A couple of tales for Valentines:
Final Night is a big event for most delegates to the National
Tour Association annual convention, but it is sure to be a night
Lori Kampa of the Greater Minneapolis Convention & Visitors
Bureau will never forget.
Ed Kearney of the Colorado Springs (Colo.)
CVB proposed to Kampa in front of the entire NTA delegation on the
final night of the 1999 convention, held in Nashville in
November.
The two met at an NTA convention several years ago and have been
dating long-
distance ever since. They plan to marry in June.
Bow and arrow, please
Another kind of Valentine-worthy tale came to us by way of
Pamela Cook, owner-manager of the Village Traveler in Sugar Grove,
Ill.
Her agency received a fax from a local woman announcing she was
to be married in the summer of 2000 and proposing a deal in which
the newlyweds might receive complimentary travel in exchange for
acknowledgement in the wedding program, photographs and referrals.
(She pointed out there would be "many young professionals" at the
wedding.)
Deals like this are not so unusual these days, we're told. (Time
magazine did a feature story on the trend just last year.) What was
noteworthy, Cook and her staff found, was some of the language in
the proposal.
The bride-to-be, after referring to "this blessed occasion,"
hoped the agency would be "interested in exploring this promotional
opportunity" and "capitalizing on this event to our mutual
benefit."
For her part, Cook merely wondered aloud, "What has happened to
sacredness, sanctity, gentility?" For our part, we have two words
for the groom-to-be: pre nup.
Blow, Blue Northern
It isn't just the postman who lives by the mantra "Neither rain
nor sleet nor gloom of night nor [some other stuff] shall stay this
courier from his appointed rounds" -- or however it goes.
Take the case of Sally Bulloch, executive manager of the
Athenaeum Hotel & Apartments in London, who visited an agency
in Texas, as told by Dallas retailer Nancy Strong:
"Texas,
the home of moderate winter weather, was recently hit by what
Texans refer to as a Blue Northern, a storm that dumped ice and
snow on Dallas.
"Since I am such a dedicated travel agent, I opened my agency
and had my troops at my side. We were going to get some work done,
as no clients would stop by during such a storm.
"[Suddenly], there was a great clamoring in our hallway, and you
can imagine my shock when Sally Bulloch walked in to make a sales
call.
"She was in disarray -- no coat, no gloves, no hat, no brochures
-- but she went from desk to desk promising [my employees] there
was champagne waiting for them if they paid a fam visit, or sent
clients, to the Athenaeum."
How's that for a sales call -- especially on a day when even the
local pizza place wouldn't deliver.
Nordic express
Another travel industry stalwart to brave some of this winter's
nastiness was Donna Conklin of Donna Conklin & Associates in
Burke, Va., about 15 miles from the nation's capital.
Conklin needed to get an envelope to her overnight delivery
service the morning of one of the biggest snow days to hit the
Washington area in years.
Snow accumulations were already at more than a foot, so she
hopped into her cross-country skis and lit out for the nearest UPS
box, about a mile from her home.
But when she got to the location, there was a sign announcing
there would be no pickup that day, owing to the severity of the
weather, so she just dropped the envelope in the box and skied back
home.
The mailing would be a two-day one at best, she realized, but
she savored the experience nonetheless, saying it reminded her "of
the old days in Montreal," where she grew up.
Ready for its close-up
Followers of "The West Wing," the NBC drama series set in the
White House, might wonder what President Josiah Bartlett (Martin
Sheen) is doing standing with entourage in front of a Virgin
Atlantic plane.
Has the fiery
Democrat from New Hampshire decided to hand Air Force One back to
the taxpayers and fly scheduled commercial service -- and on a
foreign-flag carrier, at that?
No. For the episode that aired Feb. 9, the producers, at the
last minute, needed a scene with an airfield and an "Air Force
One," so, on 24 hours' notice, they arranged a location shoot at
Dulles Airport and borrowed a Virgin 747-200, an aircraft similar
to the president's.
The show's F/X wizards used computer re-imaging to make the
plane appear as Air Force One, and, according to Donald Clark, head
of Virgin's Dulles operations, the show's producers asked if the
aircraft could play stand-in again in the future, if need be.