These two friends also wondered: what if those conversations could take place here, in Ottawa? Around a show that we all know and love, the Ottawa-Gatineau CSAE Chapter’s Tête-à-Tête? There might have been a few bottles of wine… And so was born the vision for Destination Direct Canada.

Here’s a quick intro to the crazy folks behind the Destination Direct experience!

Chantel Beaupre
Co-Founder

Before founding her international conference management company, Say Something Communications Inc., Chantel was a conference manager for a Crown Corporation in Ottawa and got her start in the industry at the Hemisphere Summit Office at the Department of Foreign Affairs. She’s currently a member of several industry associations, including the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), and the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA).

Within the Destination Direct team, she’s the creative genius behind our design, logo and website, and the technical whiz with online forms, database and appointment-setting software. It all sounds so serious… but in the intense planning sessions for Destination Direct, we can always count on Chantel to interject completely inappropriate dad jokes when you least expect it.

When she’s not organizing conferences across the globe or setting up hosted buyer software, Chantel likes to play guitar, ride her motorcycle, travel around the world and annoy Patricia (we know, she’s got a tough life)!

Email Chantel or call her at 613-769-9500.

Back to the story!

As conference organizers, we have seen a steady shift in the way business is done. Way back in the ‘old days’ it used to be that meeting planners and association executives would draft their RFPs, print them up, bring them to the closest trade show, hand them out and meet industry colleagues (DMO’s, hotels, GSO’s, AV providers, etc…) who they could build a relationship with and call (or fax – depending on how old the ‘old days’ are that we’re talking about here) when they were ready to place their groups.

Fast forward to the present day. When industry colleagues, meeting planners & association executives head to a trade show now – we’re bombarded with so much information, so many booths, so many hugs and so many opportunities to catch up with old friends that all talk of business seems to fly right out the window. Not to mention the interruptions if we do try to talk business for a second, because there’s always someone coming up the aisle behind you who also needs a hug from the person you’re chatting with!

Okay, now that we’ve insulted you and called you old, give us a minute to redeem ourselves and explain how DDC can help you get the most out of your time during Ottawa Meet Week …

The DDC Hosted Buyer program is unique in the MICE industry (MICE = Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions, not the Mickey and Minnie kind).  We’re all used to Hosted Buyer programs that have the buyers moving around the trade show floor to meet the sellers.

At DDC, the DMOs are all in their own suites, in an all suite hotel, branded with their own identity, colours, swag and everything that makes them shine. The hosted buyers have a schedule and based on meetings they get to pre-select through a matchmaking software, they join the DMO rep in the suite for a 15 minute uninterrupted conversation.

Imagine what you could do with 15 minutes with DMOs from most Canadian provinces and territories! You could meet with almost all the destination representatives across Canada and figure out in less than two days which cities CAN actually host your next conference. You can ask DMOs about financial incentives and other cost-saving benefits if you do bring your group to their city. You can ask them anything you want! These DMOs participate in DDC because they want to meet planners like you, planners who can bring a convention to their city and who need a local contact to help make that event spectacular.