Thursday, November 13th - Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau Annual Membership Meeting

Donald R. Seawell Ballroom, Denver Center for Performing Arts

Please join us as we review our 2008 accomplishments, recognize outstanding service from both member employees and DMCVB staff, and elect new board members.

Colorado Meetings + Events magazine announces “Best of Colorado 2009 ” awards & Hall of Fame

The best of the meetings and events industry will be named Monday, March 16, 2009, Infinity Park.

Colorado Meetings + Events is one of seven regional meetings and events magazines published by Tiger Oak Publications, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. The idea-driven magazine focuses on the issues facing today’s meeting and event professionals in Colorado and beyond and looks to address all aspects of the industry through in-depth feature stories, insightful departments and helpful news and updates on tips and trends. For more information, visit comeetingsmag.com.

Congratulations MPIRMC Members!

The Rocky Mountain Chapter has just been awarded the 2006/2007 Chapter of the Year award from Meetings Professional International at MPI PEC in Houston, Texas.

Each of you should be proud to belong to the first chapter of MPI – now recognized as the first chapter in member programs, education, strategic vision, communication and innovative projects.

Congratulate yourselves and your chapter leaders on this accomplishment. MPI is made up of over 23,000 members in 68 international chapters. This is a fantastic achievement – come celebrate and get involved in the first chapter of MPI!

NETWORK FOR THE NEEDY LUNCHEON "ELEVATES HUNGER AWARENESS TO A NEW ALTITUDE" AT THE DENVER MERCHANDISE MART

On Thursday, November 8, 2007, thirteen Colorado hospitality organizations joined forces again for the 14th Annual Network for the Needy Luncheon 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough,' to raise funds for Food Bank of the Rockies' Denver's Table program. Chefs from local hotels, restaurants and catering companies put their best 'food' forward, tempting attendees with their appealing appetizers, exquisite entrées and delectable desserts. Local food critics and fellow chefs will award prizes in four categories (presentation, appetizer/salad, entrée, dessert) to the best entries.

Network for the Needy is sponsored by the Meetings Industry Council of Colorado (www.mic-colorado.org). The special committee is a group of dedicated and compassionate individuals from the hospitality industry who work together to create a wonderful event with delicious food, and fun, original entertainment. Everything is donated, so 100% of the proceeds benefit Food Bank of the Rockies and its Denver's Table program.

Food Bank of the Rockies distributed over 16 million pounds of food to 900 hunger-relief programs last year. Its Denver's Table program collects donations of prepared food from restaurants and caterers as well as perishable foods from local grocers and delivers it to agencies serving meals to the needy. Last year, agencies served more than 846,000 meals to less fortunate children, seniors and families; food that otherwise would have been thrown away.

The event featured emcee Ed Greene of Channel 4 News who once again took time from his busy schedule to be part of this important cause. Ed helped the Network for the Needy present the largest check ever of $20,000 check to the Food Bank of the Rockies. Ed also presented an award to the winning artist from Kid's Café, Matice Bowens, Age 10 (shown above-right).

Please mark your calendars for next year's event to be held at the Denver Merchandise Mart on Thursday, November 13, 2008.

For more information, please contact Debbi Beldon, Marketing Chair at (303) 825-8333 ext. 19 or debbi.beldon@experient-inc.com.

Download a PDF version of this release.

(September, 2007) Important Event Announced by Meeting Planners International Rocky Mountain Council (MPIRMC)

November 15, 2007
1pm-5pm
Hosting The Democratic National Convention: The Impact For Our Industry
For details, click HERE

MPI Would like to congratulate all the MPI Rocky Mountain Chapter (MPIRMC) Annual Gala Award Winners who contributed their talents to MPIRMC and the industry during the 2006-2007 year!

