SPIN News

Issue #16
January 2012

In This Issue

Upcoming Think Tanks

Click here to see more dates and locations for the 1st Quarter SPIN Think Tanks.

Interested in IMEX Frankfurt in May?

If we have at least 10 people interested, SPIN will coordinate a senior-planner group of Hosted Buyers for this show. Click here to email us if interested.

SPINCon 2011 WINS!!!
Minnesota's Hospitality Journal's Vision Awards EVENT OF THE YEAR 

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(L to R) Ann Ruehling, Tracey Smith, Shawna Suckow, Sean Schuette, and Julie Ann Schmidt

Read the SPIN Blog

If you wish to be a guest blogger and contribute an article, email sara@spinplanners.com

We Thank Our 
Global Sponsors & Preferred Suppliers!

Global Sponsors
Supporting Sponsors
Click Here for the Full List

Quick Links

Events
Join SPIN
Preferred Suppliers

Hosted Buyer Programs

SPIN is participating in Hosted Buyer Programs all across the U.S. and overseas: click here to be notified when we head to cities of interest to you.

Your Input Needed

  • Do you have a success story?
  • Do you want to be featured as an In-Transition Member of the Month?

Send your story to Shawna at shawna@spinplanners.com.

If you have suggestions on how to make this newsletter more beneficial, please let us know.

I’M SO FRUSTRATED!!!!
By Shawna Suckow, CMP

As President of this association, please allow me to vent some of my frustration about our Think Tanks.  This is not just venting for venting’s sake; I want everyone’s input in keeping with our philosophy of being BY Planners, FOR Planners.

We need to fix or eliminate our quarterly Think Tanks.  They’re not working.  We began holding Think Tanks in 2009 as a response to member requests to meet face-to-face. For those who haven’t attended, Think Tanks are our local “chapter meetings” where we network, connect and learn from one another via round table discussions on topics the local or national committee has selected.

For the past two years, we’ve tried discounts, freebies, begging, fantastic topics, a variety of venues, and turning over the messaging to local members.  Yet attendance still only reaches 9 people like last week in NYC where we have 200 members!!  We’ve had to cancel countless Think Tanks due to lack of attendees.  It’s so frustrating for the local committees, it’s disappointing for the host venue plus the occasional sponsor we may have, it’s embarrassing for SPIN, and it’s an incredible waste of the time and brilliance of my colleagues here at SPIN and across the nation.    

SPIN is different. We are building something that has never existed before in our industry: an association that thinks and acts differently, and makes major decisions only with your input.  You are our lifeblood, and you get your needs met by SPIN ONLY when you tell us what those needs are.  For those of you who live in Think Tank cities yet choose to be passive members:  you’re letting your colleagues determine what’s best for you, and we can’t meet your unique needs without your input and participation. 

Clearly, you are telling us that face-to-face SPIN meetings aren’t valuable to you in their current format.

Questions for you:
  • What are the shortcomings of these events?
  • Should the format completely change to happy hours, or small mastermind groups, or ??    
  • Do these events work better when one of us from the SPIN staff is present to facilitate?
  • If you haven’t participated in a Think Tank offered in your home city, why not?
  • If you have participated and no longer attend, why not?

What can we change to re-engage with you and get you to participate more fully?

How you can respond:
  1. Anonymously:  Take the survey here
  2. Via LinkedIn: this has been posted on the SPIN Discussion Board and you can leave your comments.
  3. Via Webinar:  We will be available for you to share your thoughts with us directly, just choose the time/date and join the live discussion. (the password all the webinars below is ThinkTank)
     - February 2 – 3 pm CST - click here to join or add it to your calendar
     - February 8 – 9:30 am CST - click here to join  or add it to your calendar 
     - February 8 – 2:30 pm CST - click here to join  or add it to your calendar
  4. Email me your thoughts directly. 

Thanks for letting me vent; now, it’s your turn!

Some thoughts about Think Tanks by 
SPIN Member Michael Vennerstrom, 
President, Equinox Creative  

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As a member of the Twin City chapter’s Think Tank planning committee, I’ve spent quite a bit of time discussing the original concept and weighing the reality vs. the potential of these events … and I’m confused.  I understand SPIN’s philosophy of “For Planners, By Planners,” but in light of the declining Think Tank attendance in most chapters, I question why these events aren’t meeting member’s needs.

I have not had the privilege of attending Think Tanks in other cities (an issue I plan to rectify soon), but my experience with my local Think Tanks has been a mixed bag.  My first experience was a rather disjointed discussion that seemed to wander from topic to topic without in-depth discussion or new ideas.  The second was a CSR brainstorming session for a local charity that, while fulfilling, didn’t meet my needs as a third-party planner in a changing marketplace.

I originally joined SPIN because I felt isolated and needed the inspiration and guidance of my peers … senior planners who understood the issues I face and were willing to share their experiences in dealing with them.  My expectation was that the Think Tanks were the forum for those discussions.

After discussion and consideration, I have come to these conclusions:
  1. The only way to create value in this organization is to participate in the organization.  I can’t sit back and expect Shawna, Tracey, Sara and a few volunteers to anticipate and meet my needs.  As a SPIN member, I have a responsibility to engage, sharing my knowledge and experience with other members.  The more I give, the more I’ll get.
  2. Keep the topics relevant.  SPIN offers clear instructions on selecting topics for each Think Tank.  We need to use the process to ensure that we are discussing topics that are important to the attendees.
  3. Think Tanks need strong facilitators.  Facilitating a discussion among strong personalities is very difficult, but it’s essential to maintaining focus and participation.  Every chapter needs to identify one or two members who are skilled facilitators and use them every quarter.  We can rotate the other Think Tank responsibilities but strong facilitation ensures the discussions produce value to the attendees. 
  4. Keep Think Tanks, Think Tanks.   Like anything else, it will take practice to perfect our SPIN Think Tanks.  When other event opportunities come up (like CSR brainstorming), make them in addition to our quarterly forums.  

