Greetings! Back by popular demand, Opus Solutions has resurrected "News to Plan By!"

News to Plan By is our monthly "snapshot" of what is happening in the industry, as well as here at Opus Solutions. Within this newsletter, you will find important tips, trends and links to valuable articles from the industry's top resources. The newsletter will be distributed at the beginning of each month.

We welcome your feedback at anytime, and look forward to your input on what you would like to see in future issues. Please contact us at ntpb@opus-solutions.com. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please REPLY to this email and type "REMOVE" in the subject line.

Top 6 Trends in Corporate Events
Companies like Novell are investing more in customer events to capture their best audience and deepen the discussion without competitors around. In return, they're holding intermediaries to iron-clad budgets, emphasizing education and peer-to-peer interaction and joining up with strategic partners. How will these trends impact corporate events in 2005?

Read full article
Source: Expo, February 2005

 

Ten Tips for A+ Lead Systems:
Marketers under the gun to show a return for their investments are now recognizing that every lead that falls through the cracks is lost revenue. As a result, lead-generation systems are being upgraded in a big way for 2005. So how do you close the loop? A consistent, systemized approach is required.

Read full article
Source: Source: Event Marketer, November 2004

 

Better Connections
The Internet has become the b-to-b event marketer's best friend. From building excitement to extending the event, online is turning out to be the perfect partner for face-to-face. PalmOne has halved its attrition rate, doubled attendance, and enhanced audience quality for its road shows with a variety of electronic communications. Cisco Systems has extended its users group conference into an ongoing, year-round presence that attracts customers who didn't even attend the live event.

"Our event Web site gives our event a home, forms a community, and serves as a point of access for further resources," says Noah Maffitt, Office Depot's director of e-commerce. The end results are greater participation, enhanced customer loyalty, and networking between customers."

Read full article
Source: Event Marketer, April 2005

 

Hotel Construction Booming
Hotel developers will start construction on 98,000 guest rooms this year, a 21.5-percent increase over last year, the sharpest increase since 1997.

Read full article
Source: Successful Meetings, May 2005

Back to top

Westin Seattle - Seattle, WA
The Westin Seattle is located in downtown Seattle with beautiful views of the Space Needle and the Sound. Only valet parking is available through the hotel, but public garages are located nearby.

Meeting space is found on several different floors, and an escalator and elevator connects the different floors to one another. On each floor is a marquee stating the name of the meetings and the floor the meeting is on, and there is also ample space to set out directional signage. There are a total of 15 different meeting rooms, and the largest room is 18,030 square feet. The hotel is very clean and prides itself on its excellent service. The newly renovated lobby is beautiful, and is now complete with WiFi access. Through June, the North Tower guest rooms will be under renovation

The meeting rooms and sleeping rooms are both equipped with high speed internet access. www.westin.com/seattle

Back to top

...AMI, Airport Marketing Income, a joint venture of Opus Solutions and the Center for Airport Management, has recently installed a major "first impression" Promotional Campaign for SAP, SAPPHIRE 05 Boston. AMI strategically placed unique graphics throughout the Boston Logan International Airport to create a conference "first touch" to attendees arriving for the event. This promotional program included the wrapping of information booths, banners in all terminals to parking garage pedestrian bridges, and a 7' x 30' wall graphic seen by passengers in Terminal B (Logan's main commuting terminal) in concert with promotional material supporting the event.

The most impressive branding statement for SAP is a dramatic graphic which is a 12' x 120' on the exterior of a pedestrian bridge, which is seen by all road traffic traveling through the airport, more than 7.8 million potential consumers each month.

For more information on AMI, please visit www.airportmarketingincome.com or contact Brad Jersey, COO, at bjersey@opus-solutions.com.

(Click photos to enlarge.)

Back to top

Unique Venues
http://www.uniquevenues.com

Airwise - The Airport and Air Travel Guide
http://www.airwise.com/airports

Spa Finder - Looking for a Spa for Customer Retreat? Or for Yourself!
http://www.spafinder.com

Back to top