Kathryn Hashimoto

An Investigation of Technological Uses by Different Generations As It Relates to Meetings and Events: A Pilot Study

They were born between 1979 and 2000 and are called Millennials, GenyY, and Next Gen, among other acronyms. They are the next generation of meetings and events attendees, and said attendance is critical to the success of the meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions industry. This pilot study seeks to determine what their wants and needs are in terms of technology at meetings and events along with assessing differences between Millennials and earlier generations. Research methods, including a review of the literature, focus group, and case study, are utilized.

Casinos and Conventions

ABSTRACT The casino industry has always relied on the leisure traveler whose primary motivation is to gamble. Thus, one would expect the casino and convention industries to operate in totally different arenas. This was the case until the mid-1990s. Today, the casino industry is embracing the convention industry and constructing facilities to meet the needs of the convention and meeting attendee. This article starts by setting up the framework for this dichotomy between the two industries by tracing the history of casino gaming in the U.S. Discussion leads to a review of how and why there was a lack of conventions/meetings business in both Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The article then goes on to review specific development of the conventions/meetings business in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and other jurisdictions. It concludes with a prognosis about the future along with opportunities for future research.

Product life cycle theory: a quantitative application for casino courses in higher education

Abstract This article unites product life cycle theory and curriculum development in higher education to create a quantitative assessment of a new subject area: casino education. The historical use of product life cycle theory introduces the subject so that Hiraokas (Education 93(4) (1973) 367) theoretical application for curricula in universities can be discussed. Using a revised version of Cliffords (Manage. Rev. 54(6) (1965b) 34) quantitative steps for a life cycle analysis, the rise of gaming and casino education is evaluated to explore the issue: in what stage of the product life cycle is casino gaming? This adaptation can be a new tool to assess curricula and forecast trends in subject areas.

Does Casino Development Destroy Local Food and Beverage Operations?: Development of Casinos in Mississippi

Over the last decade, there has been a boom in casino gambling and it has been one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. Proponents have pointed to job development and economic growth as rationales for entry into new jurisdictions. In addition to social and moral retorts, opponents have cited the negative impact on local restaurants as a major reason for limiting casino development. It is claimed that casinos have a detrimental affect on food and beverage businesses in a community. While this rationale has been put forth many times, there is little empirical evidence to either prove, or disprove, this claim. This article analyzes the effects of casino development on food and beverage activity in the state of Mississippi. More specifically, it will assess the levels of economic activity, in the form of employment, payroll, and number of establishments by the food and beverage industry, both before and after legalization of casino gaming.

Certification of Managers: Upgrading the Casino Industry

The history of gambling has been tainted by social problems. However in this decade, the industry has managed to change its image. More than half of the American population believes that gaming is a form of recreation. As a result, casino jobs have rapidly escalated. However, traditional training methods have not been able to keep up with the growth. This paper examines the history of American gaming and the need for a National Gaming Management Certification. Then it explores other professional associations certifications to compare the success factors in terms of the characteristics of certifications and the minimum requirements that have been suggested from the literature. From this discussion, the feasibility for a national gaming management certification is explored.

What the Millennial Generation from Around the World Prefers in Their Meetings, Conventions, and Events

The extant research relates to what the Millennial generation prefers in their meetings and events. The focus of this paper is to compare the wants and needs of Millennials from five different continents to ascertain similarities and differences. This is the largest study ever done of Millennials with regard to meetings and events. While some differences were uncovered, it was found that Millennials are a very homogeneous group. Thus, event professionals can use similar strategies when targeting this group. However, it was also found that there were some differences in specific areas and event professionals would do well to ascertain their mix of attendees by national origin and then apply the most significant findings of the research at hand.

Review and Analysis of the New International Meeting and Business Events Competency Standards

The global meetings and business events profession has grown into one of the largest worldwide industries and yet it had not formally defined the role of its professionals. This evolution and maturation in the areas of meeting and business event management led to the development and release of an internationally recognized and accepted set of competency standards. In 2011, the first ever globally recognized set of competencies—knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)—required of meeting professionals called the Meeting and Business Event Competency Standards (or MBECS) was published. This set of competencies focused solely on those professionals interested in careers planning and producing meetings and business events. It is uniquely distinct from those required by the lodging, food and beverage, transportation, or other segments of the hospitality and tourism industries. In this article the authors review the development of the standards, outlines the competencies covered in the standards, and describes the rationale and benefit of using these standards by various stakeholders.

Toward a Framework for Development of Qualifications in Meetings, Expositions, Events, and Conventions in South Africa

The meetings, incentives, conventions, and events industry continues to grow, not only in the United States but around the world. With this growth comes demand for qualified, highly trained employees. Postsecondary education is the mechanism by which these employees are developed. While a previous article in this journal investigated meetings, incentives, conventions, and events coursework and programs in the United States, to date, no other research has looked at educational coursework and programming in other parts of the world. This article seeks to address this shortcoming by investigating and assessing meetings, incentives, conventions, and events educational offerings and programming in South Africa. This region of Africa has one of the most vibrant tourism economies on the continent and, commensurately, strong meetings, incentives, conventions, and events business activities. The current research assesses the educational framework in South Africa along with the institutions offering meetings, incentives, conventions, and events education, along with the courses they offer.

Incentive Travel: A View from the Top

Meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions are an important segment of the hospitality and tourism industry. The extant study focuses on the incentives or incentive travel. While incentive travel has existed for decades it is a relatively under-researched sub-field of hospitality. The goal of this article is to examine the current state of incentive travel, how it has changed over the past few years, and how it is likely to change in the future. Rather than examine every aspect of incentive travel, this research only looks at “buyers” of incentive travel rather than users or recipients and obtains data only from top-level corporate executives. Thus, the results are of the highest level and highest caliber. It was found that companies have been using incentive travel for decades and find it to be an effective employee motivator and as an incentive to sell product. It also builds morale and relationships.

Towards a Framework for Development of Courses of Study in Meetings, Expositions, Events and Conventions (MICE)

The MICE industry continues to grow in the United States. Further, the popular media has helped to increase awareness among millennials of opportunities in this field. Subsequently, there has been increased demand for curricula in MICE. However, little scientific research has been done to determine what specific courses are being offered at the baccalaureate level in this field. The research at hand undertakes an assessment of programs in the United States offering study in MICE and the courses they offer. From this data, a framework is developed to help guide program development based upon whether one, two, or more courses in MICE can be offered.