Tracy's Tidbits

Yet Another Holiday?

In my blog “Another Holiday” I tell the tales of a vacation which required some creativity as my husband and I met my sister and her family in Europe to travel together. The day we arrived was a Saturday, however, we realized when we checked into our hotel, too late to do anything about it, that it was a holiday and everything was closed. Everything. No restaurants. No grocery stores. No shopping. Nothing. We made things work that first night as my sister saved the day with convenient store sandwiches and chips from the only store still open as her family came through the airport. We had a hotel picnic and some good laughs as we got caught up.

After a week of fun and family time, our vacations diverged. My sister and her family went to a different city in Austria, and my husband and I went on to Munich, Germany. We took a bus across the Bavarian countryside, checked in, grabbed dinner, and prepared our plans for the following day. As we awoke ready to do some shopping, we discovered it was… you guessed it… another holiday. No shopping for us because the following day we would leave. None of this ruined our vacation, it just caused us to be creative in how we spent it. We found a single castle and grounds that were open for viewing, and luckily we packed snacks that we travel with for just such an occasion.

Recently, we traveled again, just the two of us, to the Czech Republic. I have never seen so many malls in one place before. It felt like every time we turned the corner, there was another mall. Not exactly like the ones in the US, but almost “secret” stashes of stores that seemed to be only a storefront on the outside, but upon closer inspection, actually consisted of many, many stores that went back into the hidden recesses of the buildings. As I was looking at the weather and surveying the area where we were staying, I noticed that the day smack dab in the middle of our trip was… wait for it… a holiday. Labor Day to be exact, which happens to be May 1st. Because of our previous experience with European holidays, on April 30th, we stocked up on food that we could ration the following day figuring everything would be closed.

Boy were we wrong! I’ve never seen a city so crowded with people in my life! 98% of the shops, grocery stores, restaurants, attractions, museums, transportation options, and more were fully operational. Our past scars had left us with adhesions that marked any future trip with potential pain, only to realize, not every European country operates in the same way.

Then we ran into the marathon. Oh everything was open, but with 16,000 runners and their families and friends, on top of what was already an overcrowded city of tourists from around the world, descending on the very neighborhood in which we were staying, it might as well have been a holiday. We intentionally stayed within walking distance to everything we wanted to see; old town square, the Charles Bridge, the city center, however, these areas were exactly where the marathon was running. We were basically sequestered to our hotel room unless we were willing to be pushed and shoved along the sidewalks and streets watching marathoners as if we were cheering on our loved one, going where the mobs wanted to go.

Again, our vacation did not suffer because we ran into the marathon AND a holiday, we just changed what we thought our days might look like. With a bit of creativity and having learned to hold our plans loosely, we leaned into the unexpected and changed the adventure.

Do you have a vacation interruption story? Share it here or email me!

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Wrong Side of the Line

My husband and I have traveled through Frankfurt, Germany, on our way to other European destinations many times. We can navigate border control pretty well, and we know the line can take an hour or so on occasion. We plan our connecting flights with ample time for the wait. The Frankfurt Airport recently implemented a new system (the EES [Entry/Exit System]) which requires all non-European (non-EU) travelers to stop at a kiosk, scan their passport, get a facial scan, and get digital fingerprints taken. THEN, get into the line to repeat the process with a border patrol agent before getting your passport stamped and being allowed entry. I guess eventually this redundancy won’t be needed. On this particular trip, the wait was at least two and a half hours long (if not more), and after the stanchion queue, the line ran down the side of the terminal for at least two gates. To add insult to injury, border patrol only had two agents working for at least the first hour and a half.

Mid wait, a family of five with a mother-in-law in tow, started pushing their way up the line, asking if they could move ahead because they were going to miss their connecting flight which left in ten minutes. Ok, first of all, that was bad planning on your part. Second, is that true? I ask because after about 50 people were kind or dumb enough to allow them that opportunity, one gentleman said no because his flight was also leaving in ten minutes and we all had to wait. He was anticipating missing his flight, insisting the airport help coordinate rescheduling his flight, and recommended this family do the same. After being graciously allowed to jump the line by 50+ complete strangers with no obligation to do so, she asked him to show her his boarding pass! She couldn’t believe there was someone else with such a tight connection who wasn’t also pushing up the line.

