Good article of note.  Viva! is currently busy planning incentive trips to Hawaii and the Caribbean.

According to a new white paper “Incentive Travel Recovering from Belly-flop,” published by the Incentive Travel Council (ITC) of the Incentive Marketing Association, many companies plan to renew incentive travel benefits and rewards for employees, channel partners and customers. During the economic downturn, companies rediscovered that travel incentives are directly linked to employee performance and customer loyalty. The report quotes a recent Site survey — more than 80 percent of companies say they plan to incorporate motivational travel in the next one to three years, and many of the same companies report a current, real-time return to travel incentives. 

“It’s a perfect time for corporations to get back to the grassroots value of incentives, particularly travel,” says Carol Wain, ITC president. “It’s unfortunate that those organizations that abandoned these investments had to learn the hard way that the people involved and participating in their overall mission are living, breathing assets that want, need and deserve to be motivated, recognized, and rewarded.”

In addition, the report examines how two companies — DriveSavers of Novata, CA and SFN Group of Ft. Lauderdale, FL — retained their incentive travel programs in difficult economic times, managed their programs creatively, and realized effective and measurable results. The white paper is available at www.incentivemarketing.org.

Viva! Event and Destination Management was featured in the July print issue of Corporate Meetings & Incentives magazine for the innovative work the company did managing the Tektronix Communications' incentive travel program in Hawaii. 
The full article can be viewed at:  http://tinyurl.com/3lyhpph

July celebrates the 6th annual Oregon Craft Beer Month (OCBM).  Celebratory festivities have been taking place all over the city this month.  According to the Oregon Brewers Guild, Oregon is the second largest producer of craft beer in the U.S., so there's sure to be something for everyone.  Personally, I am looking forward to Oregon Brew Fest that will take place next weekend on the waterfront.  Crowds aren't your thing?  Check out the new Portland U Brew and Pub that opened last month in Sellwood.  The place has everything you need to brew your own beer with experts on site to help you with your first batch.  You can sit back and enjoy one of the eight local beers on tap while your batch is cooking.  Cheers!

My husband and I had the privilege of trying Thistle over the weekend, settled in quaint downtown McMinnville.  The recently named Oregonian's 2011 Restaurant of the Year did not disappoint.  Rather than order from the menu - a plain chalkboard hung in the center of the restaurant - we chose to sit at the chef's counter.  He presented us with plate after plate of flavorful dishes made from local produce, fresh caught seafood, and meat he butchered himself.  Adding to the charm of the restaurant was beautifully restored antiques, hand-screened thistle-print wallpaper, and enticing smells of food being cooked in front of us in cast iron skillets.  The operation ran like well-oiled machinery.  Owner/chef, Eric Bechard, worked alongside one other cook, while his partner Emily Howard filled the role of hostess/server/wine steward.  We finally threw our hands up when we couldn't eat another bite.  It was well worth the hour trip and even gave us an excuse to stop by Dobbes Family Estate where we're wine club members!

Denise Ker, owner of Viva! Event and Destination Management, was featured in the May 6, 2011 edition of the Portland Business Journal.  Below is the full article:

Executive Profile

Denise Ker