Around Town – January 2011

(Editor’s Note: Here’s a collection of newsworthy items from our industry members and the South Florida community. HSMAInsider, Julie Wernick)

Southeast Florida:

Congratulations to Albert Tucker and Bruce Appel who were recognized on Dec 16 by Broward County for their 10 and 15 years, respectively, of service at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Congrats to Cindy Malin and Ben Antipuna. ME Productions has named Cindy Malin Head of Business Development and Benjamin-Michael Antipuna Director of Creative Services. Cindy will champion ME Productions as South Florida’s premier event production and destination management company that offers clients “everything under the sun”, even an in-house floral department. Ben will provide ME Production with an introduction to the “rarest talent event entertainment has to offer.”

Congrats to Christine Duffy who was named the new head of the Cruise Lines Industry Association (CLIA). Christine is currently the CEO of Maritz Travel. Her new role at CLIA is effective February 1st. Christine replaces Terry Dale, who stepped down as CLIA’s top executive after seven years at the helm, and is the new president of the U.S. Tour Operators Association. (CLIA’s headquarters are on SE 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale.)

Congrats to Linda Hamburger of On Call PR who has joined with the team of PTT of Florida, providers of temporary labor for live event productions, to enhance and expand the company's marketing communications and outreach. Projects to date have included a new look for the web site, much stronger use of new media (including but not limited to LinkedIn; Facebook; Wordpress, etc.),new brochures, and more.

FAU is offering a number of Executive Continuing Education courses that may be of interest to our members. These include a Certificate in Marketing Management (24 hrs, 2.4 CEUs; 8 Wednesdays; Jan. 26 - March 23, 2011; Time: 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm); a Certificate in Sales Management (30 Hours, 3.0 CEUs;10 Saturdays; Jan. 22 - April 9, 2011;9:00 am - 12:00 pm); a Meeting & Events Management course (35 Hours, 3.5 CEUs;7 Saturdays; Jan. 22 - March 19, 2011;Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.). Each course is being offered on the Boca Raton Campus, has no prerequisites, and costs $799 which includes instruction materials and parking.

For info: http://www.fauexecutiveprograms.com/ApplicationFiles/web/WebFrame.cfm?web_id=133 For other questions, please contact Sarah Gaffney, Florida Atlantic University,
Executive Continuing Education at 561-297-2366 or email: sgaffne3@fau.edu

The Port of Miami cruise season opened with a record 346,513 cruise passengers transiting its facilities in October, up 29 percent from the year-ago month, the port reported.

Hollywood commissioners gave their blessing last month for Margaritaville, a 17-story resort hotel that promises to change the face of the beach. The Jimmy Buffett-themed resort won’t break ground for another year.

Southwest Florida:

The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club in Southwest Florida is offering a new golf package. The deal starts at just $124 per night for single occupancy, or from $149 per night for double occupancy. In addition to accommodations in a newly renovated room, this package includes complimentary greens fees, golf cart fees, complimentary tennis, complimentary parking, and access to the resort's spa/fitness center.

Marco Island Lakeside is one of only 80 locations in Florida to be named by the Superior Small Lodging organization to receive its prestigious Donald A. Dermody White Glove Award for housekeeping excellence for 2010. "This is the third year in a row that we have been given this prestigious award after the thorough inspection," said General Manager Marcia Mandel.

The Hilton Naples is now active with its oft-updated “Naples Best blog” and with its Facebook page, which has featured numerous impromptu contests to win free nights at the hotel.

The Inn on Fifth has announced an array of enticing packages for the coming year, including the “Experience Naples” and “Romance on Fifth” packages.

The five star, five diamond Ritz-Carlton, Naples beach resort celebrated its 25th birthday on December 3, 2010.

AirTran Airways started new Saturday nonstop service between Fort Myers and Rochester, N.Y. on Nov. 20, 2010. The flights between Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) and Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC) depart Fort Myers at 10:23 a.m. and arrive at 11:15 a.m.

Statewide:

VISIT FLORIDA has been asked by the Florida Historic Capitol Museum in Tallahassee to put together an exhibit on Florida attraction souvenirs entitled “Remembering Paradise: Souvenirs of Historic Florida Attractions.” The exhibit will run from April through September 2011. The temporary exhibit will focus on souvenirs from historic and important tourist attractions and how they help enhance the impact of tourism in Florida

VISIT FLORIDA is looking for your help! They need your old Florida souvenirs for the exhibit, in particular those that are fun, unique, odd, unusual, bizarre and even rare for our exhibition. Smaller items are preferred; however there is limited space for a few larger items such as T-Shirts, posters, etc.

Here is how you can help:
Step 1: Dig through that old trunk (or office storage file) and dust off your treasure from your favorite Florida attraction.
Step 2: Take a photo of the souvenir and send it to museum@VISITFLORIDA.org along with a brief description of your souvenir
Step 3: Souvenirs will be selected for the exhibit by the end of January 2011.
Step 4: VISIT FLORIDA will contact you with information on how to ship your Florida attraction souvenir to the exhibit.
Step 5: Tell everyone about the exhibit; encourage them to send in any of their old souvenirs.

Your souvenirs will be handled with the greatest of care and will be cataloged and returned at the end of the exhibit in September 2011. David Dodd, Vice President of Visitor Services, will be coordinating the exhibit and any questions you may have on the Florida attraction souvenir exhibit. He can be reached by phone at 850.205.3817.

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To submit items for future editions, send to jwfranklin1@gmail.comBest, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider