Meetings and Events Industry News

The Meetings Mean Business Coalition has built a strong war chest of advocacy materials supporting the value of face-to-face meetings, but incoming co-chair Paul Van Deventer says industry organizations should work more closely together to drive global growth.

The executives behind the success of SXSW and Bonnaroo say they're developing more varied event programming bringing together as many creative elements as possible, so brands have more opportunities to engage attendees at different levels throughout the event experience.

Following recent terrorism attacks and acts of violence in high-profile locations popular for meetings and events, the convention industry is compelled to proactively develop a new set of security standards. This is going to be costly, but it's a different world in 2016, and that's something the industry needs to accept.

Meetings industry media, organizations, tech providers, and forward-thinking suppliers are all aggressively experimenting with event technology and digital content. But there are questions about how well the majority of meeting planners will be prepared for the upcoming onslaught of digital-native attendees.

London Tech Week shows the impact that convention bureaus can have on developing live events that shift a city's destination brand image.

IBM has come a long, long way in rebuilding its brand thanks to all of the cool factor surrounding Watson. But it could do more to showcase the consumer appeal around cognitive travel in 2017, including the benefits of machine learning to better connect us with travel destinations.

The results of the U.S. presidential election showed us unequivocally that we all tend to default into our own professional and personal bubbles in different ways. Meetings and events have always been a platform to bust out of those, and that's something the industry needs to trumpet more.

By segmenting the personalities of their individual neighborhoods, cities like San Francisco have more options to align their visitor experiences with different visitor profiles. That customization helps cities expand their destination image, build destination loyalty, and boost repeat visitation.

Lots of news coming out of IMEX America. Hotels are delivering more personalized and interactive experiences, and event tech companies are getting better at connecting attendees, sourcing venues, and leveraging big data.