Meetings Today Podcast

Late meeting and event registration keeping you up at night with heartburn and night sweats? Don't fret, planner! The later the registration the more ancillary spend an attendee drops at an event. Maritz has released a groundbreaking Registration Insights Report that collected data over three years from 360,000 registrations at 30 tradeshows. Emily Laufgraben, market insight manager for the gl...

In the first ever episode of the Fast Forward podcast, host Logan Pratt sits down with hybrid meetings expert Bill Reed, who shares why meeting planners should still consider planning a hybrid event, and discusses the benefit of incorporating hybrid elements to events even four years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason Dunn, CEO of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP), has been a leader in hospitality and DMO diversity and inclusion efforts for decades, from his time at Visit Cincy—where he rose to be the DMO's first Black vice president after initially participating in a travel boycott of the destination—to lead NCBMP in November 2022. Now, after a little more than a year at t...

Dominique Bonds, director of engagement for the Pennsylvania Convention Center, shares her vision as new president of Event Service Professionals Association, including DEIAB, generational shifts in the world of event service profs, sustainability and the evolution of the role of being the No. 1 on-the-ground point of contact for meeting and event planners. Bonds also fills us in on some of the bi...

When most people think of standup comedy, they typically think of crude Netflix specials or dank nightclubs with comedians swearing like sailors. But when Greg Schwem takes the stage, you can hear the audience laughing about topics such as sales meetings, corporate websites or business advertising campaigns. 

Visit Indy’s president and CEO made his debut as the new Chair of PCMA’s 2024 Board of Directors and Trustees known by vanquishing the association’s president and CEO, Sherrif Karamat, on the pickleball court at Convening Leaders (CL). Thus sanctified, Hoops later sat down with Meetings Today’s Tyler Davidson to discuss the record-setting attendance and other happenings at CL—including the epic pi...

In this Meetings Today Podcast for Taylor Smith's "The Z: Planning for the Industry's Next Generation," Smith sits down with Luke Goetting, an award-winning communications expert, founder of Puffingston Presentations and a Gen Z speaker who specializes in crafting engaging, interactive experiences for audiences around the world. As a Millennial company leader, Goetting coaches Ge...

As the leader of perhaps the most unique meetings and events draw in the U.S. if not the world, Destination DC President & CEO Elliott Ferguson oversees an operation that represents everything from world-class museums and global government event venues to iconic hotels and a cuisine scene that has taken a seat at the table of top dining destinations. Meetings Today caught up with Ferguson on t...

From AI and generational shifts to rethinking event design, supplier diversity, prices and the latest and greatest innovation impacting the meetings and events industry, Maritz President & CEO David Peckinpaugh is an authority on what's coming down the pike in the business events world. Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson sat down with Peckinpaugh at PCMA Convening Leaders 2024 to discover...

From major new ultra-luxe properties such as Evermore Orlando Resort and the Conrad Orlando, the high-speed Brightline train linking Orlando to Miami and a cuisine scene that is raking in recognition from Michelin, Central Florida's meetings and events magnet is an attractive force. We sat down with Visit Orlando Chief Sales Officer Mike Waterman at PCMA Convening Leaders 2024 to discover what...

Visit Irving Texas Executive Director Maura Gast shares how this Dallas Metroplex convention magnet, often described as the "headquarters of headquarters" due to the proliferation of Fortune 500 HQs, has transformed into an entertainment mecca and Bleisure draw. Gast also details the new Ritz-Carlton taking over for the Four Seasons as well as the most recent meeting facility news and th...

From AI and attrition to data privacy and security, these are the top legal issues currently impacting the meetings and events industry. We tapped the expertise of Jill Blood, VP, deputy general counsel for global meetings and events giant Maritz, along with Sarah Kiefer, VP, Brand, to see what legal issues are expected to be top of mind in 2024.

