BizBash | Events * Meetings * Marketing * Style * Strategy * Ideas

Travel Industry Combats Cancellations: As the U.S. Travel Association continues to lobby the government to support meetings and events during the recession, more statistics have emerged to illustrate how different facets of the industry are suffering. Canceled events accounted for a $220 million loss in room revenue during January and February, and Starwood Hotels—which owns the Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, and W brands—has booked 40 percent fewer group events in 2009 compared to this time last year, prompting the company to eliminate 10 percent of its staff, or approximately 6,000 employees. [NYT]

Host City Braces for G20: Protesters in London for the G20 Summit are causing quite a stir. To protect the world leaders in town for the series of meetings on the global financial crisis, London has enlisted a record number of police to maintain order. The Metropolitan Police confirmed that approximately 3,000 officers will be on patrol during the two-day summit, and that number could double, should riots erupt. [Telegraph] MORE >>

Madonna, Gucci, Unicef, Raising Malawi, G20 Summit, U.S. Travel Association, Starwood Hotels, Vanity Fair, Cannes

Q & A 01.12.07 12:00 AM

Trotting the Globe

Alison Bossert
Title: Vice president of special events, Columbia TriStar
What She Plans: “I run all the premiere parties and award-show parties. This was a crazy year for us; in 2006, we did 38 events. We also do the gift-giving for the studio.”
Staff: “Three people report to me [a director, a senior coordinator, and an assistant], plus a temp. We’re a really good group. We like each other; it’s important.”
Age: “I’m 39. For the first time.”
Career Path: Bossert graduated from Towson University with a communications degree. She worked in the publicity department of PBS in New York, leaving for grad school at Pepperdine. After working as a junior publicist, she went to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta as a logistics coordinator. “That was fun and exciting and it said to me, ‘You really want to be in events,’” Bossert says. Back in L.A., she started as a temp in the events department at Columbia TriStar television and worked her way up to the vice president title she’s held for two and a half years.
Biggest Job Challenge: “Probably the politics. You’re dealing with so many egos. It’s the art of negotiation.”
Where She Goes for Inspiration: “I can be looking at a store window and see something that might be really fun at a party. We had water walls at The Pursuit of Happyness premiere; everybody loved them. When you’re building a tent, you don’t expect to have water in there.”
Proudest Career Moment: “I was really proud of The Da Vinci Code in Cannes. We built a pyramid in the harbor, and it could be seen from everywhere. It was lit up at night and really magical.”
Favorite Venue: “The Santa Monica Pier. You can go on rides, play the games. People are walking out with tons of plush toys. It’s not just one of those parties where you’re standing around making small talk. Seeing a grown man in a suit climbing up a rope ladder to grab an alien plush toy is hilarious.” MORE >>

Columbia TriStar, Cannes