The Incentive for Excellence

At Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, we love to share the good things in life. And what is better than sharing conversation over delicious, mouth watering meals? We are super passionate about creating unique culinary experiences, both in our award winning restaurants, and in our banquet settings. We love to think outside the hotel box and into the foodie mindset.

Some of our latest trends? Ditch the chafing dishes! We have replaced them with beautiful Le Creuset pots to give that “homemade feel”. We let our food do the talking with minimalistic, elevated, displays and natural décor like succulents. We’ve evoked the prohibition era with mixoligists and craft cocktails.

Local engagement… Global reach

SITE Global Education Week is an industry advocacy initiative designed to create awareness and celebrate the impact that the global incentive travel industry has on business growth. Throughout this week, SITE will broadcast webinars on a variety of industry topics that will offer our members and general audience continued education. Visit SITE Global Education Week for more details.

In addition to taking part in the Global Education Week sessions, SITE SoCal is offering two special events of our own for the 2015 North America Meetings Industry Day on April 16.

It is with much sadness that we learned of the sudden passing of David Nordquist on Friday, March 20. David was a wonderful friend to many of us, a great industry colleague, a staunch long-time SITE SoCal supporter and a devoted and loving father to his daughter, Mahana Grace. Our world will not be the same without him. He will be very much missed by all of us who had the pleasure of knowing him.

Our good friend, David Nordquist, was a gem of a man, and when I say ‘man’ read that as all mankind.

David first appeared in my life as Director of Sales for Tahiti Tourism North America, and his big personality lit the stage. That was over 20 years ago. He had been working for a bank in North Dakota, as I recall or a bank here in LA, but wherever it was, Tahiti and Los Angeles were lucky to meet this avid baseball fan.

It was during his time at Tahiti Tourism that he encountered his first serious health problem. He came through that one and was back on his feet in a few months. He never complained about any of his health problems. His friends and colleagues only saw his smiling face, ready to carry on with the job, and he genuinely loved to help his colleagues in business, and his friends here and in Tahiti.

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.

Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

When I thought more about wellness, it seemed to me that this was a great example of a tipping point taking place in the hospitality industry. So, I thought a little research was in order on what to me was an interesting topic.

Starting close to home, MPISCC recently held its Beverly Laing Golf & Wellness Day event at March at the Los Coyotes Country Club, Buena Park. For those that don’t play, the wellness offerings are a new and different alternative to the regular lifestyle activity options. The sessions included Fitness, Yoga and “Living a Balanced Life: An Exploration of Your Unique Mind/Body Personality Type” offered by The Chopra Center. Desirable and much talked about, a successful work/life balance is particularly challenging and often hard to achieve. Despite this, it is particularly important in our industry when our job demands often outstrip the amount of time we have for ourselves.