Greetings!  Missouri Meetings & Events is getting ready to host our St. Louis PLANit Tech-Know Expo May 21-22, 2012 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Conference Center – Chesterfield!

Accommodations Info
Attendee Registration (PDF)
Exhibitor Info
Exhibitor Registration (PDF)
Exhibitor List
Expo Schedule
Sponsorship Opportunities
Floral Donations
Bakery Contest

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The meetings and events business continues to grow, and now is the time to find new suppliers and add fresh ideas to your programs.

Our Missouri Meetings & Events PLANit Tech-Know will be the best training and networking Expo yet!  We look forward to showing you some new and exciting suppliers, and we have planners already signed up for the by-appointment-only business exchange.

If you can’t find what you are looking for on this site, please contact me and we’ll get you what you need to make attending the Expo a great learning experience and fun for you and your staff.

Sincerely,
Joseph W. Clote - Group Publisher
Ph: 314-781-8880 x101     jclote @ meetmags.com

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Spend the day at the horse races, tour the Missouri State Penitentiary, and visit two working farms in Missouri’s farm country, all while leaving the driving to O’Fallon’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Fairmount Park Horse Races – Bring a friend along for a fun-filled day of horse-racing at Fairmount Park in Collinsville, Illinois, on Tuesday, May 10. The motor coach leaves Civic Hall at 10:15 a.m. and returns at 5 p.m. The cost of $45 for O’Fallon residents, or $51 for non-residents, includes a deluxe luncheon buffet, a racing program, transportation, admission and taxes. Registration ends April 12. Please register as soon as possible to keep trips from being cancelled due to low enrollment. To sign up for the programs:

• Visit the Parks and Rec website, www.ofallon.mo.us/parksandrec
• Call 636-474-2732 or 636-379-5606
• Come to the Parks and Recreation Administration Office, 400 Civic Park Drive (63366), or the Renaud Spirit Center, 2650 Tri Sports Circle, (63368).

For more information, contact Paula Creech at 636-474-8121 or pcreech@ofallon.mo.us

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The O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce is proud to host the 27^th Annual USATF Certified Firecracker Run on Monday, July 4, 2011, in O’Fallon, MO. The Firecracker Run offers something for everyone! The Race begins at 7:00 am and consists of a 10k run, 5K run and a 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk. Awards will be given to the overall winner for Male and Female racers of the 5K and 10K. There will also be awards given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers (Male and Female) of each class in the 5K and 10K. Ribbons will be given to all participants of the 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk.

The event will begin at the River City Rascals Ball Park located in O’Fallon, MO at 900 Ozzie Smith Drive. A Pace Car will be leading runners through North O’Fallon and the race will end at Home Plate on the field of the River City Rascals. Runners will be met with a Health Expo, vendors, attendance prizes and an awards ceremony following the event. After the race, stick around the ballpark for the 2011 Heritage & Freedom Fest parade.

T-shirts with the Chamber’s official race logo will go to the first 500 registered runners and walkers. T-shirts will also be available to the first 100 interested participants at an up-charge of $5.00 a shirt.  The cost of event is $25 for early registration for the 10K and 5K run and $30 after July 1^st or day of race. The early registration for the 1Mile fun run walk is $15.00 or $20.00 after July 1st or race day.

You can register online at www.ofallonchamber.org/firecracker. There will be race day registration from 6:00 am until 6:30 am July 4^th at the event.  A map of the run can be found on the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce’s web site under the Calendar of Events link.  Packet Pickup will be held on Saturday, July 2^nd from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday, July 3^rd from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm at Big River Running located at 2548 Hwy K, O’Fallon, MO 63366 or race day Monday, July 4^th from 6:00am to 6:30am at the River City Rascals Ball Park.

The 27^th Annual Firecracker Run is proudly sponsored by:

• Event Sponsor: O’Fallon Family YMCA

• Silver Level Sponsor: Century Link

                                             Delmar Gardens of O’Fallon

                                             Favazza & Associates, LLC

                                             PNC Bank

                                             Wharf Pharmacy & Medical Equipment

• Bronze Level Sponsors: AmerenUE

                                                 Bank of Old Monroe

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Oak Barrel Wine Bistro & Artisan Bakery celebrated the opening of their new business in O’Fallon with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. Pictured is owner, Todd Kussman joined by friends, family and community members. Also in attendance for the celebration were representatives of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce, the City of O’Fallon and O’Fallon Mayor, Bill Hennessey.
 
The previously named French Gourmet Bakery has undergone a dining room and kitchen renovation and has been renamed The Oak Barrel Wine Bistro & Artisan Bakery.  In addition to the gourmet pastries, custom cakes, and daily made artisan breads you’ve come to expect, you will now find an intimate evening ambiance and upscale, local-inspired dinner menu with full bar as well. 
Chef/owner Todd Kussman wanted to create a unique dining destination in St Charles County where he has been a resident for the past 11 years.  “When you walk in the door, your senses are immediately heightened with the fresh baked aromas coming from our 4 deck baking oven and the excitement of seeing and hearing a working kitchen,” says Chef Todd.  “We look forward to hosting special wine dinner events during the growing seasons that feature many of our local farmers.  It’s important to know where your food comes from and the more local and fresh it arrives the better the end result will be on the plate!”

