CIM Blog

Back to the future

2007-11-14T10:50:00.000+11:00

Am I the only one who is a little confused about what it is that futurists do? Although it seems like a perfectly respectable profession, I can't help imagining a group of futurists sitting on bean bags casually predicting the trends of the future between nap breaks.

Don't get me wrong, it sounds like a great gig and the whole futurist enterprise must have some theoretical foundation or big corporations wouldn't employ them.

Not only do Australian universities offers degrees in futurism (why not ditch that MBA for the far more impressive sounding Masters in Foresight) but Australian futurists even have their own dedicated institute. On their website, The Futures Foundation claims to uphold "greater interest in, and understanding of, the future". Wow. They also provide "tools and perspectives to assist individuals and businesses today in preparing a more ideal tomorrow. The foundation utilises this discipline in planning and strategy."

Understanding the cycle of trends is central to the C&I industry and being able to accurately predict what will come next is an immensely valuable tool. But what happens if we get it wrong? Do these professional prognosticators admit their mistakes or are they too forward-thinking for that?

Flying awry

2007-09-27T10:21:00.000+10:00

Anyone who has travelled Qantas business class recently will have received a toiletries kit that looks somewhat like a flattened lunchbox. The grey plastic container may have been created by Australian designer Marc Newson, but there are murmurs its days are numbered. But hang on to yours - who knows what these limited-edition collector's items will be worth on Ebay in 10 years' time.

Meanwhile, there have also been reports that those in cattle class on some international flights arriving in Australia in the morning are no longer served breakfast. This often leaves passengers to face customs and quarantine queues on an empty stomach.

We'd like to hear from you: Is flying a great or a grim experience? The best three yarns win a surprise book.

Carbon offsets: Solution or quick fix?

2007-08-30T08:16:00.000+10:00

Carbon offsetting is all the rage within the events industry. But what exactly does a carbon offset achieve? Certainly, the idea of planting a tree for every metre flown goes a long way in offsetting the guilt associated with burning so many tonnes of jet fuel, but how sustainable is this approach?Besides tree planting, there are a wide variety of offset methods in use, with renewable energy and energy conservation offsets popping up both in Australia and abroad. The purchase and withdrawal of emissions trading credits are also being seen.

But is this a real solution to reducing greenhouse emissions or just a quick fix? George Monbiot, an English environmentalist and writer, has compared carbon offsets to the practice of purchasing indulgences during the Middle Ages, whereby people believed they could purchase forgiveness for their sins rather than actually repenting and not sinning.

Monbiot also says carbon offsets are an excuse for business as usual with regards to pollution. The current approach may not be perfect, but at least event producers are now acknowledging the need to reduce their environmental impact.

Be sure to check out the new monthly Going Green section in the September issue of CIM for more, workable green initiatives from C&I professionals.

Comfort or no comfort.

2007-07-12T08:26:00.000+10:00

There was a time when sitting in economy on a long-haul flight almost guaranteed some form of chiropractic condition. Little has changed to improve passenger comfort, according to British humourist Charlie Brooker in The Guardian who has renamed the various airline seating categories as: “Misery, Misery Lite and, the highest achievable grade, Slightly Comfortable”.

Will the roomier Airbus and Boeing aircraft change things at last, or does the pain persist?

No mass?

2007-07-04T14:49:00.000+10:00

Sydney's World Youth Day next July seems a misnomer given that the event spans more than week. It culminates with a mass led by Pope Benedict, expected to attract about half a million people and scheduled for Randwick Racecourse. But the Australian Jockey Club is apparently not enthusiastic about hosting the event, especially as chairman Ross Smyth-Kirk has revealed that it faces a $6 million bill just to keep Randwick open for racing. A colossal religious event could cost the club and the racing industry millions of dollars in lost revenue.

So where will the mass go, plus the mass of young people who were originally going to camp out at the racetrack? Most big events mean big money for the host city, but will this be the case for World Youth Day, or will it turn into an expensive nuisance?

