SPIN: The Senior Planners Industry Network

Issue #14

November 2011

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.

• 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.

This month, SPIN proudly celebrates our third anniversary!  As the industry's newest and fastest-growing association, we're very proud of what we've accomplished and how we've done things differently, all with the wonderful support of our 2,300 members.

Our third anniversary brings an exciting new opportunity for us to expand and grow, while keeping our motto at heart: we are BY Planners, FOR Planners.  At our first annual SPINCon this past June, we asked you if we were to create a special Elite level of membership, what would it be worth to you?  Would you consider paying a membership fee if you believed in the value of SPIN, and if so, what should that fee be?

We surveyed all of you this summer, so each of you would have an opportunity to weigh in on this topic, and share with us what benefits would be valuable to you.  We thank the hundreds of you who responded candidly and supportively.  We realize for our group to flourish, we need to take major new steps with you, not just implement them and tell you about them later. 

So with your overwhelming support, we are creating an optional, elite level of membership that you only purchase if you believe in what SPIN does, and see value in what the Elite Membership offers you.

Full Elite Membership details are available on www.spinplanners.com/join-spin.html but here's a summary: for an annual fee of $200, you receive 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.

SPECIAL THANK YOU BONUSES:
If you become an Elite Member before the end of the year, you receive membership through the end of 2012. So if you join now, that's two extra months of Elite Membership.  PLUS, everyone who joins before the end of this year will hold the special designation of Charter Elite Member, and will receive a special Charter Elite Member logo that you can showcase on your business cards, email signature block, website, etc. 

If $200 is too much right now, but you still want to show your support for the association and help us continue to grow, we're also offering a new SPIN Supporting Member level at $50, which comes with some perks as well (visit the website for the full details).

Basic Membership will continue to be free for those who cannot support the association's efforts at this time.

This is a new type of association that has not previously existed in our industry, or anywhere else that we're aware of.  We've been called an "un-association by TSNN, and our model of members-up decision-making was featured in the new book, "The End of Membership As We Know It," by Sarah Sladek.

We hope that by creating optional membership levels that you will see yet another way we strive to be different, innovative, and all about earning your support, not requiring it.

Please come along with us as we enter this exciting new era for SPIN, and for you, the members who believe in what we're creating and the potential for what SPIN can become.

Registration links and more details can be found at www.spinplanners.com/live-think-tanks.html

Why should you find a SPIN Think Tank in your region? You have to get up from your messy desk, put on outerwear if you’re up north, and drive to a venue that wants to strut their stuff hoping you’ll book with them. All for two hours of talking and a cookie?

Okay, so what if we said you were going to get the answers to your current work problems? What if we tell you that you’re going to get a great idea for your next meeting from another member? How about if we promise you will be reinvigorated from sharing with your peers?

SPIN Think Tanks are almost as good as a gym workout. You refocus your mind on issues pertinent to the industry and fellow planners. The decades of experience in the room empower you to blast through those pesky questions you have about your own meetings.  In the end, you will have stretched your brain muscles and shared connections with other senior-level planners who “get” you.

Don’t worry, those reports and task lists will be waiting for you when you return to the office. But, you will be refreshed, stronger and ready to make a difference for your attendees and employers.

Check out the dates and locations on the website at http://www.spinplanners.com/live-think-tanks.html. You are welcome to attend Think Tanks anywhere your travels take you.

Oh, and go ahead and have that cookie. You probably skipped lunch today!

By Shawna Suckow, CMP

I recently traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, for a mini-fam and to deliver an educational seminar for the area’s suppliers.  I have to admit, I didn’t even know it was the home of the famous Biltmore mansion.  My only preconceived notions about Asheville were that it was a small town with lots of old money, based on no factual knowledge, just sheer conjecture based on the sound of the city’s name (great way to judge a place, right?!).

