Starwood gives CPR More than 900 Starwood employees celebrated Friday as Popp's Fountain in New Orleans' City Park was turned on again after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The site is renowned as a venue for weddings and other special events. The team supplied nearly 6,000 hours of volunteer work to restore the site as part of Operation CPR, "City Park Restoration." Also pitching in were the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group and local DMC Signature Events ...
Bring your rubles Moscow remains the priciest hotel market for business travelers, with rates rising 26 percent last year to an average of $435 per night, according to a study just released by British travel management company HRG UK. "In such buoyant times, it is vital that companies who have negotiated specific rates with supplies ensure that they have last-room availability," said Margaret Bowler, HRG general manager of hotel relations, "and that their contracted rates have been loaded on to the GDS [general distribution systems]. This will help to avoid the possibility of their rates being denied as hotels aim to achieve the highest rate possible. Our data shows that just 0.1 percent of all bookings are denied due to a hotel being genuinely full" ...
Civic pride Event producer Charles Banfield, head of Los Angeles-based Charles Banfield Productions, was honored last month by the L.A. City Council as "one of the nation's best-kept secrets of modern event design" due in part to his work producing the "Diva Bling" Opening Night Part at The Special Event 2007.
For a full recap of the show, see the March issue of Special Events Magazine.
