Hilton Worldwide has launched a recognition program for meeting and event planners.
Hilton’s WowMakers is a
communications program that highlights particularly elaborate events or meetings and the planners who made them happen. Hilton calls WowMakers its “largest-ever
B2B marketing initiative.”
As part of the program launch,
Hilton on Tuesday unveiled its “Museum of Wow,” an
audio-visual display of particularly impressive examples of recent meetings or
events, at the IMEX America convention in Las Vegas.
Among those feted were Mindy Halpert, who turned a ballroom into a
campsite with trees, tents and an indoor campfire; Jack Ezon, who recruited 100
Maasai tribespeople to greet a group of people traveling to Tanzania for a bar
mitzvah; and Joe Landers, who recreated a Bavarian castle for a ball.
“These travel professionals were
being insufficiently recognized,” said Andrew Flack, vice president of
marketing and eCommerce for Hilton’s Americas region. “They’re being asked to
do more with less.”
The initiative is part of a
broader effort for Hilton to bring in more group business. As part of the
program, Hilton revamped its meetings website, and will add features
that will improve the booking and RFP process during the next few months.
Additionally, Hilton will run a
contest on Twitter through Nov. 15, selecting the dozen travel professionals who share
the best meeting-creation stories.