December 8-10, 2019
Austin, Texas

The leading hosted-buyer event for qualified meetings professionals looking to do business in Texas, will meet with top hotels, CVBs, DMCs and venues from Texas for three highly productive days at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, December 8-10, 2019.

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Sponsors:

About Destination Texas

Destination Texas—Northstar's destination-specific hosted-buyer event—brings together the most highly-qualified meeting buyers with top destinations, hotels/resorts, DMCs, DMOs and tourism offices from Texas. Attendees participate in one-on-one pre-scheduled appointments, gain industry insights from our guest speakers and network with this exclusive group, all while enjoying the downtown Austin. This unique event is hosted by Northstar Meetings Group’s leading brands—Successful Meetings and Meetings & Conventions magazine.

Learn

Learn from, and be inspired by, our guest speakers who will provide targeted education specific to your needs as a meeting planner.

Connect

Connect with premier suppliers from Texas during pre-scheduled one-on-one business appointments and unique experiential activities.

Enjoy

All qualified buyers will be fully hosted by Northstar Meetings Group, including airfare, accomodation, meals and planned activities.

Testimonials

"IPEC is THE event for both novice and experienced independent planners. Everyone is open to express their concerns and posing questions without worrying about 'the other side' and suppliers are truly interested in our positions and challenges, ergo the round table discussions, which are insightful and we learn from each other as well as suppliers. Our discussion on the RFP process helped me to reformulate my own forms and I believe this will result in more usable proposals. Thank YOU."

—Doris Mayer, Meetings Plus

"I applaud Northstar for caring enough about Independent Planners that they designed a meeting just for us. We are critical to the industry and have different needs than the other niche Planner demographics."

—Tess Vismale, iSocialExecution, Inc.

"In two short days IPEC accomplished two very important goals for me - it provided an intimate forum where I could meet with suppliers I've been interested in meeting; and just as importantly, it enabled me to network and share best practices with respected colleagues who do just what I do all across the country."

—Brett Sterenson, Hotel Lobbyists

SPEAKERS

Nancy Cramer

Nancy Cramer is founder of Correct Course Consulting LLC, which aims to help leaders and their teams manage their emotions, so they think more clearly, make better decisions, and take on bigger, bolder projects. Cramer has worked with Under Armour, Safeway and Symantec, speaking and conducting leadership workshops for their C-suite executives, sales professionals and customer-service providers. Before opening her firm in 2012, she was a leading salesperson for ADP and IBM. She is a master practitioner and trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, having studied with the discipline’s co-founder, Richard Bandler, and she has been certified by Robbins-Madanes Intervention Institute and studied with the Harvard Negotiation Project.

Michael Dominguez

Michael Dominguez has been in the hotel industry for more than 30 years, joining ALHI earlier this year after serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer for MGM Resorts International and working with Hyatt and Starwood, among others. He is actively involved in leadership roles in the meetings industry and has served in a number of related association roles, such as chairman of Meeting Professionals International's board of directors, co-chair of the Meetings Means Business Coalition and on the American Society of Association Executives' board of directors. Among his accolades are awards such as HispanicBusiness.com’s "50 Most Influential Hispanics in the U.S.," Successful Meetings' Top 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry 2013 - 2016, MPI’s Industry Leadership Award 2015 and the Las Vegas Hotel Association’s 2016 Industry Leadership Award.

SPEAKERS

Please check back for the updated speakers list

Agenda

Sunday, December 8
2:00pm – 5:00pm
Registration
5:30pm – 6:00pm
Site Tour (planners only)
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Welcome Reception
Monday, December 9
7:30am – 8:15am
Breakfast
8:30am – 10:30am
Education (More Details)  
10:30am – 10:45am

Break

10:45am – 12:30pm
One-on-One Appointments
12:30pm – 2:00pm

Lunch & Education (More Details)

2:15pm – 3:30pm
One-on-One Appointments
3:30pm – 5:30pm
Free Time
6:15pm – 9:15pm
Cocktails & Dinner
Tuesday, December 10
8:00am – 9:00am
Breakfast
9:15am – 10:15am
Education (More Details)  
10:30am – 11:30am

One-on-One Appointments

11:30am – 11:45am
Break
11:45am – 12:45pm
One-on-One Appointments
12:45pm – 2:00pm

Closing Lunch

Hosted Buyers

ALL QUALIFIED BUYERS WILL BE FULLY HOSTED BY NORTHSTAR MEETINGS GROUP, INCLUDING AIRFARE, ACCOMMODATION, MEALS, AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES.

