Connecting at sea – what planners need to know

In the meetings industry, there’s a lot of talk about including “white space” to encourage networking between business sessions, and if you were to take a peek at participants’ wish lists, opportunities for making connections would surely rank close to the top. Now you might think it would be easier to connect these days, given [...]

Share

It’s time to give ho-hum meetings the old heave-ho!

If you’ve been keeping up with meeting and convention trends, you know there are two big factors driving attendance and engagement (which translate to stronger ROI): New experiences and opportunities to network/build relationships. Think about your next meeting or event and ask yourself these 10 questions: Are your attendees buzzing about the meeting? Is your [...]

Share

Why Branson thinks business meetings as usual stink – and 6 tips to fix them

According to his Twitter account, Richard Branson is a “tie-loathing adventure and thrill seeker, who believes in turning ideas into reality”. This larger-than-life entrepreneur knows a thing a two about business meetings. As founder and chairman of the Virgin group of 400 companies, Sir Richard plans meetings of minds that encourage collaboration, spark innovative ideas, [...]

Share

Was Your Last Event Life-Changing?

“It was the trip of a lifetime” “A life-changing experience” “The most amazing week of my life – it exceeded all my expectations!” Whether you’re planning a corporate retreat, recognition program, or family/friends reunion, wouldn’t you love to hear your participants describe their experience with these words? They will – if you take them to Galápagos with [...]

Share

The Meeting Planner’s New Frontier

As a meeting professional, you know that “business as usual” is an outdated model for planning events; you must keep up with an evolving industry and understand your attendees’ needs and desires. That’s how you plan good meetings and conferences. But if you want to push the needle into the excellent zone, you no longer [...]

Share

Live from New York…It’s Norwegian Breakaway!

It’s finally arrived! Norwegian Cruise Line’s highly anticipated new ship, Norwegian Breakaway, sailed out of New York City for the first time last week, and the rave reviews are pouring in. Landry & Kling’s Joyce Landry and Jo Kling were onboard for the two-night inaugural cruise, and had only positive comments about the new ship. Here are [...]

Share

Team-building on a Ship and a Shoestring

We’ve noticed a growing demand to include team-building events on business meeting agendas. And it’s not surprising, given that relationships built during collaborative activities lead to increased productivity in the workplace. Meetings at sea are a creative solution for planners who want to add unique team experiences, but are still challenged with tight budgets. Planners will find [...]

Share

Special Short Cruises on a Ship Built for Wow

Meeting and event planners: You want short cruises – Royal Caribbean’s got ‘em! You might already know about Royal Caribbean’s roster of short cruises from South Florida, but we just found about a few special “gem” itineraries in the Caribbean and Mediterranean on the incredible Oasis of the Seas. These sailings are great opportunities for [...]

Share

A Quantum Leap for Meetings and Events At Sea

Do you want to plan a meeting, incentive, or event that’s more exciting – and motivating- than last year’s? Be sure to include experiences that go way beyond what your attendees or top performers can even imagine. Take a quantum leap! When Royal Caribbean International’s first Quantum class ship, 4,142-passenger Quantum of the Seas, is launched [...]

Share

Longing for Shorter Caribbean Cruises? Your Ship Just Came In!

If you’re longing for shorter cruise itineraries for your meeting or group event, here’s great news: Royal Caribbean will have five mega-ships offering short Caribbean and Bahamas cruises out of Florida in 2014. All five innovative Royal Caribbean ships were recently enhanced with Oasis-class upgrades. Already packed with phenomenal onboard experiences, the ships now feature additional [...]

Share