News & Trends

What’s happening — or coming up next — in the meetings and events world and beyond.

Making It Safe to Report Bad Behavior at Events

A new study shows that while employees are more aware of their organizations’ policies around ethics, that hasn’t necessarily translated into a higher comfort level reporting concerns or incidents of policy breaches. We spoke to a consultant on how organizers can create and communicate an effective support system at their events.

BY Jennifer N. Dienst October 23, 2024

For Women, Workplace Gains Are ‘Fragile’

McKinsey & Company’s tenth “Women in the Workplace” study reveals that there’s still a lot of work to be done to gain gender parity.

BY Casey Gale October 23, 2024

Event Organizers Double Down on Sustainability

According to our soon-to-be-published annual Meetings Market Survey, three out of five planners are including sustainability requirements in their RFPs, in addition to bolstering other efforts to check their events’ carbon footprint.

BY Michelle Russell October 21, 2024

New Ways to Help Understand Extreme Heat Risks

Recent developments and tools that can help make it easier for meeting organizers to calculate and communicate the risks of extreme heat to meeting attendees.

BY Barbara Palmer October 21, 2024

‘Events Are the Thinking Machine of the World’

The first-ever Convene 4 Climate, held earlier this month in Barcelona, began with a TED-style talk by bonafide sustainability pioneer Paul Dickinson.

BY Michelle Russell October 18, 2024

A New Way of Thinking

One key connection between DEI and sustainability is a shared commitment to challenging the status quo. While technology can help us solve some issues, it alone isn’t enough. We need to think and act in new ways.

BY Sherrif Karamat October 18, 2024

Salary Survey 2024: It’s Not You, It’s the Company Culture

What’s the difference between planner respondents to this year’s Salary Survey who are happy in their jobs and those who are not? It doesn’t seem to be how they feel about the intrinsic nature of the role — which, even the most satisfied planners said, is challenging and demanding. It’s the organizations they work for.

BY Magdalina Atanassova and Michelle Russell October 17, 2024

Using the Pull Method — and Post-its — to Combat Work Overload

Here’s how a team of IT professionals used a spare office wall and sticky notes to prevent individual team members from getting overloaded — and to move projects along or kill them off. Also: how you could do the same.

BY Michelle Russell October 17, 2024

Speaker Registration Fees and AI Policies at Events

Two questions from members of the PCMA Catalyst Community: Do speakers pay a registration fee for the events where they are speaking, and what is your AI policy for a medical conference.

BY Convene Editors October 16, 2024

‘Networking Is a Verb’

We take a deeper dive into Freeman’s latest Event Organizer Trends Report to explore the gaps between what planners think attendees are looking for when it comes to networking and what eventgoers actually say they care about — plus, share some examples of how innovative organizers are giving them more of what they want.

BY Michelle Russell October 16, 2024

Is It Time to Revamp Your Social Media Strategy?

Younger attendees are using social platforms as search engines and, in the process, discovering brands. Here are four tips to help event brands drive engagement and boost attendance numbers in this new era of social media.

BY Sara Fellows October 13, 2024

Including and Honoring Indigenous People

A growing number of meeting organizers and destinations have expanded their efforts to recognize and include Indigenous people, and their knowledge and culture, in their events.

BY Convene Editors October 13, 2024

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