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The spring issue is here and ready for you to enjoy the articles and share with your peers.  Click the image to view the 2011 spring issue and gain valuable information to advance your career.

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ST. CHARLES, MO – On Friday, December 17th, Global Spectrum, managers of the Saint Charles Convention Center successfully hosted their third annual charity event, Helping Hands for the Holidays. Attendance at this year’s event was over 1,000, an increase of nearly 850 over the previous two years.

In addition to everyone enjoying a holiday buffet meal, 96 flu shots were given out by Barnes St. Peters Hospital, 230 winter coats and other winter items donated by the City of St. Charles were distributed, 300 bags of canned food donated by the community were given away, 100 personal care items were handed out, and over 200 photos with Santa were taken.

The Girl Scouts were in attendance coordinating games with kids, the Main Street Carolers from St. Charles provided entertainment, local healthcare agencies provided various medical screenings, and transportation was coordinated through Emergency Medical Transport (EMT) and St. Charles Area Transit (SCAT) Bus to pickup and drop off people from ten pickup points throughout St. Charles County.

“I am extremely pleased that this event was so successful. A lot of planning and hard work went into making this the best charity event we have ever hosted”, stated Shura Garnett, General Manager for Global Spectrum at the facility. “This success also confirms that we will continue to host this event for the community in future years.”

Organizations that played a major role in the planning and promoting of the event, which was free to the public, included Molina Healthcare, Crider Health Center, the Community Council of St. Charles County, the City of St. Charles, Cardinal Ritter Senior Services, Our Lady’s Inn, and Sts. Joachim and Anne Care Service.

“These organizations really became my marketing arms to effectively spread the word about the event”, said Joe Capitanelli, Marketing Manager for the facility. “Over 4,000 flyers were passed out at various events, food pantries, and local budget hotels for months leading up to the event, which I believe is one of the main reasons for the increase in attendance.”

“We’ve already received a lot of great feedback from both volunteers and attendees”, added Garnett. “I expect next year’s event to be even larger.”

The Saint Charles Convention Center, proudly managed by Global Spectrum, opened in April of 2005 and has hosted over 2,000 events since opening. Named “Best Place to Hold a Meeting” by local businesses, the facility boasts an elegant 16,200 sq. ft. Grand Ballroom, and 27,600 sq. ft. of Exhibit Hall space expandable to 35,700 sq. ft. through the adjacent Junior Ballroom. The facility features additional meeting rooms, the Executive Board Room, and our Charter Business Cyber Café. One-stop shopping is always available as the Center features shipping through the Guest Services Center as well as in-house catering, decorating, audio/visual, state-of-the-art communications, marketing, and event staffing for meetings and exhibitions. The Saint Charles Convention Center is conveniently located on I-70 only 15 minutes from Lambert St. Louis International Airport and is attached to a 296-room Embassy Suites Hotel.

Global Spectrum (global-spectrum.com) is the fastest growing firm in the public assembly facility management field with more than 90 facilities throughout the United States and Canada. The Philadelphia-based company is part of one of the world’s largest sports and entertainment companies, Comcast-Spectacor, which also owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association, Flyers Skate Zone, a series of community ice skating rinks, Ovations Food Services, a food and beverage services provider, New Era Tickets, a full-service ticketing and marketing product for public assembly facilities, Front Row Marketing Services, a commercial rights sales company and Paciolan, the leading provider of venue establishment ticketing, fundraising and marketing technology solutions. In a partnership with Disson Skating, Comcast-Spectacor annually produces 10 nationally televised figure skating spectaculars on NBC.

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Alexandria, VA (January 28, 2011) – A new survey of 244 business travel buyers released today by the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Foundation has revealed that a vast majority of respondents (89%) expect an increase in travel costs if the airline industry moves to a “Direct Connect” model that bypasses the existing travel distribution system.  Almost three-quarters (72%) believe a shift to a Direct Connect-type system would have a negative impact on the business travel industry, and over half (59%) of travel managers said they would be “very concerned” if other airlines pursue similar distribution strategies.

“Business travel buyers have spoken and they overwhelmingly indicate that the “direct connect” approach for airfare distribution is a pricey strategy that will result in higher costs for companies and negatively impact the business travel industry as a whole,” said Mike McCormick, executive director and COO, NBTA.

“Since this issue began, we have focused on ensuring that the voice of the business travel buyer is heard and included in this discussion.  These findings underscore the gravity of the issue for travel buyers and the need to push for the values most important to NBTA members and fundamental to the business travel marketplace: transparency and competition,” continued McCormick. “NBTA will continue to listen to our membership and advocate for travel buyers on this issue.”

The survey also found that nine in ten travel managers (90%) are aware of the dispute between American Airlines and Travelport regarding American’s use of the Direct Connect booking system.  Highlighting travel managers’ concerns about the dispute, less than half of respondents (48%) feel it is likely that American and Travelport will be able to resolve this friction and retain a working relationship.

