As we head toward Denver, May 19th, and the 50th iteration of IPW—the most important event on the inbound tour and travel industry’s calendar—the INBOUND Report shares recollections of and about the event from those who have been a part of IPW (formerly Pow Wow) over the years.
This week, we feature two tour and travel industry professionals—each of whom attended more than 20 IPWs: Robert Graff, vice president, sales and marketing, Papillon group; and Audrey Bialas, director of sales, Visit Hershey & Harrisburg.
Robert Graff: “IPW? Oh my gosh, when I flash back, it’s to the days when we called it Pow Wow. I’ll never forget first getting involved in the industry, attending ipw, PowWow then, in Dallas (1988). They brought in Tony Orlando to perform. And here you have in a ballroom all guests sitting down there, all the various buyers and operators and Tony Orlando started singing ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon.’ And every person sitting in the audience took their napkins and tied them together and you had over 700-800 napkins all tied up on every table, connecting every table there as he sang ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon.’ And I thought ‘Wow, if this is my introduction into the industry, this is a part I really want to be tied to.’”
Audrey Bialas: “I’ve been to twenty, twenty-five—lot, and I think my most memorable moment was the White Party in Miami Beach. Everyone was dressed in white and we were on the sand when the sun setting and it was just one of those ‘wow’ moments.”
