Skift MeetingsIQ: Phoenix, Cleveland and PCMA on the Future of Meetings

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What You Need to Know

Visit Phoenix CEO on How Conventions Drive Downtown Development

A decade ago, downtown Phoenix was dormant. Lights out at 5 p.m. everywhere. Today, the urban core is now a thriving area that continues to expand with a cool mix of local, independently-owned creative businesses like Barrio Cafe. In 2015, Phoenix ranked 11th on Forbes’ list of fastest-growing cities in America, and it’s projected to be the fourth largest U.S. city by 2020. It all started with the launch of the newly expanded Phoenix Convention Center in 2009, followed by a conscious effort among tourism and business leaders to attract Millennials to populate downtown.

Read more at Skift

Social Quote of the Day

“Citywide convention business is booming for L.A., with 32 conventions booked for 2016 – the most since 2001.”

— Meet L.A. on Twitter

Destinations

Cleveland Carves Out a Clever Niche For World Class Medical Meetings: The new Global Center for Health Innovation in Cleveland provides an exceptional example of how a second-tier city is competing for international medical meetings by tapping into its local industry expertise. If you plan medical meetings, this is going change how you think about the Midwest. It’s also going to change how you think about medical meetings. Read more at Skift

How Does a Tourism Company Drive Mass Engagement With Live Video: Destination BC took to the live-streaming power of Periscope to create an immersive experience that allowed the online community to virtually visit popular locations in the province. This is what the future looks like. Read more at Twitter Business

Tahiti Is Creating a Smart Island Nation to Boost Tourism: The French Polynesia Ministry of Tourism announced a new partnership this month with Tahiti Innovation Labs to develop the Tahiti Smart Tourism initiative. This has all kinds of potential to develop the Tahitian Islands into a digitally connected incentive destination for next gen groups. Read more at Skift

Future Convention Cities Initiative Case Studies Show the Lasting Benefits of Business Events: At IMEX America in Las Vegas, representatives of the FCCI member cities discussed how each of the cases outlined in its “Beyond Tourism Benefits” report played out in their destinations. Read more at MeetingsNet

Events & Venues

Is the Meetings Industry Still the Expert Source for Meetings Intelligence?: Every January, the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) pulls off one of the meeting industry’s showcase events with its Convening Leaders educational conference. But there’s a slew of new innovation events worldwide from XOXO in Portland to Web Summit in Dublin, and PCMA should grab some of their people to speak. Read more at Skift

The 15 Most Innovative Meetings 2015: Marketing expert Seth Godin said: “No one accidentally goes to a conference. No one accidentally finds themselves at a convention. The people who are there are choosing to be there. They are choosing to pay attention…. Treat that attention like the privilege that it is.” Read more at BizBash

Plan a Meeting The Sharing Economy Way: For some planners, having an attendee book a room on Airbnb is a major disruptor to the traditional meeting experience. But that’s the point: More often than not, today’s meeting attendee isn’t content with the traditional meeting. They want something more, especially something more personal. Read more at Successful Meetings

Hospitality

Park Hyatt Partners With New York Times for a Sophisticated Take on Local Events:  Park Hyatt’s new TasteMasters campaign launched last week, based on a series of events at the hotels pairing cultural leaders in different fields with a New York Times correspondent for a Q&A discussion examining the creative process. More hotel brands need to join the knowledge sharing economy (beyond social media). Read more at Skift

Was Washington, D.C.’s Convention Center Hotel Worth It?: Improvements in convention hotel business comes as the District’s status as a tourist destination is growing, with a record 20.2 million visitors coming last year, supporting approximately 75,000 jobs and more than $3 billion in annual wages. The boost from the Marriot Marquis may overshadow spending concerns at Events DC. Read more at The Washington Post

Tips & Comments

Skift MeetingsIQ is curated by meetings industry veteran Greg Oates. Send story ideas and feedback to [email protected] or @gregoates.

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