2007 Planner of the Year Award
Steve Kinsley
Kinsley & Associates, LLC

2007 Supplier of the Year Award
Jennifer Winget, CMP, CHME
J&S Audio Visual

2007 Silver Plate Award
Omni Interlocken
for the May 2006 Monthly Meeting

2007 Sandy Gerety Distinguished Service Award
Tracey Kirk, CMM

2007 Rising Star Award
Karly Stein
Hilton Garden Inn Denver South

2007 Outstanding Committee/Special Projects Award
Leadership Day: Charting Your Leadership Path
Chair: Donna Watford, CMP, CMM

2007 Special Event Venue
Grand Hyatt Denver - Downtown
for the 2005 - 2006 Awards Gala

2007 President's Award of Excellence
Leadership Development Team
Cherie Hogue & Donna Watford, CMP, CMM
and
Freddie and Keith Templeton
Ricky Mountain Event Consultants, LLC
MPI Rocky Mountain Chapter Management Company

2007 Climb the Summit Award
Third Place awarded to
Heather Hartland Sickles, CMP
Second Place awarded to
Crystal Stephen
First Place awarded to
Kylie Inglee

(July 26, 2007) Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) changes its name from the ‘HSMAI Mile High Chapter’ to ‘HSMAI Denver’.

HSMAI launched a new website (http://chapter.hsmai.org/Denver/home.aspx) this year. Having the chapter website hosted on the HSMAI website will allow members to take advantage of new and extensive resources, like online registration and industry information.

Gala Opening Includes 'Best Of' Awards

19 Companies Recognized By Colorado Meetings + Events Magazine as the "Best Of 2007" During A Gala Evening At Exdo Event Center

(March 27, Denver)-Colorado Meetings + Events was pleased to share a grand opening spotlight with Denver's newest event scene, Exdo Event Center. The magazine launched its First Annual "Best Of the Industry" Awards on Thursday, March 22 in partnership with the center and several sponsors. "This was a great first time event. We were thrilled to have so many sponsors from the meetings & events industry work with us to make the event one of the best in Colorado," says Lisa Lindgren, the magazine's advertising director.

The editors of Colorado Meetings + Events also welcomed more than 500 guests to Exdo Center for the celebration, which included the awards presentation, entertainment and nine of Denver's best caterers showcasing their cuisine: A Taste of Royalty, Biscuits & Berries the Catering Co., Gourmet Fine Catering, Kiva, Michaels of Denver, New England LobsterBake Co., Rialto Cafe, Three Tomatoes Catering and Tony Rosacci's Fine Catering. Beverages were provided by Tracks Nightclub and Bud Light.

"We are very pleased with the turn out for our grand opening event. Our staff worked countless hours to ensure EXDO was ready to go by our big day. We would also like to thank all of the sponsors whose hard work and donations made this event possible. Everyone was terrific and we look forward to working with all of you again, in the near future," says Erik Arredondo, EXDO event manager.

Colorado Meetings + Events is the premier regional trade publication, serving members of the state's meetings and events industry. The idea-driven magazine focuses on the issues facing today's meeting professional, and looks to address all aspects of the industry through in-depth feature stories, insightful departments and helpful news and updates on tips and trends important to our readers. The Best Of event promotes and recognizes excellence within the field.

"What makes Best of Colorado special is that peers are nominating peers for the awards. It is totally driven by the meetings and events industry," says Beth Buehler, editor.

The 2007 "Best of the Industry" Award recipients each received a plaque and were featured in the spring issue of the magazine. The awards are anticipated to become an annual event. (See winner's list below.)

"Colorado Meetings & Events magazine is proud to salute the first winners of an awards program that is sure to grow and go long into the future," Buehler added.

