Known for its high-quality content, Convene offers a monthly series of must read articles organized around CMP knowledge areas that, along with an online test and essay, enables readers to easily earn CEs.
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Convene CMP Series: November 2019
Article: Can Events Help Solve the Global Food Crisis?
It’s clear that our food systems will need to change — and change radically — if we are to safeguard the planet and feed a growing population. What can be done? The best place to start, and where we, the business events industry, can have the greatest impact, is with a renewed focus on food waste.
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EIC Domain A: Strategic Planning
Convene CMP Series: October 2019
Article: When Conferences Lie
Be a speaker. Serve on the organizing committee. Present your abstract. Sounds like traditional association conferences’ calls for subject matter experts. But it’s also how fake and predatory events reach out to students, academics, and professionals across a swath of industries. Providing little or no substance, these events — if they even take place at all — not only create confusion in the market, they siphon off the very same audiences legitimate events work so hard to attract and educate. What can be done?
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EIC Domain: Multiple Domains
Convene CMP Series: September 2019
Article: Crowd Control
As cities around the world recalculate the cost of tourism to their communities, business event organizers have an outsized opportunity to make a positive difference. But that doesn’t mean that it’s business as usual.
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EIC Domain A: Strategic Planning
Convene CMP Series: August 2019
Article: Human Intelligence at Work
As AI makes inroads into areas that have traditionally been the domain of humans, the question becomes: Where will people fit in, particularly when it comes to work? Let’s take a peek into the future. You might want to buckle up.
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EIC Domain A: Strategic Planning
Convene CMP Series: July 2019
Article: Deeply Engaging
Join us as we take a behind-the-scenes look at an experiential marketing event that delivers on the top trends identified in a recent attendee-engagement study. Plus, here’s how one event venue embodies five consumer trends spotlighted in the PCMA Foundation/Marriott study, ‘The Future of Meetings & Events,’ by designing environments that connect with attendees at a human and emotional level.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: June 2019
Article: Wisdom of the Ages
Age discrimination in the workplace is routinely called “the last acceptable prejudice”. Here’s what an ageism activist, communications exec, and serial hospitality entreprenuer say about why a truly inclusive and diverse workforce must be multi-generational – and what that looks like and how it benefits society as a whole.
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EIC Domain E: Human Resources
Convene CMP Series: May 2019
Article: Making a Healthy Case
From beacon-collected data to lead scanners to third-party evaluations, here’s how two medical meetings are tackling the exhibitor ROI challenge.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: April 2019
Article: Property Wide
From escalating F&B and AV costs, to room-block angst, to the difficulties of negotiating in a consolidated market, working with hotels has become increasingly challenging for event organizers. We know this because you told us. If you’re looking for some insights to help make things easier for you, you’ve checked in to the right place.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: March 2019
Article: Why Joy Matters at Events
Participants’ experience at an event is shaped more by their emotions than you might think. Joyful author Ingrid Fetell Lee thinks planners have an opportunity to interject moments of joy into their event environments — and she shares easy ways to do just that.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: February 2019
Article: Like a Local
Most travelers now want to venture off the beaten path and explore a destination like the locals do. Here’s how that desire for an authentic sense of place — along with four more trends — is changing meeting design.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: January 2019
Article: Leading From Within
We’ve long thought that the only way to lead others — whether you’re the CEO of an organization or managing a small team — is top-down. But as organizations struggle to navigate a rapidly shifting economy and increasingly complicated marketplace, a slew of experts say it’s time to ditch that model. They point to a different way forward: It’s called humble or servant leadership. We explore what that means and speak to a bestselling business author and two association executives who subscribe to that approach.
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EIC Domain E: Human Resources
Convene CMP Series: December 2018
Article: Teaming of Business Events, Startups Hooks New Audiences
Objective: The next wave of breakthrough innovations will bring startups and business events together
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: November 2018
Article: Balancing Act
Objective: Sure, it’s tough to negotiate in a seller’s market, but hotels don’t hold all the chips. Event organizers and negotiation pros share their tactics for reaching a fair deal.
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EIC Domain D: Financial Management
Convene CMP Series: October 2018
Article: On The Streets
Objective: How the meetings industry is responding to homelessness.
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EIC Domain C: Risk Management
Convene CMP Series: September 2018
Article: This Is Your Brain on Events
Objective: The attendee experience is not just one thing, it’s many. It’s how people think about an event before they arrive on site, how they experience the event while it’s happening, and how they remember it afterwards — all shaped by unconscious influencers. This, says behavioral scientist Charlotte Blank, represents a ‘whole new world of opportunity’ for event design.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: August 2018
Article: ‘An Exciting City Environment’
Objective: What’s the common denominator in the perception of large and small cities as desirable places to live, work, or visit as a tourist or attendee? It’s their vibrancy, according to one destination-branding firm, which has found a new way to measure just that.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: July 2018
Article: Well-Timed
Objective: Daniel Pink applies the scientific insights in his bestselling book “When” to the scheduling of event programs.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: June 2018
Article: Mindfulness: Working With Your Emotions
Objective: Meditation is a powerful tool for increasing focus and reducing stress, but who has time to sit on a cushion at work? Leah Weiss teaches business students and organizations the skills to bring mindfulness into the fray of the workplace.