Information

Those who are selected to attend will participate in:
  • Two productive days of pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings with suppliers from Texas
  • Insightful educational presentations from inspiring speakers
  • Great meals, receptions and numerous networking opportunities with other elite buyers and suppliers
  • Unique experiential activities showcasing Austin as a premier meetings and incentive destination

To learn more why past buyers say this event is the best networking and education experience, please contact Dana Kallman at dkallman@ntmllc.com.

Testimonials

"Destination Texas is the place to be! There are so many wonderful city options for meetings in Texas and what a great way to learn about them all!"

—Corporate Meeting Planner

"Wonderful event! A worthwhile investment of my time."

—Corporate Meeting Planner

"As usual the team is always fun to interact with and I enjoyed meeting new possible destinations but also new contacts within the industry."

—Association Meeting Planner

Supplier Info/Exhibitors

Supplier
Info/Exhibitors

MEET WITH BUYERS LOOKING TO BOOK BUSINESS IN TEXAS

EVENT ONLY

EVENT ONLY

EVENT ONLY

  • Table at event
  • One-on-one pre-scheduled appointments with heavily vetted buyers
  • All networking events and activities

PLATINUM PACKAGE

PLATINUM PACKAGE

  • Table at event
  • One-on-one pre-scheduled appointments with heavily vetted buyers
  • Full-page ad package
  • All networking events and activities

GOLD PACKAGE

GOLD PACKAGE

  • Table at event
  • One-on-one pre-scheduled appointments with heavily vetted buyers
  • Half-page ad package
  • All networking events and activities

Exhibitor Package Rates & Premium Sponsorship Opportunities

For exhibitor package rates and premium sponsorship opportunities, please contact your business development director or: James Antaky at jantaky@ntmllc.com

Exhibitors

Please check back for the 2019 Exhibitor list

Bulova 
Citizen Watch America
Club Med
Competitours
Discover Newport
Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park
Florida Keys and Key West
HHM Hospitality
Icebreaker Merino Clothing
Inns of Aurora
Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority

Meetings & Exhibitions Hong Kong
Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB
Norwegian Cruise Lines
NYC & CO
Ocean Properties, Hotels & Resorts
Pacific World DMC
PRA
Rocky Mountaineer 
Royal Caribbean International
San Diego Tourism Authority
SBM Hotels
Seiko Watch of America, LLC
Smith & Wollensky
Sony Electronics Inc.
Thailand Convention & Incentive Bureau
The Broadmoor
The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort
Tommy Bahama
TUMI
Visit Napa Valley
Visit St. Pete/Clearwater
Wynn Las Vegas

Myrtle Beach Convention Center

Visit Park City

Las Vegas CVA

South San Francisco Conference Center

Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge

Visit Fort Worth

Fredericksburg CVB

Host Global (TX, LV)

Boise Centre

Visit Oakland

Daytona CVB

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater

Visit Alexandria

Visit San Antonio

St. Augustine & Ponte Vedra Beach

Sonoma County Tourism

Wigwam Resort

2018 IPEC Exhibitors

AlliedPRA

Atlantis Casino Resort Spa

Awesome Alpharetta CVB

Beaver Run Resort & Conference Center

Boise Centre

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa

Caesars Entertainment

Charleston CVB

Daytona Beach Area CVB

Discover Newport RI

Dominican Republic Tourism Board

Eldorado Resorts (Silver Legacy)

