Wishing you all a happy year!

Dear Meetings Industry Blog Readers,

I would like to thank you for following my articles during late 2006.

For that I wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Cheers,

Chris

Skype is getting a lie detector

Lie detectors are no longer the preserve of shadowy government agencies. Nor are they hard to get.

The KishKish Lie Detector, for example, can be downloaded free as an "extra" on the popular internet phone service Skype. It is capable of monitoring, in real-time, the stress levels in a person's voice.


Its creator, BATM, says higher sound frequencies are a telltale sign that someone is being dishonest.
"What all people have in common is that their stress levels are constantly changing within their current range, changes which indicate the 'perceived jeopardy' or 'danger' of statements being made," reads a product description on the KishKish website.
The lie detector is activated whenever a Skype call is placed, and before giving a reading the software calibrates to the general stress levels of the speaker.
A needle meter moves up and down to illustrate variations from the general stress level, and an indicator light turns from green to red if the software detects a "lie".
To avoid legal troubles, the program automatically informs the other person their conversation is being monitored by a lie detector.

Skype - which has become popular among tech-savvy users because of its competitive landline and mobile call rates - boasts over 100 million users worldwide, and was bought by eBay for $US2.6 billion ($3.2 billion) in September last year.

Hotel and Tourism

Actually, it is a match made in heaven - tourism and hotels (all kind of tourism and all kind of hotels of course!)

What would tourism be without hotels and what hotels without tourism...

Would toursim exist without hotels? And would there be hotels without tourism? Actually, what was first, tourism or hotels? Thinking about it, when was the first "hotel - guesthouse - sleeping cabin - horse box etc." mentioned? Interesting thought. Anybody got some ideas?

Just some ideas. Were Maria and Josef some sort of Tourists? And the place they found was it some sort of "hotel"?

Ok, I will stop now, but the question remains:
What would tourism be without hotels and what hotels without tourism...

Cheers,
Christian W. Frei

Christmas for the meetings industry

What are possible gifts for the MICE industry, I wonder.

Let me list a few:

• more customers (this must be as first listed...)
• customers with a larger budget
• customers who know what they want
• customers which understand what they can do for you and what you can do for them
• more time to spend with colleagues and industry friends
• less travel (at least for some of us?)

Well, what is your wish for MICE christmas?

Cheers,
Christian W. Frei

Sustainabilety in the MICE industry

I found this interesting website while browsing the internet:

http://www.sustainabletravelinternational.org/

It reads:
Promoting responsible travel and ecotourism, supporting sustainable development, and helping travelers and travel providersprotect the cultures and environments they visit.

This seems to be worthwile to be supported so have a look at it.

If we don't preserve our planet we soon will have no more wonders to visit!

Cheers,
Chris

MICE industry researchers

Did you know that there are dozens of universities and bureaux all over the world speciallized in MICE industry research? There must be something in this MICE industry which attracts people and companies from around the world. And again, MICE is more widely used then many people think..

Check out some of the links of MICE industry researchers:

University of Central Florida Libraries, USA
http://library.ucf.edu/Rosen/guide_mice.asp

Bureau of Tourism Research, Australia
Bureau of Tourism Research

Bournemouth University, UK
http://icthr.bournemouth.ac.uk/mice

Enjoy and read,

Cheers,
Chris

Looking back at EIBTM

It was amazing, honestly. MICEpoint has attracted a large number of corporate, association and academic buyers to visit our booth and the feedback as been phaenomenal.

I know the idea of MICEpoint is good :) but the positive feedback I have experienced is way above what I have expected. Thanks to all of you!

During the second day of the exhibition, MICE suppliers (exhibitors) started to show up increasingly on our booth, picking up a flyer or even asking for a presentation. The momentum is growing...

Meanwhile, I am back at our corporate head office and time is flying...

See you soon,

Chris