Happy New Year!  As we move into a new year, we’re making new changes here at Q Center.   We have recently added a new bar called Tower Bar.  It’s located in Q Tower, right above the main dining room.  We’re excited to have this as another place for our guests to gather over a cocktail and a sporting event on our flatscreen TVs. 

Starting in January 2012, in addition to our standard drinks, we will be serving eight signature cocktails at the Tower Bar.   Wild Berry Mojitos are one of those delicious drinks.  Here’s a video of bartender Anthony showing us how to make a Wild Berry Mojito. 

Come check out the Tower Bar to see our other signature cocktails!

Do you know what dessert you’re making for the holidays yet?   In case you don’t, we thought we would share one of our dessert recipes with you: Cranberry and Apple Cobbler.   

Whether it’s for a holiday dinner or just to warm you up on a cold evening, this dish is perfect.  The flavors of apples and cranberries complement each other well, and as an added bonus will make your whole home smell wonderful.  We recommend having it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, seems to go great with the tartness.   

Click here for the Cranberry & Apple Cobbler Recipe.

Making Cranberry and Apple Cobbler is simple, tasty, and guilt free… Ok maybe not guilt free but it’s delicious!  And it even provides one of the recommended 5 daily servings of fruit.   

Enjoy and Happy Holidays from Q Center!

There’s been a lot of talk about green meetings in the past few years. And, thanks to some vigilant crusaders, we have seen some really positive change. The three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) are in full use at most meeting venues. A/V equipment manufacturers are producing more energy-efficient gear all the time. And bottled water consumption is on the decline. But what can you do to make things even better? 

Let’s face it. Every meeting has some impact on the environment. Natural resources are consumed, waste is created. It’s unavoidable. Your charge is to minimize the impact – not eliminate it. So how do you make sure the property you select will help you minimize your next meeting’s environmental impact? 

There are several checklists you can get from reliable resources like these:

• MeetingsNet.com has a 14-point checklist taken from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines.
• BlueGreenMeetings.org provides a link for downloading an 8-point questionnaire you can ask venues to complete.
• The U.S. Green Building Council has developed a green meeting venue selection guide that you can download for free at  (The USGBC is the organization responsible for LEED certification.)

 So you filled out your check lists and received environmental impact information from potential venues. Now what? How do you decipher and organize the data? And how can you be sure you’re getting the whole story from each property?

 It’s simple, really. You have to kick the tires and look under the hood before you by that car. (Or should I say hybrid?)  Visit the property in-person.  Get past the “dog and pony show” you get on a normal site inspection. Find out what’s really going on behind the scenes.

• Meet with the head of housekeeping, maintenance and other management personnel charged with the property’s green program. Ask them to describe specific ways they reduce environmental impact every day.
• Ask to see the area where paper and other recyclables are processed. Keep in mind that you will not be going to the most glamorous part of the building. Some waste haulers do the sorting off premise, so there may not be active processing on property. In that case, ask for a detailed description of the agreement with the waste hauler.
• Find out how the staff are trained to handle environmental responsibilities. Is there formal training, are there formal checklists and performance measures?
• Talk to the staff. Ask them how they’re trained and what rules they follow. Take a look at a housekeeper’s cart. Is there provision for separating recyclables? What kind of cleaning products do they use and how effective are they?

Once you have the real inside information on each property’s environmental programs, you can make a more educated decision about which one will best help you keep your meeting’s impact to a minimum.

 What are you doing to ensure meeting venues are walking their green talk? Leave a comment and let us know.

The holiday season is upon us and with all the visiting, decorating, shopping and celebrating, we sometimes forget about home security just when we need it most.

According to the FBI, close to 400,000 burglaries take place in the United States between November and December each year.  It seems criminals shop for the holidays, too… only they do it by stealing from you! Below are a few things you can do to lower the risk of your house becoming a statistic.

