal ads. I'm not going to give away the findings, but I will tell you that exhibits did actually rate best for lack of skepticism among those three media. (And there are some very interesting findings relative to pharmaceutical vs. medical device exhibiting.)
In a time where every message and every second counts, this could mean that messages received at a healthcare exhibit have a better chance of being internalized than those received from the sales force or journal ads.
That's important for brand teams and marketing VPs to know when they're making decisions. But we need more of this kind of data. The convention marketing industry is woefully behind the rest of the world in commissioning, designing and executing quality, peer-reviewed research into all of the many marketing-related aspects of convention marketing.
Hopefully, HCEA's new study not only provides one new and important piece of data to answer questions about exhibit effectiveness, but helps blaze the trail for further research in the future.
(Posted May 2009)
There is widespread confusion in the industry right now about state laws targeting healthcare convention marketing. First of all, no one seems to know how many there are. Most counts I've heard say four, but some say five, some six. Second, no one seems to know which states they are. California and Massachusetts usually make the list. From there, confusion starts to set in. Some say DC. Some Vermont. Some Minnesota. Third, no one seems to know what's in these laws. Are they gift-to-physician limits? Are they bans or do they just require reporting? Or are they detailer registration laws? Or something else? (And for pete's sake, can I just get an answer on the cappuccino machine?)
This confusion reigns not just among exhibitors, but convention organizers as well.
We (HCEA) came to realize that we needed to clear the confusion. So we have just announced a new service for our members: the Healthcare Exhibitors' Matrix of State Laws and Regulations. It's a dynamic, members-only summary of all of the state laws and regulations currently in force that affect healthcare convention marketing. At a glance, you can see how many states have laws (for the record, it's 8), which ones, what the dollar limits are, other provisions, and a link to the actual state code. This way, you can forward the link to your legal, regulatory or compliance department so they can read it for themselves.
For now, most of these are gift disclosure laws. But others, such as prescription data usage laws, are on the way in several states. Still others may come soon requiring disclosure of payments to medical professional societies. (And then of course there's that detailer registration act in DC, for which an exemption was granted for conventions in the District.) Thus, this matrix figures to be updated regularly.
So visit it within HCEA's Members-Only site and check back often. And tell your colleagues about it. We'll keep you up to date.
(Posted March 2009)
The Future of the healthcare exhibit hall is being researched -- something that, as far as I know, has never been done before. HCEA's "Future of the Healthcare Exhibit Hall" Task Force is commissioning qualitative research to explore healthcare professionals' preferences relative to the exhibit hall. Not the exhibit hall as it is now, but rather, an exhibit hall of the future, as it could be. That's the part that I don't think has ever been done before.
The Task Force's goal is to field a qualitative phase of this project and have at least top line results back to be presented at the HCEA Annual Meeting in Tampa, June 13-16 [link]. The Task Force felt that the question had to be studied qualitatively first, to probe into alternate scenarios that HCPs could respond to, and involve them in the process of envisioning what the future could be. In other words, the research will be about more than merely potential redesigns to exhibits or halls, the physical layout, but about the complete interaction with industry in the exhibit hall setting.
This could have far-reaching implications. We're trying to be as open-ended about this as possible, and not place too many preconceived notions onto the HCP's. We could find that a radically re-engineered exhibit hall experience would be much more effective in giving them what they want. If so, that's exactly why we're doing this.
If you have thoughts on the kinds of questions you'd like to see asked, let me know.
(Posted January 2009)
Since the revised PhRMA Code was announced, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to a variety of meetings, talk to numerous members and other experts, and participate in two webinars/teleconferences about it. One theme remains constant throughout: confusion reigns.
As soon as the first wave of healthcare meetings hit in 2009, an entire industry will be watching to see how the various companies are interpreting the Code, who’s doing what, what’s in, what’s out, what some consider permissible, and others don’t. And right in the middle of what could be the biggest market intelligence gold rush in pharmaceutical marketing history will be — exhibit managers.
As the critical link between real-time events on the show floor, brand management and Regulatory Affairs or Compliance back at headquarters, exhibit managers will be uniquely positioned to provide feedback and interpret events as they happen. Don’t underestimate the value of this.
Many of the people working in the convention environment have little or no concept of the issues Regulatory & Compliance are dealing with. I just got back from a meeting where medical show organizers were discussing the PhRMA Code, and you wouldn’t believe some of what I heard. People talking as if, “We’ll just talk these Regulatory & Compliance people out of it.” Ha! Let me know how that works out for you.
