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Resources, Tips and the Latest News on the Meeting Planning Industry
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01 Mar 10 Typical Amenities on Cruise Ships

For those planners interested in organizing meetings at sea, you may be interested in learning more about the amenities cruise ships typically offer.   Each year many companies host incentive cruises and other types of meetings at sea. If you have never been on a cruise ship before, you may be wondering what activities, facilities, and services can be found onboard. The activities found onboard a cruise ship will vary from ship to ship, but many cruise ships have a number of activities and services in common.
 

Cruise ships have well equipped meeting room facilities and other large venues to host your meetings and events.  The A/V equipment is usually state-of-the-art and sure to meet all of your needs.

Some of the most well-known facilities found on cruise ships are dining rooms, restaurants, and buffets. Large cruise ships may offer a number of onboard dining facilities. It is important to note that many of these dining facilities are considered gourmet restaurants. In addition to a sit-down restaurant, there area usually a number of small eateries located onboard. Elegant dining restaurants are popular among cruisers.

Swimming pools, libraries, video arcades, and movie theaters can often be found on cruise ships.  In addition, cruise ships generally have a casino.  Popular gambling activities include slots, blackjack, poker, and much more. Many onboard casinos are open for business twenty-four hours a day. Gambling is a popular cruise ship pastime

Almost all cruise ships have onsite fitness centers, fully equipped gyms, and luxurious spas. These gyms are often similar, and sometimes even better, than the gyms found in your hometown. In addition to a fitness center, a large number of cruise ships have jogging tracks.

 

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26 Jan 10 Group Organizers See 7 Reasons to Bookmark Seasite.com

Newly launched Seasite.com provides 24/7 access to all cruise brands, and the most content-rich and searchable database for the cruise industry.

Miami, FL (Vocus/PRWEB ) January 21, 2010 — Planning a group cruise requires searching for detailed ship information and not always finding what you need – even on the cruise lines’ own web sites. Now, with Seasite.com, the first cruise portal for meetings and events, group organizers can find all the ship data they need in one place – at no cost.

seasite

 

I’ve bookmarked Seasite.com – it’s invaluable in selecting the right ship for a group and to verify it’s a good fit before I present it to my client. And for operational planning, it has all the info I need – which isn’t on cruise line web sites.

"I’ve bookmarked Seasite.com – it’s invaluable in selecting the right ship for a group and to verify it’s a good fit before I present it to my client,” said Millie Evans, President/CEO Alliance Incentives and Meetings. "And for operational planning, it has all the info I need – which isn’t on cruise line web sites.”

Seasite.com provides 24/7 access to all cruise brands, and the most content-rich and searchable database for the cruise industry, so that planners can:

1.   Find ship data never before offered online or in print, such as:
   - Meeting/function room capacities
   - Dining room seating, and details for private group dining
   - Outdoor group function areas
   - A/V equipment lists
   
2-   Search, compare, and save favorite cruises; then create one RFP and submit it to multiple cruise lines. (Group pricing is the same as booking direct.)

3-   See the cruise lines most committed to groups, and search their mini-sites (all laid out the same — when you’re familiar with one, you’re familiar with all!)

4-   Search by ship name for a chronological list of future Itineraries and Basic Ship Information, and find it faster than a brochure.

5-   Search for a cruise anywhere in the world by any date range (as short as several days or as long as several months). Sort your results by meetings-specific criteria.

6-   Refer to the Knowledge Center to answer all your questions, including these:

 
  • What your group cruise budget will buy?
  • Sample budget for an Association cruise?
  • What’s the distance between cruise port and air port?
  • Cruise vs. hotel cost comparison, including tax deductibility?

7-   Discover a list of "Cruise Gems” – those rare, hard to find, short cruises.

"Everyone who plans group travel should take a good look, and bookmark Seasite.com if they want to simplify cruise sourcing and planning” said Jo Kling, CEO Seasite.com.

For more information on Seasite.com, A Landry & Kling Company, visit www.seasite.com or call 888-713-1371.

About Seasite.com/Landry & Kling
Seasite.com is designed for meeting and event planners who want more control in the cruise sourcing and planning process. It’s the fastest and easiest way for group organizers to master the world of cruising, building on all that’s been learned by Landry & Kling, who are credited with being the first distribution channel between the cruise industry and corporate America. Now, 28 years since their startup, they have responded to changing times by creating Seasite.com, with innovative cruise sourcing tools that enable meeting planners and other travel intermediaries to be more pro-active and confident in booking cruises. Seasite group pricing is the same as booking direct, with the advantage of impartial Cruise Advisors to assist as needed.

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23 Nov 09 Planning Government Meetings

Even though the trend has been to back down on meetings due to recession guidelines set down by the government, there is still a critical niche for meeting planners in the government itself. Although you will have to understand more rules and regulations, planning events for public organizations can be very rewarding and lucrative.

A specialty in government meetings is perfect for those interested in politics. If you’re not, this will be tedious and boring work for you. However, some of us love the daily bustle of the government. Also, truly creative people know that the best outcomes often happen with more restrictions–more constraints means less time thinking about how to go about something. That way time can be spent on real creativity.

Government meetings are a challenge, but this is a good thing for creative types like us. There are often very limited funds available for a government meeting, but rather than cut corners on quality a good event planner will understand how to use the funds wisely. Cutting corners is simply creating waste.

Your career as a government meeting planner can start locally, but expand into international meetings and events. People interested in other cultures will find planning international ceremonies of particular interest. There is a niche in government planning for almost anyone interested in politics and culture.

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22 Aug 09 Guerrilla Marketing for Meeting Planners

At the recent 2009 Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Southeast Educational Conference at the Edon Roc in Miami Beach we had the opportunity to hear Brad Nickel, VP of Marketing for Landry & Kling, speak.   He gave a presentation on Guerrilla Marketing for Meeting Planners and agreed to let us publish that presentation here, for those meeting professionals who were unable to attend.

Here is the presentation – let us know if you have questions!

Brad was also excited to tell us a little about the upcoming launch of a new resource for meeting and incentive professionals: Seasite.com.

Seasite.com, a new Landry & Kling company, will be the industry’s first online cruise marketplace for global meetings and events. Mr. Nickel, explained, “Seasite.com puts cruise sourcing on par with hotel site selection along with easy RFP generation for multiple brands and ships.”

The site will be launching in late September but in the meantime they are running a contest to win an inaugural cruise aboard the new Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas, billed as the worlds largest and most innovative cruise ship. To enter simply go to their web site, Seasite.com, and sign up to recieve their newsletter and be notified of the official Seasite.com launch. The contest winner will be selected at random on Sept. 10, 2009.

2009 MPI Southeast Educational Conference was held at the Edon Roc Hotel, Miami Beach, August 13th-15th. For more information visit http://mpisec.org/

Our thanks again to Brad – and here’s his bio:

Brad Nickel, Vice President, Marketing / Seasite, a Landry & Kling Company
Guerrilla Web Marketing
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Brad Nickel Bio
Guerrilla Web Marketing

In this interactive and innovative session, internet marketer Brad Nickel will share valuable insights on how to maximize your impact on line and how best to optimize your website with the smallest investment of time and money. Avoid the painful pitfalls of Search Engine Marketing. You will learn how to make the most out search engine marketing and best practices for garnering attention for your services and personal brand on the web with little financial expenditure. Learn powerful tools to generate new business using Search Engines and discover new ways to free advertising to generate leads on the web.

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