Hilton’s Meet With Purpose initiative is all about making it easier for meeting planners to incorporate health and wellness, along with sustainable practices, into meetings and events.
The vision behind the initiative belongs to Toni Zoblotksy, Hilton’s director of B2B marketing, who filled us in on specifics of some of the offerings during IMEX last October. For example, there’s Puppy Cuddling, a 30-minute afternoon break where attendees enjoy ice cream and get to cuddle with puppies from local shelters. Not only do attendees love it, but it gives the dogs a much-needed dose of affection.
A yoga and yogurt event lets attendees do a yoga flow and then enjoy a yogurt parfait breakfast. “It’s the perfect opportunity for a planner to delight their attendees by providing an exercise activity and a breakfast rolled into one package,” is how Zoblotsky described it. “It allows them to stay on the rails with their fitness program when they travel.”
In addition to wellness, Meet With Purpose is about sustainability. Hilton’s catering experts encourage meeting planners to reexamine their F&B to minimize food waste and promote healthy choices, offering solutions such as portion control, pre-plating salads and establishing central water stations with reusable containers. In the meeting room, less resource-intensive practices might include using paperless registration or turning off a room’s climate control when not in session.
Another Hilton initiative begun last year, WOWMakers celebrates how meeting and event planners “wow” their attendees and clients. As part of the “WowMakers Make Amazing Happen” competition, planners can nominate themselves or a fellow planner who went above and beyond to deliver a wow experience for clients. Ten nominees will win a trip to a 2018 industry event of their choice and a grand prize winner will be featured in an upcoming Hilton ad campaign. Nominate someone today!
