With the terror attack in Manchester fresh on attendees’ minds from the night before, Prevue’s Global Meeting Summit took on an added intensity this past Tuesday. A morning session by iJET’s Theresa Thomas focused on the vulnerabilities of meeting attendees traveling abroad, from the buses they board to the signage in the hallways. “A name badge with Microsoft on it screams kidnapping in certain parts of the world,” she told the audience of 30 meeting planners.
Other speakers at the Global Meeting Summit, held at MEET on Bowery in lower Manhattan, included well-known industry lawyer and educator Tyra Hilliard, who rewrote sample contract clauses for the group, and American Express’ Adam Gordon, who outlined hotel trends and developments across the globe.
The meeting kicked off with a site inspection of the brand-new Hotel 50 Bowery; the Summit was the hotel’s first group since its opening less than a week earlier. The first New York property of the Joie de Vivre hotel group, it’s a fresh, stylish addition to the Bowery and incorporates aspects of its Chinatown neighborhood, from the original artwork to the F&B outlets. A gift bag of fortune cookies and a plush bathrobe embellished with a red dragon are just a couple of the finer touches awaiting attendees. The hotel’s rooftop bar, with sweeping views facing uptown toward the Empire State Building, is sure to become a neighborhood hot spot and can be rented for small group functions of 40 guests or a buyout of 150. The group also had the chance to tour the slick DREAM Downtown, a hangout for the high-tech set in Chelsea; DREAM Hotels was the Summit’s other hotel partner.
The opening reception was held at Time Square’s Knickerbocker Hotel, where attendees sampled sushi and creative hors d’ouevres while listening to the smooth jazz of the New York–based duo Acute Inflections. A highlight of the evening was a gift bag of items from New York makers, everything from custom truffles to foodie dice, curated by a brand-new amenity concept known as The Magic Bank.
The Summit on Day 2 was held at MEET on Bowery, a concept created by Sara Schiller, a former Starwood exec whose mission has been to shake up what she refers to as “beige conference spaces.” The downtown conference center, which holds 36 people, promises an authentic New York experience, including lunch supplied by the famous Meatball Shop; two other MEET properties are located in Soho and on Chrystie Street. Guests also enjoyed rosé on the rooftop, a refreshing way to punctuate a day packed with meetings.
Many thanks to Prevue’s Global Meetings Summit sponsors: Caesars Entertainment, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal, Windstar Cruises and Delta Airlines, as well as to ACCESS New York Metro for its event production and destination management services.