APEC again

2007-06-05T15:09:00.000+10:00

The APEC 2007 Taskforce sent us a response to our blog comments, we felt it was only right to post there comments. .........see below

Thanks for allowing us to provide these additional points in response to whether Sydney, particularly the meetings industry, can cope with hosting APEC in Sydney, as explored a recent blog on the CIM website. As mentioned, we are also happy for you to add these to the feature you have written and attribute to head of the APEC 2007 Taskforce, Alan Henderson, in line with our initial responses.

· The APEC 2007 Taskforce comprises a professional team of event managers who have come together to stage one of the largest diplomatic events ever held in Australia.

· Rather than ‘shutting out’ the meetings industry, the Taskforce draws together many experienced PCOs (Professional Conference Organisers) and meetings professionals, many of whom have worked on other successful events held in Australia (eg. Sydney 2000 Olympics, Rugby World Cup, Melbourne Commonwealth Games, CHOGM, etc).

· A division of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the APEC 2007 Taskforce is working collaboratively with the Commonwealth and State Governments and key agencies and stakeholders to deliver a safe and successful event.

· From January to September over 100 days of meetings will be hosted across the country as part of the APEC Australia 2007™ year. All meetings to date have been delivered successfully.

· Hosting the APEC Australia 2007™ year will provide Australia with an opportunity to showcase its unique and diverse business, society and culture to influential constituencies within the region and to the wider international community. APEC meetings are a fantastic road show around Australia.

· The success of APEC Leaders Week and the series of meetings held throughout the APEC Australia 2007™ year will benefit Australia’s meetings industry because it will clearly demonstrate that Australia, and in particular, Sydney, is capable of hosting/delivering one of the most important annual meetings of world leaders.

http://www.apec2007.org/

Tradeshows as commercial warfare

2007-05-30T15:45:00.000+10:00

On day one of the inaugural Australian Events Expo, the organisers were touting a 40 per cent increase in visitor pre-registrations compared to the last Sydney on Sale, which the expo replaced. But as Robby Clark from ETF pointed out in his seminar, only half of pre-registered visitors show up. He also branded some recent trade shows as little more than "commercial warfare", offering competing companies a venue to "spy, try and buy".

Was this your experience of Australian Events Expo? How did the show compare to AIME in terms of generating business, and will you be back next year?

Can Sydney cope?

2007-05-15T14:14:00.000+10:00

According to a recent Sydney Morning Herald report, Sydney’s business community will gain next to nothing from hosting the APEC Leaders Summit in September. This announcment does seem a little dramatic, given the certain windfall for hotels and security companies like Thales, not to mention the big business leaders who are actually invited to join the APEC discussions.

The concern, though, is for those small businesses directly affected by the lockdown of the CBD and the subsequent mass exodus during the public holiday in September.

Yet the biggest loser in all this is surely the meetings industry, which has been shut out altogether.

Instead of drawing on PCOs and meetings professionals, the APEC events are being handled entirely by the APEC 2007 Taskforce, a division of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

We’d like to hear from you – will APEC be a good thing for Sydney? Would the meetings industry do a better job than the government taskforce or is this just another example of a major event bypassing our industry?

‘Wow’ destinations

2007-05-04T10:20:00.000+10:00

As the C&I footprint now covers practically every corner of the globe, an unexpected byproduct has been that many destinations are starting to look alike. For example, Macau is marketing itself as an "Asian Las Vegas" with the same monster hotels, casinos and over-the-top developments. All this homogeneity has led to a backlash, with C&I companies scouring the earth for destinations with a distinctive local flavour. Parts of China, South America, Africa and India (pictured, a polo elephant in Dera Amer, Jaipur are on the cusp of major change, especially in infrastructure and services for the industry.

India in particular has undergone near-Olympian economic transformation, moving from struggling Third World country to budding superpower in a matter of decades. Yet it is still challenging and chaotic and eye-opening – all part of its appeal. Which destinations have wowed you lately? Are clients open to new experiences? Or is it better to simply meet their expectations rather than challenging them?

Transparent pricing

2007-04-11T14:11:00.000+10:00

How do PCOs decide on the rate they will charge a corporate client? Do they weigh up the delegate numbers, factor in the overheads and add a modest commission, or do they simply consult the tea leaves and charge whatever suits?

There have been grumbles lately about inconsistent pricing in the meetings industry. The lack of transparency in some quarters has already had repercussions, with some bigger organisations bringing in outside procurement agents.