In actuality, Asheville is…

Historic.
Of course there’s the exquisite Biltmore Mansion and Estate, which demands (and deserves) a half-day visit and tour when you’re in town.  There’s also the wonderful, fantastic, can’t-say-enough-about-how-great-it-is hotel called The Grove Park Inn.  It’s been a respite for U.S. Presidents and other world figures for decades and decades.

Artsy-Fartsy.
Asheville has the coolest community of artists of all kinds – it’s called the River Arts District, and it attracts hundreds of artists from all over the country who relocate to be part of this funky, eclectic community.  Many of them open up their working studios for private events where attendees can mingle amidst painters, weavers, potters; you name it, they’re probably in Asheville. 

Friendly.
The people in Asheville are a melting pot of hippies, artists, musicians, pink-haired students, and regular, boring people like you and me.  A common thread of friendliness was evident wherever we went, from the CVB to the suppliers we visited, to complete strangers.

Irresistible to Foodies.
Three of the four people in our mini-fam had serious and varied food allergies, and Asheville’s multitude of specialty restaurants didn’t bat an eye in accommodating all of us without a big fuss.  Asheville is one of the most food-friendly cities for those with gluten issues – every restaurant we visited has a gluten-free menu.

By Tracey B. Smith, CMM, CMP

Asheville lives up to its hype—it’s a beautiful, relaxed, historical, modern, cutting-edge mid-sized town. And, the Great Smoky Mountains are the perfect backdrop.

Grove Park Inn
You have to consider your meeting’s goals and objectives to determine which property to use. The Grove Park Inn (www.groveparkinnmeetings.com), north of downtown and where we stayed, is built into the mountainside and has a relaxed resort atmosphere that’s able to accommodate a corporate meeting. The Inn has more than 37,000 square feet of indoor meeting space spread over two wings of the resort, and more than 15,000 square feet of outdoor (exposed) event space that incorporates the fantastic mountain views and abundant rocking chairs. The Vanderbilt Wing contains the larger selection of ballroom and breakout rooms and offers the Blue Ridge Dining Room’s menu or buffet service for breakfast and lunch. The Sammons Wing contains the Heritage Ballroom and several smaller breakout suites, plus the outdoor venues and the high-end Horizons restaurant. Depending on the size of your group, they could stay in the same wing as their meeting for convenience of movement.  Of course, after you tour the spa, you’ll want to have all the meetings there!

Downtown Asheville
The downtown area has several options, depending on your needs. One North Pack (http://www.biltmore.com/catering/north_pack.asp) is an office complex with several good-sized meeting rooms or reception venues, including a roof-top balcony. We held a seminar in their ground-floor meeting room for about 40 people with catering and it was very comfortable. Floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides made the room seem bigger. Lots of restaurant options are across the street and within walking distance.

The Venue is an event space just waiting for your creative ideas for décor and catering. It has three levels between 3000-3500 square feet each, which can accommodate about 200 people for banquets on each floor. Each level has its own entrance, so you can easily share the place with another group. It would be great fun to have a social event with different food and entertainment on each floor!

Downtown Asheville also has a Civic Center on the north side, which we didn’t tour.

At Biltmore Estate
If it’s elegance you need for your meeting, you will find it on the Biltmore Estate (http://www.biltmore.com/groups/). Next to the estate itself, there’s a restaurant, Stable Café, which is literally the home’s stable converted into a dining room. The loft upstairs can be used for private events as well. On the opposite end of the estate is an open area off the gardens that can be tented for a small group. On a hill overlooking the estate and the mountains is the statue of the goddess Diana with 8,250 square feet available for tented events (restrooms already exist there). The Barn at Antler Hill Village has up to 12,150 square feet of indoor/outdoor event space. 

The Inn at Biltmore is quite elegant with views of the majority of the estate’s grounds. In fact, there is not a bad view anywhere from the ground floor areas. Their ballroom can handle 100 people classroom and they have four additional breakout rooms, the Gallery and a private dining room. This venue would be perfect for an executive retreat!

