Planners Weigh in on Security Precautions

New York--Three weeks ago, a hotel employee was sexually assaulted in a New York City hotel, possibly by a coworker. Because of this, MiMegasite.com surveyed its users about the precautions they would most likely implement to ensure attendee safety at meetings. The results:

Of the 208 respondents to the poll, 52 percent said they would conduct a walk-through of the entire property to identify poorly-lit or remote areas; 16 percent said they would conduct background checks on all hotel and outside-vendor employees; 12 percent said they would contact the nearest police precinct to obtain recent crime statistics for the area; and 4 percent said they would give attendees whistles to use in case they are accosted.

Many hotels are making greater efforts to have attendees, particularly women, feel safer. Besides instituting bellhop escorts from a property's porte cochere to the attendee's guest room, some chains also have created women-only guest floors that must be accessed with a special room key.