Alarms & Lights

Criminals love the dark. And these long winter nights give them more hours of darkness to do their work. Take away the darkness and you’ll most likely deter the criminals. Here’s how:

• Turn on the lights. Motion lights are ideal as they can startle a burglar before they get too close.
• In-home alarm system. These systems are monitored 24/7 by the security company you choose, so they work for you when you’re away. Don’t forget to display the sticker on doors to show your home is protected.
• Use security surveillance cameras. Simple systems can be purchased from many retailers and are easily installed. 

When You Are Away

An empty house is very attractive to criminals. Try not to make it obvious that you are away by having newspapers and mail accumulate in front of your house. Either ask a neighbor to collect the mail or consider stopping delivery if you will be away for an extended length of time. Other steps you can take include:

• Contact your local police department. Many communities provide additional patrols of your neighborhood if you request it.
• Request help from neighbors. Ask your neighbors to periodically park in your driveway and pay someone to shovel snow.
• Avoid vacation announcements. Do not use social media sites to announce that you will be gone on vacation. Depending on your privacy settings, you may be announcing your plans to strangers looking for vacant homes.
• Use timers. Consider putting interior lights on timers that will turn on at dusk. 

High-End Purchases

Big ticket items like televisions, computers and music systems make great gifts, but they are also very attractive to burglars. A few tips to help conceal these from a burglar include:

• Avoid announcements of purchases. Don’t announce expensive purchases on social media sites or store them in areas that are visible through windows. If criminals read about or see your purchases, they’ll be tempted to come after them.
• Disposal of packaging. That big, bright box out by the street lets everyone know that its contents are now inside your house. Cut down large boxes from expensive items and put them in the bottom of your recycle bin. 

The holiday season is a perfect time to get in the habit of protecting your home when you’re away. Next time you’re on vacation or traveling to a meeting or corporate training event, these good habits will pay off. 

What other ideas do you have to protect your home from burglars? Leave a comment and let us know.

If you’re like most people, public speaking is one of the most stressful experiences you can imagine. The last thing you need is for some technical glitch to force you to entertain your audience by making shadow puppets on the projection screen!

Before you leave your desk with your presentation, take a look at these tips. One of them just may be the difference between resounding success and epic fail.  

• Save a copy of your presentation to a thumb drive in case you have issues with your laptop or tablet and have to get a replacement.
• Save a copy of your presentation to an external email account that you can reach while you’re at the presentation venue. If your thumb drive goes missing or your computer fails, you’ll still have a backup.
• Load external files to the thumb drive or attach them to the email. Be aware that if you copy or play a presentation on a different machine (using your thumb drive or downloading from an email), errors can occur if you had links to files on the original machine.
• Disconnect your device from any type of network connection, then step through all of your slides. Be sure to launch any videos or links to confirm that they still work.  Errors can occur if links point to files on your office network.
• Try all the slides, including links and videos, with your wireless connection turned off. If you aren’t sure you’ll have access to Internet in the presentation room have a backup strategy for any Internet content.  Even if the venue provides wi-fi access, your signal may be weak or non-existent.
• Save video clips on the device or thumb drive you’re bringing to the presentation. If you run video directly off of an Internet site like YouTube, you may experience slow buffering and download speeds on a wi-fi connection.
• Make sure all your audio and video clips play a the same volume level. If you are unable to find files with similar recorded volume levels, see if you can schedule a break between the slides with sound. That way you can get the volume just right and not worry about doing it on the fly during the presentation.
• Something NEW:   Design your presentations for wide-screen HD format with a 16×9 aspect ratio. You will find more wide-screen projectors and screens at conferences these days. All Q Center projectors are wide-screen enabled.  We often coach presenters on ways to optimize their presentations for this format.

What do you do to get ready for your big presentations? Speak your mind. Leave a comment and let us know…

Do you ever wonder how event producers can switch so quickly from one video feed to another? So many types of video signals in all different formats and resolutions… and many times it’s all done live, on the fly. It seems like you’d need some pretty slick gear to pull it off.