Do you think PCOs need to be made more accountable? If not, why not, and if so, what would be the best way of regulating the industry?

Post AIME rundown

2007-02-21T08:33:00.000+11:00

Now that we’re getting over our post-AIME funk, it’s worth looking back over, what are, two of the biggest days on the C&I calendar.

Elizabeth Rich from the Business Events Council of Australia described AIME as, "the meeting industry on speed", yet "the meetings industry on steroids" is probably closer to the mark.

Being an event for event planners means the AIME crowd is pretty tough to impress. Consequently everything – the parties, the food, the fireworks – needs to be utterly spectacular in order to achieve that ever-elusive "wow factor" (by the way, can we please put a hex on that worn-out expression?).

The MCG, Studio 3 and Melbourne Docklands were definitely standout venues, with the food and wine at the MECC outstanding as always.

One of the trends that emerged during the excellent seminar program was the recent arrival of "procurement departments". Designed to make PCOs more accountable, everyone seems to agree that procurement is here to stay. And yet when asked some people said their procurement experiences hadn’t been particularly pleasant, with agents often acting as glorified bean counters and slowing the whole planning process down. Procurement specialist Pat Durocher from HelmsBriscoe spoke persuasively in favour of the process, rightly pointing out that the C&I industry is a costly enterprise (as AIME illustrates) and that bringing overheads down is a natural step.

Along with Durocher, another excellent speaker was Malaysian entrepreneur Anthony Wong, who was also named Industry Person of the Year. Wong spoke candidly about his Houdini-like bid for the colossal FIGO World Congress last year and proved that is possible to persuade 8000 gynaecologists to come to a largely Muslim City without the assistance of a convention bureau.

In another logistical feat, Aloysius Arlando from the Singapore Tourism Board described how the Singaporean authorities managed to discourage protesters at the IMF annual meeting from taking to the streets. Somehow the Singaporeans convinced them take part in a controlled, indoor protest instead.

With a budget of around $23 million, most of which was spent on security, the IMF meeting showed the Australian planners of APEC what they need to do to ensure those events run hitch-free.

We’re interested to know how beneficial the show was for you. We want to find out which aspects worked and those that didn’t. Were there more window shoppers than actual buyers?
Are the suppliers pulling their weight? Was the buyer compliance system useful? Let us know what you think.

What the bloody hell happened to all the tourists?

2007-01-17T12:56:00.000+11:00

Crikey.com recently posted an interesting story about the sorry state of the Australian tourism industry. According to the article – which is supported by the latest World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) figures – Australia is currently being outgunned by every region on the planet in terms of tourist growth. Even war-ravaged countries like Lebanon and Israel have posted positive results, while sunny Australia lags behind. According to the World Tourism Organisation, in 2006, despite being ranked the world's most desired place to travel by numerous studies, and strong international tourist growth worldwide, Australia’s tourism numbers have gone backwards. The author of the Crikey article, Craig Kelly, points the finger at Tourism Australia, citing the ineffectual, “Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” campaign and the G’Day Australia junket as symptoms of the struggle to regain our post-Olympic position as a leading tourist destination. The current president of the Southern Sydney Retailers Association, Kelly says, “pedalling out a procession of celebrities like Russell Crowe and the Wiggles at the G'day Australia campaign in LA is just a bandaid solution – the real problem doesn't come down to PR, it's the iron grip that the Qantas/United Airlines duopoly has on the US/Australia air route”.

It’s an interesting point, and one that may will become a critical issue in this election year. Kelly’s theory is that the protection of Qantas is hampering Australia’s tourist industry, and handicapping our number one export while tourism expands everywhere else around the world.

Although this doesn’t directly reflect the current state of Australia’s business tourism, they are not unrelated.

In order to entice tourists of all kinds to come here rather than to Hawaii, South East Asia, Europe and the Caribbean, Kelly proposes that Australia follow Canada’s lead and establish a bilateral Open Skies agreement with the United States. The Canadian agreement lets any Canadian or U.S. airline offer trans-border services without restriction in terms of fares, flight frequencies or aircraft types.

Establishing something similar here may be a big ask, but then again, all that cosying up to George W has got to be good for something, right?

