April 2011 ACCESS Advantage
- Interview with ACCESS Destination Services CEO, Chris Lee, DMCP
- Red Carpet Ready!
- Vintage in the Vines!
Contact the team at ACCESS Destination Services for all of your destination management requirements throughout the western USA.
Interview with ACCESS Destination Services CEO, Chris Lee, DMCP
This month we feature excerpts from an interview with ACCESS CEO, Chris Lee, conducted by Lex Lyon, Executive Director of The CONTACT DMC Group, for that organization's newsletter. Chris shares some positive perspective on both industry trends and ACCESS Destination Services.
Q. How is business overall? Will 2011 be a strong year?
A. Compared to the past two years, 2011 is a strong year. There is definitely momentum in the volume of proposal requests coming in.
Q. With the ease of Google and with the availability of various platforms marketed toward clients to organize their destination management activities, are DMCs relevant today?
A. Absolutely! Destination information has always been available to planners, from the old Yellow Pages publication, to the CVBs and other local sources. What makes a DMC valuable is their long-term client and vendor relationships, creativity, volume buying power and the risk and financial management they provide. Many planners are realizing information overload these days and look to their DMC partners to save time designing and operating a custom program that meets their specific goals and objectives. It's the personalized service that clients value, not just the information.
Q. How involved are you in the different destinations ACCESS serves, from a local's perspective?
A. We are very involved in our local destinations. We live, work and play in all of our communities. In fact, four of our founding Partners are native to the cities they are based in.
Q. Last year you attained Perfect World Events in San Francisco and it is now ACCESS Northern California. You have revamped the infra-structure of ACCESS Las Vegas. Where does ACCESS go next?
A. We will go where clients need us and want us most. We started as a small "mom and pop" operation, developed into a regional company, and have been part of a large multinational company, in our 40 years in this business. ACCESS today represents the best of those experiences by operating as an owner-operated business with regional and national resources and scope.
Q. What is your biggest nightmare when it comes to putting on an ACCESS event?
A. There are so many moving parts to producing events, it's like live television. It's all about preparation and communication. I guess my biggest nightmare is the weather, because that is out of our control.
Q. Every trade magazine features stories on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and being Green. Where does CSR fit in your business plan?
A. It goes deeper than the business plan. At ACCESS, it's part of our company values. I describe CSR to our clients as a way to put meaning into meetings ©. In addition to integrating CSR into client programs, we developed an internal initiative called Operation Give. Check out our Blog (blog.accessdmc.com).
Q. You've been in the business for 20+ years, what do you wish you had done differently?
A. I wish I had expanded the business earlier. Clients now are looking for partners who can service more than one or two destinations.
Q. At the end of the day, with wine in hand and sitting in the easy chair, what particular achievement of ACCESS makes you smile?
A. The people and our company culture. I have been fortunate to work with and mentor some of the finest people in the DMC business at Cal Leisure, PGI and ACCESS. It is very satisfying to see past and current team members grow and succeed, and make a positive difference in our industry.
Red Carpet Ready! The Awards Season in Tinseltown may be over, but your Awards Galas will continue to shine with some red carpet creativity from the ACCESS Los Angeles team. Let's treat your guests to a celebrity experience as they get "glam" in preparation for their own Gala event. At the interactive "Red Carpet Ready Lounge" guests will imagine themselves as pampered Academy Awards-bound movie stars as they primp and prep to look and feel their best for their grand Red Carpet entrance - complete with "Joan Rivers" and the ever persistent paparazzi. Whether on or off-property, at this lead-in to an Awards Gala, male and female guests will receive the star treatment just like celebs in preparation for their special evening. While sipping cocktails, your guests are manicured, coiffed, and buffed to perfection by talented hair and make-up stylists who work on real life sets of feature films and TV series. Custom air-brush tattoos contribute to the edgy LA look! Additional activities abound including Green Screen Photography - how about your guests' photos on "Rolling Stone" magazine!
The ACCESS Los Angeles team successfully produced "Red Carpet Ready Lounge" as an actual pre-Emmy Awards reception but the components readily lend themselves to a multi-purpose role at any time during your conference or incentive travel program. The components make for a fun cocktail reception prior to your Gala or they can serve as ideal interactive elements in a fun, flow-style "On the Set" theme event. Or...consider Red Carpet Ready an out-of-the box daytime activity, prior to a night on the town, to offer a little something different within a recreation program. Whatever your desires, the ACCESS Los Angeles team is here, with creativity and connections, to make your program an out-of-the-box success!
Vintage in the Vines! One typically thinks of Napa and Sonoma when envisioning an exclusive winery experience, rightfully so, but today the ACCESS Northern California team is anxious to share with you a delightful alternative - a special event at a magnificent 16-acre Wine Estate "down south" at the foot of the majestic Carmel Valley Mountains. The winery boasts breathtaking vistas of the lush green valley where sunsets are unforgettable and rainbows bounce off the hills; this is the perfect location for a VIP dinner event.
The evening begins with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres where guests can mingle and take in the magnificent surroundings. The chime of a dinner bell signals that dinner is served and guests are escorted into the vineyard, where dinner awaits. Surrounded by the vines, feasting on a superb four-course dinner, perfectly paired with premium wine, guests will feel that they have been transported to the French countryside. But...that's not all! After dining, guests are sure to enjoy a specially planned after-dinner concert in the rustic barrel room bordered by more than one thousand French 
and American oak barrels. Open-beamed cathedral ceilings, dramatic lighting and excellent acoustics make for the perfect concert - a creative conclusion to a truly enchanting dinner event.
When you are looking for a simply di-VINE evening event, wine-tasting, or daytime excursion, contact the team at ACCESS Northern California. Our team will match your group demographics and conference location with the very best the area has to offer. Call us today!
Cookin' with ACCESS
Butcher's Ragu with Fusilli
For your own wine pairing dinners, pair a lush concentrated merlot with this pasta recipe courtesy of celebrity chef Mario Batali.
Serves 8
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1 medium celery rib, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 ounces thickly sliced pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/2 pound thickly sliced baked ham, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup water
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds fusilli
- Freshly grated pecorino, for serving
Directions:
In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the olive oil. Add the carrot, celery, onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 10 minutes. Add the pancetta and ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until shiny and rust-colored, about 10 minutes.
Add the diced ham, milk, white wine and water to the casserole and simmer the ragu over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is thick and saucy, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Season the ragu with salt and pepper.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the fusilli, stirring often, until al dente. Drain the fusilli and add it to the sauce. Stir well to coat the pasta. Transfer the pasta to shallow bowls and serve right away, passing grated pecorino at the table.
Make Ahead: The ragu can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat gently.
Enjoy!