Business Development at M&CPEI
The Business Development Managers (BDMs) at Meetings & Conventions PEI is our sales team. These hard-working individuals run down prospective meetings, research future potential business, connect with planners, attend tradeshows, educational and networking events and of course work with tentative business to try and influence a booking to confirm PEI as their host location!
Our amazing BDM team is comprised of only 3 team members:
Susan Freeman
Susan has over 20 years of hospitality experience in both Sales and Conference Services. At Mount Saint Vincent University, she earned a degree in Tourism & Hospitality Management. She is a member of the Discover Charlottetown Board and is very proud of the work she has accomplished the hospitality industry on PEI. Outside of work Susan enjoys watching her two daughters play soccer and softball and enjoys cheering them on from the sidelines with her husband.
If you are an Islander or Maritimer looking to invite a group to PEI, Susan should be your first call!
sfreeman@peimc.com
902.368-2191
902.626.7661 Cell
Treena MacLeod
Treena MacLeod has been involved in the hospitality industry for over 30 years. Having started her career in the foodservice industry, eventually moving into event planning and then on to a career within the meeting industry in 2009. Stating the obvious, Treena absolutely loves to cook and has a passion for travel. An explorer in a previous life for sure.
Treena would love to talk with you if your National Organization or governmental department is looking for a location to host a meeting
tmacleod@peimc.com
902.894.5957
902.629.2929 Cell
Rebecca Alexander
With many years of in-market experience in Toronto, including Director of Conventions at Tourism London (Ont.) PEI native Rebecca Alexander is well-established within the Corporate and Association markets. At home in Toronto with her husband Scott, Rebecca enjoys an active lifestyle and busy volunteer schedule which she was honoured for in 2017 with the Jeremy Tyrrell Memorial Award for Volunteer Leadership. (Awarded by the Professional Convention Management Association – PCMA.)
Rebecca works with any organization in the GTA and South Western Ontario (SWO) region and if your head office is there, she’s the woman to contact!
ralexander@peimc.com
416.461.8743
416.802.8743 Cell
A DMO is your new BFF
Imagine this….you have been travelling to your organization’s conferences and annual meetings for years. Now it’s your turn to host your colleagues in your home province. Or, even more challenging, you have been assigned the task of organizing a major convention on the opposite coast.
“Yikes,” you think, “Where do I even start?”
This is the point where you call in your new BFF – the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO). A DMO promotes a town, city, region or country to increase the number of visitors. It promotes the development and marketing of a destination, focusing on conventions sales, tourism marketing and services. So if you are bringing in people for a meeting or conference, the DMO is ready, willing and able to assist. Sounds like just what you need, yes?
First things first
The DMO provides you with a meeting planning guide to get you started. Then it partners with you to achieve your goals and objectives. And if you are not clear on what they are, the DMO can help you sort them out. Is team building the prime objective of the event? Or does your organization have considerable business to conduct? Maybe attendees have earned their participation through an incentive program. Being clear upfront on what you want to accomplish will make the planning and execution go much smoother.
Next, you will need to get bids from the various providers of accommodations, goods and services needed to make your meeting a success. The DMO helps with that, saving you countless emails and phone calls from those vying for your business. Rather, armed with your RFP, the DMO receives all the proposals, distils them, and presents an organized bid from the destination. All you have to do is review and choose your meeting location.
DMO folks know their location and what it offers better than anyone else. Therefore, they have the inside track when it comes to helping you develop programming and any social or teambuilding experiences you want to incorporate into your event. From culture to clam-digging, from theatre to tours, from sailing to sandcastle building, your DMO knows how to find just what you are seeking.
Perhaps you would feel more comfortable seeing the location and meeting the providers in person prior to the event. No problem. Your new BFF can plan a familiarization (fam) tour for you to get acquainted and finalize arrangements. You will be in good hands as you see for yourself what the destination is like and what it offers.
Now it’s time talk up the event and generate excitement so your organization’s members are keen to attend. And, yes, the DMO helps with that, too. It has lots of lots of ideas and information – including videos and other promotional items – to have delegates hankering to attend your event.
Just as your BFF would help you out of the goodness of his or her heart, so does the DMO. In other words, their assistance and support are absolutely free. After all, you are bringing visitors to their destination.
Meetings & Conventions Prince Edward Island is the Island’s DMO. It markets PEI as Canada’s premiere coastal meeting destination by providing event planning solutions to meeting planners and anyone with the potential to bring meeting and convention business to PEI. Fill out a request for proposal or Contact your new BFF today!
Springing into a meeting and convention flurry
In just the past three months, 65 meetings and conventions were held here on PEI bringing in over 8300 delegates. From the Atlantic Canada Clinical Engineering Society to the Y’s Men Maritime Region, they came in droves. Teachers, paramedics, recreation experts, physicians, Buddhists, bowlers, engineers, film professionals- you name it and they’ve been here.
FAM tours
This spring saw several On Your Own Time Fam tours. Our “On Your Own Time” FAM program is a personal invitation for meeting planners to experience PEI when it suits their schedule. The BDMs showcased PEI for planners with: the Canadian Association of Ambulatory Care, Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, Scotia Bank, and Tree of Life Canada.
