Site Inspections Oh My!!!!

Now I have mentioned many times that my job is far from glamorous and fun as most people tend to imagine, but one of the perks I must say are site inspections. This is where you get to travel to a future meeting destination you are going to book for your group. This is done after you have conducted a thorough RFP (Request for Proposal) and reviewed the hotels and venues you would like to see prior to making a final decision and contracting those hotels/venues that are the best fit for your attendees. Now these site inspections are work, the agenda is usually jam packed so you can see all you need to see and your feet probably are bleeding or throbbing when it is all done. The good thing is you do not have 100 needy attendees in tow with you nor do you have to be up at 5 am and down at midnight. You get to see some really spectacular things in the different city destinations you visit, experience some of the culture and great restaurants in the area. This week I did a site in Key West.

First I flew in on a connecting flight on this!!!! Tell me about having a sense of mortality now that I have a baby!!! wow!!!

Now not all sites are going to be the "perfect" scenario....it rained pretty much the entire time I was there. Which meant I really had to "envision" the sun with my group enjoying the different venues. Hyatt in Key West is where I stayed. Pretty gloomy outside...but nice hotel.

We checked out the Hemingway house which I think had about 50 cats living on property...weird.

and the Truman White House. Great history. Kennedy stayed there during the bay of pigs.

We checked out a catamaran which can be used for a snorkel trip or a sunset reception. Because booze cruises are ALWAYS a good time. Check!

And of course the seafood restaurants were great as well.

There are a TON of bars on Duval. It is just hopping with all different types of people. It is kind of like a 6th street in Austin with all the live music and drinkeries. With a beach feel....

By this time I have stopped by the local CVS to pick up bandaids because I have gotten my typical site inspection foot blister. Fun times. Patch myself up and continue on...I am a viking!!!!

I tried keylime pie on a stick.....blah...dont think I am a keylime fan. Oh well. Too bad everything here revolves around key lime something.

Still it continues to rain.......and I look like a wet dog...and my foot hurts.

After all was said and done and I am at the airport getting my power point presentation ready for my executive team in order to make my recommendations.....my flight is delayed.......oh the travelling life of a meeting planner. Delays are never good and if you have a connetion.....boy....even worse!!! So almost 4 hours later I am finally on the tiny plane back to make my connection to houston and luckily there is a later plane back home (since I clearly missed my original flight) which I am able to get a seat on. Thank god!!! I just wanted to be home!!!! 4 hours late and I missed putting my son to bed after being gone 3 days. It really bites but it is what we deal with alot in this industry. Sigh. Now on to make some final decisions for my upcoming program. Cracking the knuckles now!!! Hemingway or Truman...hmmmm???

The Wonderful City of Nashville

Now out of my 11 years in the meetings business I have never been to Nashville for a program. And I just have to say....wow! What a great city!! The food, service, people, museums, nightlife are just awesome!!! I hope to be back there again for more programs soon! I also got to go see my best friend Aimee (Brady's godmother) while I was there visiting. An added bonus!!!

My group had dinner one evening at the amazing Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. Check it out http://countrymusichalloffame.org/ Pretty darn cool museum.
We then head out to tootsies where I had sweet talked the owner into a VIP table right up front! We felt like kings!!!! Check it out. I am a VIP!!!!!

Here is the whole group ready to party on Broadway!!!

Here is the Regional Vice President Todd and probably one of the COOLEST guys on the planet!

The next night we had a section of the Wildhorse Saloon reserved for my group. Great music and a great band!!!

And we had country western dance lessons for the group!!! It was pretty darn funny!!! Everyone had their country western attire on!!! And look at those hot boots!!!!

Yes we had all day business meetings going on in conjunction with this but that is not necessarily the fun part! : )

When I finally got home from being away for 4 days, my son I could tell was not happy with me. He cried when Damon tried to hand him to me. I guess this means I need to cut back on my travel!!! The guilt factor of a travelling meeting planner mom has begun to KICK IN. Took him a couple hours but he was happy I was home again!! I missed him terribly!!!

Get it together people...

All I have to post about today is just before you decide to have a meeting with some major logistical facets such as a 9 week "intensive" training program for a new initiative, attendees from all over the globe, room block and evening events over the course of the 9 week program for the group.....perhaps you should have a nailed down agenda and some realistic meeting parameters you want to follow before having my team contract hotel, build a website and launch registration for this training extravaganza...just saying...what a day...I think I spent 80% of my day fielding questions and emails from people who A: have no clue what the heck is going on B: have even more no clue since they are booking for their boss and C: should just give up because clearly they are not fit to function in everyday society. Now the program is a moving target at this point which is interesting to me......so it is not necessarily their fault but man......Glad this is not my program or budget. What a mess. Now why did I agree to help on this again and send my meeting planners screaming in horror from their cubicles??? Oh yes.....we are the only competent people who can......damn.

Just my soap box for today. Lets get a plan together before doing this fire drill folks.......please???

