Ideas that work for March 2009

Toolbox for meeting planners

When you are planning a conference, it’s a major hassle to arrive at the destination, only to find that you need a stapler, a calculator or scissors.  You have to traipse down to the venue’s front desk and ask for those supplies. It’s worse these days — you can’t even put these essential items in your carry-on briefcase if you come by plane.

The Crowne Plaza chain has a solution — a classy wooden box of supplies in every meeting room. These boxes contain scissors, a stapler, highlighters, dry erase board markers, regular markers, a first aid kit, a calculator, a ruler and a post it note pad.

“[Conference organizers] love having the box with all the amenities, it saves them the trouble of bringing it with them,” says Mitzie Munro of the Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport.

If you have an Idea That Works, please contact editor Colleen Isherwood, cisherwood@can-lodgingnews.com, with a description and photo.