Her next suggestion? “Come with us. Together we can try to make our flights.” Meanwhile, the entire line was privy to this conversation. How lucky do you think they were to move up from this spot in line? They weren’t. At that point, I couldn’t believe what happened next. The mother-in-law who was sheepishly trailing behind, then darted under the stanchions and into the European passport line, teasing the family as she went, and scaring the border patrol agents. Apparently, she had a European passport the whole time, but was just going to travel with her family. When it looked like they might not make the flight, she bailed! What was odd, was after this display of family dynamics, we could see her waiting for them on the other side of the glass. If you’re worried about not making this ultra-tight connection, what are you waiting for?

After the family could no longer call on the good graces of others, they started to work the line, glad-handing everyone in front of them, wooing them to allow them to get ahead in the line. It worked for a few minutes.

Because the line was moving so slowly, we all got to stand and watch the entire spectacle unfold. Once the family finally met with the agent, as they got fingerprinted and scanned again (which took an eternity), the wife kept turning around to the crowd, mouthing “Thank You”, clasping her hands together, and putting on the most pathetic face as if we all just gave alms to the poor, clothing and feeding her entitled family for a week. At that point, I think the crowd was plotting an ambush. Just go already. I thought your flight was leaving…Whether they made said flight or not, I don’t think anyone cared. Thankfully, they weren’t on our flight.

My Traveler’s Tidbit in all of this is: when traveling internationally, make sure you leave ample time for border control and customs procedures which vary from country to country. Visit the websites of all of the countries you will be passing through on your travel days to check if there is any construction, new procedures implemented, or closures which might slow you down, contributing to your need for additional connection time. It will save you from missing your flight or being this person, making enemies in multiple countries as you travel.

Have you experienced an entitled or line-jumping passenger? Share your story here or
send me an email!

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My Traveler’s Tidbits page has been updated with new, great tidbits for unseasoned travelers! Check them out!

All in the FAM

The family? The famous? The famished? Nope. FAM is short for a Familiarization Event. These can be hosted by cities, convention, conference, and retreat centers, or other venues who would like you to bring your future event business to their location. They want to familiarize you with what they have to offer you and your group. Multiple planners are invited and they can be a lot of fun, but don’t plan to get much sleep. FAMs can be an overnight, a weekend, or span 2-3 days, but the host wants to show you as much, and cram as many things to do into, the time they have with you, as they possibly can.

I have been on a couple of different kinds of FAMs. One was a citywide FAM. This was an invitation from a single city, specifically the CVB (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau), who coordinated with their city-run convention center and adjoining hotels to host a group of planners who’s events fit their sweet spot. Our attendance was the right size for their spaces, required the ideal number of hotel rooms on peak, and had the right demographics for the dining and activities offered around their city.

At a citywide FAM, the CVB (in most cases) coordinates and pays for your roundtrip flight and ground transportation, reserves you a room at one or more of the convention center hotels, and creates an agenda that showcases everything your group might be interested in. Meals are a family affair, meaning all planners get to know each other pretty well because you travel in a pack. Meals, shuttles, activities, and meetings are generally all done as a group.

During a citywide, I’ve seen the trendiest Michelin star restaurants, exclusive museum exhibits, and high-end shopping venues. I’ve sat through meetings listening to yet another CVB tell me how “walkable” their city is (for context, see my blog A Walkable City), been offered different incentives based on the time of year I brought my group, and met some of the greatest people in hospitality; both hosting me and with me on the trip. Truly, if you have limited time but need to submit a report to your executive board or investors why you want to book with a particular city, convention center, or hotel, a FAM will, in a short period of time, provide all of the information you need.

On a FAM with a specific property, I’ve been taken behind the scenes at a well-known theme park, whisked to the front of the line at the swankiest rides, and escorted around the city VIP style in a blacked-out, movie star-feeling SUV. I have been shown how their communications or design department can personalize the experience for our attendees including welcoming guests by name as they enter their rooms and using our logo in the flash of a fireworks display.

