Meetingmax Goes Full Throttle With Cabarrus County

Concord, NC and Vancouver, BC; October 26, 2011 – Meetingmax Systems, provider of the travel industry’s most flexible online housing reservation system, today announced that it has signed a contract with Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau to handle its online housing reservation needs.

The Cabarrus CVB will use the system to track the economic impact of large-scale events held in the county and make it easier for planners to manage hotel room bookings for their events.

“In order to draw sports events to Cabarrus County, we often have to invest in the events themselves, whether that is through bid fees, sponsorship, or staff time,” says Tracy Aldridge, Senior VP, Sales & Services, Cabarrus CVB. “At a minimum, we need to ensure that we are recouping enough room fees to cover what we’ve invested in an event. Our stakeholders need to know what kind of ROI we are getting. Meetingmax will help us effectively track that.”

Cabarrus County, ”Where Racing Lives,” boasts an array of motorsports attractions. More than 300 events are held annually at venues including the 167,000-seat Charlotte Motor Speedway and the state-of-the-art zMAX Dragway. These large-scale events require room blocks at multiple hotels around the county.

“Cabarrus County was looking for a one stop shop housing solution,” says Jeff Duncan, COO, Meetingmax Systems. “Our system will not only simplify the reservation process for planners and guests, but it will track the room nights associated with an event, giving the CVB accurate data and results.”

In addition to professional motorsports events, the county hosts a variety of recreational sports events, such as soccer tournaments like the FCCA Carolina Shootout on Nov. 12-13. Meetingmax will also benefit the organizers of those events.

“Most sports and recreation event planners do these tournaments in their spare time. They don’t have time to negotiate with the hotels and manage blocks of housing,” continues Aldridge. “By working with us and setting up a simple link in the Meetingmax system, they can quickly arrange housing for all of their participants.”

2011 Conde Nast Gold List

The 2011 Conde Nast Gold List results are in! Conde Nast readers ranked their favourite cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, hotels and resorts worldwide through the Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Survey. A record 28,876 readers cast a total of 8 million votes this year. The winners are:

Top hotel in the world: The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong
Top hotel in the US: Chicago’s Elysian Hotel
Top hotel in Canada: Langdon Hall Country House Hotel & Spa, Cambridge, Ontario

Top city in the US: Charleston, S.C.
Top city in Canada: Quebec City, Quebec (Vancouver was second!!)

Full awards list will appear in the November issue which hits news stands on Oct 18th, or view it online here.

Occupy Vancouver Protest Hitting the City on October 15, 2011

This Saturday, the BC Federation of Labour and thousands of supporters will take a stance outside the Vancouver Art Gallery in order to protest in a "non violent movement for social, economic and political change in Canada."  The Occupy Vancouver protest is modeled after the New York demonstrations known as Occupy Wall Street. The protest is scheduled to last until December with supporters bringing tents and setting up camp.

Businesses in the area may be affected by the protest and are being told to designate security at entrances and areas that are susceptible to more damage. The Vancouver Police Department is aware of the protest and will be speaking with event organizers to make sure the demonstration is a safe environment. Traffic is said to be effected as well on Howe and Georgia as the crowd is expected to exceed the capacity of the lawn around the Vancouver Art Gallery.


Through social media it has become apparent that over 3,000 supporters have confirmed their attendance, making the protest a significant event in the downtown core. For more details take a look at these links from The Globe and Mail and the Downtown Vancouver BIA.

30th VIFF Closing Gala on October 14, 2011

The 2011 Vancouver International Film Festival comes to a close this weekend with the final screening of the highly acclaimed film, The Kid with a Bike. The Meetingmax team is excited to attend the last feature at the Vogue Theatre and, later in the evening, the closing gala party.

The Kid with a Bike, directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, is a deeply meaningful tale about a young boy, Cyril, whom has been neglected all his life; however, through a fortunate event the boy is introduced to, single hairdresser, Samantha who wants to do everything she can to help him.

Peter Debruge from Variety compliments the Dardenne brother’s stating,

"Belgium's Dardenne brothers make movies that remind you the most compelling stories are unfolding right outside your window...”

