Did you Know?
This time of year people everywhere are purchasing costumes, hanging up spooky decorations and most importantly, stocking up on candy. Whether you love Halloween or are the first to roll your eyes at your neighbor’s elaborate yard display, most of us end up “trick or treating” ourselves whether we’d like to admit it or not… How couldn’t you?? The candy aisle at the grocery store is impossible to miss (and ignore).
It is estimated that consumers spend $4.6 billion on confectionary products, according to the National Confectioners Association. In fact, this year’s sales have been higher than ever since the U.S. went into lockdown in March. Chocolate sales have risen 4.5 percent! Anyone know what the most popular Halloween candy in America is? …Believe it or not, it’s Skittles! Check out what Halloween candy is most popular in your state here!
5 Things to Know in October
- Your colleagues are discussing virtual museum tours, e-gift card services, virtual event certification recommendations and more on TheNetwork. Join them!
- To help navigate the abundance of resources we have to offer, FICP has created resource bundles! These bundles include a variety of webinar recordings, videos, TheBlog posts, and more to help simplify and gather some of the most important topics and resources for you to access with ease. Check them out here!
- You’ve got questions and our community has answers. Check out MeetingsNet’s round up of the latest FICP Chats that answer questions about the future of meetings. Access the recordings on TheNetwork.
- Wondering how to best manage partner relationships during these difficult times? Check out this article over on TheBlog.
- FICP has joined the COVID RELIEF NOW Coalition calling for “No Recess without Relief” urging Congress to pass additional COVID economic relief that the travel industry desperately needs. Join us and take action today by demanding your Congress leaders to finish the work they started! Learn more and access this toolkit of resources to help you get started.
FICP: Reimagined
So much more than a Zoom meeting, FICP: Reimagined will be hosted on a virtual platform that centralizes and enhances your experience, while allowing you to earn 12+ CMP credits through access to all recorded breakout sessions for up to 30 days post-event (more than what you could receive by attending the live event!) This year’s virtual event already has more meetings professionals registered than any FICP Annual Conference! Don’t miss out. Learn more and register today!
Hospitality Partners: If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please contact sponsorship@ficpnet.com. Hospitality partners may also attend without a sponsorship. Take advantage of this opportunity to connect with more meetings professionals than ever before. Register now!
FICP's 19th Annual Silent Auction
The 2020 FICP Silent Auction will benefit The Above and Beyond Foundation's Helping Hospitality Urgent Aid Grant Program, which awards $500 virtual VISA cards to those in the hospitality industry that have gone above and beyond but have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Help contribute to the success of the auction by making a donation. We are currently accepting item and monetary donations online at www.ficp.givesmart.com.
Strategic Leaders Event Registration Now Open!
Applications for the 2020 FICP Strategic Leaders Virtual Event are now open. This unique opportunity for senior meetings professionals to network and learn from one another in a collaborative, virtual format is open to FICP members with at least 10 years of management experiences who currently oversee meeting planning functions. Apply now to attend the Strategic Leaders Virtual Event December 7-9, 2020.
Hospitality Partners: If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please contact sponsorship@ficpnet.com.
October Webinar: Health Security and Hospitality 2.0
Ensuring the safety and wellness of attendees is paramount to the return of meetings – this has not changed since our initial panel discussion, "Health Security & Hospitality," held back in June – view here. However, what has changed since we last met in June to connect on our industry? Tune in to part two of this panel conversation on Thursday, October 29 at 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. CDT, to hear from those working on business recovery plans and standards for the hospitality and events industry, as well as legal and medical perspectives. Register now to join the conversation.
Moderated by:
Heidi Carlisle, Second Vice President, Travel, Meetings & Incentives, Aflac
Featuring:
Michael Dominguez, CHSE, President and CEO, Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI)
Jonathan Spero, M.D., CEO, InHouse Physicians
Liz Warwick, Vice President, Meeting Management and Event Strategy, Liberty Mutual
Barbara Dunn, Partner, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Join Our Next FICP Chats: Engagement Strategies for Your Team and Your Attendees
Seven months into the pandemic, how do you beat Zoom fatigue and keep people engaged and motivated? During our next FICP Chats, Engagement Strategies for Your Team and Your Attendees, on October 22, at 1:00 p.m. CDT, Jen Squeglia, CMP will moderate a discussion with others on innovative and creative techniques – whether it be for yourself, your team, co-workers and/or meeting attendees.