In July Meetings & Conventions, PEI was busy hosting a group FAM tour for nine meeting planners who together had the potential for 17+ meetings and over 2500 delegates. We have even received an RFP already from one of them!
Meetings & Conventions PEI – July FAM Tour
New Members
In the past few months Membership has increased and we welcome these new members to Meetings & Conventions PEI:
Meet Me Here
Meet Me Here
If you haven’t had a chance to view any or all of our innovative Web series – Meet Me Here– you should do so right away! This eight-part series, produced by staffers Rose Dennis and Mary-Helen McLeese along with Nicholas Whalen and M&CPEI member Patrick Faller. Through one-on-one interviews, the series gives an inside look at the latest trends, locations, and ideas behind Canada’s leaders in the meeting industry. Meet Me Here as proven to be popular with folks inside and outside the industry.
The total videos produced for Meet Me Here have been viewed over 13,000 times on Facebook. Here is our playlist on YouTube:
Learning and teaching
Susan Freeman at C2 in Montreal
C2: M&CPEI folks attended this massive event to learn how design, architecture and technology are shaping industries! C2, held in Montreal, bring together commerce and creativity to explore trends, opportunities, disruptions and major shifts on the horizon.
Marrow at MCPEI Digital Marketing Day
Digital Marketing Day: We were pleased to have so many people attend this event held at the Loyalist Country Inn & Conference Centre. The day focused primarily on:
- Growing Your Business on Facebook
- Getting the Most out of the MCPEI Website
- Creating Real Online Engagement
- 2018 Facebook Algorithm – How to Continue to Get Your Audience’s Attention
The event was a huge success, largely due to our guest speakers from Marrow, a Purpose-Driven Content Marketing agency that believes in the power of meaningful connections and relationships. Selling, in its view, is out.
Information session at the University of Prince Edward Island: Meetings & Conventions PEI hosted an information session at UPEI in June to showcase to the staff at the university what we can help them host a meeting.
In other news
Dignitaries and management cutting the ribbon at Mill River Resort
Hats off to Port Charlottetown on the announcement of the upcoming expansion to the Charlottetown Marine Terminal. Work includes the expansion of the South Berth by approximately 270 metres to accommodate two, 330-metre cruise ships simultaneously, while also leaving space for oil tankers and cargo ships. The larger berth will provide more room for large cruise ships and the growing number of passengers visiting the region each year, improving the experience for tourists as well as those conducting business in the area.
Congratulations to the Mill River Resort on its grand reopening. This amazing destination has a grand convention area, on-site resort golf, spa, tennis, dining and more. Overall, it is an amazing year-round destination venue for meeting delegates to experience PEI.
Out and About
Oak Acres Children’s Camp Golf Tournament
We were very pleased to take part in:
Oak Acres Children’s Camp Golf Tournament
Cavendish Beach Spring General Meeting.
Central Coastal PEI FAM tour
TIAPEI FAM Tour
The Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament
Atlantic Canada Road Trip: We took a delegation of our members on the road throughout Atlantic Canada the week of Global Meetings Industry Day to promote the Island as THE place to meet. This adventure with a purpose took us to three cities in two provinces over the span of three days and four nights. We targeted local planners in Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax – those who can influence the choice of PEI as a meeting destination. We were pleased and proud to have the following members go road tripping with us.
Global Meetings Industry Day: Treena MacLeod and Rebecca Alexander represented M&CPEI at Global Meetings Industry Day in Ottawa! We are grateful to our engaged members who also attended the important annual event. Our members we pleased to talk about why meeting are important:
Happy Global Meetings Industry Day!
Hear from Island operators first hand on why meetings and conventions are so important to Prince Edward Island. Meetings really DO matter especially to our small but mighty Island. The economic impact and exposure of PEI to the world through meetings are essential for PEI. With meetings and conventions business also come the benefits of showcasing the Island during off season times and encouraging return visitation. It's great to reflect on why meeting in PEI is so important today, on Global Meetings Industry Day. Happy GMID everyone! #MeetInPEI #GMID
Posted by Meetings & Conventions Prince Edward Island on Thursday, April 12, 2018
Accolades
- Experience PEI’s Beach Combers Clam Boil made it to MSN’s list of travel experiences to check out
- The Holman Grand Hotel received a Four Diamond Award
- Upstreet Brewing’s CEO Mitch Cobb was named one of Atlantic Business Magazine’s top 50 CEOs
- The Table Culinary Studio received the Travel and Hospitality Award 2018 for Unique Experience of the Year in Prince Edward Island.
- Chef Michael Smith and his team at The Inn at Bay Fortune were awarded the best Farm to Table award and being named in Canada’s 100 Best for 2018!
- Charlottetown for making it to the top 25 friendliest towns in Canada, each with an impressive four-star rating or higher
If you only have a minute
If you don’t have time to read this entire newsletter
(fine time to tell you, eh?),
you can catch up on what we’ve been up to in just 60 seconds.
Ready, set, go!
In case you missed it at the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island Semi-Annual Meeting today. We tried to squeeze in everything we've done in the first 4 months of 2018 into a Minute….it was all they gave us!! #Tourismmatters
Posted by Meetings & Conventions Prince Edward Island on Thursday, April 26, 2018