Conversely, Regulatory & Compliance people may have little or no idea of issues on the convention floor. Why things are the way they are. Why are they doing that?
No one, and I mean no one, is so perfectly situated to be the link between these two very different environments than the exhibit manager, with plenty of knowledge of the convention environment, and enough about the regulatory and compliance environment to have meaningful, productive discussion. And to suggest ideas for compliant marketing strategies and tactics. Maybe something you see on the show floor.
Don’t sell yourself short, exhibit managers. Get in there and tell them what you think and what you see. You’re just the point person your company needs on this – starting January 2009.
(Posted September 2008)
Once again, healthcare convention marketers and organizers are abuzz about the PhRMA Code. In this case, it’s the revised PhRMA Code, released in July, that updates the original code released in 2002. While the revised code contains some important differences from the original, so far, the industry’s reaction to the revised code bears some striking similarities.
As in 2002, there are those who are predicting that this will change healthcare conventions as we know them. As in 2002, there are few concrete answers related to application of the code to what we do. And as in 2002, I predict, healthcare conventions will emerge yet again as arguably the most critical medium to reach, educate and market to, healthcare professionals.
Why do I say this? Haven’t I heard that all gift giving is banned now (that’s actually not true, but that’s the version of it you hear from some people)? Don’t I know that the only reason doctors go into exhibit halls is for the freebies?
I say this for a variety of reasons. One is plain old empirical observation. I go to the doctor. I see what’s happening there. Doctors are as beleaguered as ever, juggling continued high patient loads with (also increasingly beleaguered) salespeople. One thing is manifestly clear: they still don’t have time in their practices to learn about new products, therapies or indications.
Yes, they can read journals, or go online. But those media are fairly static and very limited. Only the live meeting offers a blend of comprehensive education, peer interaction and learning about new health products without the distractions and obstructions of their daily practice.
This is not to say there won’t be changes. There will. But the healthcare convention marketers I’ve talked to are already planning for those changes. Come on, this industry is far too innovative and creative not to come up with brilliant new strategies and tactics to attract healthcare providers into the exhibit hall. But they’ll need help. Organizers, too, must take up the rope and pull in the same direction, helping their attendees understand what’s available in the exhibit hall that’s not available anywhere else.
So yes, change is coming. But no, this is not the end of healthcare conventions as we know them. In fact, I suspect we stand on the cusp of a wave of innovation unlike this industry has seen in 30 years. Innovations that will make healthcare exhibitions more vital than ever.
(Posted May 2008)
To say that “green meetings” is in vogue right now is the supreme understatement, like saying there’s “a little” excitement about the new Indiana Jones movie. And while “green” is an issue that personally I’m totally on board with, there are a few thoughts that merit consideration, I believe, as we all work toward better sustainability.
First (as with nature itself), tread carefully out there. There are all kinds of organizations and individuals touting green guides, green seminars, green everything. Just keep in mind that, as of now, there is no authoritative standard for what qualifies as a green meeting. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Convention Industry Council (on which HCEA is represented and has input), along with others, are working on that. But in the meantime, while there are some common sense things we can all do to get greener, there are other areas where it’s not so clear. Case in point below. So do your part, do what you can, just be aware that neither a governmental nor an industry-adopted standard is here yet. Until it is, none of us can categorically stamp ourselves “green.”
Second, keep in mind that, as with so many things, there are potential tradeoffs to consider. For example, on a website that EPA links to, there is a recommendation to limit travel as much as possible to make your meeting greener. Now think about that for a moment in the context of healthcare meetings. If you limit travel, you’re talking about some physician, maybe from far away – maybe from a third-world country – not coming to a meeting. Maybe he skips it, or maybe she goes to a meeting closer to home (where, by the way, the level of science may be lower). Now, that physician doesn’t attend the plenary sessions in person. Doesn’t get that informal, impromptu interaction with other specialists in the field. Doesn’t get to wait in line to ask that thought leader about how this procedure works in a particular situation. Doesn’t get to ask an industry rep how to use their product. Theoretically, the state of medical knowledge worldwide suffers, at least to some degree. Yes, they could do some of that through online CME, or events closer to home. But not all of it, and not in all cases, and certainly not to the level of the world’s leading medical societies.
