We know the resources, the roads, the businesses. We know the people and organizations that make this region great.

Two examples: Carol Anderson by invitation. CAbi is a direct sales fashion company with an innovative human-to-human business model. When organizing a Portland fashion show for 3,000 vendors, they hired Beatty Group to arrange the shuttle bus.

The goal was to get attendees across the city – from their hotels downtown, over the Willamette River, to the Portland Convention Center and back – in one piece.

To do that, we worked with 12 hotels, four bus companies and 20 buses. We created seven routes, charting the smoothest path among our city’s bridges and one-ways, so nobody would be waiting more than 15 minutes at a stop.

We identified hotel pickup locations, organized signage, planned the shuttle rotation at the Convention Center, and created a team of dispatch and operations staff on both sides so every bus could be tracked.

We also arranged an airport meet-and-greet for the VIPs and models flying into PDX. It was a great success. Still, there’s just no comparing it to what follows:

Millennium, meet Chelsea. Millennium Pharmaceuticals strives to deliver extraordinary medicines to cancer patients worldwide. While conducting an event in Portland, they asked Beatty Group how they might give back to the community, to children if possible.

We immediately thought of the Chelsea Hicks Foundation: a young, local non-profit honoring the memory of five-year-old Chelsea Hicks. Once a month, the Foundation visits Doernbecher and Randall hospitals with dress-up parties, snacks and goody bags for Portland’s youngest cancer patients.

When the CEO and CFO of the Chelsea Hicks Foundation approached 40 volunteers from Millennium Pharmaceuticals with a presentation on Chelsea – including video of children wearing costumes and doing crafts – there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

“Tell us what to do,” they said.

For three and a half hours, volunteers took costumes out of packages, put them on hangers and zipped them in garment bags. They made craft kits in zip-lock bags and, for the teenage girls, mani and pedi kits. They also stuffed, stamped and addressed invitations for the Foundation’s annual charity ball.

“Probably the best community event we’ve done.”

“Oh, I have daughters,” a man said. “I know what these toe separators are for.”

“I wish it came in my size; I want to try this costume on!”

Now, here’s what we loved about this event. The Chelsea Hicks Foundation isn’t here to cure cancer – it’s here to offer hope to the children and families facing it. Millennium, meanwhile, does strive to find a cure. By connecting them, we drew a meaningful link between two valiant organizations with very different missions, who nevertheless are fighting the same battle.

That’s destination management: facilitating a client’s needs, knowing which organizations in town could even handle a team of 40 volunteers; more importantly, orchestrating the right fit. It’s about connecting people to the resources that will mean the most. It’s about doing so in the most satisfying (and effective) way possible.

What brings you to the Northwest? We’d love to get you started.