- ACCESS Encourages Industry Involvement
- A Little Slice of Italy!
- Sizzling New Summer Shows!
- What’s Up in Downtown?
ACCESS Encourages Industry Involvement
The leadership team at ACCESS Destination Services has long maintained the view that hospitality industry involvement combined with training and education is critical to the service-oriented role of a Destination Management Company. “In today’s business climate, we are seeing shorter lead times on programs and meeting professionals strapped with many additional responsibilities due to downsizing, consolidation and other business factors”, states Christopher Lee, DMCP, CEO of ACCESS. As a result, the ACCESS team promotes and supports continuing education and development that will make our team members stronger hospitality partners to you, our valued clients, in the cities we serve.
ACCESS encourages its team members to become involved and to achieve proficiency levels within organizations such as MPI (Meeting Professionals International) and ADME (Association of Destination Management Executives) to become more knowledgeable and relate better with our clients.
Currently, 10 ACCESS team members are MPI members, with 2 of them maintaining their CMP designation. Additionally, ACCESS Destination Services has the largest number of Destination Management Certified Professionals (DMCP members) in the state of California. In the words of Sue Hershkowitz-Coore, CSP, a featured speaker at the recent ACCESS Destination Services Annual Companywide Meeting, “The maxim that we get back what we give out is the basis for every solid business relationship.”
With our focus on your success and the success of each and every program you bring to our destination cities, ACCESS will continue to be committed to being a valued DMC partner to you throughout the coming years.
We would like to congratulate three MPI local members for recent honors: Steve McCleave, DMCP, Senior Sales Manager for ACCESS Destination Services in Los Angeles, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of MPI for the 2006-2007 term. The Chapter also selected Keri Shaffer, Sales Manager for ACCESS Los Angeles as the recipient of the Rising Star Award for June, 2006. This award recognizes new members of MPISCC who have made significant contributions to the chapter and show promise as future leaders. Additionally, Carolyn Davis, CMP, Senior Sales Manager for ACCESS Destination Services in San Diego, was nominated for the MPI San Diego Chapter’s Supplier of the Year Award and the Nancy Morrell Swanson Visionary Award. Carolyn’s continued SDMPI service, industry contributions, community service and ongoing professional advancement have earned her these much deserved nominations. Carolyn will serve the San Diego Chapter as chairperson of the Publicity Committee for the 2006-2007 term.
The accompanying photograph features ACCESS ADME and MPI members pictured with Pierre Charmasson, CMP, and President-Elect of the San Diego Chapter of MPI.
Front Row: (MPI San Diego Chapter President-Elect Pierre Charmasson, CMP), ACCESS team members: Carolyn Davis, CMP (MPI), Chris Lee, DMCP, CMP (ADME and MPI), Beth Daniel (MPI),
Second Row: Ilene Reinhart, DMCP, CMP (ADME and MPI), Teri Harbour-O’Keefe, DMCP, CMP (ADME and MPI), Jennifer Miller, DMCP (ADME), Barbara Smith, DMCP (ADME and MPI)
Top Row: Candace Bisconte, DMCP (ADME and MPI), Steve McCleave, DMCP (ADME and MPI), Laura West (MPI)
Missing from Photograph: ACCESS MPI member, Keri Shaffer
San Diego
A Little Slice of Italy! Little Italy, San Diego’s best kept secret is coming of age! At the turn of the century practically every American city featured transplanted versions of European villages recreated in the United States by immigrants settling into a new way of life in a new country. The Italian neighborhoods were particularly vibrant. Some “Little Italys” continued to thrive through the decades while others, including San Diego’s, became but a memory of their vibrant past. Now in the process of rebirth, our own Little Italy will serve as a model for others across the nation with close to $5 million dollars in renovations.
Join the ACCESS San Diego team for your next area excursion or spouse activity on a narrated historical tour of Little Italy. Here you will learn all about Little Italy’s colorful history and the stories behind the various landmarks in one of the city’s more bohemian neighborhoods replete with chic art galleries, high fashion Euro-style shops, trendy salons, and quaint dining establishments. Following the walking tour, all the while savoring the aromas of garlic and basil, your guests are sure to enjoy an authentic Italian luncheon at one of the local eateries. After lunch, we will pay a visit to the local gourmet chocolate shop followed by free time to explore. Little Italy is the perfect venue for a walking tour or as a featured stop on an ACCESS Destination Services City Tour. If your conference or convention includes repeat visitors to San Diego, let ACCESS and Little Italy be part of the new San Diego experience – Italian style!