Topics include:
- Networking Activities
- Teambuilding
- Games
- Musical Entertainment
- CSR
- Gifting
Register now!
Tune Into the Latest FICP Anytime Podcast: How to Host an In-Person Event in the Age of COVID
Wondering what your first in-person meeting or event will look like in a COVID world? FICP member Shane Watkins, CMP, SMMC, Director of Meetings & Incentives, ALFA Mutual Insurance, has pulled it off! In this podcast, he’ll share his experience hosting two events for 500 to 1,200 attendees this summer and planning another for the fall. Tune in to learn best practices.
Topics include:
- Shane’s philosophy about the importance of meeting in-person again
- Stakeholder discussions
- Getting attendees there
- Creating a Health Security Plan
- Attendee communications
- Creative F&B and meeting sets
FICP Anytime podcasts are part of the FICP Anytime suite of on-demand, virtual education resources available to meetings professional members and hospitality partners. Learn more and access FICP Anytime podcasts here.
Incentive Travel Industry Index Reminder
Have you taken the Incentive Travel Industry Index (ITII) survey yet? The ITII is a joint venture of FICP, The Incentive Research Foundation, and SITE Foundation that seeks to provide a historical snapshot of where the industry has come from and a predictive hypothesis of where it’s going – all in one comprehensive study. In an effort to collect data and understand the future of the Travel Industry we ask you to do your part and take the 2020 survey.
Hybrid Ready: Tips for Navigating the Bridge Back to Meeting for Finance and Insurance Companies
FICP and Smart Meetings are excited to offer a co-sponsored webinar, “Hybrid Ready: Tips for Navigating the Bridge Back to Meeting for Finance and Insurance Companies” on October 20 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. Presented by Jennifer Squeglia, CMP, this strategic discussion will highlight the steps meeting professionals are taking to ensure everyone feels safe while getting business done in each aspect of meetings and events, from initial communications and travel, F&B and agenda to event tech and engagement. Learn from those actively planning who have agreed to share their experiences through FICP’s Chats series.
Learn more and save your spot here!
October Member of the Month: Victoria De La Garza, CMP
Get to know our featured member this month! Victoria De La Garza, CMP, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Events at NEXT Financial Group shares why she chooses to be involved in FICP and the value she has gained over the years. Say hi and congratulate her in the TheNetwork!
Congratulations to this New CMP
FICP would like to recognize the following member for earning the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation in September from the Events Industry Council (EIC). The CMP program was launched in 1985 to enhance the knowledge and performance of meeting professionals, promote the status and credibility of the meeting profession and advance uniform standards of practice. Congratulations!
Alyssa Potts, Transamerica
Learn more about the CMP and FICP’s Preferred Provider status.
Strategic Partner Profiles
| |
 |
|
| |
Kevin J. Regan, Global Director, Charters and Incentives
Royal Caribbean Group: The Value of an FICP Strategic Partnership
With endorsement from parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, four major cruise lines (all cruise line details accessed through the link below) have forged a strategic partnership with FICP for a number of reasons and benefits:
- An opportunity to connect with highly qualified buyers in the financial services and insurance sector(s)
- FICP provides a variety of annual forums; small and large scale, for meeting with both newly formed and long-standing friendships and partnerships
- A broad array of targeted educational segments offering insights into the FICP meeting professionals' world and that of the hospitality partners
- Ability to educate FICP buyers on hospitality partner products through conversation and “soft selling”
- Unique destination experiences which can only be had through association with FICP
- A myriad of fellow hospitality partners provides synergy for guidance, introduction opportunities, possible business leads
- The chance to participate at a higher level through volunteerism on various initiatives and appropriate boards
- Website recognition and marketing communication opportunities
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Jennifer Attersall, Director of Sales, Business Events, Destination Canada
While it has become apparent that around the world, all industries have been impacted by COVID-19, it is an overarching belief that business events will rebound. It is not a matter of if, but when, and which segments will come back first. Destination Canada’s Response, Recovery and Resilience plan for emerging from COVID-19 identifies those sectors and industries that will not only survive, but thrive, coming out of the pandemic. We know that when the time is right to meet again, business events will play a critical role in supporting economic recovery for our partners, communities, and the world’s business events industry.
