It just could be the ultimate incentive trip. A trip to Arizona is not complete without a tour of the incredible Grand Canyon, the beautiful red rocks of Sedona, the canyon waterways of
Lake
Powell or the towering natural rock formations at
Monument
Valley. While these landmarks were once only accessible after a long car ride or by commuting to outlying airports, they can now be accessed from
Phoenix in under a couple of hours.
Operating out of the
Deer
Valley
Airport in north-central Phoenix, Westwind Aviation Inc. makes it possible for association meetings, medical meetings and incentive meeting groups to view more of
Arizona’s spectacular natural wonders in less time, from the comfort of a private plane.Westwind tours include sky-high views of breath-taking vistas, and the pilots will also land the plane so you can step off and take a ground tour for an up-close view of the scenery. Tours start at $320 to the
Grand Canyon and $225 for Sedona. A trip to
Monument
Valley begins at $495. All of the tours provide an excellent chance to conveniently marvel at incredible sights you’ve seen in movies and travel magazines for years - at a price that’s worth the experience.
SEAL Inc.
847.394.9857
stinnish@ameritech.net
Do your meetings fall victim to Corporate Attention Deficit Syndrome?
The message of your meeting is the most important aspect of your meeting. Food, drink, sleeping rooms…yes these are all important. But the ultimate reason for a meeting is to deliver a message. Even an incentive trip to the most exotic, luxurious destination would go awry if the “message” sent to the participants wasn’t correct.
The message must be well crafted (clear, articulate, and consistent).
The message must be delivered (physically heard).
The message must received (fall upon receptive ears).
Presenters or paid speakers certainly shoulder responsibility for crafting their messages. But how can you create the optimal environment to allow that message to be heard and received?
Today’s meeting audiences are typically filled multi-tasking and over-tasked individuals. Many have likened the challenge of getting and keeping our audiences’ attention as Corporate Attention Deficit Syndrome.
The book, The Attention Economy, outlines what we pay attention to and divides our attention into 6 types:
Attraction (victory, super models)
Aversion (car wrecks)
Captive (bad weather, movies)
Voluntary (hobbies, print advertising)
Front of Mind (discussion, task at hand)
Back of Mind (to do list, commuting)
The authors, Thomas Davenport and John Beck, promote the idea that understanding and managing attention is now the single most important determinant of business success.
You can help meetings be an attraction. You can help create environments where our audience feels they are participants not captives.
The majority of people are visual learners (60%). They retain information best when they can “see” the information. Numerous surveys show that retention increased by 70 - 80% when visuals are used. That’s one reason every speaker seems to use PowerPoint. (In addition, to the fact that speakers find it a great crutch!)
Beyond PowerPoint, consider changes in your meetings to make presentations more visual so you and your presenters shine:
Stories This is not your traditional visual. However, stories woven within a presentation create pictures in people’s minds. Stories work to grab attention and create emotional connections. When done in support of a point in the presentation, stories help increase retention and interest.
Props Props help make information tangible. Props should illustrate or emphasize a key point. Several suggestions for presenters when using props:
1. Make sure the prop is large enough to be seen
2. Allow sufficient time for the audience to see the prop
3. Don’t let the prop become a distraction from you or your presentation
Handouts Handouts need not be the PowerPoint slides reproduced. Handouts can include background information, supplemental charts and statistics, anything that supports the presentation. Handouts have the following advantages:
1. Handouts can help fill in gaps in the audience’s knowledge and understanding of the topic
2. Add to the presenter’s creditability
3. Keeps everyone focused
4. Serve as a place to take notes
Flip Charts The old fashioned flip chart is still a work horse in small to mid-sized meetings. Flip charts allow a presenter to:
1. Create group interest and attention
2. Focus the group on key points
3. Allow people to visually trace their conversation
Change the scenery The same part of your brain that controls long-term memory also controls large motor skills. Who among us hasn’t sat through a mind-numbing presentation? When a presenter asks the audience to move, they get their attention and re-awaken the part of their brain that controls long term memory.
Questions Questions ask the audience if the picture is complete for them. Presenters can ask rhetorical questions or they can ask the audience to respond to a question. Additionally, PowerPoint slides can be crafted in such a way that each slide asks questions thereby inviting the audience to reflect and possibly express their opinions and feelings.
You can fight Corporate Attention Deficit by creating visually more interesting meetings. Work toward well crafted (clear, articulate, consistent), well delivered (physically heard) and well received (fall upon receptive ears) messages. Both you and your meeting participants will be glad you did.