You do… and it keeps getting better.

One of the most important tools in an event producer’s bag of tricks is the video switcher. A video switcher is a device used to “switch” between several video sources.

Back in the day, there were two types of video switchers:  one that switched traditional video signals like cameras and playback devices, and another that switched high res computer graphic sources.    It took stacks of converter boxes, piles of cable and a significant amount of setup time to arrive at a decent looking projected image. 

However, with the development of high definition video, which has similar resolutions to computer graphics sources, the lines between video and computer graphics have become blurred.  And with that development, a new breed of switchers has arrived that allows both to seamlessly work together in one box.

Q Creative, Q Center’s events and media team, recently purchased a Panasonic AV-HS450 video switcher. We love it! It allows for fast and easy setup of any type of video device.  And because it has built-in scaling technology, it will also upscale video signals to the highest resolution possible. So the days of stacked converter boxes are gone.

The new gear in action…

A client recently came to Q Creative looking for a cost-effective, yet flexible event production package. The package required a three-screen HD switch, with video sent to multiple locations around the room and enough inputs to handle twelve sources of various resolutions and standard definition recording. 

With our new AV-HS450, we were able to accomplish what would have required four switchers and a rack full of scalers. And we did it with a smaller crew and significantly less setup time. Not bad! We’re loving this new addition to our bag of tricks.

What event technology have you come across that makes your production a bit easier to manage? Leave a comment and let us know!

Now that you’ve been assigned the task of planning your company event, you need to choose the perfect theme.  How do you decide on the perfect theme?  It’s all about your attendees.   Your décor, music, entertainment, and food and beverage, should all encompass this theme and not clash with it.    As you are brainstorming ideas, ask yourself the following questions to see if your theme will truly be a good fit. 

DÉCOR

• Do you want your attendees to notice the décor or do you want it to be more subtle?
• Will the décor look out of place with your group’s attire?                                                
• Is the event taking place during the day or at night?
• Will the décor look too childish for the age of your audience?
• How much time will be available to decorate before the event?

FOOD & BEVERAGE

• Do you want a full sit down meal or something quick and light?
• Are a majority of your attendees health conscious?
• Are there any religious preferences that you need to keep in mind?
• Will the types of food and drink served fit with the season outside?

MUSIC

• Is the purpose of the event celebratory or serious? 
• Will the attendees appreciate classical or upbeat music more?

 ENTERTAINMENT

• Does the entertainment need to appeal to both men and women?
• Will there be children in attendance?
• Is the group made up of new team members or have they known each other for years?
• Will the audience want to have passive or active involvement in the entertainment?

These are good questions to help you determine a great theme.  Here at Q Center, our Catering Team has pre-designed themes or we can use your answers to these questions and more to help come up with a solid theme, just like any other good venue would do.

Speaking of decorating for your event, the amount of time you have for setting up really does make a difference.  Click here to check out a 30 second video of our team in action turning around a room.

It’s time consuming. It’s tedious. It’s the job that just won’t go away.

Of all the items on the meeting planner check list, tracking of transportation arrangements and guest room reservations is one of the most challenging. Even when the monumental task of recording everyone’s information is done, the job is far from complete. People’s schedules change… and the changes start pouring in. You now must begin tracking and trying to keep up with the continuous changes.

So what are your options?

Stop tracking – Some meeting planners find that it is better to let attendees manage their own reservations and transportation details. The advantage to this, of course, is that it saves time on the front end. This can be a good option for smaller groups – and in situations where attendees are paying for their own rooms and transportation. For larger, more complex meetings, this is often not a valid option.

Do it yourself – As difficult as it is to keep up with all the reservation and transportation details, you may sometimes feel like you just have to take it on yourself. This ultimately gives you the most control over the final outcome. You use a detailed spreadsheet to track and display everyone’s scheduled arrival and departure information. You then track and share changes with the hotel or transportation company. This is a tedious, thankless job that requires great attention to detail.

