VIFF 2012

Tonight marks the start of the 2012 Vancouver International Film Festival!

VIFF is among the five largest film festivals in North America, featuring 380 cinematic gems from over 75 countries this year alone. The event runs from September 17 - October 12, 2012. 

We are proud to be an official sponsor of VIFF, providing the online reservation technology to manage hotel rooms for out-of-town guests, or locals who want to stay closer to the action. 

Somebody Up There Likes Me, winner if the Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Locarno film festival, is our sponsored film this year. The movie is directed by Bob Byinton and revolves around the main character, Max Youngman, 'who fails to mature - or even age- over the course of 35 years. Max is saddled with a considerable Peter Pan complex. An absurd look at a slacker slouching towards his destiny, this tale of misadventure doles out "smarmy rapid-fire dialogue that would make Preston Sturges dizzy." - Indiewire'

Medicine Hat Accommodation Association Signs Up With Meetingmax

Medicine Hat, AB and Vancouver, BC: August 14, 2012 – The Medicine Hat Accommodation Association (MHAA) today announced the signing of an agreement with Meetingmax Systems, provider of the travel industry’s most flexible online housing reservation system. A group of twelve local hotels is leading the purchase to better manage group housing reservations for sports events.

“Sports events have a tremendous impact on our local economy,” says Elisha Ammann, Executive Director, Medicine Hat Accommodation Association. “The participants not only book rooms at our hotels, but they also visit local restaurants, attractions, and retailers. Sports event planners are looking for added value when they select a city for their event. Offering a system that simplifies their lives just makes good business sense.”

Using Meetingmax’s system, event attendees click one link to review participating hotels, explore their features, and book a room; planners can easily track and manage their room blocks without having to contact each hotel separately; and hotels can efficiently search, process, and report on all rooms and reservations for each group.

“Without such a system, each hotel might speak with a planner more than a dozen times to update them on the status of their block,” continues Ammann. “Being able to offer a simple but powerful online housing reservation system will make the sports event planner’s job much easier and free up hotel staff to focus on customer service instead of pulling reports.”

MHAA selected Meetingmax after conducting a thorough review of reservation systems. The organization was drawn to the low investment required and the system’s ease of use.

“Our system was built for people of all comfort levels when it comes to technology,” says Jeff Duncan, COO Meetingmax Systems. “This means that hotels can easily train all their staff to use the system and that the end-user can intuitively explore the hotels and book their own room.”

Medicine Hat is rich in local history and unique attractions. The city is well positioned at the junction of the Trans Canada Highway and Highway 3, allowing easy access from all directions. Medicine Hat's Municipal Airport is located five minutes from downtown and is a short 50-minute flight to Calgary International Airport.

About Medicine Hat Accommodation Association:

The Medicine Hat Accommodation Association (MHAA) is a group of Southern Alberta Hotels that focuses on attracting additional visitors to Medicine Hat through joint promotions and advertising. The association’s objectives are to work towards common interests and goals of the hotel industry and to have a unified voice in the community of Medicine Hat and Western Canada.

About Meetingmax:

Meetingmax Systems provides the travel industry with the most flexible online housing reservation system. Initially developed to meet the needs of Meetingmax’s meeting and event planning arm, the system provides convention and visitors bureaus, event planners, and organizations with a simple yet powerful means to manage conference and event room bookings. The company is based in Vancouver, BC and can be found online at www.meetingmaxsystems.com.

The Greater Des Moines CVB Teams Up With Meetingmax

We are thrilled to welcome our newest client, the Greater Des Moines CVB, to Meetingmax!

See Des Moines is the official convention, sports & visitor resource for Greater Des Moines which is compromised of 12 municipalities including Altoona, Ankeny, Clive, Des Moines, Grimes, Johnston, Perry, Pleasant Hill, Polk County, Urbandale, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights. ‘Each municipality has their own Chamber of Commerce, as well as unique businesses, attractions and recreation but all have the Midwestern hospitality you expect to find in Central Iowa.’

Annually, Des Moines welcomes 2.9 million visitors to the area. The CVB will use Meetingmax’s online housing reservation system to manage group housing for their events.

The Meetingmax system offers the CVB, their hotels and their planners a powerful and customizable tool that makes it simple to manage inventory. Our system can easily be customized to meet each client’s needs, which allows it to go beyond the hotel room and introduce guests to all the city has to offer.

About Meetingmax:

Meetingmax Systems provides the travel industry with the most flexible online housing reservation system. Initially developed to meet the needs of Meetingmax’s meeting and event planning arm, the system provides convention and visitor bureaus, event planners, and organizations with a simple yet powerful means to manage conference and event room bookings. The company is based in Vancouver, BC and can be found online at www.meetingmaxsystems.com. 

Book Review: Succeed - How We Can Reach Our Goals by Heidi Halvorson

Meetingmax’s July book of the month was Succeed: How we can reach our goals by psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph. D.

“The book tackles attainment of goals in every area of life from relationships to sports. Extensively reviewing past studies on self-esteem, motivation, and pursuit of goals, Halvorson sidesteps conventional notions about achieving success, particularly the idea that one should imagine oneself achieving goals easily. She cites studies showing that those who think the path is difficult invest more effort and work harder: for instance, people who believed that getting a good job after college would be easy sent out fewer applications. The ideal, Halvorson says, is to think positively about achieving one's goals but to think realistically about the effort that will be required to achieve them. Halvorson then goes on to advise readers on how to set appropriate goals, avoid obstacles, and exercise self-control to stay on track. Don't visualize success, instead visualize the steps you will take in order to succeed."  - Publishers Weekly

Meetingmax staff enjoyed the psychological standpoint of the book and appreciated the facts that supported the reasoning. As blogger, David Seah, states “If you are of an introspective nature and enjoy understanding the differences in mindset that give rise to certain behaviors, you’d find this book fascinating. If you’re looking for a DO THIS THEN THAT book, probably not.” 

All in all Meetingmax rated this book at 8.2/10 where 1 equals a book with little value one would not wish to read again, and 10 equals a fantastic book with the ability to grow an individual personally, professionally or both. We do recommend purchasing a hard copy of this book (versus an audio book) as there are some insightful questionnaires, but they are quite difficult to answer without writing down! 

DMAI 2012 - Meetingmax's Booth with a Moose