Association Meetings and Conferences: Consider private technology to filter out endless social media updates

While there is continuing debate on how to use social media during business components at conferences and large association meetings, we recently came across a firm, QnA, via Twitter (@NYCmeetingDMC) that figured out how to create a hyper-intelligent, private system to deliver very targeted results.

The key is to provide moderators with more control than ever over questions, answers and even who gets asked the questions. 

With this kind of technology, your association meeting attendees can now ask unlimited questions, and moderators can quickly filter out ones that don't make sense or disrupt the flow.  Furthermore, because speakers can clearly see the questions being asked, they do not get lost among the noise of status updates.

Need to export data into a spreadsheet or pdf format?  It's a one-click process.  Moderators and speakers can also create components for live polling, discussion capture and event feedback.  And finally, we are seeing an opportunity to run meetings without requiring attendees to download apps that might work differently on the iPhone versus a Galaxy. 

Photo courtesy of QnA, @QnA_Event_Tech

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is Here!

Morning Mimosas at the Statue of Liberty

Cruising around the Statue of Liberty does not have to an evening-only event.  Destination corporate meeting and incentive attendees are choosing morning excursions that are equally spectacular and often sail through much calmer water on the Hudson River.

Shackman Associates New York can develop morning cruises that include extravagant breakfasts, amenities for business component or speakers, and even a mimosa or two. 

3 Big Changes at South Street Seaport

The South Street Seaport has been a hotspot of New York City visitors for 27 years, but the facility hasn't been looking so hot - until now.

3 big changes are coming to the Seaport's 90,000 sqaure-foot complex:

1. Windows, lots of them!  The Seaport looks like a barn right now, and that will be replaced with 3 levels of floor to ceiling windows, offering sweeping views of the East River.

2. A rooftop park.  Looks to be the East Side's version of the popular High Line.

3. New, high-end tenants.  While tourists have frequented the souvenier and T-shirt shops, the venue's top retailers - JCrew, Victoria's Secret and Express - have performed quite well and similar stores are coming soon.

 

3 More Ways to "Heat" up Outdoor Corporate Events in the Winter

Shackman Associates New York recently published ideas on how to hold outdoor corporate events in the winter that included retractable roofs and sophisticated snuggies. 

In 2012, we're shedding the robes and focusing our eyes in the opposite direction:

1. Heated Floors.  Some of New York's top rooftop venues will keep you on your toes with spectacular views and keep them warm too with floors that automatically heat up when the temperature drops to 32 degrees Farenheit.

2. Fire Pits and Pitas.  It's no longer impossible to find a fire pit east of the Rockies!  Legal ones, that is.  "Porch" style venues are incorpating a touch of the wild west with other amenities like the ever-popular food truck.  If your event is in the evening, the city's numerous taco and greek food trucks can be added to a fire-side teambuilding chat.

3. Wind-resistant heated tents.  Heated tents aren't necessarily a revelation, but if you can erect one that withstands 100mph winds, now you're on to something.  Ok, New York City winter winds aren't that bad, but they can sure whip around a corner in January and February.  Event venues with heated, flapped tents are now offering a truly outdoor experience with wind-chill-supplanting room temperatures.

Still cold?  New York City's mixologists are creating new drinks in the New Year including ginger juleps, honey and tobacco-infused rum, tequila spiced with chili.

QR Invades Fashion Week!

QR is about to become this year’s craze at Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week, which starts on Thursday.

No, it's not a designer - instead, QR (Quick Response) is a 2-D barcode that can be scanned by a smart phone's camera and transfer information. Based on the type of code it is, it might direct the viewer to a website, make a phone call, deliver a vCard, or view a map and picture.

Diesel just launched an innovative campaign where customers can scan a QR code on a product, and be redirected to the Fan Page where they can check out other looks and the content available on the page.

Thousands of bloggers who attend major shows like Fashion Week will incorporate QR codes they see at the tents into mobile blogging.  By incorporating Fashion GPS that was so successful last year, QR at designer booths, and mobile shared-image communities such as Instagram, bloggers will have more influence than ever!

New Luxury Signature and Boutique Hotels in Midtown Manhattan

Shackman Associates New York has reviewed exciting boutique hotels in Chelsea, Nolita, and Downtown that host meeting and corporate incentive groups.   This exciting trend has now reached Midtown with two properties – The Setai and Chatwal – that offer almost 5,000 square feet of corporate meeting space. 

The Setai offers meeting groups close proximity to Bryant Park and an event venue that directly overlooks Fifth Avenue.  The Chatwal’s modern amenities compliment an atmosphere that take meeting groups back in time to the heyday of New York’s famous Lamb’s Club, Built in 1905, this Stanford White-designed building was a clubhouse for The Lambs, America’s first professional theater club, and served as home away from home for its members such as Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, John Barrymore, Spencer Tracy and Fred Astaire. These infamous notables spent many a night in their “grill room” swapping tales, and breaking into song.