Colorado Meetings + Events

"Best of the Industry" Award Winners

(Contact: Barbara Knox, 612.548.3184 / barbara.knox@tigeroak.com)

March 27, 2007, Minneapolis, MN-Winners of the 2007 Colorado Meetings + Events "Best Of" awards were selected through a "reader's choice" ballot process. Honorees are as follows:

Attraction
Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre ranks as Colorado's oldest tourist attraction. The natural amphitheater hosts more than 350,000 concert-goers and 750,000 hikers and sight-seers each year. (Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, Morrison, 303.697.6047, www.redrocksonline.com)

Audio-Visual Provider
J&S Audio Visual Inc. has a 20-plus-year history of providing audio-visual operations, rental and staging services in Colorado. (J&S Audio Visual Inc., Denver, 303.792.5588, www.jsav.com)

Banquet/Reception Venue
INVESCO Field at Mile High's 1.8 million square feet offers a variety of options and opportunities. Rent a party suite, the entire 67,000-square-foot United Club level or mix and match. (INVESCO Field at Mile High, Denver, 720.258.3000, www.invescofieldatmilehigh.com)

Caterer
"We're only as good as our last meal served" is emblazoned on the walls of Epicurean Catering's three kitchens. (Epicurean Catering, Denver, 303.770.0877, www.epicureancatering.com)

Conference Venue
Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center, which opened in December 2005, earns kudos from readers for its mix of high-tech and high-touch amenities. There's 60,600 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, including two ballrooms. (Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center, 303.436.1234, www.denverregency.hyatt.com)

Convention/Exhibition Center
The Colorado Convention Center amenities include a 584,000-square-foot exhibition level; 63 meeting rooms; 85,000 square feet of ballroom space and a 5,000-seat Wells Fargo Theatre. Additionally, the center offers state-of-the-art infrastructure and is within walking distance of hotels, restaurants, theaters, arts and shopping. (Colorado Convention Center, Denver, 303.228.8000, www.denverconvention.com)

Destination Management Organization
Convention Designs LLC is known for being in tune with clients' unique needs and personalities in order to turn out successful, creative, cost-effective events. Whether it's a cement plant ground breaking, a gala or a mega-event at Red Rocks, the company remains attentive to details large and small. (Convention Designs LLC, Greenwood Village, 303.650.8858, www.conventiondesigns.com). Read the Press Release by clicking HERE.

Destination Marketing Organization
Founded in 1909, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau expects 2006 to shake out as the best year ever so far for conventions. (Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, Denver, 303.892.1112, www.denver.org)

Entertainment
Starkey Productions/Pro Entertainment, known as StarPro, can provide bands, theatrical productions, comedians, specialty acts and even national talent. StarPro also has sound and lighting capabilities. (Starkey Productions/Pro Entertainment, Denver, 303.750.6111, www.starprousa.com)

Event Décor
Handling everything from table dÈcor to the larger room decoration, Design Works by Dave and Mike has in-house floral, graphic, wood shop, metal and plastics fabrication departments. (Design Works by Dave and Mike, Denver, 720.941.7440, www.denverdesignworks.com)

Florist
The Perfect Petal bloomed in 1995 and has been warmly embraced by the meetings and events industry. The business has sought out sources for rare and novelty florals, bringing unusual and hard-to-find cuts to Colorado. (The Perfect Petal, Denver, 303.480.0966, www.theperfectpetal.com)

Golf Course
Arrowhead Golf Club, in the red-rock foothills, was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. In addition to Colorado Meetings & Events readers' "Best Of" designation, Golf Digest has rated the course one of the top ten Best Places to Play in Colorado. (Arrowhead Golf Club, Littleton, 303.973.9614, www.arrowheadcolorado.com)

Hotel with Meeting or Event Space
Hyatt Regency at the Colorado Convention Center garners the most reader votes. The one-year-old Hyatt features 1,100 guest rooms, including 72 suites and the 3,000-square-foot Monarch Suite for the most important VIPs. (Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center, Denver, 303.436.1234, www.denverregency.hyatt.com)