Identity crisis?

2006-12-07T13:00:00.000+11:00

Is the meetings industry having an identity crisis? It seems hard to believe, given the billions of C&I dollars changing hands each year. And yet, as AMI magazine has put it, garbage disposal operatives are better known than meetings professionals. Why the low profile? Many of those interviewed by AMI blamed the widespread use of the acronym "MICE" for the industry's under-the-radar status.

Any first-year business student knows that a strong, memorable logo is the bedrock of brand recognition, and in that sense, MICE doesn't cut it. More scurrilous and sly than evocative, the MICE label seems a long way from the sort of image the meetings business needs to gain the recognition it deserves.

It is interesting that the acronym seems to be used more doggedly in the southern hemisphere. The director of the MICE Club in South Africa, Helen Brewer, says it is no coincidence that many Australasian practitioners use the term "wherever possible ''. Whether MICE or meetings industry or business tourism, I would suggest we try to live together with all our varying definitions and avoid decrying the one in favour of another merely for cheap publicity purposes, she says.

Yet coming up with a title that is unified and comprehensible outside the industry is a practical step rather than an ideological one, with the benefits far outweighing the inconvenience of changing letterheads and business cards.

As the president of Vancouver's Criterion Communications, Rod Cameron, puts it, This isn't about finding the perfect name, but rather trying to create a higher profile for the industry and what it does. Whatever name you pick, the adoption of a single, consistent and recognisable industry designation goes a long way toward helping achieve that larger objective, and the longer we fail to rally around one, for whatever reason, the longer we remain obscure as an industry."

CIM opts for C&I as an alternative industry descriptor, holding to the idea that it is better for our industry to sound less like a pesky rodent and more like the global powerhouse that we are. Any more bids?

Global impacts

2006-11-23T11:54:00.000+11:00

There's a lot of talk at the moment about globalisation and how it has reshaped the hotel industry. Every week, independent hotels are being acquired, redeveloped and rebranded by one of the handful of global chains. As inevitable as the mergers and acquisitions are, the impact on C&I business has been profound and can already be felt. The general prognosis seems to be that these changes are impacting negatively on customer services, with those who used to be responsible for looking after us disappearing, their roles being taken over by faceless executives on the other side of the world.

Not only have they become more impersonal, but the hotel managers have almost become quasi-property managers, more concerned with the value of the real estate than delivering exemplary services. One symptom of the industry's changing face is the increasing number of Australian hotels using overseas call centres to man their reception areas after-hours. When asked whether they outsource their phone services after-hours, many hotels are understandably cagey, preferring not confirm or deny the claim.

Another example of this increasingly corporate landscape emerged when a well-known, family-owned boutique hotel in Adelaide was acquired recently by one of the larger European hotel chains. After 14 years in the business, the family simply decided to sell up to pursue other business interests, while the multinational plans to divide the property into time-share apartments to increase its market share. Perched in a pocket of the Adelaide Hills, this heritage site was built in the mid 1850s and was nearly leveled during the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983. What's in store for it now is difficult to gauge, although what is certain is that its independence and special character will not get in the way of the new owner's bottom line.

Pain in Spain

2005-12-22T13:31:00.000+11:00

When I attended the EIBTM trade show in Barcelona last month, the travel experience left me feeling absolutely livid – because both my luggage and some freighted material sent separately (via OCS) were both “lost” en route.

By the time I arrived in Spain I had travelled on two flights, each of three sectors, on a total of six different aircraft. My luggage had stayed with me on five of those sectors. I know this, as I always check that it comes across before I board. I was assured it was on board the Iberia London-to-Barcelona sector, but it didn’t turn up on the carousel. I was then assured it would be on the next flight, but it was 33 hours before it was delivered to my hotel. In the meantime, each time I had phoned Iberia they tried passing the buck.

Ultimately it took the GM of the Hotel Prestige Congress to enlist the help of someone he knew at the airport to track down my property.To add insult to injury, the Iberia aircraft stank. It needed a thorough clean. Another passenger using the airline, a lawyer from Queensland, didn’t receive his luggage until he was on the return trip. Enough said! I won't ever fly Iberia again.

Anyway, let's hope we all have a great and prosperous New Year without the baggage of the old year.