The finance and insurance sector has been identified as one of the resilient industries emerging from the pandemic. As active members of FICP we are able to tap into shared intelligence that’s so valuable to our industry’s recovery. Our membership affords us the opportunity to stay in touch, engage in thoughtful dialogue, share Canada’s ‘glowing hearts’ stories of inspiration and innovation. Connecting with influencers, planners and decision-makers is made easier in this work-from-home world when we can participate in FICP webinars and virtual events. Sharing a ‘hello from Canada' is made easier when we can tap into FICP’s video and email campaigns and interesting stories shared on the FICP blog. We hope that by sharing stories of Canada’s leadership, vibrant cities, wide open spaces, and unique incentive experiences, FICP members will be inspired to consider Canada for future events, when the time is right.
We’ve learned time and again throughout COVID-19 that staying connected is paramount, and that holds true whether we are in crisis or not. Our industry, by its very nature, helps establish and nurture networks, and fuels personal and professional growth. The educational and networking opportunities provided by FICP strengthen our understanding of the industry as a whole and shed insights on the specific trends that will impact the industry going forward. Having such depth of knowledge not only helps Canada form solutions to the pressing industry issues and trends, but it helps our strategic partners—DMOs, DMCs, and others— develop their own unique strategies to address planners' needs coming out of the pandemic. And isn’t that what strategic partnership is all about? Staying connected, leveraging intelligence to benefit all partners?
We all look forward to the day when corporate and incentive travel can resume. When we can welcome your top performers to ski Whistler and Tremblant, two of North America’s top ski resorts (but only part of the landscape for unique winter incentives that Canada can offer). We eagerly await the day when we can swing for the trees, golfing world-class courses from Vancouver Island in the west, to Cabot Links in the east, and Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, and everywhere in between. When we can celebrate together over award-winning Canadian wines, a traditional east-coast kitchen party, or a sugar shack event. When we can witness the wonder of nature on a polar safari, under the dancing Northern Lights, or listen together to the sound of loons calling across the stillness of a mountain lake as the stars appear overhead. When we can taste the mosaic of cultures influencing Canadian cuisine in culinary hotspots like Québec City, Montréal, and St. John’s, Newfoundland. When we can be astounded together, watching 10,000 year old icebergs float past the acclaimed Fogo Island Inn, in the heart of Iceberg Alley.
These, and so many more indelible experiences will be waiting for FICP members when the time to travel returns. In the meantime stay inspired to meet in Canada: download our Canada is Calling podcast, explore Canada from home, or discover your next meeting or incentive destination through our unique, Canadian Signature Incentive Experience Collection.
With glowing hearts,
CANADA
|
|
FICP Welcomes New Members and Partners
Meetings Professionals:
Paul Bisberg, Cigna
Emily Busic, Truist
Liza Cameron, American Fidelity
Tammy Hammond, Truist
Amy Harris, SMMC, Truist
Melissa Norris, Truist
Deena Petrou-Winter, Manulife
Sarah Sapp, Truist
Kasey Sinclair, Safety National
Adam Tillotson, LISI
Desiree Wooldridge, CMM, CMP, AllianceBernstein
Hospitality Partners
Alice Baumstark, Langham Hotels & Resorts
Kim Isola-Brickweg, Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress
Kathi Kelly, KSL Resorts
James McHenry, Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park
Micheele Olewinski, Fairmont Austin
David Rome, CMP, DMCP, BBC Destination Management
Jason Sabin, Langham Hotels & Resorts
Joseph Sanchez, Resorts World Las Vegas
Carina Taylor, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Angela Trunzo, Destination Canada
Stacey Turner-Bruckert, Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa
2020 FICP Strategic Partners
Double Diamond
|
Diamond
|
Emerald
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
 |
|
All Other Partners
|
| ACCESS Destination Services |
AZA Events, Inc. |
The Broadmoor |
Preferred Hotels & Resorts |
| Disney Meetings and Events |
DMC Network |
Fiesta Americana Hotels |
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority |
| Global DMC Partners |
Island Partners Hawai'i |
JPDL Destination Management Canada |
Visit Newport Beach |
| |
Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings |
|