River Arts District
From the outside, the buildings look old and industrial. Walk inside and you will find vibrant, energy-filled workspaces for many types of artists who have flocked to Asheville. Many of these buildings can be used for special events and they would definitely be out-of-the-ordinary. This would also be a good place for a spouse/guest outing as the artists are very happy to stop and talk to visitors and explain the techniques for creating their wares. Check out the possibilities at http://www.exploreasheville.com/what-to-do/the-arts/river-arts-district-tour/index.aspx.

Asheville is certainly a second-tier city, but the air is crisp and clear and the residents all seem very happy. Give it try for a welcome change of pace!

By Sara Vanderbilt

It is rare to find a city where so many different restaurants offer such a wide variety of cuisines, yet all focus on a great dining experience to include being conscience of various dietary restrictions.  It was a great surprise to see this firsthand in Asheville, North Carolina. 

Earlier in 2011, the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association banded together to receive training that equipped chefs, restaurants and cafeterias on how to provide gluten-free options to their customers.  And it didn’t stop with gluten-free options.  In many restaurants, other dietary restrictions and allergens are listed on menus allowing diners to make informed decisions.   Whether at the small locally owned restaurant in the heart of Asheville or the dining room at the Grove Park Inn, chefs in Asheville want to make sure visitors have a great experience with food.  Here are some of the places where we dined during our trip.

Posana Café
Locally owned restaurant with a private dining room in the back.  Their menu uses fresh, local ingredients while taking into consideration any special dietary concerns a diner might have.  This restaurant would be a good choice in for a dine-around.

Blue Ridge Dining Room (At Grove Park Inn)
We ate breakfast at their extensive buffet, which included southern dishes like biscuits and gravy as well as an omelet bar.  During breakfast, the Executive Chef joined us and provided some background as to the local ingredients and how he could work with a group.  Again, the deliberate effort to take care of dietary needs was evident.

The Green Sage
Located in downtown Asheville, this coffee house and restaurant offers natural food options that is sure to please any visitor.  From unique salads to their creative sandwiches, every visitor will find something on their menu.  The Green Sage offers catering for meetings or events in the area.

Curaté Tapas Bar
What to do when a menu has so many options?  Have a bit of everything!  This is exactly what allowed all of us to experience some very unique dishes, like cheese stuffed piquillo peppers.   This would be a great addition to a dine-around event.

Corner Kitchen
Located in a 108-year-old house in Biltmore Village, this restaurant provides a comfortable atmosphere for all diners.  Our breakfast was a mix of the standard fare along with creative parings for their special omelets.  I think we all left with plenty of energy to take on the Biltmore Estate.

Stable Café
Located in the converted stables at Biltmore Estate, this restaurant provides fare that will please any guest.  The Stable Café provides catering and private dining options available for any meeting or event.

Horizons Dining Room (At Grove Park Inn)
A wonderful conclusion to the dining adventure we found in Asheville.  Horizons Dining Room is located at the Grove Park Inn and truly aims to please.  From the cream of mushroom soup to the Kobe beef, the chef at this restaurant delights visitors with fresh ingredients and beautiful presentation.   Their service was spot on and attentive to questions about menu items. 

Tell me about your background and how you came to be in transition.
I have been planning and managing events for corporate, non-profit and association clients since 1989.  In 2004, one of my clients got a big promotion and brought me on board as a full-time planner. Unfortunately in 2009, the entire department was eliminated, so I went back to being an independent contractor.

What do you love most about being in the industry?
I like the fact that you can take a concept, work on logistics, operations, etc., and watch it manifest into this wonderful event experience. I am always amazed at the amount of teamwork that goes into making an event successful.

What are you really good at when it comes to your work (brag a little!)?
Well now, I would have to say . . . negotiations. At the end of the day, I want to make sure that I am walking away with what is truly important to my client(s).