This is not a categorical rejection of “green” (by any means!) nor a sweeping generalization. It’s more complex than that. That’s exactly my point. In a field as critical to the future of our world as medicine, these are complexities we must consider.
In fact, in all likelihood, someone will come up with the world’s great answer to our sustainability problems at – where else? – a meeting. Probably listening to a presentation that sparks a thought, or having one of those impromptu side conversations that so often lead to revolutionary innovations. Truth be told, that’s probably how the new Indiana Jones movies came to us.
BLOG REPLIES:
Eric, in spite of the fact that we’re not ‘there’ yet—and may never be ‘there’ to suit some people—the fact that the dialog has begun and companies are seeing green as a desirable brand attribute if not strategic advantage is in itself a good thing. The conversation encourages us to think before we act and to question practices that have become ingrained. In the process of thinking, we may discover better, more environmentally responsible ways to do things, perhaps better ways to do things. Even as companies get bashed for ‘greenwashing,’ we should be grateful that our collective consciousness is being raised.
Pat Friedlander
WordUp!, Inc.
(Posted April 2008)
The panel presentation by physicians at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting (ACC) last week about Merck and Schering's cholesterol drugs made big news. And from a pharmaceutical perspective, maybe not the kind of news you want. But if that panel presentation did nothing else, it demonstrated yet again why healthcare meetings will always matter.
For one thing, why did ACC have this presentation at their annual convention? Was it just grandstanding on their part -- trying to achieve more registration revenue? No.
They did it because it makes sense, rather than, for example, have those physicians hold a telephone press conference, or hold it as a virtual event. At a live event, the physicians on the panel can interact with each other even as their presentation is being made. The press can be there, all in one place at one time, and interact not only with the panelists but, again, with each other (and don't underestimate the importance of that in the journalistic profession). So, too, can the real audience of the presentation -- the rest of the healthcare community that wanted to hear this news. These physicians, in turn, can interact with the panel and with each other. And perhaps more importantly, they can have those crucial interactions with the thought leaders on the panel in private side conversations if they like.
But moreover, the companies themselves can, to some degree, be glad this presentation happened in the context of a healthcare convention. Because just outside the lecture room, in the exhibit hall, those companies' representatives are available to answer questions and provide additional information on the spot. Just where they should be.
Events unfolding in real time are fluid. From one minute to the next, critical developments can make communication between interested parties paramount. When those parties are not in the same place at the same time, communication can be difficult, or expensive, or both. At a healthcare meeting, those issues go away.
For better or worse, last week's blockbuster news at ACC only further demonstrated that live healthcare conventions will always matter, and will always be the place where healthcare science, news and progress happens at an accelerated rate not available anywhere else.
(Posted March 2008)
At the HCEA Healthcare Convention Marketing Summit last month, I had an opportunity to sit in on a fascinating presentation by Jeffry Schmitt, Manager, Distance Education for HIMSS (Health Information Management Systems Society). HIMSS just completed their second year of offering a virtual conference to go along with their live annual conference, and from Jeffry’s description of it, things are going pretty well.
The virtual conference has come a long way since the so-called “virtual trade shows” of the 90s. Those mostly involved two-dimensional “click and read” static web pages passing as “virtual” exhibits. HIMSS’ virtual exhibits are three-dimensional depictions of real booths, with avatars you can chat with, streaming video and more.
But virtual conferences raise all kinds of questions. Like, who else is reading what your booth reps are typing during those chat sessions? I think it’s safe to say the FDA considers virtual conferences every bit as regulated an environment as live ones. And unlike live conversations, “virtual” chat sessions are captured in perpetuity on the server where the virtual conference is hosted. As vigilant as booth reps need to be to stay within regulatory guidelines while speaking to medical professionals, they need to be doubly cautious to ensure not only that their written conversations are meeting regulatory standards, but that they couldn’t even be construed to do so. On the other hand, maybe technologies can be brought to bear to ensure that reps don’t have virtual off label conversations. Right now, as far as I know, those technologies don’t exist. But if they did, you could argue that a virtual conference actually might have that as an advantage over live conferences.
Yipes! Did I just say that? That’s heresy in the meetings industry, isn’t it?
This brings me to my other point: People in the meetings and convention industry tend to talk about a live meeting as if it were an end unto itself – meetings exist because they always have is usually how the logic goes, more or less (and inevitably someone invokes a reference to a medieval marketplace). You can “do things” face to face that you can’t do any other way.
