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I am thrilled to launch our monthly newsletter, the Meet Boston Team Insider! We'll be dishing out all the deets on our latest projects, our upcoming shindigs and everything in between. This is your one-stop shop for all things Meet Boston, aimed at keeping all departments updated on the exciting, interesting, and important work that we are undertaking. 

I am excited to share our progress, achievements, and upcoming initiatives with each of you. This newsletter serves as a platform to provide clarity and excitement around our endeavors while also fostering collaboration and participation across all teams. Your feedback, suggestions, and active involvement will help ensure everyone remains informed and engaged in our collective efforts. 

Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication to the success of Meet Boston!



Hilina D. Ajakaiye 

Executive Vice President 

Meet Boston 

Human Resources

LinkedIn Learning

We are excited to announce a fantastic new resource now available to all employees - LinkedIn Learning! This platform offers flexible, expert-led learning opportunities for nearly every interest or career path. Stay tuned for more details on accessing and utilizing this valuable resource.

FiredUp Culture

Thank you to everyone who participated in our leadership and all-staff summits on March 28 and 29. Your active engagement provided invaluable insights into our organization, and we can't wait to continue building momentum as we embark on future endeavors. Keep an eye out for updates from FiredUP Culture soon!

Performance Management Update

Meet Boston is in the final stages of preparing for the rollout of our performance management system later this month. This structured approach will include self-evaluations and manager reviews, further facilitating the meaningful conversations and feedback exchanges between you and your manager and ultimately driving individual and organizational success.

Save the date for our upcoming Career Fair on April 30, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency Boston from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. Please complete the volunteer signup sheet and help us make this year's career fair the best yet!

Don't hesitate to contact Maria Ortiz, Anastasia Walker, or Ann Marie Pinault for more information.

Upcoming Culture Committee Events

The Culture Committee is excited to announce another month of fun, informative, and enriching events! Good things planned for April include Red Sox Opening Day festivities on April 9 in the cafe and a guest speaker from our partner YogaHub on April 18. Be on the lookout for calendar invites coming soon!

After reading Horse by Geraldine Brooks, the MB Book Club met on Tuesday, March 26. A copy of the book will be added to the living room bookcase for anyone who hasn't had the chance to read it yet. Stay tuned for April's book selection and meeting information.

Finance

Please join us in welcoming Susan Colby to Meet Boston as our long-awaited Vice President of Finance! Susan began her finance career in public accounting and brings over 15 years of experience with non-profit organizations, most recently with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford, CT. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and holds an MBA from Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Welcome to the team, Susan!



Partnerships

The Partnership team is delighted to report recent successes, including $65K in new partner sign-ups, with each team member selling at least one partnership valued at $2,500. Dine Out Boston saw active participation from 186 restaurant partners, underscoring our strong community ties. We're also pleased to welcome Fillemon Imene as our new Partnership CRM Coordinator, adding valuable expertise to our team. 

From an engagement perspective, our Partner Academy is back with upcoming sessions scheduled throughout the year, alongside key onboarding dates. Don't forget about our Breakfast Open House, a new format for this year, at Earl's on April 10 at 8am. Ongoing efforts to enrich the partnership experience include our newly launched Partner Pass program and, of course, recent partner visits such as Hook+Line, Five Iron Golf, and Ramsay's Kitchen. 

Marketing

Coming Soon! Be on the lookout for an invitation to learn more about the Marketing team's project request and management tool, Hive, later this month. 

Do the write thing: As we continue to produce engaging content for meetboston.com, we're looking for any help you can lend to writing a blog or building an itinerary. Interested? Be sure to get the OK from your manager and then email Matthew Lumia and Cassandra Lee for suggested topics we'd like to feature! 

Go, Team, Go! Join us in rooting for Matthew Lumia as he runs the 128th Boston Marathon. Matthew is running to raise funds for the Boston Animal Care and Control Shelter Fund, and we will be at the finish line cheering him on! 

Communications

Meet Boston in London – Trade and Media Mission: On April 23 and 24, Meet Boston team members and TDMD board members will host events in London to connect with trade partners and media from throughout the U.K. market. The series of events will include culinary experiences curated by Boston chefs, mixologists, and sommeliers at the dramatic Shangri-La The Shard and a full-day media open house featuring hands-on cooking and cocktailing demonstrations and one-on-one conversations with Boston storytellers at the Grosvenor House Suites.

David O'Donnell and Megan Skiles are gearing up to represent Meet Boston at U.S. Travel's IPW in Los Angeles from May 3-7. As tradition dictates, Meet Boston will host a press conference during IPW, further solidifying our presence and impact in the industry. 

Introducing our newest Boston Neighborhood video!

Meet Roslindale: Following the successful release of our sixth Boston Neighborhood video featuring Allston, we are in discussions with Roslindale Main Streets to produce a video highlighting Roslindale this spring. Stay tuned for more information!