Florida Keys & Key West

Fredericksburg CVB

Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center

Goodman Speakers Bureau

Grand Sierra Resort

Grandover Resort

Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB

Greater Palm Springs CVB

Greater Portland Maine

Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach

Inns of Aurora

KLC Ireland

Las Vegas CVA

Louisville CVB

M Resort

Marriott Hawaii

Meadowlands Liberty CVB

Meet Atlantic City

MEET Hawaii

Melia Hotels International / Paradisus Los Cabos

Memphis CVB

MGM National Harbor

Mohegan Sun

Myrtle Beach Convention Center

Naples Grande

Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB

Ocean Center

Ocean Properties

Palms Casino Resort

Peppermill Resort Spa Casino

Plaza Hotel & Casino

Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau

Reno Tahoe

Resorts Casino Hotel - Atlantic City

Salamander Hotels & Resorts

San Diego Tourism Authority

San Mateo County CVB

Savannah Convention Center

Seagate Hotel & Spa

South Point Hotel & Casino

South San Francisco Conference Center

St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

The Iroquois NY

The Modern Honolulu

The National Conference Center / Visit Loudoun

Travel Juneau

Tropicana Las Vegas - A DoubleTree by Hilton

Vail Resorts

Velas resorts

Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club

Visit Alexandria

Visit Berkeley

Visit Denver

Visit Houston

Visit Oakland

Visit Raleigh

Visit Savannah

Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater

Visit Vail Valley

Westgate Las Vegas Hotel & Casino

Click below to see the 2018 list

Hotel

Everything's Bigger In Texas

Built in 1886 as the showplace of a cattle baron, The Driskill remains a landmark of legendary Texas hospitality. Located on Sixth Street in the heart of downtown Austin, the luxurious, iconic hotel is convenient to all that the city has to offer, including the Texas State Capitol, convention center, opera, symphony, fine dining, shopping, and Austin's 6th Street music scene. Known as the "Live Music Capital of the World,®" Austin is home to nearly 200 music venues, many within walking distance of The Driskill.

The saying goes: “Everything’s bigger in Texas.” No description is more befitting of The Driskill. Looming large in the Lone Star State’s rich history, the hotel’s dedication to service, memorable experiences, rich culinary delights and welcoming warmth are equally Texas-sized. Stroll through the opulent lobby with its marble floors and stained-glass dome, corridors filled with museum-quality artwork, and grand mezzanine for a glimpse into the hotel’s storied past. Rest well in the serene comfort of one of the 189 newly revitalized guestrooms and suites. Meet, mix and mingle in the rustic, Texas bar with daily live music, or reserve one of the remarkable, out-of-the-ordinary event spaces. Indulge in a variety of flavors sourced in Austin and around the Lone Star State. A visit to The Driskill is simply unforgettable – we’d be honored to welcome you for a truly memorable stay.

The Driskill
604 Brazos Street
Austin, TX 78701

Hotel Website

Buyers: We will make your reservations for you.

Suppliers: You will receive information as the event approaches to book your accommodations.

 

Advisory Notice Regarding Outside Solicitations

Please be advised that numerous companies have been emailing and calling our attendees attempting to book them into hotels for Northstar events.

Here are the companies and their representatives that we have been made aware of:

  • CBS International
  • Corporate Booking Services 
  • EHRS 
  • Exhibition Housing Services 
  • Global Housing Corporation 
  • World Wide Travel 

 

Be advised that these companies and individuals have no relationship with our events. Our attendees are encouraged to disregard any communication received from these companies or any others that are not affiliated with Northstar Meetings Group. 

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

CONTACT

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT YOUR SALES REPRESENTATIVE OR:

Buyers Contact:

Dana Kallman
Manager of Buyer Development

dkallman@ntmllc.com

Suppliers Contact:

James Antaky
Business Development Director
jantaky@ntmllc.com

Event Logistics Contact:

Andrea Hennings
Meeting Planner - Consultant
ahennings@ntmllc.com

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