This year, make those little unique touches stand out by getting creative.  From your food to your centerpieces, your venue to your gift, we’ve got you covered with some of the most unique holiday party items around.

Start by greeting your guests at the door or entrance way with a unique decoration: a peacock feather wreath. Pops of blue and purple add a flair, while still incorporating holiday green.

Next, liven up your catering table or centerpieces with some of these ornament bouquets.  You may even be able to get a package of ornaments already discounted at a store. We like this metallic motif; mixing red and green into the mix would get too busy.  For step by step instructions, see here.

Then, put a little twist on a holiday classic: eggnog.  Love it or hate it, this holiday staple is a must-have for your party. Even Starbucks opts to bring their eggnog latte back each year, due to demand.  Bring this drink up to speed, though, by layering it with raspberry chambord (for non-alcoholic, try mixing it with a raspberry smoothie).  Serve in a tall, clear glass to really show off the layers.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, make sure your venue has some unique quality to it to make your holiday party memorable.  There’s something to be said for booking a museum, old manor, zoo, cruise ship, or other eccentric venue to host your big night.  For any help finding a venue, check out Unique Venues’ site or let us find one for you through our Assisted Search program.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Unique Venues!

Recently, I visited the University of San Diego for a consultation. I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of this tremendous campus. The architecture is astounding, with each building following a Spanish style with Moorish influence. The grounds are impeccable with beautiful gardens everywhere. I’m convinced that only attractive and friendly students can attend USD because everyone was so pleasant, helpful and gorgeous. Trust me, this overweight middle-aged guy from PA had to have been pegged as a visitor!

USD does not stand alone. I have seen and experienced so many wonderful, fun and engaging venues on my journey as the leader of this company. I want to share those with meeting and event planners. If you want to send me an email with a highlight of what makes your venue unique, please do. I’ll try my best to let the meetings and events world know all about your venue!

Thanks all…and as always, BE UNIQUE!

Posted by:
Chuck Salem, President
Follow Me on Twitter (UVPrez)

What I’m talking about is when you took a picture, let’s say of your family at the annual reunion or of your kid’s class during a concert back in 1990 something and you just pushed the button – CLICK – and went about your day as if nothing was different or out of the ordinary. Then you dropped your film off a the drug store and in 2-5 days you picked up your 4 by 6 pictures and ooohhhed and aaahhed over how cute little Bobby/Sue was in the school play. Every third shot featured an adorable picture of your thumb, and everyone had red-eye.

Now today, in 2009, when you take a picture, say of your colleague at work for a photo for a website, you snap the pic on your iPhone or digital camera. Then, you all crowd around a small, 2 inch by 2 inch digital display window to see if the image turned out OK. Invairibiy there is something wrong with the picture. Someone blinked, your hair looks weird, your nose is shiny, you don’t like the way your shirt is clingy to…well let’s forget that for a minute shall we…and you absolutely HAVE to retake the picture. Then you repeat the aforementioned steps about 8 times until you finally get a picture that one person loves, another hates and two other can live with. A portrait is born.

Sure we all look better today. Everything looks better in the photos we’re taking with our fancy digital devices…but the flip side is…any picture you take can end up being posted 42 places on the Internet and beyond.

On that note…I’m off to take more pictures of my coworkers….Oh, and sorry Lisa. I think you look great in every single picture we took of you last week! All 26 of them.

Edit – I have a feeling Lisa Morell will have an interesting post to submit in the not too distant future…

Post by:
Michelle Stumpf Operations Director,
Office: Pennsylvania

If you haven’t been to uniquevenues.com lately, take a few minutes to check out the new profile pages.  Each Venue Home Page now features up to 15 large photos and you can upload the photos yourself and change them as often as you like.

Your photos don’t need to be taken professionally.  If you are hosting an interesting group, take some pictures with your digital camera.  If you have different types of set-ups available, take some pictures and show planners what’s available.

Trying to book some holiday parties now?  Post some photos of past parties to show what you can offer.  If you have special rates to offer, post your Hot Dates along with some photos to really generate interest.

Let spring be the perfect time to showcase your venue in a fresh, new way.

Posted By:
Ann McKenzie
Manager of Administration, Office: Colorado

This type of buying has become the norm for consumers. The same goes for planners who are searching for space for their next meeting, conference or event. Planners are no longer coming to venues for site visits. They are searching online and touring virtually. Are planners able to tour your facilities online? Are you showcasing and highlighting the elements of your venue that make it so unique on your website? Are you scheduling online tours of your facilities? The Unique Venues microsites and VenueViewers are great comprehensive tools for planners to tour your venue and make a buying decision.