Other things I’ve experienced on a FAM include a convention center hosting a lunch showcasing not only their amazing food, but their ability to decorate and turn any space into the event theme of my dreams. I’ve visited a church with the largest number of stained glass windows, then created a mini stained glass window of my own; toured, and had an afternoon break at, a Frank Lloyd Wright home, and participated in a variety of other activities I may want to either schedule as an off-site activity for my attendees, or perhaps as an add-on experience for my board of directors.

A FAM is a great way to see as much as you can see for a location or venue you are scouting and meet some great people along the way. As planners, we are usually the ones behind the scenes, working tirelessly so others have the best event experience they can have. We consider all of the details, keep timelines and budgets on track, check the checklists, and rarely get recognition for our efforts. A FAM feels like a treat. We’re still working and running our tails off, yet get spoiled with surprise in-room snacks, turn-down service, and the opportunity to experience a city or a venue in a way most people would never even consider. Thank you hosts!

Have you been on a FAM? What is one thing you learned that we should know?
Share it here or send me an email.

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especially those who plan events!

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Symphonies in Style

Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Austria – photo by Tracy Baer

Have you ever planned an event at a formal concert hall? Or, as inspired by one of my recent trips to Austria, a conzert hall? If you read my blog Another Holiday?, you know that I vacationed with my sister and her family in Salzburg, Austria. One of our missions was to visit some of the landmarks from the movie The Sound of Music.¹ At the end of the movie, the family (who are the main characters of the film), perform a vocal show at an amazing outdoor conzert hall, then secretly defect to Switzerland to avoid the Nazis and the recruitment of their father into the German Navy.¹

That theater still exists. It’s been encapsulated within a much, much larger conzert venue which we toured when we were there. It’s called the Felsenreitschule (Summer Riding School – also known as the Rock Riding School)² and it’s built directly into the Monschsberg mountain. Today the building consists of three separate conzert halls: the original Felsenreitschule, the Haus Fur Mozart (House for Mozart, also known as the Kleine Festspielhaus or Small Festival Hall),³ and the Grosses Festspielhaus (Large Festival Hall).⁴ All of the halls are connected with atriums and foyers. I could only imagine the number of events you could have in this space. I was so impressed with how organized everything was, I even took a photo of their coat check area (see the end of the blog). I bet they could check 5000 coats at once if they had enough attendants. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

You could tell by the large hallways, massive atriums, and lengthy bars that people moving and large crowds were on the minds of the architects when designing the spaces. The number of entrances rivaled an arena, and I’ve never seen this number of stalls in a restroom before. Well done Salzburg. I have included links to each of the different conzert halls within this venue in the references at the end of this blog. I highly recommend you take a moment to look at some of their professional photo galleries. They’re stunning.

The Haus Fur Mozart is the smaller of the two venues attached to the Felsenreitschule, but it can still seat 1495 guests. The Grosses Festspielhaus is a visual marvel in its own right and can seat 2179 guests. The Felsenreitschule can seat 1437 guests and originally had a retractable ceiling which was incredibly unique for the size of the venue back in 1926. The cavernous space was initially quarried to build the local cathedral, and eventually the tell-tale caves in the wall were carved out so that equestrian displays and animal fights could be observed from a better vantage point.²

We decided at the last minute to take an official guided tour of the venue, but because it was last minute, the only tour spaces left during our time in Salzburg were on the German-spoken tour, not an English-spoken tour. So, we signed up! My German has not been tested like this in years. My husband and I navigate in German often when we visit Germany and Austria, however, this was 100% in German, no English thrown in for good measure. Luckily my niece also speaks German too.

Even though the tour guide talked fast (as we all do, we just don’t realize how fast until talking with someone who doesn’t natively speak our language), I managed to catch enough information to translate interesting tidbits to the rest of the group. Honestly, we didn’t need many words to be wowed by the majesty of everything we saw.