Happy Father's Day

Being a meeting planner means lots and lots of travel....so there are many times I miss out on many special occasions with my family like birthday's, valentine's day, mother's day etc. Yes all the crazy hallmark moments!!!! But this year I was lucky enough to catch a plane home from California just in time for Damon's very first Father's Day with Brady!!! You give up alot in my insane world of planning and logisitcal craziness and Damon is certainly a hands on dad with as much as I am gone for work. I am so happy to be home with my family once again!!! Thank you Damon for being the most wonderful husband and father in the world!!! Happy Father's Day!!!

Meeting Planner and Home Cooking

In the industry I am in....we learn to eat leftovers off of banquet carts in the hotel "back of the house", cold hors d'oeuvres from the reception earlier that night, buffets, restaurants, and good ole in room dining menu. $20 dollar "not so fabulous" hamburgers are not unheard of with the plus plus added on for room service. Needless to say, "Home Cooked" meals are not very often in my family's repertoire. Even when I am home and not travelling I am just too exhausted many nights to cook a really nice home cooked meal. Yes.....poor unfortunate husband and son but ....they love me anyway!!!!

So the other day my friend posted a recipe on her cooking blog about ground turkey enchiladas!!! Check out her post below. It is AWESOME!!!!!! She always cooks the most delish recipes!!! She has a full time job and a 6 month old!!! I dont know how she does it but she has some major cooking talent....something I lack BIG TIME. http://stickstoyourribs.blogspot.com/

So the recipe my amiga cooked was from scratch enchilada sauce and...her final product looked...well...alot better than mine...(I am new at this can you tell?). But as a meeting planner we have to be resourceful in this industry and do what we can "logistically" to make it work! AND I WAS DETERMINED!!!!

First I limped through the grocery store (still in a cast) to collect all my items in under 10 minutes! I had to get home to the nanny to get Brady!!!! Corn tortillas, enchilada sauce (tex mex), cheese-cheddar and monterey jack, rotel, black beans, taco seasoning, black olives and green onion (I think this was the only "fresh" product on my cart...sigh..).

Got home and immediately cooked the jennie o turkey while shredding cheese! (Hey at least I shredded it and didn't buy the shredded bag!) added taco seasoning and rotel to the turkey meat to give it FLA-VA!!!

Now it was time to feed Brady.....luckily he can do this pretty much by himself now!!! Thank god!!!!! Check him out!

I then layered the baking dish with Pam spray and then enchilada sauce rolled the turkey and cheddar into the corn tortillas and got the "canned" beans (our side dish) ready for MICRO-WAVE!! I know really bad.....Brady got some left over shredded cheese as a snack before his dinner. Rice Cereal and Fruit. Yum! added monterey jack to the enchiladas with sauce on top and baked for 30 minutes.

All and all....it actually came out a yummy delish meal and Damon was impressed with my inspiration to cook! sprinkled green onion and black olives after removing from oven.

Now Damon has leftovers since I head to San Diego this week for a Conference for 3 nights at the fabulous magnificent Grand Del Mar!!!!! This hotel makes me drool!!! Can't wait!!!
http://www.thegranddelmar.com/

Hope you all get some inspiration from sticks to your ribs site!! I know it inspires me!! Wish me luck at the Conference this week.....I actually am on a panel....gulp.....hope I do well!

Expense Reports Oh My!!!!!

Now everyone thinks my job is soooo glamourous and wonderful and I get to travel to fun cities and stay at nice hotels etc. but no one ever thinks about everything else that comes along with the employment responsibilites of a meeting planner. Yes I do admit.. I do get to travel to nice cities and stay at nice hotels but that is just a small percentage of what goes into my day to day routine. I must say that every job, be it a doctor, lawyer, waiter, garbage collector....while they all may have "perks"...(well perhaps not the garbage guy) but they all have the "hate to do" segment of their positions. Mine are expense reports!!! Yes ladies and gentlemen....after every conference/meeting we are tasked with the wonderful job of collecting, auditing, logging and copying each and every expense report associated with that meeting. Here is my stack just for TODAY!!!! I already have writers cramp thinking about signing off on all of these......cant wait to see the stack tomorrow.....sigh.......

Proud Moments!!!!

These are the emails that make me so proud about what I do, my wonderful team and our accomplishments!! Below is a letter from an attendee regarding last weeks Cancun Program.


Carlin,

I wanted to thank you and your “team” once again for what was nothing short of a FABULOUS time for my wife and I in Cancun last week during the 2011 Educational Conference. If I can sum up your team’s performance in one word, it would be FLAWLESS! I can only imagine the hours that your team puts into these events not only during the week, but long before it and well after it. Your team’s professionalism and attention to detail all in an effort that provided joy and relaxation to the advisors was exceptional.

In short Carlin, and on behalf of probably every employee that attended the conference, we’re very fortunate to have you. Do thank all of your staff and feel free to share this email with them.

Thanks again for all you do!