“Shaking Things Up”
Section Three
An Interview with JNR Incorporated–
Top Professionals Share How They Deliver the Wow Year After Year
This is the third of four sections on how meeting professionals create new and memorable programs, year after year, with the same clients.
JNR Incorporated
JNR Incorporated is a full service incentive marketing company headquartered in Irvine, California. Jim Jalet, President and CEO developed the company over twenty seven years ago offering corporations the highest level of product and service available. JNR’s sixty-five employees deliver award winning programs that produce exceptional results and lasting impressions. JNR’s wide range of marketing programs include corporate incentives, incentive travel, meeting or convention, debit card program, merchandise and recognition, special event or entertainment. Two of JNR’s top professionals were interviewed for this article.
As event planning professionals, the one comment we both dread and love to hear is, ”How are you going to top last year’s program—it was fantastic!”
Ever wonder how industry pros pull off their award-winning programs time after time? The secret is a magic formula of client and product knowledge and a good degree of the old crystal ball technique—forecasting what will be new and exciting in the year to follow. I interviewed two of the industry’s top event planners to see what they had to say on the subject.
Starting at the Beginning—Create the Dream
Vicki Kern is Vice President, Planning for JNR Incorporated. Vicki is responsible for a five member department that meticulously researches destinations, designs outstanding programs and negotiates rates and concessions on behalf of JNR’s Fortune 500 clients. The pressure is always on for Vicki, with more than 250 meeting and incentive travel proposals created each year, often with very tight deadlines to meet client needs.
Vicki is a well-respected executive at JNR, having been with the organization for a dozen years. She is well known throughout the incentive community and serves as a Board Advisor to SITE (Society of Incentive Travel Executives) Southern California, and she is a member of the Four Seasons West Coast Incentive Advisory Board and the Fairmont Incentive Advisory Board.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Vicki and pick her brain about how she develops fresh and exciting program components for her clients year after year.
Keeping an Eye on the Trends
One of Vicki’s specialties is designing programs to showcase current trends. She notes that food and beverage events are becoming more casual with a greater focus on networking. “Clients are looking for a theme party or event that has a change of location throughout the evening. We might start things out on a large scale, with the entire group being included, but as the evening progresses, the guests want to have a chance to interact and network with one another. We like to add a second element to the evening, such as an after-glow party. Some clients even offer a comedy club after an awards banquet to liven things up.”
Vicki adds, “There is definitely a movement toward high energy, interactive events. Guests want to be part of the action. In some ways, they want to be the entertainment. Food and culture are not enough–guests like to do something else while they are attending a function.”
Celebrity chefs, exotic food and new preparations have been growing trends for some time. Vicki is also seeing a demand for fresh and new approaches to seating. Vignettes have gained popularity, with clients asking for more casual options to traditional seating, such as conversation pits, or pocket areas that create interest and variety. “In the fast-paced world of business, we’ve observed that our guests truly enjoy the opportunity to sit down and talk to each other.”vide ex
