Getting Ready For PACE 2009

And We’re Off
The day after Labor Day always kicks off the busiest time in our preparations for PACE. What some people don’t know is that many of the plans for the convention have been years in the making. Following each convention, we’ve kept the hotels in New Orleans informed of our room pick ups to make sure we have blocked enough rooms and to also make sure that we can meet our room block. We also follow up with the convention center to make sure we have enough meeting rooms reserved because for the most part, it’s a guessing game. The number of programs changes, companies request meeting space for sales meetings and committees want to meet to discuss new initiatives.

But, once we launch the website after Labor Day, it’s time to get serious. The education committees are busy confirming the speakers, exhibit sales begin to increase and I concentrate on the logistics.

I’m here in New Orleans laying the groundwork for February and the city is ready for us. As a matter of fact, exactly one month before we’re here for PACE, I’ll be here for the annual meeting for meeting planners that I attend. So you know that New Orleans must be open for business if they’re hosting thousands of meeting professionals and hospitality industry executives.

My taxi arrived at 4:45 am for a 6:00 am flight out of Dulles Airport in the Washington, DC area. Why so early? I had a full day of meetings scheduled before our general service contractor and audiovisual provider join me on Wednesday afternoon for a day of going through meeting rooms and the exhibit hall to determine exactly where things were going.

I flew through Atlanta and my flights were on time and the skies were blue. I met a very nice person who sat next to me from DC to Atlanta. She had been attending a meeting in DC for entrepreneurs and she was heading back to Jacksonville to celebrate with her daughter who just passed the Florida Bar exam.

The trip to Atlanta to New Orleans gave me an opportunity to speak to someone who lived in Fort Meade in Maryland and was going to New Orleans for some software training.

Air Tran did a great job and the ticket was not outrageously expensive. I did a carry on and I had no problem getting my back in the overhead compartment.

I am staying at the Sheraton and the folks I’m meeting with are staying at the Marriott, our co-headquarters hotels. Both are directly across from each other on Canal St. and just a few short blocks from Bourbon St.

I have stayed at the Sheraton many times for other meetings and during the New Orleans Jazz Fest so when I arrived, I felt right at home. A good friend of mine who works in sales at the hotel met me outside and we made plans to meet in the lobby bar at 5 where we were meeting another friend who use to work for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.
I’ve known Margo at least 15 years when she was at the Fairmont Hotel so we did have a lot to catch up on.

My first meeting was at the convention center at 1:00 pm. So an hour before the meeting I walked the 6-8 blocks to the center and then went to every meeting room we have reserved to see if the meetings I assigned to those rooms would work. The walk was lovely and if I could do it in my stilettos, anyone can do it. But not to worry, we will provide shuttle transportation from our headquarters hotels.

Let’s Talk Turkey
The center looks good. The paint is fresh, the wallcovering looks good and the carpet is relatively new. I met with our convention service manager and went over the overall look of our show, our outside vendors and filled her in on what we are all about. Then the food and beverage person joined us – good think I had had a filling lunch of pretzels and diet coke because all the talk of food made me think of biting into a shrimp po’boy and I’m a vegan.

Sneak Preview: The Welcome Reception sponsored by Carboline is going to be fabulous. As they say, “when in Rome...” We’ll have lots of food that New Orleans is known for, Mufalettas, red beans and rice, gumbo – so bring your appetite.

Additional meetings were with the various services we utilize within the center: production, security, utilities, emergency services. Fortunately with the thousands of people that pass through our doors, the most we’ve ever needed emergency services for was a band-aid.

By 5:30 my meetings were over and I walked back to the hotel. I was running a little late to meet my friend but after 15 years she knows I’m not always on time.

Tomorrow’s meetings include the Marriott Hotel, going on site to a Habitat for Humanity project and going back to the convention center with our general service contractor and audiovisual provider. It’s going to get technical.

After work hours:

Margo was waiting for me when I returned so we immediately started catching up on what’s going on at the hotel. They’re in the process of installing new escalators which will be completed by November. Everything else will stay the same and that’s a good thing.

The hotel is in great condition – there’s a spacious lobby bar where everyone meets to make their evening plans. The Starbuck’s located off the lobby was doing a brisk business and I could see afternoon runners returning to the hotel.
Of course we talked about the recent mandatory evacuation during Gustav. She and her family decided to make it a vacation and they went to Orlando for a week. That’s what I call turning lemons into lemonade!

Margo wasn’t joining me for dinner but my other friend Laurene came and she too said she took her family to Destin, FL for some fun in the sun during the hurricane. However, when they returned she did go exploring the levees and was amazed at how well they stood up to the storm. Afterall, she lost her home in Katrina 3 years ago. Now she lives on the third floor of a condo building and loves it.

It’s Dinner Time

Okay, with all the food choices in New Orleans, she wanted to go to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in the Harrah’s Hotel. She’s so proud of her city’s accomplishments after Katrina, she wanted to show me. Plus she wanted to give me some backstory.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau does not sell Harrah’s Hotel. Harrah’s fills that hotel with transient business (business travelers, people not traveling with a convention) and most importantly – high rollers. Interesting in my opinion since it’s a 26-story marvel, with 450 oversized luxurious rooms and suites that takes a lot of money to keep it running. They do have some lovely meeting space but its used for more corporate events.

The restaurant was fabulous and for some reason when we walked in Laurene told them it was my birthday. Everyone came to our table to wish me a happy birthday – talk about embarrassing – a man from another table with about 12 people came over and said it was his birthday and was happy to share such a splendid day with me. Little did he know my birthday is really Christmas Even and I stopped celebrating them once I turned 21.

Now you just may ask what a vegan was doing in a steak house – well they always seem to have the best salads and the biggest baked potatoes in the world – they didn’t disappoint me. Portions were big and everything was wonderful.

Laurene’s filet looked great and it was cooked to her expectations. She decided not to get the creamed spinach since I was eating healthy and opted for the broccoli – it all was fabulous.

After dinner, as we were walking back to the Sheraton, Laurene asked if I wanted to stop in and see the Windsor Court Hotel. It’s a beautiful Mobil Four Stars and AAA Four Diamonds luxury hotel. Most of the rooms are all suite accommodations and they serve high tea each afternoon. When you walk in, the smell of the fresh cut roses that are displayed in the center of the lobby, take your breath away. Now I truly understand the old saying of “stop and smell the roses.”

We walked the couple of short blocks back to the Sheraton and Laurene pointed out a few things that were very interesting. The Lowes Hotel was built atop an old building. The façade of the first few floors are the face of the original building but above that is all new. There are beautiful views of the Mississippi River and from what I understand, the Swizzle Stick Bar is one of the hottest places in town with live entertainment Friday and Saturday nights.

Tomorrow’s an early day and I want to get a run in before I get started so it’s off to sleep.