Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/12999
Publisher’s Message On Showcase at the Hemsley Hotel in New York as part of the annual Caribbean Week activities. This is the second year we have collaborated with the Caribbean Tourism Organization to organize and implement the Showcase, where qualified and vetted meeting planners, most of whom reside in the Northeast US, are hosted in the Big Apple for a round of one-on-one meetings with suppliers repre- senting Caribbean destinations across the region. Last year, in addition to an orientation session that June 9, Black Meetings & Tourism will present the 2010 edition of the CTO M.I.C.E. with the United States Marine Corps, 20- year Secret Service veteran and president of Michael Hodge & Associates; and George Brice, CHE, vice president of the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board. To help produce this year’s Showcase gram – a workshop that provides participants an edu- cational component designed to enhance their plan- ning skills. The two-hour panel session, entitled “Risky Business: What if a Disaster or Emergency Happened During Your Meeting,” will be facilitated by Reba Pittman Walker, former CEO and general manager of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and president and independent meeting plan- ner for The Pittman Connection, headquartered in Washington, DC. Included on the panel of experts are: Sandi Brewster-walker, president and independ- ent meeting planner of L & P International; Michael Hodge, former security and law enforcement officer set the ground rules for the one-on-one meetings, planners, who were required to submit RFPs (request for proposal), were treated to a high-energy experi- ence at “Rum and Rhythm – An Evening of Caribbean Culture,” where they savored mouthwa- tering regional cuisine, sampled legendary Caribbean rum, enjoyed pulsating island rhythms, and took advantage of great networking opportunities. As a result of the 2009 Showcase, at least two group book- ings have been confirmed by participating planners and others are being considered. This year we have added a new element to the pro- Victoria Head, BM&T executive assistant, and Matt Thomas, BM&T vice president of marketing. Additionally, Associate Editor/Publisher Gloria and Workshop, Black Meetings & Tourism is utilizing the services of veter- an planner Rosa McArthur, president of Meeting Planners Plus, her own inde- pendent meeting management firm in Orange County, California. Other key members of the planning team are Herbert will give the keynote address at the lunch- eon for ministers, commissioners, board members, planners and committee members, scheduled to take place between the morning and afternoon M.I.C.E. Showcase sessions on June 9. The theme of her pres- entation will be “Positioning the Caribbean to Get its Fair Share of the M.I.C.E. Market.” The M.I.C.E. Showcase and Crisis Management Workshop are just two examples of the kind of expanding services and products Black Meetings & Tourism is offering to our industry partners as we move forward. Add this to our recently upgraded online presence, which includes a greatly enhanced website, a digital version of Black Meetings & Tourism’s print magazine, and a bi-weekly newslet- ter (soon to go weekly), and clearly, we could be (and should be) your best direct conduit to the bur- geoning $45 billion+ African-American meetings, incentives and leisure travel market segment. Solomon J. Herbert Publisher/Editor-In-Chief E-Mail: BMandTMag@aol.com Black Meetings & Tourism is published bi-monthly by SunGlo Enterprises, 20840 Chase St., Winnetka, CA 91306-1207 •Telephone: (818)709-0646/Fax: (818) 709-4753 Copyright 2010 by SunGlo Enterprises. All rights reserved. Single Copies, $6.00 Subscriptions $45.00. Postage Paid at Pasadena, CA. •Postmaster send address changes to Black Meetings & Tourism, 20840 Chase St., Winnetka, CA 91306-1207. 4 Black Meetings & Tourism May/June 2010: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com