Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals

Event planners continue to seek out innovative ways to ensure their meetings are sustainably run. That’s particularly important for a destination like Monterey, Calif. With beloved sites including Big Sur, Carmel by the Sea and Pebble Beach, protecting natural surroundings is a vital part of any gathering held here. To understand these efforts, we spoke with Teresa Savage, senior vice president of...

Like almost every business sector, the events industry has been abuzz about AI for months. And the more widely these tools are adopted, the more rapidly they seem to evolve to better meet the needs of meeting planners.     At this exciting but uncertain moment in event tech, we spoke with Huong Nguyen, CEO and president of Shiloh Events who will be moderating a panel at this year’s IMEX on “Leadin...

Kyle Jordan, chair of LGBT Meeting Professionals Association, discusses inclusivity goals and best practices for business events Join Northstar's Loren Edelstein in a conversation with Kyle Jordan, chair of the LGBT Meeting Professionals Association, for an update on the nonprofit's efforts and the current state of inclusivity in the business events industry. Planners can do more to create safe sp...

When it comes to developing creative, out-of-the-box meeting experiences, independent hotels provide a number of appealing options for event planners. In this episode of Eventful, created in partnership with the  Caribe Royale Orlando , we delve into the advantages of working with independent properties, by looking in depth at Caribe Royale’s approach to events. We speak with the property’s managi...

Attorney Joshua Grimes provides a legal perspective on duty of care, cancellation clauses and more when planning events in states with controversial legislation.   Many meeting professionals believe controversial issues like abortion rights are political concerns that have no bearing on their jobs. But that isn't true, says industry attorney Joshua Grimes, Esq., president of Grimes Law Offices, LL...

What does the future hold for our business and personal lives? Risk-management expert Bruce McIndoe, president of McIndoe Risk Advisory, LLC,  tackles that topic in this enlightening discussion with Northstar’s Loren Edelstein. From weather disasters to robotic companions, here’s what to expect in the years ahead.   1:20 Why meeting planners should anticipate more frequent and intense weather even...

Creating an emergency response plan is one of the many responsibilities that fall on an event planner's plate. While they hope to never need to execute it, sometimes disaster strikes mid-meeting. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Senior Associate Editor Elise Schoening spoke with LaToya Williams, manager of global accounts for HelmsBrice, who was on Turks and Caic...

Salaries have recovered, but the pay gap between women and men has widened. In conjunction with the publications of the 2022 Northstar Meetings Group/Meetingjobs-Cadre Salary Survey, we discuss the findings with Dawn Penfold, president of Meetingjobs.com, in this episode of Eventful, the Podcast for Meeting Professionals. Salaries for planners have recovered from the pandemic, but the pay gap betw...

Bob Mitchell, an integrated marketing and event strategist with a background in the television industry, believes virtual-event tech platforms are scrambling for business now because the entire business model of the past two years was based on false assumptions. Most planners did not want to be digital marketers, he says, which created a bifurcated market for in-person and digital.   In this discu...

President and CEO Paul Van DeVenter discusses how the events industry organization had to find ways to remain viable during the pandemic — lessons that resulted in a new structure and focus. Staying relevant to members was not a problem for MPI over the past two years, according to president and CEO Paul Van DeVenter. More difficult was finding a way to stay financially viable. In this podcast dis...

Deception is rampant in the business world today, says body-language expert Traci Brown. After suffering significant losses, meeting planners and suppliers are more apt to bend the truth or omit important information to seal a deal. In this discussion with Northstar’s Loren Edelstein, Brown reveals the verbal and physical clues that subconsciously coincide with lying.   Key topics addressed: Why l...

Over the past few years, hundreds of meeting and event planners have made commitments to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2030, 2040 or 2050. To date, however, relatively few have taken significant steps to accomplish those critical initiatives, says Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events.   Among those who have acted is Amy Kramer, market and product innovation leader for Maritz Glo...