Robert Yeomans
PUBLISHER

It's in the air...

2005-12-02T10:37:00.000+11:00

How fickle the conference industry can be. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics covering outbound conference delegates show that destination preferences tend to change - in fact, countries once a high priority are now being shunned.The bureau has projected its figures for this year to cover the entire 12 months, and the winner is...New Zealand, with a massive 40 per cent increase in Australian meetings business compared with last year.

There are perhaps two good reasons for this - increased competition across the Tasman has led to sales forays into Australia, raising awareness of New Zealand as a destination; and unsettling problems in other countries such as bird flu and bombings.

China and Hong Kong are well up in the list of favoured destinations and Singapore managed to attract 7 per cent more business tourists, while the rest of South-East Asia has dipped.

Another big winner is Europe, with 24 per cent more visitors (the UK figures rose 35 per cent). Long-haul treks seem to be winning the day, thanks to healthy competition and competitive airfares.Meanwhile, the US had a 9 per cent drop, yet still had more conference arrivals than the whole of South-East Asia. This is interesting as there is no competition when it comes to fares, which are pretty steep.

So what is in the crystal ball? I believe long haul will continue to be strong, especially with the introduction of the A380s and 777s which can fly non-stop between Sydney and the UK. For airlines to fill all these seats, fares will need to be competitive.

Watch this space!

Rob Yeomans
Publisher

Quaint as

2005-11-09T11:32:00.000+11:00

Many of you will recall the fracas when Qantas discontinued its Hamilton Island services last year, leaving Jetstar to cover the Whitsundays. It has taken a while, but a compromise has been reached and Qantas is back, to a collective sigh of relief.

Now it seems something similar is happening with New Zealand. Jetstar has replaced Qantas out of Melbourne and Brisbane for the Christchurch link, and is maintaining only a single daily flight from Sydney. As Christchurch has the only purpose-built convention centre across the Tasman, it could be thought that Qantas is not interested in looking after business travellers. I imagine the reasoning could be that 767s are not profitable on such routes, but what about 737s?

Many business events demand business-class travel. While Jetstar fulfils a role and is a good business model, it falls short when it comes to business-class seating.

One of two things could happen with this situation: either business travellers will use a competitor's airline or Christchurch will lose a percentage of the Australian market.

Our predictions for this year's business events to New Zealand are for a 48 per cent increase in C&I travel to the end of December*. What would this be worth to Qantas?

Robert Yeomans
PUBLISHER

Shattered hopes

2005-10-07T10:41:00.000+10:00

I was extremely saddened to learn about the latest bombings in Bali, with more Australians, Balinese and other nationalities being killed and many seriously hurt. The entire CIM team wishes to express its sympathy for all those involved, together with their families and friends.

Over the past couple of years the industry in Bali has worked hard to build up the business tourism end after being decimated by the events of 2002. Now the Balinese convention industry must be in despair at all their good work and goodwill going down the drain. The hotels that concentrate on westerners for their business will find that it's not only the Australians who will reconsider visiting - it will be the Europeans as well, which only spells disaster for years to come for the C&I sector.

I think I’m right in saying that conference delegates have not been injured there to date, probably because of hotel security or just plain good luck. However, it does put all conferences and incentive programmes on alert, bringing to the fore the same old problem: to go overseas or not for future meetings.Personally, I think Australia is just as vulnerable as anywhere else. Life and business have to move forward, and so long as we don’t become complacent about security there is little else we can do.

PUBLISHER

Leading edge

2005-09-06T09:18:00.000+10:00

When the Forbes Global CEO Conference involving the leaders of the world's top 100 companies launched in Sydney, there was a lot of flak. Barricades went up outside the Sydney Opera House forecourt to keep protestors (and the public) at bay – about 500 people caused a kafuffle at the barriers with four being arrested – and apparently about $1 million of taxpayer money was spent on the security operation, which tied up about 200 police officers. On top of that, it was reported that $1 million in advertising had been given to Forbes' publications as an inducement to hold the conference in Sydney.

All this ruffled quite a few feathers, and as a great believer in the value of bringing major conventions to Australia, I feel that the event should be put into perspective. The fact that the world’s top business leaders came to meet in Sydney and rubbed shoulders with their Australian counterparts as well as federal and state politicians should be lauded. Other cities are green with envy – just ask Melbourne!

