Come on, admit it. That photo on the cover of American Eagle, one of America’s Cup Charters’ 12-meter yachts the company rents out for corporate outings, has you putting on your docksiders, slathering on the zinc oxide and getting out your Ray-Bans, doesn’t it?
Meeting planners often have the same reaction. Because despite the slack economy, businesses are still using the challenge of sailing to develop better teams (and have a little fun along the way) as they race up and down the Rhode Island coast.
For the permanent landlubbers among us, of course, sailing a yacht may not be the first choice for a business meeting. But luckily for Rhode Island, there are more options, and the business of offsite meetings has rebounded since taking a nosedive last year. It appears that enterprises recognize the importance of gathering often disconnected workers in one place. It not only provides an opportunity to see co-workers in a new (and less stressful) context, it helps the bosses communicate clear, consistent messages on where the company is going and how it should be getting there.
The other side of the meetings and conventions business is conventions, of course. And in that sphere, Rhode Island continues to hold a lot of face cards, too.
History, natural beauty, recreational activities and food, glorious food, can be found in abundance in our corner of the world. The obvious sites – College Hill, Newport, Federal Hill – are not the only places to find distractions from plenary sessions in an R.I. Convention Center meeting room.
Pawtucket and the Blackstone Valley allow group visitors to discover the roots of American industrial might, or bike along a tranquil path that seems oddly out of place in the nation’s second-most densely populated state.
I’m getting that feeling again, the one in which I want to take in another of Rhode Island’s world-class sights and activities. Aren’t you?
Mark S. Murphy
Editor
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