Jim Cohn's Blog - Mid-Atlantic Events Magazine

PCVB Annual Luncheon

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Tuesday December 1, 2009

11/25 Last Wednesday was more than the day before Thanksgiving; it was the much-anticipated PCVB Annual Luncheon. The luncheon is what most people warmly call the kickoff to the holiday season. The Philadelphia Marriott Downtown was this years chosen venue and the it began with a reception that brought together some of the most visible people in the industry. The reception lead into a seated lunch in the Grand Ballroom. During lunch speeches were given by big names such as Governor Ed Rendell, Mayor Michael Nutter, PCVB President Tom Muldoon, 2010 PCVB President Jack Ferguson and PCVB Chairman Nick DeBenedictis. Mayor Nutter unveiled Philadelphia’s New Brand, “Philadelphia – Life, Liberty, and You”.

A Rocky inspired trophy and special salute was given to Philadelphia’s local leaders, the 2009 Bring It Home Champions. Those who received the Rocky trophies were awarded for bringing a meeting to Philadelphia this year, which made an impact on the local economy. The event had a great turnout of over 1,000 guests. Regarded by many as one of the most important networking events of the year, this year did not fall short. The unofficial after lunch networking event went from 13 at the Marriott to Maggiano’s. Business was done, friendships were made and everyone had a chance to share a drink and conversation with someone new.

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Gaylord National's Christmas on the Potomac

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Wednesday November 25, 2009

Today’s blog post is dedicated to our trip to Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, MD. The purpose of the trip was to attend a press reception with a Tree Lighting Extravaganza and walk through a winter wonderland made from 2 million pounds of ice in their “ICE!” exhibit. The Press Reception was a great time with fantastic food and drinks, which lead into the Tree lighting extravaganza. The Tree Lighting consisted of raising a 60-foot-tall glass tree with one of a kind holiday decorations. During the show there was a group of singers, dancers on stilts, amazing indoor snowfall, fireworks and 50-150-foot-long lights morphing into an array of colors up above our heads.

We were transported from the hotel to the “ICE!” exhibit, which was set up on a parking lot. As you walked into the event it was surprisingly warm but we soon came to find out we were about to be walking into a 9-degree room. We were handed parkas as we embarked on our journey. Walking in and seeing life sized holiday scenes all sculptured out of ice almost looked like you were in a storybook. There were various spots along the way to take pictures with the sculptures. Our favorites were the penguins and the ice bridge, which you can find in our pictures posted on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Huntingdon-Valley-PA/Mid-Atlantic-Events-Magazine/164064373897. The exhibit has guests winding through 11 rooms of different hand carved wintertime themes. It also had 4 ice slides that were over 2 stories tall.

The hotel itself is a monstrosity. Your first view of it will be a memorable one, as you drive in it looks like you are entering a small city, which the Gaylord happens to be. Anything you could ask for is all located right inside the hotel and if you feel like venturing out, there are shops and restaurants outside as well. The hotel is 300-acres and set right on the waterfront, 8 miles south of Washington D.C. and is the largest resort on the eastern seaboard. If you are thinking of planning an event, meeting, or convention at Gaylord National, they have 2,000 guest rooms, 470,000 sq ft of convention, meeting, exhibit and pre-function space. Not to mention inside the resort it looks like a small town with various restaurants and shops to keep you busy for days.

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Princeton CVB Holds a Region Focused Day in NYC

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Tuesday November 17, 2009

A Princeton Region focused day was held on Thursday, November 5th at the Fall for NJ store in New York City. The temporary retail location is on the Upper West Side and is organized by Brushfire, Inc. the marketing firm for the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. Chauncey Conference Center, Trenton Thunder, and Taking Tea in Style were all in attendance. In addition, the PRCVB and Princeton Tour Company sponsored Bill Agrees appearance as George Washington. Princeton University Art Museum and Grounds for Sculpture donated items that were given away by George.

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NEW Mid-Atlantic Events Magazine Online Edition

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Tuesday November 17, 2009

Introducing a great new feature of our website! The online edition of Mid-Atlantic Events Magazine is up and running for the November/December issue. The online edition features everything you would find in the hard copy of the magazine with the simplicity of being just a click away. The feature will be updated every two months as new issues come out. Just click digital edition on our home page underneath the cover of the magazine. Enjoy!

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Day Trip to New York City for the International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant Show

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Thursday November 12, 2009

-Rooftop Press Event at Hotel Indigo

On Monday a few of our staff members were given the opportunity to attend the International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant Show at the Javits Center in New York City. The trade show is owned by the Hotel Association of New York City, Inc., the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association, Inc., and the American Hotel and Lodging Association. IH/M RS was immense and with over 1,000 exhibitors. The layout of the trade show had the ballroom split in half with one side of mostly hotel related booths and the other with restaurant related booths. They had every aspect possible for restaurants and hotels/motels. In addition to restaurants and hotels the trade show also offered booths for Universities with Hospitality schools. The show spanned from Sunday through Tuesday and had an estimated 35,000 attendees.

After the trade show we made a stop at the Grand Hyatt New York which is across from Grand Central Station, the hotel is soon to be renovated. Even though the hotel will soon be changed, the grandeur is breathtaking and has amazing meeting and event space. If you are ever in New York City, I highly recommend staying at or visiting this hotel.

Afterwards our staff attended the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Annual Press Reception, which was held at the Hotel indigo. The event was held on the rooftop overlooking the city and we were lucky enough to have perfect weather. There was a cocktail hour and butlered hors d’oeuvres with a guest performance by Fife.

Hotel Indigo only opened a couple of weeks back and while we were there we had a chance to look at some of the rooms, everything is flawless. They had some unique features such as hardwood floors and different fashion murals in every room to keep with the theme of the hotel. Most Hotel Indigo’s tend to have a theme that they carry throughout the entire hotel. Due to the part of town they are located in (Chelsea) they have a fashion theme. Overall we had a great day, learned a lot, and went home with many new contacts.

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Jim Cohn's Blog - Mid-Atlantic Events Magazine