I am also good at putting together a great team of event professionals for an event.  My rolodex is filled with some of Chicago’s top notch suppliers and planners with whom I love to work.

If you could create the ideal job for yourself, what would it be?
I really like the variety of jobs that I get with contract work.  Working in different industries and learning how they use events to achieve their organizational goals is very interesting to me.

Are you willing/able to relocate, or do you prefer to stay put?
It would depend on the location. My husband and I are always saying that we need to move to a warmer climate (especially after last winter), but I love that anything you want to do in Chicago is always within your reach (museums, theater, restaurants, shopping, sports).  Tough competition for a new location!

You’ve heard about unconferences - those buck the system, user-powered, experiment until the cows come home face-to-face gatherings cropping up across the country. They can be a bit unpredictable (what with the content decided by the attendees and all) and even a little chaotic at times. However, it is a trend that is NOT going away.

In fact, the self-organized, crowd-controlled, bottom-up model for events and event organizations is only growing. The Senior Planner Industry Network (SPIN) is a prime example. What started out as a group on LinkedIn less than three years ago has 1,900+ members today - all senior meeting planners (no suppliers) with morw than 10 years of experience.

The story of SPIN has all the elements of a great start-up. Girl has a great career with great clients and a great salary. Girl is miserable. Girls starts group on LinkedIn for senior-level meeting planners like herself and wonders when she might get to 30 members. Group jumps to 500 members in five months. Girl walks away from career and paycheck to see where the thing might go.

Shawna Suckow was that girl. “I saw the economy and knew I was going to lose my top clients, so I realized I could stay where I was and battle it out or get out in front of this (potential)and see where it could go.” Suckow is the first to admit that she is not a visionary. She does, however, have a crystal clear idea of what senior planners want and the fact that the top-down hierarchy of yesterday is doomed.

SPIN is different then other fledgling professional groups. The members decide on nearly everything - where to meet, what to discuss, how to manage the association and how to raise funds. “It is so tempting as a senior-level planner to be a control freak. I have to fight the temptation every day, but there is no top echelon (of management)making the decisions,” Suckow says.

Instead, SPIN engages in lively exchanges on their closed LinkedIn members-only group. They survey their members on what they want out of the association and then work hard (with members) to deliver it. There is no fee to be a member and few rules. The organization is loosely glued together with a Website.

SPIN holds for-fee Webinars, a Road Show, Think Tanks (currently in 17 cities), and an annual meeting (SPINCON) to fund itself. They have developed an upgraded membership for a fee that includes some benefits not available at the basic level. Some of its programming is directed toward suppliers who sell to senior planners and all of the content is delivered by the planners themselves.

Like many start-ups, SPIN runs lean. They have laid it on the line to members that, “if you want this organization to exist, you must support it financially, and you must participate. It’s up to you.” It hasn’t scared anyone away.

Besides the bottom-up decision-making, the a-la-carte offerings, and the low barrier to membership, SPIN differs from traditional associations in other crucial ways. They are building the “community” first. The association accoutrements are secondary.

The group has a “program” they call SPIN Sibling. They collect name badges at one meeting and pass them out at another meeting (in another city). The new recipients are then charged with locating the original badge holder and connecting via social media. SPIN then asks members to report on what happened. Granted, it’s easy to do with small gatherings and a relatively small membership, but it requires thinking “outside the association.”

SPIN also focuses on what Suckow calls GSR (Geographic Social Responsibility). As they add more cities - including international destinations - to their Road Show roster, it is important for them to give back to the local community. The backpacks stuffed with school supplies help charitable groups, but projects like those also bring SPIN members closer to each other.

Clearly, SPIN is a departure from a traditional association. Even the term, “unassociation,” seems neglectful of the true spirit of the group. When I asked Shawna Suckow, where she sees SPIN in five years, she shot back, “If you knew what we were about you wouldn’t be asking that. It’s not up to me.”  SPIN could just be the (insert new category of professional community here) of the future. It’s time.