Krisam Group (Krisam), the pioneering hotel membership company for independent and unique hotels and resorts worldwide held its 4th Annual Executive Summit in Phoenix, Arizona from September 10th-13th.
Krisam, in partnership with hotel member, Arizona Grand Resort and DMC partner, Show Me Arizona, welcomed meeting professionals and Krisam Member hotels from around the U.S. for three days of education and intense networking.
Phoenix was selected because over the last year it was one of the hardest hit group markets in the U.S. and there was a need to reintroduce the destination to planners as a premiere location for meetings and events.
A record number of planners (126) came from all throughout the U.S. to experience a series of educational seminars, networking opportunities, one-on-one appointments and social and cultural events designed to showcase the best meeting venues Arizona offers.
The educational topics began with an interactive panel session consisting of both planners and hoteliers discussing the current state of our industry and how business is now being handled in the short term, and the long term.
Topics discussed and debated ranged from contracts, cancellations, communication, work-home balance, and the overall importance of communication between planners and hoteliers to become better business partners.
Additional education sessions during the Summit covered Social Networking basics and how these tools are now being used to enhance event communications. Finally, “Krisam Talk” was a take on the popular Open Space session where all attendees were urged during the registration process to submit questions/topics that they wanted to openly discuss amongst their peers.
During the session, the room split into as many as ten to fifteen smaller groups to discuss a large range of industry hot topics.
A primary objective of all Krisam Summit’s is to focus a portion of the agenda on giving back to the local community hosting the Summit. This year, orchestrated by Show Me Arizona, the Summit opened with a powerful interactive discussion aimed at helping twelve Phoenix non-profit organizations.
The leaders from these non-profits challenged planners and hotels to brainstorm and present unique and creative ways to raise money and how to use events to reach their goals and objectives.
After three days of intense networking and educational business sessions, attendees walked away with a new perspective on how each can be more strategic in their thinking to enhance the way they do business and make even stronger connections.
At the end of the Summit, both customers and hoteliers alike left with a feeling of cautious optimism for the year ahead, yet excited about the business opportunities discussed during the appointment sessions.
Krisam’s President Jim Schultenover comments, “We were thrilled with the results of our Summit this year especially after this past year of turmoil in our industry. It was more important than ever to pull both sides of the meetings industry together to discuss the new ways of doing business together and to form an ongoing alliance to keep meetings alive. I feel confident both planners and hoteliers walked away with a strong sense of optimism for the year to come.”
Krisam next year’s Summit will be traveling to Ft. Worth hosted by Krisam’s hotel member, Omni Ft. Worth.
For more information, visit Krisam Group
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