Meeting or Event Space without a Hotel
A $5 million renovation of the club level has reinvented a large portion of the meeting and event space at INVESCO Field at Mile High. Field advantage includes audio-visual services included in room rates, free parking and no food and beverage minimum. (INVESCO Field at Mile High, Denver, 720.258.3000, www.invescofieldatmilehigh.com)
Photographer/Videographer Steve and Debbie Crecelius launched award-winning WonderWorks Studios back in 1993. WonderWorks is widely published in national magazines as well as the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Guide. (WonderWorks Studios, Englewood, 303.789.5222, www.wonderworksstudios.com)

Rental Service
Readers singled out Event Rents for focusing on quality service and providing beautiful party-ware. Event Rents has been in business in the Denver metro area for 13 years, specializing in elegant and distinctive events. (Event Rents, Denver, 303.972.0975, www.eventrentsdenver.com)

Ski Resort
As the biggest ski resort in the country, Vail spreads across 5,289 acres and receives an average annual snowfall of 29 feet of the white stuff. For groups of 20 or more Vail offers special activities; seven bowls, four terrain parks and 33 lifts serving 193 conventional ski trails. (Vail Ski Resort, Vail, 303.404.1800, www.vail.com)

Team Building Facility/Organizer
Corporate team-building events at the Valhalla Shooting Club at Elk Mountain Resort have guests shooting, snowmobiling, clambering on the ropes course or enjoying a variety of other activities that move beyond shared experiences into the realm of actual leadership development. (Valhalla Shooting Club at Elk Mountain Resort, Montrose, 970.252.4900, www.elkmountainresort.com)

Transportation
Whether it's chartering a bus, planning a group tour, hiring a shuttle, organizing a casino trip or just moving people around, Coach USA offers varied transportation services for one or 1,000. (Coach USA, Golden, 303.421.2780, www.coachusa.us)

January 29, 2007
Contact: Shana Karle 612.548.3276
Shana.Karle@tigeroak.com

Magazine Partners with New Venue for Meetings Industry Awards, Grand Opening

Denver 2007- The newest and the best of the meetings and events industry will be on display Thursday, March 22, as planners and suppliers celebrate the industry's finest at the 2007 Colorado Meetings & Events "Best of" Awards at the Exdo Event Center.

The awards ceremony will honor the dedication and creativity of local event planners, florists, caterers, entertainers and other event professionals who have earned the respect and admiration of their clients and peers. We will also celebrate the remarkable event venues, hotels, resorts, conference centers and event centers throughout the state. Winners were selected through a reader poll in the magazine and online at www.comeetingsmag.com.

Along with the awards ceremony, we are happy to celebrate the Grand Opening of the new Exdo Event Center that same evening. The Exdo Event Center is a multipurpose facility, designed to be extremely versatile. Besides the awards, EXDO has planned an evening to showcase their great new space. We have invited some of Denver's greatest caterers, florist, sound and lighting teams to showcase what can be done with this featured facility. It will be a night filled with food, fun, cocktails and a wonderful opportunity to network with some of Colorado's "Best Of" the meetings and events industry. Qualified planners and suppliers are requested to RSVP to rsvpcomeetings@tigeroak.com or call the reservation line at 612.548.3271. There is no charge to attend the event.

Mark your calendar for:
Date: March 22
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Place: Exdo Event Center (just north of downtown Denver)
1399 35th Street
Denver CO 80205
www.exdoevents.com

Experient Classic Raises $7,000 To Provide Meals For 'At Risk' Children

Twinsburg, OH - Experient, the source for integrated meeting and event solutions, hosted its eighth annual Classic reception Nov. 30 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The event was organized by members of the Denver office of Experient and raised more than $7,000 for the Denver Rustler's Kid's Café, a program created by the Food Bank of the Rockies that is specifically designed to provide meals for at risk children in the metro Denver area.

In the seven years since the Classic - a formal night of networking, fun and fundraising - was established, Experient has donated more than $50,000 to the Kid's Café.

