BREAKFAST CLUB



The Meetings & Hospitality Alliance

of South Florida

Minutes

Meeting held Wednesday, September 2, 2009

at The Bimini Boatyard, Fort Lauderdale

(Page 1 of 4)

Alliance Members (and their representatives at this meeting)

Florida Association of Meetings and Events Professionals

Judy Rosenthal, Chairperson

Florida Business Travel Association – South Florida Chapter (an affiliation of the National Business Travel Association)

Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association – Broward, Collier, Lee/Charlotte, Marco Island, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach, and Treasure Coast Chapters (an affiliation of the National Restaurant Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association)

Florida Speakers Association (South Florida Chapter of the National Speakers Association)

Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau

Fernando Harb, Director of Sales

Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International – South Florida Chapter

Fernando Harb, Immediate Past-President

International Special Events Society – South Florida/Caribbean Chapter

Meeting Professionals International – South Florida Chapter

Judy Goldman, President

Christine Tascione, CMP, President-Elect

National Association of Catering Executives – South Florida Chapter

Bonnie Fimiano, President

Site – Florida Chapter

Francis Purvey, President-Elect

South Florida Professional Videoartist Association

Danny Sien, President

Meetings & Hospitality Alliance of South Florida

Steven Pollock, CMP, Chairman

Guest Association

Skål International – Miami Chapter

Christopher Perks, MIH, Vice President

The Meetings & Hospitality Alliance of South Florida

Minutes of meeting held on September 2, 2009 (Page 2 of 4)

1) South Florida Professional Videoartist Assn. – Welcome to Our New Member

We welcomed Danny Sien, President of the South Florida Professional Videoartist Association (SFPVA) – the association is the newest member of our Alliance. Its web site is at sfpva..

SFPVA members are professional videographers whose companies produce videos of meetings and special events. Many are experienced in the technology of integrating video into web sites. The SFPVA can provide guest speakers for educational presentations at the chapter meetings of Alliance associations.

2) Skål International Miami – Prospective Member

Today’s meeting was attended by Christopher Perks, Vice President of Skål International Miami. At its next Board meeting, the association will consider joining our Alliance.

Skål International, founded in 1932 in Paris, is a worldwide organization with over 22,000 members in 500 chapters throughout 90 nations. It is headquartered in Torremolinos, Spain. Membership is open to managers or executives directly involved in management and sales in travel and tourism.

The Miami chapter of Skål International, has become one of the largest Skål Clubs in the world. It has garnered its reputation thanks to its numerous awards, including: 2006 North America Skål Club of the Year, 2005 Skål International Club of the Year, and 2003 USA Skål Club of the Year. Its web site is at .

3) Green Meeting Industry Council – Florida/Caribbean Chapter

Steven reported that the Florida/Caribbean Chapter-in-Formation of the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) (GMIC_Florida_Caribbean) has asked to join our Alliance. The group currently has 17 of the 30 members needed to become an official GMIC chapter.

In addition to its own meetings focused on “green”, the chapter will offer to assist allied associations in developing the green component of their educational programming regarding their own specialties such as meeting & event production, catering, lodging, transportation, etc.

It was decided that membership in our Alliance will only be granted to officially sanctioned chapters of industry associations. Thus, a chapter-in-formation is not eligible. The GMIC’s local chapter will be considered when it obtains its charter.

4) Reaping the Benefits of the Alliance – Basics of Cooperation

The purpose of our Alliance is to make the members of all of our associations aware of the wealth of information and resources available from each other’s association. In doing so, our members will be enriched and the outreach efforts of all of our associations will be enhanced.

The Alliance has also created bridges between our associations to facilitate interaction among board members seeking to collaborate on educational and social events with allied associations.

The Meetings & Hospitality Alliance of South Florida

Minutes of meeting held on September 2, 2009 (Page 3 of 4)

Since our Alliance was founded 11 years ago, many ways in which our associations can help each other have been discussed. These remain valid and useful from year to year, as the Directors change on our chapter boards, and new Presidents take over as their association’s representative in the Alliance. Rather than continually repeating these practices and understandings in the minutes, a summary was created for on-going use by new board members.