Mark Vincent, emergency preparedness manager for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, talks about his job ensuring attendee security at the 220-acre convention complex and provides tips for any meeting and event planner to consider to help ensure the safety of their gatherings.

Meetings Today's Taylor Smith joined World of Hyatt at the company's headquarters in downtown Chicago as one of the first to learn about the brand's latest loyalty program updates, including new perks for meeting planners. Beth Lubotsky, head of loyalty strategy for World of Hyatt, shares how planners, as well as attendees and leisure travelers, stand to benefit via the revamped loyalt...

Prices for meetings and events essentials have skyrocketed and show no signs of easing, especially room rates in the upscale hotel and resort segment that are the bedroom of business events. In fact, the upper tiers of the hotel chain scale are experiencing room rate increases hovering around a jaw-dropping 30%. Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson engaged Maritz COO Steve O'Malley, one of the...

Meetings Today’s Tyler Davidson sat down with PCMA President and CEO Sherrif Karamat at IMEX America 2023, where the association revealed the enhanced versions of artificial intelligence software Spark, to discover the major impact this tool made by and for meeting professionals will have on the business events industry.

Meetings Today Vice President & Chief Content Director Tyler Davidson sat down with Amy Kramer, innovation leader, and Aaron Dorsey, vice president of product management, for Maritz at IMEX America 2023 to get their take on how AI will transform the meetings industry, as well as other tech trends business event planners should have on their radar.

During IMEX’s Smart Monday powered by MPI, SITE Chief Marketing Officer Padraic Gilligan took to the stage to moderate a panel discussion breaking down the data. We caught up with Gilligan after the panel to learn more about this new report from SITE and to find out more about where the meetings and events industry is headed.

Greater Phoenix is on a growth spurt that is welcoming new industries into the Valley of the Sun, with a robust tech sector in particular leading the way. Deborah Lahti, director of resort and hotel sales for Visit Phoenix, shares how the fifth-largest city in the U.S. is continuing to expand, with spectacular new hotels and resorts and improvements to traditional favorites transforming its meetin...

Gaming and hospitality giant Caesars Entertainment is upping its wellness ante via a new Wellness Menu that not only offers healthy food and beverage options for its meetings and events clients, but also selections such as wellness speakers, activities and services. Caesars Entertainment Vice President Catering and Convention Services Las Vegas Don Ross delves into the new wellness initiative as w...

Attendees at IMEX America are in for a special treat in the form of the Google Xi CoLaboratory, where the tech giant is teaming up with other exhibitors and speakers to stage sessions and spaces focusing on experience design and inclusion. Meetings Today’s Tyler Davidson spoke with Kate Walsh, Megan Henshall and Naomi Clare Crellin to discover what Hello! Destination Management, Google and Storycr...

Meetings industry veteran Eric Rozenberg is one of the foremost experts on international business events, having served as chair of MPI's International Board of Directors and by running his own business serving a global clientele. Rozenberg is also an author of business books and a speaker and instructor on the topic of entrepreneurship, especially in the meetings and events industry. Meetings...

From a spectacular new 976-room Signia by Hilton headquarters hotel rising from the site of the former Georgia Dome to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Centennial Olympic Park and the Georgia World Congress Center itself, Atlanta's 200-acre Georgia World Congress Center Campus--the largest combined convention, sports and entertainment campus in North America--is a meetings and conventions powerhouse. Be...

EventMobi recently acquired virtual events platform Run the World, which held an astonishing 50,000 virtual events during the pandemic for heavy hitters such as Forbes, Meta, Amazon, the United Nations Development Programme and Harvard University. Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson sat down with event management software company EventMobi founder and CEO Bob Vaez to explore the benefits of the ac...

Omni Hotels & Resorts has embarked on its first brand refresh in more than a decade, coinciding with an impressive growth phase that figures convention hotels large in the equation. Dan Surette, chief sales officer for Omni Hotels & Resorts, explains how the privately owned hotel company is placing a premium on the customer by working with global experience transformation company Materials...