No need to put on your comfy shoes or grab your master key for your next venue tour, simply sit back, relax and let your website do the selling.

Posted by:
Lisa Morrell,
Sales Manager
Office: Pennsylvania

HELLO JEANNE!

I forgot my iPhone at work the other day. Unfortunately I didn’t realize it until I was over half way home. Suddenly it was like I lost a vital organ. Sweat began to bead on my forehead, my hands were shaking and my heart was pounding. Dear lord, what if I missed a call, a text or an email. What if I lost my phone! I immediately turned my car around and headed back to the office. Pulled in the parking lot and ran to my desk. It was there! All was good in the world again.

I am sure everyone has experienced this at some point. When did we become so dependent on our phones. I’m old enough to remember a phone that hung on the wall with a cord so there was no mobility except for a mere three feet. No answering machines or voicemail. Guess what, we survived and business was transacted. And what if you did miss the text or call, would it really be that catastrophic? Summer is almost here which means vacations and “family days”. Leave the phone at home or turn it off. Relax and give the ones you are with your full attention.

Posted by:
Jeanne Feathers
Director of Sales,
Office: Pennsylvania

While you are setting up your personal Facebook page, don’t forget your venue. Some of our members have great pages. Check out California University of Pennsylvania, University of Nebraska or University Guest House & Conference Center to name a few. Showcase your facility through Facebook and any other social networking option you find it will pay off in dividends.

Visit Unique Venues on FaceBook

NOTE – Remember, you must be logged into FaceBook to view a profile. A great alternative is to create a public page in your Facebook account that is visible to everyone. To learn more visit this Create Public Facebook Page Article.

Posted by:
Jeanne Feathers
Director of Sales,
Office: Pennsylvania

Michele Nichols, CMP
Founder – Unique Venues

Nearly three quarters (72 percent) of business executives believe that increasing corporate travel while others are cutting back provides opportunities to build market share and new customer relationships, according to a survey commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association. The survey of 401 executives at companies with more than $50 million in sales, conducted by APCO Insight, also found that more than half of respondents (53 percent) felt reducing travel would give an advantage to competitors who maintain current travel levels. Eighty-one percent of those surveyed said more client contact is necessary in a slow economy, and 59 percent strongly agree that in-person contact grows their business. The survey was conducted in February.

One of the reasons we have our kids in sports is to apply the ups and downs that come with competing to those they will surely face later in life. Maybe I’m taking this too far but as I stand in the wind and snow with fear and terror as their names are called to ‘drop’ next, I see big parallels with business and extreme skiing.

Line Choice…we are all committed to get through this mess that the majority of us didn’t create. There is no turning back, we’ve got to persevere. And we will, if we stay with our line.

Fluidity…while we’ve made some cuts like the rest of the world, we will not make cuts that affect our members, their membership packages or the services we provide them. It is important to us that we continue to provide top notch value, even during the toughest of times. Things need to look and be the same for our customers in good times and in bad.

Aggressiveness…at Unique Venues, we are putting our heads down and working our way out of it. We’re working twice as hard, we’re aggressive. Not a problem because we’ve got a team full of workers. No complainers in this bunch.

Control…ask anyone I work with and they’ll tell you that there have been days when I’ve been a little out of control, mostly angry at the greed and selfishness of many Americans. But, in the end, it is important to maintain control, accept what you cannot change and get to work.

Technique…we’ve chosen this year of all years to invest in and improve our products and services. We’re investing big time in our web site, our brand and our products. Honestly, it feels good to be doing and giving more when most are pulling back and doing less.

Ski racing is a pretty unforgiving sport. You get one chance to give your best on any given day and you have to live with the outcome of your decisions. If you’ve prepared properly, stuck to your plan and given it your honest, best effort, then you cannot be disappointed. Line choice, fluidity, aggressiveness, control and technique. The kids have it all figured out!

Submitted by:
Michele Nichols, CMP
Unique Venues Founder

PHOTO: Freeskiing – add one more element – GUTS!

Michele’s oldest at Crested Butte – Look Mom, I Can Fly!

Here is what I came up with.

Yes, we can provide meeting and event planners a quality meeting or event experience with all the frills or down to no frills.

Yes, we provide quality meeting and event experiences at a more economical price and yes, we have been long before the economic crisis we are currently experiencing.

Yes, we must, as a collective group, let the hospitality world know we do it, do it well and do it more economically.

It’s time to use our voice louder than ever.  The economy is on our side and planners are listening.  Let’s hear it.  We are unique venues and YES, we can!

Tony McGuirt, Director of Marketing
a.k.a. “Macho Marketing Man”