Skift Take

It's an open secret that meetings and events are often rife with sexual harassment and other types of unsavory behavior. The industry wants to do more to create safer environments, but is only in the early stages of what will have to be a widespread cultural change.

Sexual harassment is a major societal problem, and the meetings industry is doing its part to create standards and rules for personal behavior among both event professionals and attendees.

This week we took a look at what the meetings industry is doing to create a safe environment. These represent the first steps in a necessary movement toward more inclusive and safer events.

We also have the most thought-provoking stories from around the industry. Savor them below.

If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet me @sheivach.

— Andrew Sheivachman, Business Travel Editor

The Future of EvenTs and Meetings

Planners Are Working to Fix the Event Industry’s Sexual Harassment Problem: Meetings represent a perfect storm for the kinds of incidents that sparked the #MeToo movement: Attendees gather in hotels and resorts and socialize at networking sessions fueled by alcohol. The industry is just now reacting with codes of conduct but that may not be nearly enough.

Exhibitors Will Pay for Private Spaces: Private spaces for meetings is becoming a lucrative new revenue source for events that include a trade show.

A Design Lab for Rituals: Rituals play a big part in the event experience. Researchers are experimenting with the creation of new rituals in interesting ways.

Around the Industry

Extending the Customer Journey: Digital marketing tools and social networking are allowing brands to stay in touch with customers year-round.

Why ‘Stories’ Are the Next Marketing Battleground: Are Instagram and Snapchat stories just a gimmick, or the next step in the evolution of how consumers consume digital content?

These Are the Top Cities for Association Meetings: The U.S. remains the most popular country for associations, although European cities have thrived as well.

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Skift Business Travel Editor Andrew Sheivachman [[email protected]] curates the Skift Meetings Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.

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Tags: meetings, meetingsiq

Photo credit: An opening reception for an event in Australia. Meeting planners are devising new methods to limit sexual harassment during events. Engineers Australia / Flickr

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