PCMA Hawaii 2005
by Jennifer Webb-Kelly 

PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) hosted their 49th annual conference in Honolulu, Hawaii from January 9-12, 2005 at the Hawaii Convention Center. Approximately 2600 attendees from around the world attended the conference. PCMA membership consists of 40% planners, 40% suppliers, and 20% students. Included in the membership are professionals from: the tourism and hospitality industry, medical fields, associations, and corporations. Students who are majoring in a related area of study can join through their campus chapters.

Approximately 180 students attended the 2005 conference including three members from IUPUI’s student chapter. IUPUI currently has 20 students in PCMA with almost half graduating in May 2005. To have a local chapter, the rules require at least 10 students. Student membership is a $40 annual fee that has numerous benefits.

According to IUPUI seniors Jennifer Buckwalter and David Lueck, both members of PCMA, there are many benefits to membership including scholarship opportunities. David is the student scholarship winner from the PCMA Greater Midwest Chapter based out of Chicago. This award paid for the majority of expenses for his attendance at this particular conference.

The opening day of the annual meeting was also student day. This all-day meeting consisted of career speakers and resume-building activities for the students. One speaker, Megan Leek, an event planner with Smith Bucklin in Chicago, spoke on how to transition from a student member to a professional member. Megan is a recent graduate from the TCEM program at IUPUI.

The conference sessions focused on various issues that pertain to industry business practices, planning policies and procedures, and industry trends. Various social activities were scheduled during the day as well as at the end of the day to promote networking among the planners, suppliers, and students. Attendees received a conference schedule that listed PCMA board members and provided pictures of the programming committee members and Board of Directors. This made it easier to put the names with the faces of these important PCMA leaders.

The 50th PCMA Annual meeting was previewed in the program as well. It will take place January 8-11, 2006 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “The City of Brotherly Love” promises to be just as exciting as Hawaii while continuing the exceptional educational experience for all attendees.

A New Stadium for the Indianapolis Colts
By: Christi Franklin  

Groundbreaking for a new football stadium is tentatively scheduled for sometime during the summer of 2005. The city of Indianapolis is currently debating on whether or not to build a new open-air, retractable roof facility for multi-purpose use. The one main goal that the city is leaning toward is to benefit everyone that might come in contact with the new facility. The new venue is expected to be useful for entertainment, other types of competitive events, and even tradeshows. Indianapolis is vying for more diverse events, so it’s very important to the city to have a facility that can be used for many different types of activities. Indianapolis would like to have the new top-of-the-line facility ready for use by 2008.

The current RCA Dome, home of the Indianapolis Colts, has a capacity of 55,506 people. The new open-air, retractable roof facility will have a capacity of 70,000 people. If everything goes as planned, the venue will be a state-of-the-art facility.

One main concern for the Colts management and team members is to keep one of the loudest crowds within the NFL. With such a large capacity, it will give more fans an opportunity to come to the games. The Colts are a tough team to beat when they play in their hometown; and with a new and improved stadium, they plan to make it even tougher. There is also discussion that with a new facility, Indianapolis might even have a chance to hold a Super Bowl. Jim Irsay, Colts owner and Chief Executive Officer says that there is a high probability that the Super Bowl will come to Indianapolis sometime between 2011 and 2015.

Upon completion of the new stadium, Indianapolis will raze the current dome and undertake a major expansion to the convention center. Currently, Indianapolis is sometimes referred to as a second-tier convention city; and yet, over the years, the popularity of the city has increased. Indianapolis is more convenient compared to New York or Los Angeles, making it easier for event planners to want to come to the city. Not only is there less traffic for guests to deal with; the airport is close to the downtown area, there are many different hotels and shopping areas, and there is much to do in Indianapolis in terms of attractions and cultural events. Some might not think that Indianapolis relies much on the revenue from convention and leisure business; however, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Tourism is one of the top industries in the city.

During a class presentation in December, Bob Bedell, President of the Indianapolis Convention and Visitor’s Association, talked about the convention center and the impact on the Indianapolis economy. Bedell noted that in 2005 there will be 14 major conventions and events that will use our venues and are expected to generate $198 million. This revenue will increase dramatically given the completion of the new facilities.

With all of this in mind, it is very likely that the city of Indianapolis will decide to begin building the new stadium. With an open-air, retractable roof facility, Indianapolis is going to open itself up to many new opportunities. Not only will the Colts be able to play inside and out, the new facility will be able to hold a variety of events. This capability coupled with a large convention center will promote booking conventions, tradeshows, and large events.

Cruising Through College
by Joel Zeller 

How would you like to go on an exotic Caribbean cruise and get college credit for it? Well, you can if you register to take TCEM 219, Cruise Line Management, offered through the School of Physical Education and Tourism Management. This course is offered first to students who are majoring in Tourism, Conventions, and Event Management; however, if space is still available, then outside majors are welcome.

There are a few requirements for students who wish to participate in this class. Students must be in good academic standing, have a 2.5 minimum grade point average, must have taken TCEM 119 as a prerequisite class, and be at least twenty-one years old. There are also pre-departure meetings that are required before the cruise begins.

Even though this class may sound like a breeze, basking in the sun and taking in the sights is not the focus of this trip. The course educates students in the workings of the cruise line industry. Students learn first-hand about the ins and outs of cruise line management. Most of the students’ time is spent observing staff members and participating in presentations given by the staff aboard the ship. It is also designed to teach participants the skills that will be needed to succeed in the specialized travel industry.