I would LOVE to have the opportunity to plan an event in a space of this magnitude. I can imagine the precision with which the staff must operate. The meticulous operation of the kitchen, the speed at which the ticket counters must move, and the talent of the production team members have to all be top notch. It would be an honor to plan an event where some of the most famous names in music and theater have walked the halls before me.

Atrium outside the Felsenreitschule, by Tracy Baer

The Felsenreitschule, by Tracy Baer
(decorated for an upcoming performance)

Have you had the pleasure of planning an event in a large, formal concert hall? Share one thing you learned with us here, or send me an email!

Be sure to comment, like, and share this blog with your friends and family who travel to Austria!

New to traveling? Visit Tracy’s Traveler’s Tidbits for helpful tips for unseasoned travelers.

1.Wise, Robert (director). The Sound of Music. Twentieth Century Fox, 1965.
2.Felsenreitschule. Rock Riding School. Information and photos by the Salzburger Festspiele. https://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/l/felsenreitschule.
3.Haus Fur Mozart. Salzburg, Stage of the World. 2026. TSG. Tourismus Salzburg GmbH. https://www.salzburg.info/en/events/event-venues/house-for-mozart.
4. Grosses Festspielhaus. Information and photos by the Salzburger Festspiele. https://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/en/l/grosses-festspielhaus.

Break the Script

Our lives are filled with scripts. You probably have scripts of your own and are blind to them. Consider this. You always do your grocery shopping on Tuesdays. You always shop at the same grocery store. You shop the same pattern up and down the aisles. You generally grab the same items unless you’re having company over. You do this every week. And, having been doing this for so many years, you know the name of some of the cashiers and ask about their kids, dogs, and vacations. See?

What about our expectations at Starbucks or Dunkin’? We expect that when we order a Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato, it will be exactly the same anywhere we go. Illinois, Oregon, or California. We are actually offended if we take that first sip and something is off. Not enough caramel. The coffee’s too strong. This is not non-fat milk. Did I get someone else’s drink?

Think about your annual multi-day event. Check-in starts at 8am. Opening general session starts at 9am. Then breakout sessions, a networking lunch, a trip to the trade show floor, more breakout sessions, and another general session to end the day. There may or may not be evening activities, but it’s pretty much rinse and repeat the next day. Oftentimes, we as planners, get into the rut of repeating last year’s event with a few tweaks to theme, decor, or location.

To have our events stand out from the rest, we need to break the script. Now, the “year that shall not be named” not only broke the script, it shattered it. It grabbed it by the spine, threw it on the ground, stomped on it, then lit it on fire. That’s NOT the kind of breaking of the script I’m talking about. That type of shake-up happens once in a millennia. However, it was a type of life-altering event that made a lot of organizations stop (not that they had a choice) and evaluate their events to see if they were still keeping the main thing the main thing.

What I am talking about is a more controlled breaking of the script. In the words of Chip and Dan Heath, it’s called “strategic surprise.”¹ If you hand out swag or a conference t-shirt every year, attendees begin to expect it. After a few years, if you don’t hand these out, some attendees get bent out of shape. They paid the same amount or more this year and got bupkis. What if, instead of swag, a “super fan” interrupted the opening general session by rushing the stage, excited to meet the emcee, and welcomed the attendees? This character actor could be hired to portray a fan of the event, dressed over-the-top in the event’s t-shirt, theme, or colors, carrying tote bags from the exhibit hall, and making random appearances throughout the event. That would be something different.

Or, if you always set the general session room in theater style with a center aisle, shake things up and set a center section with side aisles or in half-moon rounds. As part of a sponsorship package option, sell the opportunity to have marketing materials set on attendee chairs before each general session and surprise them with something new every time they enter the room. Hold a breakout session outside. Have a picnic lunch. Do a movie screening.

It’s been six years since the world came to a stop and organizations were forced to make changes to their events. My guess is many of them have been doing things the same way again these last few years. Perhaps it’s time to break the script again?

Do you have a “break the script” moment? Share it here or send me an email!

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1.Heath, Chip and Dan. The Power of Moments. New York: Simon & Shuster. 2017.