After the film The Meetingmax team gets to indulge at the VIFF closing gala party, taking place in the Olympic Village. The 30^th VIFF Closing Gala is most definitely an event one should not miss!

                                                                                    

IMEX Conference in Las Vegas October 11-13th 2011

Meetingmax COO, Jeff Duncan is currently attending IMEX Conference in Las Vegas. The IMEX Conference is a desired venue for agencies, associations and corporations looking to connect with key meeting industry suppliers from across the world. The headquarters for IMEX is located at, the always opulent, Venetian/Palazzo hotel where events will be taking place at the Sands Expo Convention Center. 

This year’s attendees are looking forward to this acclaimed event stating;

 "We are extremely excited about attending IMEX America.  We think the hosted buyer program is going to change the schematics of this type of show and will bring serious customers to meet with us.  Being in Las Vegas, we also feel that this will bring more US and international customers to the show."

IMEX conference is filled with a number of educational and networking events, many provided by IMEX’s Premier Education Provider, MPI. The exhibitors include a US and Global line-up as well as over 50 hotel groups and their top clientele. This particular show will become the largest hosted buyer program ever held in North America with over 2,000 buyers to be expected.


“Be inspired, make great contacts, do more business. Don’t miss IMEX America 2011.”

30th VIFF Anniversary Gala on October 8, 2011

This weekend the Meetingmax team is very excited to attend the 30th Vancouver International Film Festival Anniversary Gala. The wonderful evening includes the gala screening of Ken Scott’s Quebecois film, Starbuck. 


The feature is noted to be a humorously endearing spectacle about David Wosniak, a failed marijuana grower, whom is also a sperm donor on the side. Wosniak is faced with his greatest obstacle yet, when his 533 grown children ask him to reveal his identity. Will Wosniak continue to fail in his endeavours, or will he use this opportunity for the ultimate redemption?


After the feature, the fantastic night continues with access to an all-inclusive after party at the Citytv Atrium at the Vancouver International Film Centre. A night filled with such quality entertainment is bound to be a great success! 

2012 Sports Planning Guide and Directory

 The time has come sports planners; the 2012 Sports Planning Guide and Directory has been released! The Guide is a valuable tool that provides readers with an extensive index, including topics covering everything from Budgeting for Events to Communication and Marketing tactics.  

Every year the Sports Planning Guide and Directory is delivered to 10,000 rights-holders, governing bodies, and event planners looking to expand their networks and improve upon their service initiatives. The Guide is also filled with helpful hints regarding planning tips and ideal destinations for special events.

Sports planners, be sure to get your hands on a copy of the newly released 2012 Sports Planning Guide and Directory! 

Genumark Showcase 2011

Meetingmax has been invited to the Genumark Annual Supplier Showcase this year taking place at the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel. The showcase will provide its viewers with a collection of new products from over 30 suppliers.

Genumark is one of the largest companies in Canada that specializes in selling promotional merchandise. Genumark has been crowned with 7 Distributor of the Year Awards, including its most recent 2010 National Distributor of the year award. Not only does Genumark provide a great service; but, the company takes the time to support many charitable organizations such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Children’s Miracle Network.

With Genumark’s successful history, the trade show is sure to be a success today and the Meetingmax team is looking forward to attending this annual event!

TEAMS Conference 2011 in Las Vegas Oct 3-6

Dave Clark, Director of Business Development at Meetingmax, is currently at the TEAMS Conference in Las Vegas. The 2011 TEAMS conference provides valuable information from leading experts and a great deal of networking opportunities with sponsors from the sports event industry. The conference offers a unique program that consists of one on one sessions with event organizers, expo hospitality pavilions and a variety of networking sessions in order to expand relationships between CVB’s and persons within the Sports Association.

Past attendees have thoroughly expressed their appreciation for the TEAMS conference quoting;

“We attend a number of conferences and trade shows around the country each year. I can say unequivocally that TEAMS provided us with the greatest return on our investment of any conference we will attend this year. Sign us up for next year!"

At the TEAMS Conference, relationships are constantly expanding between all attendees including convention bureaus, travel managers, and sports consultants, to name a few. With a large list of sponsors and partners, the TEAMS Conference is a great venue to exchange valuable information and expand networks.

If you are at the event, make sure to contact Dave!