--- title: "Impact Experiences: Always Time for a Helping Hand" id: "33366" type: "post" slug: "impact-experiences-always-time-for-a-helping-hand" published_at: "2016-05-18T20:17:32+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T16:48:28+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/05/18/impact-experiences-always-time-for-a-helping-hand/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/05/18/impact-experiences-always-time-for-a-helping-hand.md" excerpt: "One major hotel chain launches a program designed to allow visitors to help make an impact on a local community during their stay. Also: How to keep costs down even when your event’s food and drink gets decadent." taxonomy_category: - "Meetings / Events" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "community service" - "corporate responsibility" - "Live Events" - "Meetings" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Director" - "Manager" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Impact Experiences: Always Time for a Helping Hand You may only have a few days to put on an event, but, if you plan for it, there’s always time to give back to the community your members are visiting. That’s a reminder highlighted by a new Ritz-Carlton program, Impact Experiences, which encourages travelers staying at its hotels to take part in programs that help out the local community—whether onsite or off. [Examples highlighted by TravelPulse (opens in a new tab)](http://www.travelpulse.com/news/hotels-and-resorts/ritz-carlton-targets-groups-with-impact-experiences-program.html) include a beautification project at a New York park and opportunities for visitors to prep dishes for local hunger relief groups with the hotel’s culinary staff. For those without a lot of time for such a task, the hotel chain will also offer an Impact Hour event, which will allow partners in the hotel chain’s Community Footprints program to let visitors know how their groups plan to help make an impact in the community. “We are proud to make Impact Experiences available at every one of our hotels around the world to provide our guests with an option to address local social and environmental issues,” said Ritz-Carlton President and COO Herve Humler said in a statement, according to *Travel Pulse*. “Impact Experiences have the power through coordinated efforts and volume to be a significant force for good.” ### All Hands on Deck https://twitter.com/latesupper/status/732955820892246017 **There’s only so much room** for budget flexibility when it comes to catered events—especially when the food has to be fancy, such as at the Grand Tasting at the annual [Vegas Uncork’d (opens in a new tab)](http://vegasuncorked.com/) food and wine conference. Those gourmet foods and beverages aren’t cheap. How does Caesars Entertainment, which puts on the event, manage the costs? [According to PCMA Convene (opens in a new tab)](http://www.pcmaconvene.org/departments/fb/how-one-planner-controls-costs-during-las-vegas-most-decadent-fb-event/) , the secret involves keeping the labor costs down by treating it as an all-hands-on-deck kind of event. “We pour all of our management team into [the event],” Caesars’ Lisa Lynn Backus told the magazine. “Whatever we can do to reduce hourly labor, we do.” [Check out the full article (opens in a new tab)](http://www.pcmaconvene.org/departments/fb/how-one-planner-controls-costs-during-las-vegas-most-decadent-fb-event/) for more tips on how to keep things decadent but manageable. ### Other Links of Note ***“When talking to C-suite members** it is important to always be thinking in outcomes. Outcomes—what IT managers and teams can deliver—are what matters.”* — Longtime tech exec Paul Hesser, [writing at CMS Wire (opens in a new tab)](http://www.cmswire.com/leadership/how-it-managers-can-learn-to-talk-to-the-c-suite/) about how IT staffers can better communicate with top executives. **The value of the side project.** Matt Haughey, the founder of MetaFilter and a current writer for Slack, [discusses how personal side projects (opens in a new tab)](https://slackhq.com/elevate-yourself-with-side-projects-acbc43229422) help elevate the company’s workforce. “It’s great when those skills can be worked into an employee’s position, but, even if an employee’s side project has nothing to do with their role at Slack, seeing someone enjoy themselves with whatever pursuits take their fancy is a sign of a happy, healthy worker,” he explains. **Have an intense job?** (Of course you do! You work for an association.) If so, you might appreciate *Harvard Business Review*‘s commentary [on how people manage the stress (opens in a new tab)](https://hbr.org/2016/06/managing-the-high-intensity-workplace) of challenging jobs. (iStock/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. 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