While you are hosting a meeting or event in Greater Phoenix, take some time to discover this ingenious team building event. Drive in the fast lane at The Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, located at Firebird Raceway in nearby Chandler. The school features a 60-acre, specially built racing facility that provides instruction for all types of driving skills and levels. The unique school boasts experienced instructors and courses that range from four hours to four days. Bondurant’s racing and driving courses are priced from $500 to $5,475. The racecar driving programs are suitable for individuals or large groups, and they’re sure to provide heart-pounding, unforgettable entertainment.Beginner driving courses are designed for people who want the thrill of a lifetime and advanced racing courses are also offered for experienced drivers. Models include the Chevrolet Corvette C5 and Z06, Cadillac CTS, and Pontiac GTO. Additionally, all vehicles are outfitted with both performance and reliability modifications. Enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime thrill by squealing around corners at speeds that provide an adrenaline rush like never before. It’s an ideal event to get the competitive juices flowing of incentive groups, meetings and conference attendees.
Courtesy of Arizona Daily Star, Levi J. Long Some are drawn to the pollo con mole enchiladas at El Charro Café. Others crave the tastes of vegan dandelion salads. And some are plunking down hundreds or thousands of dollars for stays at Southern Arizona resorts and retreats that feature cooking and nutrition classes.
Whatever travelers’ culinary desires, Tucson’s $2.5 billion-per-year hospitality industry is offering a smorgasbord of programs highlighting Southern Arizona’s simmering foods scene. The industry’s target: culinary tourists, an emerging and lucrative niche in the travel industry.
Local offerings include behind-the-scenes cooking classes with executive chefs, restaurant tours in Tucson, and a retreat to Pata-gonia to learn about raw and vegan foods. Local travel businesses also are selling culinary vacation destination packages and marketing cookbooks highlighting cuisine developed in Tucson.
“Culinary tourism is about finding unique and memorable culinary experiences while traveling,” said Eric Wolf, president of the International Culinary Tourism Association. The 500-member group promotes restaurants, wineries, breweries, delis, classic diners and roadside stands as marketable attractions in cities around the world.
“It’s not just four-star restaurants. It’s any place with unique and memorable offerings … and those can include the best taco or hot dog stand in a state,” Wolf said.
For traveler Nathan Bryant, that meant dinner this month at El Charro Café, 311 N. Court Ave., and a cruise along Tucson’s South Side another day in search of a Sonoran-style hot dog.
“Bacon, mayo and a dog. Nothing beats it during my trips to Tucson,” said Bryant, a Florida resident who recently stopped by El Güero Canelo, 5118 S. 12th. Ave., while traveling here on business. “It’s unique to Tucson. It’s a big reason why I love to come here.”
The culinary attraction
With the rise of celebrity chefs, the popularity of TV cooking shows and growing interest in regional cuisine, travelers across the country are flocking to places that offer culinary experiences, Wolf said. Local restaurateur Don Luria said Tucson has been a culinary destination, but it hasn’t sold itself that way.
“For years, we have felt that the quality of restaurants in Tucson far exceeds its population size,” said Luria, owner of Terra Cotta, 3500 E. Sunrise Drive, and executive board member of the International Culinary Tourism Association. “We have a lot of culinary talent. The reason — tourists want to try our food, and that draws talented chefs who come and stay here.”
About 3.5 million people visit Tucson each year, according to the Metropolitan Tucson Visitors & Convention Bureau, also a member of the culinary tourism association. “Our business is highly dependent on tourists, but we’ve never put the culinary and tourist industry together before,” Luria said. Other cities have preceded Tucson in establishing themselves as destinations — Santa Fe and New Orleans, among others. Some use annual events to build their brands, such as Santa Fe’s Wine and Chili Festival in New Mexico and Aspen’s Food & Wine Magazine Classic festival in Colorado.
For three years, Tucson has had its own annual event. The Tucson Culinary Festival features wine and food from The Tucson Originals’ 40 or so independent-restaurant members. Working with Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive, the three-day festival in October is gearing up for more out-of-state attendees this year, said Maya Luria, co-owner of Terra Cotta and event coordinator of the festival.
This year organizers are partnering with American Express, announcing the festival in billing statements to more than 2 million cardholders. “I think it could be absolutely huge for the amount of exposure we’re going to get,” Maya Luria said.And what is the culture travelers experience when they try local food? When it comes to defining the culinary identity of Tucson and the region, most chefs and restaurateurs point to the Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora roots.
In Tucson’s cuisine, beans, corn and squash are used in dishes considered “cultural icons” of the area, said Janos Wilder, chef and owner of Janos Restaurant and J Bar, 3770 E. Sunrise Drive, at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa. Those icons include chiles rellenos, enchiladas and tamales, which many chefs use a base to create new dishes, he said. “We’re working on defining our culinary sense of place. The ingredients are there,” he said. “We’re continuing to refine it.”
