Meeting planner makes a difference

Manchester, NH's Radisson agrees to upgrade rooms to keep conference in their hotel.

The downtown Radisson had to agree to replace stained wallpaper
and worn carpets in its suites or risk losing a conference of
airport executives next August.

"Without that commitment, the site selection committee was in a
position of looking at several other facilities, some inside
New Hampshire and some outside New Hampshire," said Brian O'Neill,
spokesman for Manchester Airport.

The northeast chapter of the American Association of Airport
Executives agreed to book between 150 and 175 rooms for the
conference, which will run from Aug. 26 to 30, 2006, O'Neill
said. The annual meeting is expected to attract more than 300
executives and family members.

The selection committee visited in March 2004 and insisted on
the renovations.

A hotel official said changes already were planned for
upgrading the suites.

"It was just part of our capital plan," said Maurine Bowman,
the hotel's director of sales and marketing.

The condition of the suites "wasn't anything out of the ordinary
other than normal wear and tear," Bowman said. "They just wanted
to make sure the suites were updated."


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my comments: In order to keep their own reputation of being good
meeting planners, hotels do need to stay with the times if they're
going to attract potential conferences. I'm glad to see that this
hotel "heard" the meeting planner and is willing to accomodate them.
My boss is a meeting planner and it's pretty frustrating when a hotel
just doesn't "get it". Good for the Radisson.