With luxury making a comeback at corporate meetings and incentives, New York City continues to roll-out spectacular hotels on iconic properties.

Photo courtesy of NYCGo

4 Ideas to Enjoy a Glimpse of Yesteryear in NYC

In the spirit of Presidents' Day, we've come up with four ideas to help your corporate meeting group  experience a slice of history in New York and America - one of which tastes as good as it sounds!

Ellis Island Comes to Life!

From April 16 through Labor Day Weekend, An exciting new30-minute LIVE theatrical production in the intimate Ellis Island Living Theatre will features Lady Liberty’s 125th Anniversary and the immigrant experience.  Professional actors provide a multi-cultural experience by including contemporary immigrants in the storyline.

New York’s Historical Society gets a Facelift

Fresh from a $65 million renovation, the New York Historical Society is re-opening on November 11 and will be surrounded by exciting events and four centuries of New York history.  One of the highlights will be the Civil Rights Gallery on the second floor. The first exhibition will be photographs of African Americans who were leaders in the fight for civil rights in the 20th century by British photographer Platon.

Also on the second floor will be a new gallery featuring some of Peter Marie's collection of miniatures of the beautiful women of Gilded Age society next to their photographs from the famous Vanderbilt Ball of 1883. And throughout the rest of the second floor are the Revolutions! exhibit and Big City Views, featuring large-scale views of American cities, including maps, prints and photographs.

Speaking of Revolutions...

Although the Boston Tea Party is commonly associated with the first American tax revolt, the REAL work to fight “Taxation Without Representation” was done at Federal Hall in downtown Manhattan. Rebuilt as a Customs House at its Wall Street location, Federal Hall is the birthplace of American government. George Washington took the oath of office as our first President at Federal Hall, and this site was home to the first Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive Branch offices. The Bill of Rights was written here too!

“Consume” history

Pete’s Tavern first opened its doors in 1864 and this achievement makes Pete's Tavern both an official historical landmark and the longest continuously operating bar and restaurant in New York City. It even stayed open during Prohibition...disguised as a flower shop! Pete's Tavern is proud of its history and steadfastly maintains its traditions. It still looks as exactly as it did when its most celebrated regular O. Henry wrote the classic Gift of The Magi at his favorite booth by the front doors in 1902. Pete's Tavern also continues to serve much of its original-recipe Italian-American cuisine and its highly prized 1864 Original Ale.

Been there, done that? 3 Ideas to Keep Your New York Meeting Fresh!

Even if your company is meeting in New York for the first time, there’s a good chance your attendees have been there before in some capacity.

Here are 3 unique ideas to keep the wow factor alive in the city that never sleeps:

#1 - Enhanced Orientations

We have developed the sightseeing component into a different dimension that allows guests to explore areas which are not necessarily on "the beaten path". Your hotel might be well-known, but the tour stops don’t have to be! Venues include the Cloisters and more “local” sights north and south of Midtown Manhattan. We like to include fantastic lunches at neighborhood venues not usually frequented by tourists. On one occasion, our client required a final night “wow” event to keep with their standing in the industry. An exclusive event at The Metropolitan Museum was the ideal solution. The cocktail reception was held in the Charles Englehard Court and to further personalize the event, we added an element of iconic ‘living statues’ – great for pictures – to the ones already in place.

Photo of The Cloisters courtesy of Washington College

#2 - Manhattan in a Room

If the right venue is chosen, three major, yet thematically diverse evening events at a host hotel can accommodate numbers, budgets and thirsts for an authentic New York flavor. We have transformed the same ballroom into something very unique so guests would not feel that they were in the same space on three consecutive nights. On Night One at one meeting, we recreated the Manhattan skyline with the building tops functioning as performance stages on which we featured a cross-cultural snapshot of the city relating to a variety of dance styles, music and performance art. Night Two was awards night which required very formal elegant gold tones with heavy use of floral design and candelabras reflecting the seriousness of the evening. Night Three was “let your hair down time” and, since we were in Times Square, the theme was reminiscent of a big Times Square dance party replete with neon, glitter and confetti and two fun bands.

#3 - New York without 11 million people

We recently worked with a flooring association convention where afterwards, we arranged for the association's corporate executives to meet at the Mohonk Mountain retreat in upstate New York. Only two hours from Manhattan, Mohonk is a spectacular business meeting venue that offers privacy and a host of amenities for spouses and the executives themselves (on an after-meeting-hours basis). Our effort to combine the convention and retreat into one trip not only made sense economically, we also helped key association members get away from frantic pace and lights of the big city into a location that helped them think clearly and develop strategic initiatives that the association reports is helping the industry as a whole emerge strongly from recession.