This was the third consecutive year that this department has offered the cruise management course and their goal is to continue doing so. This trip was a five- day cruise aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. The students departed on Monday, January 17th and returned on Saturday, January 22nd. Fourteen students were enrolled in this year’s course. Twelve of the students were in the department of Tourism, Conventions, and Event Management and two students had other majors. One of the interesting things about this group was that, for many of them, this was their first trip outside of the state of Indiana. This made for an exciting and extremely educational experience for these individuals as well as for the instructors.

This trip began at the port of Ft. Lauderdale and made its way to Key West, Florida then on to Cozumel, Mexico and Belize City, Belize before returning to port at Ft. Lauderdale. There were two faculty members assisting with this trip, Amanda Cecil and Dr. Sotiris Avgoustis. Cecil is the Lecturer for this course, and it is her desire to teach each of the students the primary components of how the tourism industry aboard a cruise liner operates. Avgoustis went along as a supervisor and assisted the students in this learning process. Avgoustis noted that the trip was a tremendous success. He also pointed out that he enjoyed getting to know the students equally as much as he enjoyed the cruise management learning experience. Cecil was responsible for organizing many presentations in which members of the management aboard the ship gave speeches to the students about the multitude of responsibilities and challenges that take place behind the scenes of a cruise ship. The students also had the opportunity to speak with the Cruise Manager of Ambassadair Travel Club about some of the operational aspects of the staff and the activities aboard the ship. All in all it sounded as if it was a great learning experience for everyone that participated in this year’s cruise line management class.

IUPUI visits IUPUC
by Jennifer Webb-Kelly 

Faculty members from the TCEM Department at IUPUI traveled to another campus in Indiana, IUPU Columbus (IUPUC) in November 2004. Explore IUPUC was the name of the event. The visit created a partnership between the two campuses, and brought awareness of the TCEM programs to local high school guidance counselors. There was also a booth set up for students to acquire information and ask questions.

Mr. Jim Bennett, Senior Lecturer for the TCEM Department at IUPUI, explained that IUPUI was invited to participate in this event by IUPUC’s Vice Chancellor and Dean, Dr. Nassar Paydar. Dr. Paydar is the former IUPUI Associate Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology and has worked with the TCEM department before. The partnership allows students enrolled in the program to attend classes in Columbus and to complete lower-level TCEM courses via web delivery. Upon transfer from Columbus to Indianapolis, all credits will apply toward the TCEM major. Currently, there is one student enrolled in the IUPUC-TCEM program. Both campuses are hoping this will be a successful program.

Trends in Gym Patronage
by Joel Zeller 

It is an odd statistic how the level of gym patronage fluctuates throughout the year. Gym memberships rise dramatically at the beginning of the year and in the early summer months. Why is this you ask? According to a few staff members at the YMCA in Fishers Indiana, it turns out that this is the case year after year and can only be explained by two understandable phenomena. New Year’s resolutions account for the increase at the beginning of the year, and swimsuit season accounts for the summer increase. Gyms are swamped with eager and enthusiastic people who are willing to wait in lines for treadmills and elliptical machines so that they can shed those unwanted pounds in January. However, come March and April, attendance tapers off with the exception of the extremely avid patrons. Without fail, come May and June, people start showing up in droves to try desperately to get into shape for the summer months where swim suits will be worn and forgiving clothing will be closeted for a later date. These fluctuations in exercise should not surprise anyone considering the superficial tendencies of our society. It also shows that people are easily distracted and typically only motivated by immediate wants and needs.

Colts Participate in Indiana’s Communities
By: Christi Franklin 

Colts management, staff, cheerleaders, and team members strongly believe that it is very important that they involve themselves in the communities throughout the state of Indiana. The Colt’s Community Relations Department likes to strive for better success season after season.

During the playoffs this year, the Colts hosted a Playoff Mall Tour. Colts cheerleaders and members of the Colts staff took a tour to six different malls within the state of Indiana. These Colts team members gave away over 7,000 posters to fans in Columbus, Bloomington, Greenwood, Castleton, Muncie, and Kokomo. Colts players also do a lot within Indiana communities. During the Christmas season several Colts players were involved with Shop with the Colts allowing under-privileged children to shop for Christmas gifts. These children also attended a pizza party where Colts players such as Dallas Clark, Dwight Freeney, and Marcus Pollard gave out autographs and more free gifts for the children to take home to their families. Also in December, Colts players participated in the “Bleed Blue” Blood Drive to thank those who chose to donate blood.

The amount of time that Colts team members and staff spend with community and public relations does not stop here. The Colts try to do more to help involve themselves in their community with each new season. For example, Edgerrin James has his own personal foundation to help the community. Dwight Freeney is planning to host a football camp for children this upcoming summer. This past summer Colts players started Big Blue, a youth football program to help young children improve their football skills. Visiting the official Colts website at www.colts.com can give you much more information on any of the upcoming events that will be held throughout the next year. It will also give more information on how to donate money to a variety of different foundations and charities to add your support to the Colts.

Save the Date

The 11th Annual Greek Islands Restaurant Scholarship dinner will be held on Sunday, April 3 from 12N to 4:00 pm at the newest restaurant owned by the Stergiopoulos family – The Café@Ray located at 946 S. Meridian Street. To purchase the $25.00 dinner tickets, please contact Dr. Linda Brothers at lbrothe@iupui.edu or 317.274.8772.