It is likely the conference will be reported in most corners of the world, and the spotlight will be fair and square on Sydney, giving the city untold publicity. The flow-on could be extremely beneficial in the months and years to come – if the hotels and venues involved rise to the occasion and put in the effort and follow-up and don’t sit back and wait for business to fall in their laps, as some did following the Olympic Games in 2000.

By the time you are reading this, the success or otherwise of the conference will be world knowledge, but at this point I am proud that Sydney was chosen and is flying the flag and being seen by the world again as the wonderful destination that it is.

Rob Yeomans
PUBLISHER

Effective famils

2005-08-01T10:59:00.000+10:00

Having just returned from experiencing an excellent famil to China organised by Best of Asia Travel marketing and Qantas, it made me realise that there are both good and bad famils and the most important thing is how effective they are for the conference planners. We know that most of the trips are fun-filled and are intended to be of value, but are they the answer for the information needed when sharpening the planning pencil? Do planners have the time to be away for more than 2 – 3 days? We know that time must be made to check out the venues and to experience the destination if a good result is to be got, which leads me to ask “How many planners are asked what is important to them in the need-to-know category?” The industry generally takes it upon itself to set the agenda and assume that the planner will go along with them, but for famils to be truly successful it should be a two-way street with relationship building and making sure all important planning problems are addressed on the spot.Getting a good group together, as in the China famil is extremely important – finding buyers with similar problems and needs. This is not that easy when all is said and done but it will give a much better outcome in the long term. If the relationship is established prior to the famil the planner will be much more likely to say: “No, I don’t want to see another castle or spend more time shopping, let's get down to the nitty gritty”A planner's time is so limited that a shorter famil that is well-planned will have more chance of being accepted than an airy fairy trip with lots of time “at leisure”.By the way, both Beijing and Shanghai are changing so rapidly that I didn’t recognise much of either city after an absence of three years.

branding

2005-07-14T12:29:00.000+10:00

It seems that corporate collateral such as pens, pads and mouse pads are often thrown away, but stick-on notes displaying the company's branding have a high retention rate by delegates after an event. What feedback have organisers had on this subject. What works best for your clients' delegates - what gets ditched the quickest and is there a demand for something innovative by guests.

CIM Editor

On the money

2005-06-20T08:44:00.000+10:00

We are all aware that when money is tight, so is sponsorship, which can be extremely difficult to come by for many professional associations and sporting bodies. From experience as a publisher who has supported the industry over the years with sponsorship cash or kind, I would have to say that 90 per cent of the cash has been wasted. Moreover, need I say it, the gesture has not been appreciated by the recipient.
It’s the other 10 per cent that has proved to be worthwhile, mainly because the association or group seeking funds put together benefits that were recognisable. They followed up during the event and afterwards sought feedback in an effort to see that all was well – in other words that we had benefited from the sponsorship in some way.
Everyone in business these days looks for a return on investment; they have to, because otherwise they wouldn’t stay in business for long. We are no different, and as a result have become selective with our support.
Most associations, and some corporates, seek sponsorship in one degree or another and it would be wise to be able to show your prospective sponsor what reward is in it for them, not to simply put their hand out and expect financial help almost as a right. That attitude, which is shown by many, will not bring you the results expected.
Put yourself in your sponsor's shoes for a moment and you will see what I mean.

HAWAII FIVE OH!

2005-06-02T14:03:00.000+10:00

CIM would like to hear from PCOs and incentive houses that have sent groups to Hawaii over the past 12 months. Contact: editor@rankpub.com.au

Bali

2005-05-27T13:54:00.000+10:00

In the wake of the verdict in the Schapelle Corby case we would be interested to know if any Australian conferences booked in Bali or other parts of Indonesia are going to be cancelled or moved? If they are going ahead are they well supported by delegates?

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Schapelle and her family at this time.

storm brewing???

2005-05-09T12:24:00.000+10:00

There is a storm brewing between the C & I industry and Tourism Australia.

The likelihood of Tourism Australia putting all their marketing efforts into the "big picture" and forgoing any involvement in the specialised industries such as the C & I market is a certainty.

