In Branson, Missouri, however, the Chateau on the Lake Resort, Spa & Convention Center, owned by John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, has reversed the process, and turned specific requests from individual groups into packages that it’s now offering to all event planners. Packages that were crafted from customized requests and are now being mass-marketed include:

•A “Stress Free” meeting package that includes a “Healthy Start” buffet with yogurts, sliced fruit, berries, hard-boiled eggs, juices and coffee; all-day refreshment service; a deli luncheon buffet with soup, salad, deli meats and cheeses to make sandwiches, and a selection of desserts; and a spa break featuring crisp vegetables with ranch dip, as well as tuna salad and herb cream cheese-stuffed Roma tomatoes. In addition, the package includes a Stress Relief Seminar, conduct by a therapist’s 14,000-sq. ft., full-service European-style Spa Chateau, which opened in 2006. The therapist will teach group members various stress management techniques, such as meditation, massage and stretching.

•A “Wii™ Meet” package that includes a “Wii Break” for the group, with use of a 50-inch plasma TV and a Nintendo® Wii console, which choice of interactive bowling, fishing or golf for up to two hours. The package also includes a breakfast buffet; all-day refreshment service; a “Streets of Philadelphia” lunch with soup, salads, Chef’s Hometown Cheese Steak, Italian hoagie, baked macaroni and cheese, Philadelphia cream cheese cake, and chocolate brownies; and a “snack cake” break.

•The “Chateau Executive Meeting” package that includes a Chateau continental breakfast buffet; all-day refreshment service; deli luncheon buffet; and a “cookies and brownies break.”

All packages were unveiled at the beginning of November and made available at the resort through December 20 to groups with at least 10 people, with fees ($79 per person for the Stress-Free and Wii Meet, $59 for the Executive Meeting, plus tax and gratuity) that included room rentals, refresh fees, projection support package, and use of a white board.

After creating each of the packages in response to specific requests from groups, reports Stephen Marshall, Vice President and General Manager, the resort’s marketing staff recognized that “helping attendees become ‘stress free’ is certainly appealing to groups.” So, working with the Spa Chateau staff, the full Stress-Free package was put together. Similar inspiration came for the other packages after they were originally created to meet one group’s specific needs.