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NEWS FOR MEETING PLANNERS |
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MICE just a four letter word ?
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The profession of organising meetings
still struggles for identity. Garbage
disposal operatives are better known.
However, those from whom it craves
recognition must be confused. While the
northern hemisphere has largely concluded
that 'the meetings industry' is the phrase for
them, much of the southern still doggedly
clings to MICE as the all embracing
acronym.
Who's right? Should one faction sacrifice
their letterheads for the other?
Unusually and powerfully, a passionate
MICE breeder in South Africa mounts a
compelling case for the furry vermin.
Helen Brevver CMP; Director of The MICE
Club ( South Africa ); CMP International
Ambassador & Exam Cram Leader;
Chairperson: Ministerial-led Events &
Technical Services Task Team ( South Africa ),
is adamant.
"The group business market continues
to be plagued with definition interpretation
and the decision by ICCA to apply the term
'meetings industry' fo all group gatherings
is doubtless acceptable from their main
member viewpoint: the suppliers. However,
buyers hold somevvhat different views on
such interpretation and the acronym MICE
fits well in the fabric of their understanding.
"MICE, being Meetings Incentives definitions have undoubtedly a place in this
world." "Most importantly," "it has
been agreed that a collective and simple
name was needed to encompass all the
meetings industry's different facets and after
much discussion, just that, 'the meetings
industry', was adopted."
Conferences Exhibitions/Events is more than
just a convenient term. Each letter of the
acronym signifies differing nuances in the
organising and planning process.
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PARIS GEARS UP TO DEFEND ITS TITLE
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Initiatives to ensure Paris stays at top of association table backed by mayor
The mayor of Paris has pledged his support to ensure the city remains a premier destination for business tourism.
Plans for the advancement of Paris’ offering were outlined at a press conference organised be the Mairie of Paris, Paris Office de Tourism et des Congres and the Chambre de Commerce et d’industrie de Paris last week.
The conference outlined a number of initiatives which the organisations hope will ensure Paris remains a global capital for business tourism in the face of stiff competition from European and international destinations. In September 2006 the Union des Associations Internationales (UAI) placed Paris at the top of the table for international association meetings, a position it has held for 27 consecutive years.
The conference heard the city’s mayor, Betrand Delanoe, had addressed a group of 20 representatives from the meetings, exhibitions and trade show sectors earlier this month to push for greater coordination of actions with the Ville de Paris. The group, which includes representatives from Paris Expo and the Chamber of Commerce, is tasked with establishing a strategy on how best to defend the “supremacy” of the capital.
Delanoe said the industry needed to exploit the image and spirit of the city by putting in place a branding strategy reflecting the Parisien way of life. He said: “Paris is a desirable city, with a certain art of living.”
He added there was “a lot the city could do” to improve the quality of the welcome, from transportation to “welcome” signage in the streets through to VIP receptions for visitors.
A single entry port between the destination and the Bureau de Congress will be established at http://convention.parisinfo.com. A media plan to improve communication and awareness of the Bureau de Congress will also be put in place and a Tourism Day arranged for 2007 to raise awareness of the economic impact of the industry among the city’s residents.
The initiatives come in the wake of negative reports in the French national press about the “dethronement” of Paris as a leading destination for international congress. A headline in Le Figaro in November 2005 said the organisation of congress in Paris was in “free fall,” laying the blame at a fragmented approach involving too many different organisations and agencies. The article also slammed the “derisory” public funding given to promoting Paris as a business tourism destination compared with Germany and Spain.
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Why choose FRANCE for your next corporate event in 2006 / 2007
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Château d'Artigny**** near Tours |
FOOD TRADITION In France: there are three meals a day.
First, breakfast from around 7.00am to 9.00am, a meal composed of a hot drink (coffee, tea or chocolate), croissants and/or bread, butter and jam.
Then lunch, between 12.00pm and 2.00pm: the main meal usually consisting of a starter, main course and/or a dessert. It is usually finished off with an espresso coffee.
Finally dinner, which starts around 8.00pm.
A snack (around 4.00pm) is traditionally reserved for children, although some adults change it into tea and cakes.
