As we get back out and about, the importance of supporting small businesses and independent retailers continues to hit home. It’s been disheartening to see more and more of our communities’ beloved mom-and-pop shops and eateries closing for good, unable to survive their pandemic losses. So, we are giving a lot of thought to how our industry can give a much-needed boost to small businesses in need of support through a commitment to making thoughtful choices when selecting vendors and suppliers.

Back in March, our company President Scott Sentonaris made a bold declaration in the spirit of optimism and commitment to our industry: he would not cut his hair until he had an in-person meeting materialize and was paid for the business. But here’s the thing—we generally work on hotel commissions, so we don’t get paid unless a meeting actually takes place. So, while we’ve been rebooking 2020 meetings and events in the 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2021, he has yet to have a live event given the trajectory of the pandemic. Scott is a man of his word—with a damn good head of hair—and has not gotten a haircut in 10 months.

As millions of vaccines are beginning to roll out, many companies have their sights set on resuming meetings and events. With that, clients look to us for guidance and answers on the re-opening guidelines in cities/ states that are on the docket for their next meeting. Although we try to keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening in our industry, rules and regulations are so different across the country and destinations are reopening at different paces based on case rates and local policies. Thus, it’s virtually impossible to keep track of it all!

To all our customers, colleagues, partners, we can’t wait to start channeling our energy and passion into creating special gatherings for and with you again as group business returns in the months ahead.

We know it’s going to be a phased approach—especially this year—and we are absolutely loving the brilliant new “Hub & Spoke” meeting concept that’s gaining traction.

The clever folks in the hotel and meetings industry who devised the “Hub & Spoke” hybrid model deserve major kudos. This genius solution is a great workaround to facilitate a semblance of in-person meetings until we are able to travel more freely and gather in larger numbers. Here’s how it works: one central location is designated the official meeting hub, while smaller meetings take place at locations across the country to make the conferences accessible by car. This approach allows colleagues to congregate safely in smaller numbers without boarding an airplane while connecting virtually to those gathered in other locations and tuning into live-streamed sessions.

Well team, we made it! The new year is here at last. We are amped to go forth into the beautiful blank canvas that is 2021 with our eyes wide open and perspectives overhauled in the best of ways.

Our team took a few days at the end of the year to reflect on 2020 and collectively discuss our intentions for the year ahead. We prefer setting intentions over goals or resolutions because it’s less about specific outcomes and allows us to focus on the desire behind what we’re intending to create. If you’d like to join us in this exercise, please drop us a line—we always love to hear from you, and we’d love to know what you desire to bring into your life in 2021.

It’s time to get very real with ourselves—and with you. Here’s how our team members intend to make the most of 2021.

The final countdown to 2021 is on and like everyone everywhere, we are so ready to say sayonara to this doozey of a year. We are practicing what we preached in the last blog post, finishing the year strong by reflecting on what went well in 2020. Amid the monumental challenges, sobering realities and heartbreaking losses, it was the bright spots that enriched and inspired us throughout this pandemic. The fact that we aren’t in this alone has also been tremendously comforting and uplifting.

We are grateful for the good that came out of 2020 ( yes, there was good!) a year that profoundly changed us. From how we work and relate to how we see the world and our place in it, we learned a lot about who we are, what we are capable of, what truly matters to us and how we can inhabit our individual and communal places in this world as fully as possible.