Which is true. But that makes meetings a means to an end, not the end itself. Meetings exist because of what people want to accomplish – learn, trade, network, what have you. We’ve lost sight of this to some degree because an avenue for accomplishing those ends in a comparable but non-live manner never existed.
Until now. Now, with virtual conferences entering the Web. 2.0 phase, things may be changing.
Which is not to say we need to be afraid of virtual conferences. The only people who should be afraid are people whose only interest is in maintaining a status quo business model in our industry that, sadly, hasn’t changed much in 50 years. A little more success for the virtual conference industry and we just might find the folks behind outrageous housing policies and out-of-control material handling costs would – all of a sudden – find they had new, creative solutions for us. Wouldn’t that be novel?
Meanwhile, progressive thinkers in our industry will soon be finding ways to make virtual conferences augmentative experiences that enhance the live meeting. We will be able to attract people we haven’t before, while also involving people who are at the live meeting, and over time, in all likelihood, draw new attendees. This won’t necessarily happen without some pain for the live meetings industry. But it’s pain that hopefully will bring about improvements.
And by the way, what would an FDA rep’s avatar look like at a virtual conference, anyway?
(Posted February 2008)
No, that’s not an oxymoron. As a matter of fact, it’s a reference to what was probably one of the Top 10 finest meals I’ve ever enjoyed in my life, complete with some of the most sublime wine pairings I’ve ever experienced. And I’ve been privileged, being in this industry, to enjoy some fine ones.
The food (and drink) in question was at the café in the Grand America Hotel, which, by the way, also happens to be one of the finest hotels I’ve ever visited. Built in 2001 as part of Salt Lake City’s preparations for the 2002 Olympic Games, the building is one of the few that truly stands up to the label “palatial.” The entire structure seems to be made of marble. The chandeliers were hand-selected by the owner, Earl Holding, and imported from Europe. Again, being in this industry for 15 years now, I’ve gotten a little jaded. But this hotel inspired a legitimate, “Wow,” when I walked in.
Your HCEA Board of Directors held its Fall meeting in Salt Lake City last month. This gave me as well as others the opportunity to preview what kind of experience our members can expect when they attend the 2008 HCEA Annual Meeting there next June. Let’s just say, some of our Directors are now planning their summer vacations around Salt Lake City and the 2008 Annual Meeting. And having seen it too, I understand why.
If Salt Lake City were placing a personal ad, it would say something about being “sophisticated, enlightened, and drop dead gorgeous.” Hmmm. Sounds interesting.
The sophistication part . . . well, I mentioned some of that earlier. But don’t let me forget La Caille as well. La Caille is the French chateau-styled restaurant and event venue in the foothills surrounding the city that will be our destination for Sunday night’s “city night” event at the Annual Meeting. Some of you may remember the truly magical city night event at Palapas Art Gardens in Palm Springs a few years back? Well, prepare for more magic.
Enlightened? How about service staff at every turn who were articulate, competent and friendly. Might come in handy for an event of your own, eh? And did I mention free wi-fi in the Salt Palace Convention Center?
And as for drop-dead gorgeous, downtown Salt Lake is clean, uncongested, and surrounded by mountain views on every side. (It’s also 15 minutes – if traffic is bad – from the SLC airport, a Delta hub.) with a five-star restaurant down just about every street. Twenty minutes by car and you can be in those mountains.
Oh. And just in case marble-decked hotels and world-class wine pairings sound great but, you know, maybe a little stuffy for 3 straight days? There are plenty of other things to do. Like The Depot, with (the night we were there) George Thorogood and the Destroyers playing. Or Port O’Call, where I understand some Annual Meeting Committee members had a good time one night.
So what’s all this voodoo you keep hearing about getting a drink in Salt Lake? Listen. . . you’ll do more work punching the buttons of your remote control tonight than you will to get a drink in SLC. You fill out a piece of paper, that gets you in “the club,” and off you go.
A surprising number of people have never been to Salt Lake City. If you’re one of them, let me make a prediction: your next great “new and different” venue is waiting for you. One of the people on the site visit with us was already in contract talks before she left – yes, it’s that good! And since HCEA will be offering, once again, the best medical-specific training in convention marketing in the business, now’s your chance.
So, plan on it now. And if you’ve got a question about SLC, write back.
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