The online survey of travel managers in the U.S. was conducted on January 25-26, 2011.

The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates – NBTA Australia/New Zealand, the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Canada, NBTA Europe, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA – serve a network of more than 17,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 5,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 13 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit nbta.org.

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HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee — The U.S. hotel industry reported single-digit increases in all three key performance metrics during the week of 16-22 January 2011, according to data from STR.

In year-over-year comparisons, occupancy increased 6.5 percent to 49.8 percent, average daily rate was up 2.6 percent to US $96.39, and revenue per available room finished the week up 9.3 percent to US $47.99.

Among the Top 25 Markets, San Francisco/San Mateo, California, achieved the largest increases in all three key performance metrics. The market’s occupancy rose 16.2 percent to 67.8 percent, ADR was up 13.6 percent to US $138.21, and RevPAR increased 32.1 percent to US$93.68.

Dallas, Texas (+13.5 percent to 58.9 percent), and Atlanta, Georgia (+13.1 percent to 53.8 percent), followed San Francisco/San Mateo with large occupancy increases. Orlando, Florida, experienced the largest occupancy decrease, falling 4.3 percent to 60.1 percent, followed by Washington, D.C., with a 3.9-percent decrease to 49.5 percent.

Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia, reported the largest ADR decrease, falling 6.5 percent to US$66.45, followed by Phoenix, Arizona (-2.5 percent to US $116.89), and Orlando (-2.0 percent to US $101.08).

Five markets, other than San Francisco/San Mateo, experienced RevPAR increases of more than 15 percent: Oahu Island, Hawaii (+24.6 percent to US $138.64); Atlanta (+18.1 percent to US $46.72); Dallas (+17.0 percent to US $54.06); Los Angeles, California  (+17.0 percent to US $82.38); and Anaheim-Santa Ana, California (+15.5 percent to US $60.84). Orlando (-6.3 percent to US $60.71) and Washington, D.C. (-5.1 percent to US $66.42) reported the largest RevPAR decreases for the week.

About STR

STR (www.str.com) provides clients—including hotel operators, developers, financiers, analysts and suppliers to the hotel industry—access to hotel research with regular and custom reports covering North America, Mexico and Caribbean. STR provides a single source of global hotel data covering daily and monthly performance data, forecasts, annual profitability, pipeline and census information. STR founded the STR family of companies and is proudly associated with STR Global, RRC Associates, STR Analytics, and HotelNewsNow.com. STR also founded the Hotel Data Conference (www.Hoteldataconference.com), which will be held 3-4 August 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee.

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The Omni Majestic Hotel, a 91-room, luxury boutique  property located in the heart of downtown St. Louis has joined forces with Mom’s Originals Inc. in an agreement to offer a localized culinary experience to its guests.

In a relentless effort to provide the finest in local flavor, guests of the Omni Majestic will receive the opportunity to experience the finest in luxury hotel accommodations as well as the refreshingly unique choice in Mom’s Gourmet Pretzels.

“We are confident that both leisure and business travelers are going to experience a true St. Louis treat in this partnership.” Said Martin Pittman, General Manager of the Omni Majestic Hotel.  “The history of the Majestic coupled with the national notoriety of Mom’s Originals solidifies each brand’s commitment to providing the ultimate customer experience.”

“Impress from first glance, to last bite!”  Taran Hensley, President of Mom’s Originals, Inc. tags in each of her signatures. “What a great fit for our ideal; walking through the front doors of the Omni Majestic will certainly impress at first glance, followed by the renowned hospitality of the entire Omni staff. We believe this partnership is the perfect marriage of customer care and sensory indulgences.”

About the Omni Majestic Hotel

The Majestic is part of the Omni Hotels family, which creates compelling, memorable guest experiences by tempting the senses in innovative ways, surrounding them with a balanced blend of scents, sounds, sights, textures and tastes.  Built in 1913, the Omni Majestic Hotel in downtown St. Louis is a beautifully restored National Historic Landmark that combines an atmosphere of timeless elegance with impeccable service.  Guestroom accommodations in this boutique St. Louis luxury hotel are appointed with such refined furnishings as 19th century poster beds and rich mahogany woods.

About Omni Hotels & Resorts

Omni Hotels & Resorts creates genuine, authentic guest experiences that take guests on “A Total Departure” to 47 distinct luxury hotels and resorts in leading business gateways and leisure destinations across North America.  From exceptional golf and spa retreats to dynamic business settings, each Omni showcases the local flavor of the destination while featuring four-diamond services, signature restaurants, Wi-Fi connectivity and unique wellness options.  Known for its award-winning, personalized service, Omni leaves a lasting impression with every customer interaction, with a heightened level of recognition and rewards delivered through its Select Guest loyalty program and the company’s “Power of One” associate empowerment program.  The brand is frequently recognized by top consumer research organizations such as J.D. Power and Associates, which ranked Omni as “Highest in Guest Satisfaction Among Upscale Hotel Chains” in its 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study^(SM).

To get additional information or book accommodations, visit omnihotels.com or call 1-800-The-Omni.

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