At the restaurant
In France you will find all sorts of restaurants, from simple, small, cozy ones to famous, gourmet restaurants, along with brasseries, inns, tearooms…
In restaurants, bread and carafes of water are included in the price shown, as well as all service charges, even if it is usual to leave a tip.
Beverages
Pasteurised milk is available everywhere (ask for lait frais pasteurisé). Water served in restaurants and hotels is perfectly safe; so is tap water unless labelled EAU NON POTABLE (water not for drinking).
Eat at any time
The majority of restaurants serve food from 12.00pm to 3.00pm and from 7.00pm to 11.00pm. Some will welcome you even later – larger brasseries and those near to railway stations. In large towns, small grocery shops stay open until midnight. During the day, you can eat at any time in sandwich shops, fast-food restaurants, or again in some brasseries.
For all tastes…
Should you be an adventurer, you still want to keep your habits in terms of food!
A huge breakfast and a simple sandwich at midday, or lunch as the only meal of the day… dinner at 6 o'clock or start the meal much later…
You can also find some vegetarian restaurants. And face to the rise of a vegetarian demand, most of French restaurants have added some vegetarian meals on their menu.
Asian food is very appreciated by the French. So you can find Asian restaurants anywhere in Paris and in each French city with a large choice of prices and ambiance, from Chinese to Indian restaurants!
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Built during the Hundred Years' War, the Chateau d'Artigny formed part of the defence system constructed along the Indre River around the Montbazon keep. On 30th July 1912, Joseph Spoturno, known as François Coty, the famous perfume maker, bought the chateau. Attracted by the site, he had the chateau, which was in a rather "patchwork" architectural style, demolished, in order to build the present chateau in a pure 18th century style. Building lasted from 1912 to 1929.
At his death in 1934, the chateau was sequestered at the demand of his many creditors. In 1940, the chateau was occupied successively by the Headquarters of the Ministry of the Navy, by German troops up to 1942 and by an Annex of the General Hospital of Tours. Finally, it became a temporary hospital once again until 1946. When the perfume maker's daughter inherited it in 1947, several offers to purchase were made to her. Ultimately, it was Mr. René Traversac who acquired it in 1959 in order to transform the chateau into a luxury hotel.
The Chateau d'Artigny has welcomed a number of eminent people, such as the Queen Mother of England and the Negus of Ethiopia in 1963. On 24th November 1973, the "International Monetary Conference" brought together at Artigny the Finance Ministers of the five greatest world powers (including V. Giscard d'Estaing).
Today, 65 beautiful guestrooms welcome groups in a luxury, but warm atmosphere.
Besides the leisure activities in and near the castle, like biking or golf, there are of course all the famous chateaux de la Loire to visit! |
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| Region known for Champagne production.
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Picturesque rolling hills and vineyards.
90 minutes from Paris, making it an easy day trip or overnight from Paris. Historical gothic cathedral where France's kings were crownedChampagne, the very symbol of sophistication, graceful living and celebration, is produced nowhere else in the world. All champagnes are made within a few miles of each other outside Reims and Epernay, near the Abbey of Saint-Pierre where the legendary Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, supposedly invented the bubbly by accident in the early 18th Century (some would say by divine inspiration). Just as still wines have different characteristics and tastes, so do champagnes, and the great houses of Mumm, Piper-Heidsieck, Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot and Moët & Chandon, among more than 100 others, want to prove this with guided tours (in English) of their cellars and tasting of the current vintage.
Sightseeing centers around Reims and its Notre-Dame Cathedral, the heart of France's royal history where twenty-five kings were crowned. This Gothic structure is one of France's most magnificent churches, and some would place its rose windows among the best in the world.
South of the Champagne vineyards is Troyes, once one of Europe's most magnificent cities. This capital of the Counts of Champagne, who ruled the region before there was a France, is lined with beautifully-preserved half-timbered houses built during the 16th Century. North of Reims are the French Ardennes where Europe's sometimes bloody history has been decided on the fields of Sedan, Argonne and Châlons-sur-Marne, along the rivers Meuse and Marne.
The Champagne region is only a 90-minute drive from Paris, making it an easy day trip.als are trying hard to adapt to the different pace of their guests: more flexible mealtimes, menus adapted for everyone's requirements…
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