Sales & Destination Services

Sports

The Sports team had a remarkable month. Mike McCarthy recently represented Meet Boston at the prestigious MIT Sloan Sports Conference. Additionally, our team successfully hosted the NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships at The Track at New Balance and the East Regional of the NCAA DI Men's Basketball Championship at TD Garden, both sold-out events, while also traveling to Montreal to promote the ISU World Figure Skating Championships®, which will be held in Boston in 2025.

Domestic Group

We are always delighted to receive positive customer feedback, particularly regarding our site inspections. Recently, the Sales team received a special thank you from Debbie Hershfield:

"Greg, it was such an enjoyable and informative day, and your perspective was extremely helpful. I look forward to having more opportunities to work with you and the hotels in Boston. Wicked Small or Elevated Luxury, you have it all, and I can't wait to bring business to Boston."

In the News: In collaboration with the Marketing and Communications teams, the Sales team has been working with Meetings Today magazine to highlight the sustainability efforts of two recently held meetings in Boston. Be on the lookout for an email highlighting the final piece!

Leisure, Tour & Travel

Recently, Stephanie Pappas, Stacy Thornton, and Kerri Cronin attended the launch of JetBlue’s new direct flight between Boston and Dublin, Ireland, now being offered seasonally from Logan Airport. Then, the team welcomed 33 international delegates from London, Dublin, and Amsterdam during three simultaneous international FAMs over St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Looking ahead, Stephanie will be traveling to France for the launch of JetBlue’s newest direct flight between Boston and Paris. And with another incoming luxury Brand USA FAM arriving next week from Brazil and the 26th Annual Discover New England Tourism Summit & International Marketplace following closely behind, things are full speed ahead!

Destination Services

On March 7, our team members, Stacy Roberts and Jill Bowdring, played integral roles in planning and executing PCMA's International Women's Day Event. Stacy also recently traveled to Nashville for a pre-promote trip for AORN, demonstrating our dedication to expanding our network. Looking forward, our team will celebrate Global Meetings Industry Day with an episode on the Boston Found podcast on April 1 and at PCMA New England's celebration of Global Meetings Industry Day on April 11, where Lisa Deveney will be a panel speaker.

Publications

We recently released the 2024 Destination Planning Guide (DPG), with 1,100 copies in stock and a digital version online at meetboston.com. We also printed new postcards with QR codes linking directly to the online DPG.

We continue to add new languages to our Freedom Trail sites brochures and now have translations available in Dutch, Hebrew, Japanese, and Korean. These will be in addition to the languages currently available at the Visitor Information Center, including Spanish, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, and Chinese.

Production is underway for the 2025 Official Visitors Guide (OVG), and ad sales are now open, offering partners a chance to showcase their businesses to thousands of visitors. Demand has increased for the book - last month, over 1,000 OVGs were sent out just from online requests for information! We also continue to print and distribute postcards with QR codes to provide easy access to the online OVG.

Operations/Visitor Center/ Mobile VIC 

The Operations team is happy to report on ongoing improvements affecting visitors, the team, and our partners. The Visitor Center is undergoing another remodel to increase space and functionality, in addition to recent security camera installations. The Convention Desk looks better with each appearance at large-scale events, including last month’s Seafood Show, where we featured the Mobile VIC. The BOS will be refreshed and further rejuvenated with a new vehicle wrap within the next few months. The IT team has successfully upgraded staff laptops and monitors. Stay tuned for more upcoming AV and internal systems trainings!

Be on the lookout for an invitation to an exciting event to celebrate the Visitor Center’s remodel, kick off the warm weather season and to appreciate the Visitor Center staff. The Operations team would like to remind staff to factor in additional time to make arrangements for both your upcoming IT needs and fulfillment requests well in advance to ensure smooth planning and execution.

Where's the BOS?

The Mobile VIC schedule will resume starting in May with full-day visits to The Greenway, Downtown Crossing, and Faneuil Hall.

We'll top off the month with appearances at Boston Calling May 24-26.

Upcoming Event Sponsorship

Meet Boston is sponsoring Lanterns and Luminaries on April 11. This event at Old North Church celebrates Paul Revere's famous "two if by sea" lantern signal and features festive music, a spirited performance of the poem "Paul Revere's Ride," and a lantern-lighting reenactment with Paul Revere on horseback.

Reminder - Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon is on Monday, April 15. This year, the Fan Fest will be held at City Hall Plaza. More information is available at baa.org. 

Team Spotlights

Communications

The communications team is proud to announce that Megan Skiles was selected to moderate a panel at the upcoming WITS Travel Creator Summit in Salt Lake City on April 12. Way to go, Megan!

Sales

Congratulations to Megan Marriott for setting a record in January! Megan distributed an impressive 91 RFPs to member hotels, showcasing her dedication and exceptional performance.

meetboston.com | 1 (888) 733-BOSTON