In March 2020, David Peckinpaugh was running Maritz Global Meetings, the third-party planning division of Maritz Holdings. By this past January, Peckinpaugh had been promoted to president and CEO of the overall company, but he had to make a lot of tough decisions along the way.   In this episode of the Eventful Podcast, Peckinpaugh discusses the hurdles that remain as business rebounds: Filli...

Now that meeting and event professionals are once again focused on in-person gatherings, it's the perfect time to rethink the design of the program in order to make sure attendees are getting the most out of the event. In this episode of the Eventful Podcast Anthony Vade, event experience strategy director for Encore and director USA for the Event Design Collective speaks with managing editor Sara...

Be prepared for high-profile disasters — as well as the many incidents that are more likely to arise.   Event-safety training might cover a weather event or active shooter scenario, but will you know what to do if an attendee has a heart attack on-site? While it’s important to prepare for major but less common disasters, we can’t forget the incidents that are much more likel...

How to surprise, delight and engage meeting and event attendees Traditional presentations generally too long, too dull and fail to hold an audience’s attention. It takes a little creativity — and lot less time — to effectively capture and hold people’s attention, according to Scott Steinberg , a global consultant, speaker and futurist. Listen in to his conversation with Nor...

Tonya Hempstead of American Express GBT discusses how the organization is building a more mature diversity and inclusion strategy, and how others can do the same.   Diversity within the meetings and travel industries has long been lacking. Although a wave of industry organizations have made public pledges to do better, turning these promises into progress is easier said than done.   On t...

The events industry must take action to shape the sustainability policies that will govern our business. In Scotland this past November at COP26, the United Nation’s climate-change conference, governments and industries made a pledge to reduce carbon emissions. At that time, Northstar’s Loren Edelstein spoke with Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events, about why and how the events...

Kevin Iwamoto of Bizly talks about what event planners should be doing differently right now. As pandemic concerns ease and gathering restrictions are lifted, how has the business of in-person meetings and events changed? What should we be doing differently now? What’s the outlook for the near future? In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Northstar’s vice...

In 2022, incentive planners and program owners continue to grapple with the pandemic and other challenges.   Following the Incentive Research Foundation’s first board meeting of the year, president Stephanie Harris shared these concerns with Lisa Grimaldi, NMG’s editor of incentives and destinations, and discussed the findings from the 2022 Trends Report, among other recent studie...

In this episode of Eventful, The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we're talking with Brett Sterenson, president of Hotel Lobbyists, a 15-year-old site-selection firm that mostly focuses on government events. In the past couple of weeks, Sterenson has heard from clients far and wide — including many he hadn't spoken with during the pandemic — and his level of business on the books has...

Marriott International's Dana Pellicano discusses how the brand adjusted for the pandemic, how event food and beverage has changed for good.   In the early days of the pandemic, Marriott International put in place a comprehensive set of protocols that balanced safety with a positive guest experience. The company has adjusted the policies continually to stay a step ahead of shifting circumstan...

Omicron will subside soon, believes Gregg Talley, but organizations should prepare for longer-term effects of the pandemic For associations worldwide, the new year started with an unexpected wave of  cancellations and postponements , but  Gregg Talley , president and CEO of  Talley Management Group , believes membership organizations are facing greater challenges to the live-event b...

As 2022 approaches, meeting planners still are grappling with the changes the pandemic has wrought on the events industry. For this podcast, Jonathan T. Howe Esq., president and founding partner of Chicago’s Howe & Hutton law firm (and NMG’s longtime legal expert), spoke with Northstar Meetings Group managing editor Sarah Braley about three main contract trends that meeting planner...

The job market has swung wildly over the past two years, but as in-person meetings have returned, so have planners’ opportunities for career advancement. As demand for skilled candidates has grown, meeting professionals are likely sensing that now might be a good time to make that career move they’ve been considering.   Dawn Penfold, president and founder of MeetingJobs.com, share...