Today, we reviewed and updated this summary. We also clarified some ground rules for Alliance membership, which will be added to the summary:

• To be considered for Alliance membership, an association, or South Florida chapter of an association, must be officially sanctioned or chartered – a chapter-in-formation is not eligible.

• To continue as an Alliance member, an association must include a mention and link to in their membership email correspondence, as a way of promoting the events and opportunities offered by all of the Alliance associations.

• We reiterated an understanding that is as old as our Alliance. Each of our associations will decide its own policies and practices. The Alliance fosters cooperation and collaboration, but does not dictate the behavior of our member associations.

A document with the revised summary is available for download on the home page at . The effectiveness of the Alliance is in the hands of the board members of each association. Alliance leaders are urged to regularly remind their board members to review this document regarding cooperation.

5) Industry Holiday Party – plans for 2009

In past years, policies regarding this event were made by a consensus of the leaders of all of our Alliance associations. And, every association that agreed to endorse the party was required to provide two members to actively participate on the Holiday Party committee. At our meeting on January 7th, 2009 we agreed to modify that policy.

The 2009 party is being overseen by a steering committee consisting of the Presidents (or Presidents’ designees) of the associations that have committed to actively participate in the planning and production of this event. Policies are being set by the steering committee, or delegated by the steering committee to the Holiday Party committee that will actually produce the event.

It is expected that all of the Alliance associations will support the party by publicizing it to their members and letting them know about opportunities to participate as sponsors. As noted above, endorsement of the party will not require active participation on the committee.

The first meeting of the steering committee took place on July 29th and the next meeting will be held in mid-September. As of now, the associations comprising this committee are: MPI, HSMAI, NACE, ISES, and FAME.

Thus far, it has been agreed that the party will take place on Thursday, December 10th at the Kovens Conference Center on the FIU North Miami Campus (Biscayne Boulevard & NE 153rd Street), and the chairperson is Susan Gladstone.

Any additional associations that want to join the steering committee, and assign a representative to actively participate in the planning and production of this event, should contact Susan immediately at sberglad@ or 305-919-4406.

The Meetings & Hospitality Alliance of South Florida

Minutes of meeting held on September 2, 2009 (Page 4 of 4)

6) Green Meetings and Events Standards – APEX

The Convention Industry Council (CIC) () is comprised of 34 member organizations, whose memberships represents more than 103,500 individuals and 19,500 firms and properties involved in the meetings, conventions, and exhibitions industry. The CIC facilitates the exchange of information within the industry. Nine of the associations in our Alliance are affiliated with the CIC.

The Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) () is an initiative of the CIC that is bringing together all stakeholders in the development and implementation of industry-wide standards to create and enhance efficiencies.

The process of developing the green standards has been a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Green Meeting Industry Council, and APEX to create uniform environmental performance measures for a meeting or event. The standards cover nine topic areas: accommodations, audiovisual, communication, exhibits, food and beverage, on-site office, destinations, meeting venue, and transportation.

The final draft of the green standards has been released. Meeting industry stakeholders – planners, suppliers, environmental experts – have a final opportunity to shape the standards that will define “green meetings.” The Green Meeting and Events Standards are available for review and comment on a special blog site at .

All comments are due by September 11th, after which time the standards will be submitted to ASTM International for review in order to achieve accreditation. Organizers expect the final standards to be approved by both ASTM and the APEX Commission by the end of the year.

7) 2009-2010 Alliance associations’ meetings, events & sponsorship

Steven reminded us that on he posts a calendar of the meetings and events being planned by each of our associations. He also provides an area on the Home page for a listing of the special meetings and events that offer enhanced education, networking, and opportunities for sponsorship. In addition, Alliance associations can provide a description and contact information regarding year-round sponsorship opportunities.

All of our associations are encouraged to check these listings and let Steven know if there is any information that they would like to have posted.

8) Next Meeting for the Alliance Leaders

It was agreed that our next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 6, 2010, Noon - 2:00 pm, at the Bimini Boatyard, 1555 SE 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Steven Pollock

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