Archive for November, 2011

San Francisco Group Travel Guide

November 22nd, 2011

San Francisco’s abundance of museums, outdoor activities and culturally diverse neighborhoods combined with a yearlong temperate climate make the city the ideal destination for group meetings and large conventions. Its no wonder tourism has become San Francisco’s largest revenue generator – the city isn’t too far from being perfectly well-rounded. San Francisco has previously shown strength in four travel industry sectors: commercial, meeting and group, and leisure. In the early 1980s, many large corporations left San Francisco because high-operating costs threatened profitability.

In the 1960s, San Francisco became the focal point of the counterculture revolution. Communal living became commonplace, and the intersection of Haight and Ashbury was the movement’s epicenter. It was then that San Francisco became a haven for many young people seeking peaceful living and mutual understanding, and this national migration pushed San Francisco’s population diversification to where it is today.

Time permitting, visit as many of the city’s neighborhoods as possible. Alamo square, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, Mission District and Pacific Heights should not be overlooked, nor should Nob Hill, Richmond District or Sacramento Street. The city’s progressive nature is underscored when the food, arts and culture of these places come together to form such an admirable whole, and there’s certainly no danger of your group being at a loss for entertainment.San Francisco has previously shown strength in four travel industry sectors: commercial, meeting and group, and leisure. In the early 1980s, many large corporations left San Francisco because high-operating costs threatened profitability.

The Difficulty of Distinguishing Work and Leisure Today

November 13th, 2011

In “Work and Leisure” by Roger C. Mannell and Donald G. Reid, “Emergent Working Society of Leisure” by Neil Ravenscroft and Paul Gilchrist, and “Working at Fun” by Deborah Rapuano, the definition of work and leisure has undergone a transformation from the traditional separation of the two terms into combining the different spheres of activity in different ways. A key reason is that as society has changed, becoming a global economy and providing new sources of creative endeavors for some members of society, some individuals have been able to combine their work as an economic activity with intrinsically motivated work that provides the same kind of personal fulfillment that usually occurs in leisure activities.

An example of this combination of work and leisure is the “work” of artists, architects, and other creative professionals who gain personal satisfaction out of what they do, as described by Ravenscroft and Gilchrest. At the same time, other individuals who start out pursuing an activity as a leisure time pastime, such as some of the pub musicians described by Rapuano, may find what started out as a fun activity becomes a source of work as it is turned into a marketable commodity for which they receive pay.

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