Outsource it – When budget permits, some meeting planners are willing to pay a pretty penny to hand off the entire process of tracking reservations and transportation. Companies specializing in administrative and support services can be a real time saver. They handle all arrangements and communications directly with each attendee, and in most cases, provide on-site guest support on travel days.

Depend on the property – Another option is to select a conference center capable of collecting individual guest room and travel arrangements online. At Q Center, we provide this option as a part of our complete meeting package. Attendees submit their reservations and ground transportation information online. They then receive an automatic electronic confirmation with a password for future changes. Information is kept up to date and you, the meeting planner, have full access.

While each of the above options has its own advantages, you ultimately have to choose the best one based on the details of your specific meeting. The size of the meeting, the budget and the resources you have available are all important factors when making your choice.

What have you found to be the best way to keep this information tracked and up to date? Leave a comment and let us know.

If you’ve hosted Thanksgiving before, you know that being tasked with cooking THE turkey can be stressful.  Not only is cooking it important, but carving the turkey is just as vital.  Have you ever found yourself struggling as you bang into that annoying wishbone when you’re carving the turkey?  Here’s a tip: take out the wishbone before you roast the turkey.

Cutting out the wishbone prior to cooking will allow you to smoothly cut neat, thick slices of turkey – making you look like a pro! 

Here’s how:  lift the neck skin, and then cut around the outside of the wishbone.  Once you get the sides out, grab the wishbone and gently twist it to get the tip to detach.  After cooking, you’ll see that carving parallel to the breastbone is simple and easy when you don’t have the wishbone creating resistance.

Try it out!  We’ve uploaded a video of me demonstrating this technique. 

Click here to view the video on our YouTube channel.   

Now some of you may already be picturing the uproar you will create if the annual wishbone-snapping contest does not take place, but don’t worry you can simply leave the wishbone in the pan to roast right alongside the turkey. 

We’re not done yet!  The day after Thanksgiving oftentimes leaves us 5 pounds heavier and with so much leftover turkey that we have not a clue what to do with it all.  So as you lie around enjoying a college football game, use your yummy leftovers to make this delicious salad -      Turkey and Wild Rice Salad with Dried Tart Cherry Vinaigrette. 

 Click here for a down-loadable PDF of the recipe.   

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Q Center!

In today’s world, meeting planners are busier than ever. You are constantly balancing more than the usual share of projects, short-term travel and different event venues. 

As a result, you must often rely on the facility’s conference planning manager. This helps you stay ahead of key deadlines, identify creative solutions for new concepts, manage continuous changes and prevent any situations that may impact your meeting in a negative way.

A checklist is as important to a conference planning manager as a favorite recipe is to a chef. Having the right tools to stay organized and keep on task with the numerous steps needed to plan a meeting is essential to the success of any event.

Here are some examples of key areas commonly found on a conference planning manager’s checklist: 

• Obtain rooming list at cut-off date (3 weeks out).
• Process the order for theme décor and rental equipment (2 weeks out). 
• Confirm that meeting room sets match your attendee count (2 weeks out). 
• Select A/V equipment to best serve the type of events and room locations (2 weeks out).
• Provide Banquet Event Orders (BEOs) outlining all arrangements (10 days out).
• Identify the food and beverage guarantee and communicate to the culinary team (5 days out).  

However, when it comes to meeting planning, the checklist is rarely completed without any deviation. What happens when the rooming list is not completed by the cut-off date? What happens when more guest rooms or food and beverage are needed than expected due to increased attendee counts?  What happens when the assigned meeting room no longer suits the needs of the facilitator?

When things don’t go as planned, an experienced conference planning manager uses quick and sound judgment to identify the best options available to meet your goals. The checklist sets the foundation for what needs to be accomplished. However, there is no substitute for the expertise of a good conference planning manager who knows when to be flexible and what needs to be done to find success.

How have you responded in a positive way to unplanned changes? Leave a comment and let us know.