Northwest Blog

This week, some 300 meeting professionals from Oregon and Washington have convened on downtown Tacoma for MPI’s Cascadia Educational Conference. This year’s conference theme is ‘heART of your meeting’ fitting nicely with Tacoma’s glass-infused downtown. >>

Northwest Meetings + Events has partnered with Meetings4You for its 2012 hosted buyer events in Portland and Seattle. The events bring together meeting planners and luxury destinations for valuable one-on-one Q&As—sort of like speed dating for planners, except there’s none of that awkward, first-date nervous energy.

Best of all it’s free. Yes, FREE for qualified planners. >>

Show your favorite vendors and venues some love by voting in our 2nd annual Readers’ Choice Best Of Awards. We’ve added some new categories this year, including Best Florist/Event Décor and Best Historic Venue. The results will be revealed in our summer issue as well as a summer awards party! Cast your ballot today!  >>

Right now, as I write this, the sky is grey, the temperature’s hovering around 40 and the weather forecast for the coming week includes the words “cloudy” or “rain” for every single day. Every. Single. Day. Sigh. >>

I recently received an email from Biznik Co-founder Lara Feltin with some great ideas for saying thanks to clients beyond the tried-and-true box of chocolates, including purchasing a digital subscription to newspapers like the New York Times.  >>

I was extremely fortunate to be the guest of Skamania Lodge over the Thanksgiving weekend. Located in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area—on the Washington side of the river—the lodge is a spectacular venue in an equally spectacular setting and offers 254 rooms and a 22,000-square-foot, two-level conference center. The conference center offers 23 meeting rooms, including a nearly 7,000-square-foot ballroom that, for this weekend, was set up for breakfast with Santa for the youngest lodge guests. >>

I can’t believe the holidays are just around the corner! While you’re busy organizing an event that will create long-lasting memories for your guests, don’t forget to pay attention to how your event smells. It could take your event from being memorable to being unforgettable. >>

Making your marketing efforts stand out from the crowd is never easy. Recently, however, one of the meeting and event magazine editors from another market sent a flier along that I would have to say is a first for me. >>

It’s that time of the year when ghouls and goblins (and princesses and pirates) hit the streets demanding treats and threatening tricks. It’s also the time of year for tickets to local ghost tours to sell-out in anticipation of All Hallow’s Eve.

Case in point: Portland Walking Tours has expanded sell-out scheduled offerings of its spooky "Beyond Bizarre" ghost-hunting tour just in time for Halloween. >>

The Amazing Race. Project Runway. Top Chef. I can now add one more to my list of favorite reality shows: Ships Ahoy!, featuring the Portland Spirit—one of Northwest Meetings + Events’ 2011 Reader’s Choice Best Of Award winners. >>

This fall Portland’s Oregon Convention Center (OCC)—one of Northwest Meetings + Events' 2011 Best of venues—is unveiling a 30,000-square-foot, fully landscaped, multi-use outdoor space directly across the street from the center’s main lobby.

The OCC Plaza has power and water hook-ups, and will balance an 11,000-square-foot paved area—perfect for booth set-ups or open-air receptions—with tree-lined streets and a grassy area. >>

In case you missed it, our first September e-Newsletter was distributed yesterday. >>

Gentlemen and ladies, start your engines! Reservations for corporate, community and private events are now being taken for Tacoma, Wash.’s newest event venue, the LeMay – America’s Car Museum (ACM). The 165,000-square-foot museum is scheduled to open in May 2012 and is dedicated to preserving more than a century of automotive history. >>

The Northwest was well-represented at this year’s International Special Events Society’s annual meeting held in conjunction with Eventworld in St. Louis earlier this month.

Tacoma (Wash.) based Vangard, Inc., won an Esprit Award for Best Event for a Non-Profit Organization Under $75,000 for Dreambuilder’s Ball 2010. And the Vancouver, B.C. chapter was honored with a chapter award for best in communications. >>

In our spring issue, social media expert and marketing guru Matthew Mikulsky shared some ideas on how meeting and event planners could use QR codes. This morning I saw this article about QR codes on—of all things—headstones. >>

The GBTA Foundation—the education and research foundation of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)—just released the 2011 findings from its annual study of car rental, hotel and meal taxes in the top 50 U.S. travel destination cities. >>