"Putting together this event was a natural step for us," said Gary Schirmacher, Experient senior vice president. "Early in 1999, we realized that many of us (in the Denver office) were already volunteering (at the Café) and wanted to think of something we could do that would get more people involved and spread the word about the need for this kind of service in our area. The Classic allows us to do that while having a lot of fun at the same time."

According to Jeanne Downes, director of the Kid's Café, 1 in 4 homeless persons in the Denver metro area are children, and 20 percent of the area's children live in poverty. Many of them benefit from this program, which provided more than 107,000 nutritious meals to children last year.

"The atmosphere in which we serve the meals is an especially unique part of this program," said Downes. "They are served in conjunction with tutoring, gang intervention, mentoring, and leadership programs. The availability of food enhances these programs' effectiveness and helps cut down on disciplinary issues at the sites. Numerous studies have shown a direct correlation between nutritious meals and increased academic performance in children."

For more information on the Denver Rustler's Kid's Café program, visit www.foodbankrockies.org/kidcafe1.cfm.

Experient is the source for integrated meeting and event solutions. With a vision to perfect the event experience and a mission to help bring people together to drive business, we have joined together the three leading event services companies (Conferon, ExpoExchange and ITS) into one centrally managed resource for full-service, customized registration, housing, event management and lead retrieval services. This year Experient will create memorable event experiences for more than 2,800 events attended by 3.2 million people who will occupy and will drive purchasing of more than 4.2 million hotel room nights.

THE STARS OF MPI ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER ARE HONORED “UP IN THE CLOUDS”!

The setting for this year’s Annual Awards Gala was perfect... up in the clouds on the 37th floor at the Grand Hyatt’s famous Pinnacle Club! With our biggest turnout for this event ever at 200 guests, it was the perfect ending to a great MPI Rocky Mountain Chapter year.

This year’s awards focused on ALL the members who made our chapter successful throughout the year. These were this year’s ‘Doers’, and included the Committee Members, Committee Chairs, outgoing Board of Directors and of course our special award winners. In this busy world we all live in, these leaders are those who recognize the importance of serving others, and who have chosen to share their talent and time for you the members, and for MPI. They are to be commended and thanked for their efforts to bring all the very best MPI benefits to you as a member.

Our Awards Gala Committee, chaired by Terri Utecht, CMP and Amy Schloesser did an outstanding job. From the “MPI and the City” theme, to the invitation, decor, audio visual, flowers, gift bags and so much more - it was just perfect! Their selection of this year’s emcee, Reggie Rivers, was a great pick and he was a nice addition to the event (even if his jokes were just a little corny!).

The Annual Awards Gala is the time we look back at the past year and celebrate the successes of the chapter, as well as recognize those individuals who have gone above and beyond. And this year’s winners were no exception. The 2005-2006 Award Winners are:

• Rising Star: Susan Diamond, Denver Marriott Tech Center
• Silver Plate: McCormick’s Catering at The Oxford Hotel
• Supplier of the Year: Megan Meyers, Convention Designs
• Planner of the Year: Terri Utecht, CMP, Utecht Diversified Events
• Company of the Year: The Arrangers
• Sandy Gerety Humanitarian Award: Donna Watford, CMP, CMM, MPEG LA
• President’s Award of Excellence: Terri Utecht, CMP, Utecht Diversified Events
• President’s Award of Excellence: Freddie & Keith Templeton, Rocky Mountain Event Consultants

My heartiest congratulations to all the winners - thank you for all you do for MPI and your industry!

As I mentioned in my farewell speech, it has been a most successful year for the Rocky Mountain Chapter and there is still so much more to come! For those of you looking to attain your CMP, we will be rolling out our new CMP Scholarship Program this coming year. Watch this space for more details!

It has been an absolute honor and a pleasure to serve as your President this past year ~ thank you!

Tracey L. Kirk, CMM
The Golden Hotel
Immediate Past President