Contact the San Diego office of ACCESS Destination Services for all of your destination management needs.
Las Vegas
Sizzling New Summer Shows! It is summertime in Las Vegas and the bets are on as to which newly premiered show will be the most sensational. Will it be Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular or LOVE, Cirque du Soleil, which celebrates the musical legacy of the Beatles?
Phantom, which is uniquely presented in a new, $40 million theater at The Venetian, features never before seen special effects and a fantastic Broadway caliber cast. The 95-minute production, which includes every song from the original, reunites Andrew Lloyd Webber, Hal Prince (winner of 20 Tony Awards and Director of the original production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera in London and on Broadway) and others from the show’s original creative team.
LOVE, at The Mirage, brings the magic of Cirque du Soleil together with the spirit and passion of The Beatles to create an intimate and powerful entertainment experience. Drawn from the poetry of the lyrics, the show explores the content of the songs as interpreted by innovative performances from a cast of 60 international artists. A youthful, raw energy is channeled through aerial performance, extreme sports and urban freestyle dance. A unique soundscape of The Beatles music has been created for LOVE using the master tapes at Abbey Road Studios. The panoramic visual and surround stage in the custom-built theatre at The Mirage envelops the audience in a Beatles experience like none other.
Contact the Las Vegas office of ACCESS Destination Services for your next special event and for all your corporate event planning needs.
Los Angeles
What’s Up in Downtown? The ACCESS Los Angeles team is excited to report on two complex mega projects, each projected at costing over one billion dollars. Each project is in position to revitalize the core of Los Angeles, creating a truly vibrant downtown for living, working and playing in the heart of the City of Angels.
L.A. Live, adjacent to the Staples Center, is a 4 million square foot sports and entertainment district currently under construction by developer AEG. This project is considered to be the largest development in the history of Los Angeles and will be host to an exciting array of venues and facilities.
Among the L.A. Live business partners, we will see the ESPN Zone, a multi-level dining establishment, game area and broadcast center; The Grammy Museum, a 28,000 square foot facility honoring recorded music and past and present Grammy winning artists; and The Conga Room, LA’s premier Latin and World music venue which will re-locate from Wilshire’s Miracle Mile. The Conga Room, co-owned by actor Jimmy Smits is a two story venue with restaurant and nightclub facilities. Hot off the presses is the announcement that Marriott International, Inc. will flag the new downtown “headquarters” hotel, adjacent to the LA Convention Center. A 52-story hotel tower will house the 876-room Los Angeles Marriott Marquis L.A. Live (which will include the largest ballroom in the city, able to seat 3000 guests) and The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles, a 124-room boutique hotel. Opening dates for the properties are scheduled for 2010.
In addition, other key components of the entertainment district will include a 7,000-seat live performance venue, a 40,000 square foot open air plaza and numerous high-end and casual dining establishments, clubs and bistros, and luxury condominiums.
In a very fitting comment made at the L.A. Live ground-breaking ceremonies, Mark Liberman, President and CEO of LA INC. The Convention and Visitors Bureau states: “It presents LA with the promise of a wholly new and exciting visitor destination in the center of the second largest city in the country…There’s no hiding the fact that what we’ve seen today can be a convention sales organization’s dream come true.”
The Grand Avenue Project will transform the civic and cultural districts of downtown Los Angeles into a vibrant new regional center which will showcase entertainment venues, restaurants, housing units, and retail mixed with a 275-room hotel. These new uses will add to the notable features atop Bunker Hill, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels, among others. The design calls for plazas and walkways that would connect the Grand Avenue neighborhood to the city’s downtown cultural center. Also included within the scope of the project is the improvement of the existing County Mall, which will be transformed into a 16 acre park. The park is set to become the new “Central Park” of Los Angeles and is expected to be the scene of many citywide celebrations and events.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.8 billion and construction of Phase 1, expected to begin in December, is projected to be completed in 2009 with all-phase roll out by 2014.
Contact the Los Angeles office of ACCESS Destination Services for your next site inspection or production needs in Los Angeles.
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