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I saw the below article from a Patti Shock tweet this morning. As we have been talking about the perception of meetings on our podcast Ben hits the nail on the head about what really happens at corporate meetings. I had the pleasure of working with Ben Stein at a Java One conference in San Francisco several years ago. He was an interesting guy who was a pleasure to work with. I will have to dig up the picture I took with him at the event!

Don’t Blame the Business Trip
By BEN STEIN
Published: March 21, 2009

THE government is big and powerful. When it acts and speaks, the consequences can be immense and possibly not the intended ones — and not at all helpful. Read the rest of this entry »

So many companies are having a hard time grasping new marketing. I recently spoke to a woman who cannot access social media site from her office. But her job is sales and she wants to get in conversations with people via online. She is right and I suggested she look for another job that will let her succeed. I can remember a while back when companies would to let their employees use email for fear they would be able to transmit company secrets or waste time emailing friends. Look at us now? Know anyone who does not use email at work in some capacity?

Look at Southwest Airlines they have given control to their employees to be creative and have build a great brand. Check out the below videos and tell me if you think these passengers talked about their experiences flying with southwest. If they have a choice between another airline don’t you think this type of stuff will put them over the top? As one of the flight attendants says after his rap. “You wont see this on United”

Toilet Paper Races (Just some crazy memorable fun)

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• Rapping flight attendant entertains passengers on Southwest (gadling.com)

 

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The Meeting Planners podcast source for what’s new and exciting in meetings and events industry!

Mike McAllen of Grass Shack Events & Media
Tom Hillmer of Creative Group
Jon Trask of Alliant Event Services

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Tom and Mike from a program at Gaylord Texan in Dallas, Texas and Jon from Los Angeles California. Read the rest of this entry »

Airline losses in the fourth quarter higher than expected

Airline losses in the fourth quarter were $4 billion, considerably higher than first expected and leading to a total 2008 loss of $8 billion, according to a Monday report from the International Air Transport Association.

Two weeks ago, the trade group forecast a $5 loss for the full year. “Unlike earlier in the year, airlines are now losing money at the operating level,” IATA said in a statement. Airlines also parked 73 older aircraft in the recent quarter as they cut capacity to meet falling demand. “Load factors have been falling sharply since September, as airlines have found demand falling away faster than they have been able to cut capacity,” the group said. “In January average load factors were 2.8% points below the level of the previous year.”

Source: Market Watch

Stop Congress Ban on Companies from Hosting Events and Conferences

Jon Trask just forwarded me this link as an efficient way to email our government leaders to oppose the ban on Companies hosting events and conferences.

Please take a second and respond.

http://capwiz.com/nbta/issues/alert/?alertid=12773376

Congress to ban companies from hosting events and conferences.
We can’t let Congress be the nation’s travel manager
Sen. Kerry has introduced legislation that would ban all 421 firms including the nation’s largest banks that received money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) from hosting, sponsoring or paying for conferences, holiday parties and entertainment events.

If passed, I don’t need to tell you the profound impact on the business travel industry and the nation’s economy it would have. This legislation would not only impact the affected companies it would have a chilling, immediate impact on all companies. This hurts travel managers, hotels, airlines, rental cars, EVERYONE! It is estimated that without the jobs generated by meetings and conventions unemployment would jump from 7.6% to 8.2!

You, as the expert in business travel must educate Congress on the importance of managed travel and the benefits it brings. NBTA has issued a set of guidelines to the U.S. Treasury for effective managed travel based on your practices. You have made travel for meetings and events a cost effective tool that help businesses grow. We need to give these real world practices time to work. We can’t afford negative news stories to drive Congress to manage travel. You have to make sure our government knows that.

Here is the link again!

http://capwiz.com/nbta/issues/alert/?alertid=12773376