SPIN Think Tanks can be a powerful tool for the exchange of ideas and solutions among experienced planners.  But without our active participation, they will lose their value and die out.  I encourage every SPIN member to get involved and contribute to your local Think Tank because support and interaction are the lifeblood of this organization. 

Submitted by Heather Mason
President at A Caspian Production, Inc. 
San Francisco Bay Area

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We were doing a conference in a very old city in Europe... We had been worried about the power because of all the A/V we were putting in a building from 1657, but had been overruled to get a back-up generator. 

Needless to say, the power went out 1 hour before the VIPs and attendees were to arrive (Head of state, queen, nobel prize winner, etc, etc). I gave out every credit card I had to a different member of the A/V staff and said they needed to get a generator into the courtyard outside the building in 45 mins. 

Normally that requires city permits, etc, but we called a crane company, and got a generator the size of a massive freezer delivered to the courtyard and hooked up in 40 mins without any permission at all. It cost an arm and a leg but it was worth it. I think I gained several white hairs that day!  They listened next time we wanted to buy 'power' insurance.
I’ve heard this pet peeve from different suppliers all over North America:  with the advent of venue search tools like Cvent, planners are “shotgunning” RFPs out, meaning rather than sending to a select group of qualified properties after doing a little due diligence, we are hitting “send” to dozens and dozens of properties without realizing the repercussions.  

Combined with the less-than-ideal deadlines we impose, this is leading to:  
1) Suppliers not having enough time to thoroughly read the mountain of proposals coming across their desk daily, and 
2) Suppliers realizing that their chances are slimmer at winning the business when they’re up against dozens of competitors and they often times were just chosen indiscriminately.  

Remember, they’re doing more with less these days, just like we are.  Is it any wonder we’re not getting the thorough, customized, error-free proposals we expect, on deadline, with perfect and well-thought-out responses to every request we’ve outlined?  I’m sure you’re not guilty of this, but if you’re mentoring someone, or managing a team, make sure they aren’t either!
Recently, SPIN introduced different levels of paid membership.  These levels are optional and Basic Membership will continue to be free.  By "optional," we mean that you only support SPIN if you feel it delivers value to you, and you believe in what we're doing.  SPIN cannot continue to provide services, keep the group planners-only, and grow, if we don't have your support!  With SPIN, you can determine how much to support us based on value brought to you (Crazy, we know).  

Details on each level are available on www.spinplanners.com/join-spin.html but here's a summary:
  • Elite Membership - annual fee of $200 -  access to the LinkedIn group and online member directory, discounts from a growing list of industry and non-industry companies, a $100 discount on SPINCon registration, free access to a growing library of senior-level educational webinars, and a year's worth of free Think Tank events.
  • Supporter Membership - annual fee of $50 - access to the LinkedIn group and online member directory, discounts  on all SPIN events, which include Think Tanks, Webinars, and SPINCon
  • Regular Membership - free - access to the LinkedIn group and online member directory

To become either an Elite or Supporter member, please visit  spinplanners.memberlodge.com 

By Tracey Smith, CMP, CMM

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I was fortunate to tag along on a familiarization trip sponsored by NH Hoteles to warm and lovely Buenos Aires, Argentina, last December, travelling from the 45th parallel north to the 45th parallel south, so a quarter of the way around the planet. More specifically, it was 13 hours in the air, gate to gate; and, all of the flights are overnight. I left winter and landed in sunny summer!

NH has about six hotels in the area and we toured five of them. We stayed at the NH City & Tower Hotel in the heart of downtown, which is really two hotels in one, with meeting space in both buildings and a connecting walkway between them. The rooms were very modern and I appreciated the vanity outside of the spacious bathroom.

We also toured the NH Lancaster in the heart of the financial district, which had gorgeous marble everywhere. Our Spanish lunch there was divine! The NH 9 de Julio hotel is on the widest boulevard in the world (9 lanes wide on either side). It is centrally located for tourists and business people and offers a truly panoramic view of the city. Its four meeting rooms can easily handle 150+ people for banquets or meetings. 
 The NH Tango embodies the “porteňo” spirit: the dance of the Tango. From the lobby to the guest rooms, touches of passionate red are everywhere, and the tango theater at street-level perpetuates that passion. This hotel has only one meeting room off the restaurant, so excellent for a small executive briefing. The 60-year-old NH Crillon has a French influence and comfort suitable for its downtown location near the San Martin Square and Florida Street (shoppers’ mecca). This hotel had 
the most meeting space, with one floor having natural light and the other all enclosed (below street-level). The lovely restaurant looks over the park across the street, and everyone in our party devoured the creamy, cold dessert artfully served at lunch!  

Buenos Aires is a very modern city, with Wifi all over and pretty much anything one might need for a meeting. The people are friendly and many speak English in addition to their native Spanish. Similar to New York, there are very distinct neighborhoods that represent the people who originally settled there from Spain, other areas of Europe and eventually Asia. My favorite was the brightly colored La Boca, where residents use leftover paint from the ships in Puerto Madero to paint their houses. San Telmo is filled with historic buildings and churches and had a great square teeming with merchants and tango dancers. Palermo was where we found many little carnitas, or steak houses, as well as the Secret Bar. We ate (and drank) very well during our stay!


The cultural side of Buenos Aires included a show on the life of Eva (Evita) Peron, the beloved leader of the people in the 1940s. We were treated to a dinner and show at Tango Café de los Angelitos, a series of tango dances that were impressive with their precise timing, sensuality and beauty. As we learned, the dance is a series of opposite steps by the man and then the woman. It made perfect sense.