Particularly if it follows the same pattern that transpired in NZ. The new marketing manager for Tourism Australia, Ian McFarland, was previously the marketing manager for Tourism New Zealand and helped launch their very successful campaign in 2003. At the Leaders Forum at the MEA conference last month, we got the impression that this would be the case.

Whether this is a good thing or not, the industry is stewing.

The word unique is unique

2005-05-05T14:45:00.000+10:00

Why is it that just about every article, announcement, press release or promotion of a property, attraction, destination or product is lauded as "unique". The Macquarie Dictionary's definition of the word unique is: adj. 1. of which there is only one; sole. 2. having no like or equal; standing alone in comparison with others; unequalled. 3. remarkable, rare or unusual; a unique experience.Ipso facto there is no such thing as "very unique or really unique".

C'mon - there are 26 letters in the alphabet that make thousands of adjectives - and there will always be one that will be the right fit. There are some adjectives that come into fashion (whether they are correctly used not), that hang around and lazily fill out sentences and refuse to leave the building. Kick them out, send them to their rooms, expel them, sack them - kiss them goodbye, thank them for their time and ask them never to darken a paragraph again!

CIM Editorial Department

workplace etiquette

2005-05-05T08:17:00.000+10:00

I heard on radio yesterday that people hate mobile phones in the workplace that have unusual ring tones. I have found myself left humming a ring tone after a colleague's phone has rung. Should mobiles be banned in the office? Or placed on silent ring? Which then brings up the issue of vibrating mobile phones on desks. But we wont go there. Maybe we should just co-ordinate so that everyone has the same Eminem song as a ring tone.

Also mentioned on radio was the new trend in offices for a clean desk policy. I am guilty of a messy desk, but it is my organised chaos, I know where everything is. But to the outsider it looks like I am lazy. Do we really think that a clean desk means employee's are working harder, or are they just spending time tidying the desk? Next we will be seeing KPI's that include a tidy desk!

the art of queuing

2005-05-03T14:16:00.000+10:00

Having attended an event over the weekend at the Sydney Superdome, I walked away scratching my head wondering if the contract catering company has someone with some sort of practical knowledge guiding them in customer service.

Like many other people attending the Bette Midler concert my party decided to have dinner in one of the restaurants and cafes at the Superdome.

The one thing that sticks in my head about the whole experience is queuing! We queued to get into the Superdome we queued to get into the restaurant, we queued to order our drinks we queued to order our food. After ordering the drinks, instead of actually giving me my drinks to take back with me my drinks went into yet another queue to be distributed to our table by a waiter. It seemed quite unnecessary. By the time we got our meal and finished it we had to race off to find our seats. There is a lot of needless queuing going on.

To add insult to injury during the intermission I purchased a bottle of Coca Cola, only to be given a half empty open bottle.

Welcome!!

2005-04-28T10:43:00.000+10:00

We have ventured into the world of business blogging.

This is a fantastic way to interact with our customers and the industry and promote general discussion.

We will be regularly posting news, ideas and viewpoints. We welcome and encourage your comments and feedback on our magazine and the industry.

Bigger picture

2005-04-28T09:47:00.000+10:00

While MEA’s 30th-birthday convention at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre went over extremely well with an attendance of more than 400 delegates, I came away from the Leaders' Forum with the feeling that a change a direction is needed for MEA.I believe the association needs to ask the big question: Where does the membership want to go in the next 30 years? And then it should plan accordingly. In life, one can’t be everybody’s friend, and neither can MEA. New groups and associations are springing up and MEA can’t have its feet in all camps. I think it’s time to go back to its roots and concentrate on a much bigger picture – the planners. Perhaps you have some ideas regarding this that you’d like to share with me. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.Meanwhile, the highlights of the convention were the key speakers Dr Fiona Woods and Peter Fitzsimmons, whose addresses were both uplifting and thought provoking.It was my first experience of the new Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre and I must admit I was impressed - my expectations were certainly exceeded. Paul D’Arcy and his team put in tremendous effort to make the conference run smoothly, and no request was too big or too small to be fitted in at the last minute. My congratulations go to the entire team at the Perth centre for a job well done.