Local wellness centers
While restaurants may attract some travelers, local wellness centers have long drawn guests who want to learn about healthy food preparation and eating. When Seattle resident Donna Lee packed her bags and headed for Patagonia, she arrived in Southern Arizona with a mission — to find a sense of self and learn more about vegan and raw foods. “For me it was a way to get out of the matrix of America,” Lee said. “I wanted to live in a holistic and healthy way — what we eat is the basis for our health.” Lee traveled to the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, 686 Harshaw Road in Patagonia, an educational and spiritual retreat center offering holistic spa treatments and programs centered on “spiritual fasting,” raw foods and vegan diets. “People come here for an experience that makes them more conscious about eating,” said Michael Bedar, a spokesman for the center. “There’s nothing to distract you from your purpose for being here and for going back into the world.” Situated on 182 acres, Tree of Life features 40 beds in the center’s casitas and orchard house where guests can book stays ranging from three days to three months.
Rates to stay at the center for three nights start at $220 per night for a single room. Other 24-day “Detoxification-Cleanse” packages can cost up to $8,179 for a single. While at the center, guests can take food-preparation classes, including making vegan chocolate desserts, dandelion and hemp kale salads and kale curry crackers. Others learn how to grow sprouts used in salads and in wheat-grass shots, and how to make organic juices.
Some of those recipes are available in a line of cooking and nutrition books written by Dr. Gabriel Cousens, founder of the 11-year-old center.
Canyon Ranch’s mission
At Tucson’s Canyon Ranch, 8600 E. Rockcliff Road, healthy eating is a large part of the wellness resort’s mission. A self-described “foodie,” Suz Waddington of Atlanta said she has stayed at Canyon Ranch 10 times to take part in the resort’s spa and wellness programs and to dine on specially created dishes served to guests. “The food is one of many highlights for coming here,” she said. The resort offers “Lunch and Learn” sessions with Canyon Ranch chefs in a “demo kitchen” where guests can also sign up for private cooking classes. Former guests can also log on to a Canyon Ranch Web site to get recipes for certain dishes. “This is a learning vacation. It’s about health, spirituality and food,” said Canyon Ranch’s executive chef, Scott Uehlein. Those sorts of experiences at Canyon Ranch start at $2,190 for a four-night, single-room package. Other packages during the year include a 10-night stay in a one-bedroom suite for $14,750. The wellness resort is also taking its concept of healthy eating outside Tucson, with the first full-serve Canyon Ranch restaurant opening next year in Miami Beach. It already operates the Canyon Ranch Café inside the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. Executive chef Uehlein has helped write several cookbooks for Canyon Ranch. The latest was developed with Ladies Professional Golf Association athletes, re-creating their favorite dishes in a cookbook for release in July. When it comes to food served at health resorts, Uehlein said, the industry is fighting a reputation for serving “minimalist, spa cuisine.”
“People think it’s all carrot sticks and tofu. That’s a reputation we’re still fighting,” he said. “We’re showcasing a unique flavor of Tucson here.” Now it’s just up to locals to tell travelers about that, said Don Luria of Terra Cotta. “Tucson can develop a reputation as a culinary destination,” he said. “We have a lot of unique ingredients — we just need to put them together to attract travelers.”
Good alternative to those in search of conference facilities in Arizona
Arizona’s Indian casinos took in $1.6 billion last year, making this the third-most-lucrative Indian gaming state for the second year in a row. Arizona’s gaming tribes collectively took in 14 percent more revenue in 2005 than in 2004. That growth rate is down from 18 percent the previous year and fails to keep pace with a 16 percent national growth rate. Gaming “got a nice little boost” when Arizona voters approved new compacts with the tribes three years ago, Meister said. Under Proposition 202, tribes agreed to share up to 8 percent of their revenue with the state in exchange for more slot machines and table games. As tribes reach their legal limit of machines and casinos, they face the challenge of making more money with the same facilities. Tribes here and around the country are doing that by renovating old casinos and adding hotels, conference centers, spas and golf courses. Non-gaming casino operations generated $154.5 million in the state last year, a 14 percent increase, according to the report. Many business meetings and conferences have found that meeting in casinos provides a nice diversion for their audience Sheila Morago, executive director for the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, pointed out that revenue increased by 14 percent even though tribes added only 3 percent more slot machines and table games.
“Casinos are part of what makes Arizona Arizona,” she said. “It’s added to its entertainment options.” The report also showed that Indian gaming is closing the gap on commercial gaming, growing at three times the rate. Nationally, tribal-owned casinos posted $22.7 billion in revenue, compared with $29.6 billion in the commercial sector.
Indian casinos are challenged because they are spread out around the country. For that reason, Las Vegas and its cluster of corporate casinos will always be at the top of gamblers’ minds, Meister said. But, he added, tribes can vie for customers who want a low-cost day trip or weekend getaway close to home.