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EIC Domain E: Human Resources
Convene CMP Series: May 2018
Article: Design Thinking: An Event Strategist’s Toolkit
Objective: Challenge your assumptions, look at your events with fresh eyes, remove judgement. Does design thinking sound like a warm and fuzzy approach to meetings planning? Warm, yes, because it’s human-centered. And considering our handful of clear strategies, there’s nothing fuzzy about it.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: April 2018
Article: Community Service
Objective: In her 2011 book Alone Together, MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that the technological innovations that have created greater interconnectivity – email, texting, social media – and have also made us feel more alienated from each other. We connect more via digital social networks than in person.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: March 2018
Article: Is Science Under Fire?
Objective: Amid stories of a drop in the participation of U.S. government-funded scientists at conferences, a year of uncertainty over international travel to the U.S., and global shifting in funding for scientific research, three experts weigh in on the pressures on international scientific meetings.
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EIC Domain A: Strategic Planning
Convene CMP Series: February 2018
Article: Screen Time
Objective: Online events will continue to cannibalize in-person events! No one will ever figure out the right balance of virtual and face-to-face content for a hybrid meeting! And after all the hype, virtual reality will never come to anything!
Right? Not at all. Log on to our portal of stories for an exciting 360-degree look at what’s possible in digital events – today and tomorrow.
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: January 2018
Article: The Future Will See You Now
Objective: The convergence of healthcare and technology is reaching an inflection point at a time when other pressures are putting the squeeze on medical meetings. How can they stay relevant in a shifting landscape?
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EIC Domain G: Meeting or Event Design
Convene CMP Series: December 2017
Article: What’s the ROI of F2F?
Objective: Hotel nights, direct spending, tax revenue — these numbers capture just a fraction of what face-to-face gatherings mean. As the events industry aims to articulate its true value to lawmakers and the general public, the narrative needs to include both dollars and difference-making efforts.
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Convene CMP Series: November 2017
Article: A Guide To Doing Business in China
Objective: As event organizers look to capitalize on opportunities in China, successful business negotiations there — and elsewhere in the world — rely on understanding a set of 36 strategies from more than 2,000 years ago.
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Convene CMP Series: October 2017
Article: How Inclusive Are Your Meetings?
Objective: Not everyone feels welcome at your meeting. And some of that could be your fault — because of your speaker lineup, marketing collateral, or something else that’s making them feel like they don’t belong there. Here’s how to open your program to your entire community.
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Convene CMP Series: September 2017
Article: The United States of Uncertainty
Objective: How are proposed U.S. travel policies affecting international attendance — and projected attendance — at meetings and conferences in the U.S.? We asked event organizers what they are thinking.
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Convene CMP Series: August 2017
Article: How Will The EFPIA Disclosure Code Change Medical Meetings?
Objective: Next year, European medical-technology companies will be prohibited from directly sponsoring physicians to attend medical conferences. How will the events industry ensure that this doesn’t lead to a decline in attendance?
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Convene CMP Series: July 2017
Article: Five Trade Shows and How They Grew
Objective: Five trade shows in varied fields — healthcare, hotel design, marijuana cultivation, woodworking, and baseball coaching — share the secrets of their success.
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Convene CMP Series: June 2017
Article: 5 Formats for Fascinating Forums
Objective: Looking to break out of the speaker-to-audience rut? Here are five models for delivering content that will keep attendees active, interested, and sometimes even on their feet.
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Convene CMP Series: May 2017
Article: How To Minimize Unconscious Bias At Your Meeting
Objective: Our brains are hard-wired to favor certain categories of people while doubting others. It’s called unconscious bias. How does that play out at meetings — and what can you do to minimize it?
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Convene CMP Series: April 2017
Article: Hacking the Hackathon
Objective: Hackathons have gone viral, spreading from the high-tech space into meetings and conferences of all types. So what makes for a successful hack day?
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Convene CMP Series: March 2017
Article: How Meetings and Events Can Leverage Personalization
Objective: Creating customized experiences for your attendees makes your event more meaningful to them.
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Convene CMP Series: February 2017
Article: Cities With Great Taste
Objective: Food halls. Distillery trails. Michelin-starred chefs. The story of how smaller cities are using great food and drink to attract business events.
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Convene CMP Series: January 2017
Article: Meet the Future
Objective: New York City’s Future of StoryTelling Summit explores how cutting-edge technology puts audiences at the center of the action. And asks the question: Isn’t that where meeting participants belong, too?
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Convene CMP Series: January 2016
Article: Putting the ‘Arrr!’ in Room Block
Objective: With all of the pressures on the traditional room block — including pirates, Airbnb, and budget-conscious attendees — is it time to rethink the booking model?
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Convene CMP Series: February 2016
Article: The Trouble With Evals
Objective: The feedback form is such a fixture in the meetings industry that you would think it would have been perfected by now. But as a new Convene survey suggests, it’s a tool that is ripe for redesign.
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Convene CMP Series: March 2016
Article: Meetings and Climate Change
Objective: On the heels of the U.N.’s historic climate conference in Paris in December, will there be increased pressure to reduce the carbon emissions of meetings, conventions, and trade shows?
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Convene CMP Series: April 2016
Article: What Defines ‘Good Work’ in the Meetings Industry?
Objective: What does it mean in the meetings industry to do the right thing? Do planners and suppliers agree?
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Convene CMP Series: May 2016
Article: Inside the Bid Process for a Citywide Conference
Objective:Two destinations — one each from Canada and the United States — made the shortlist to host an international conference of beekeepers. Which of them prevailed — and why?
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Convene CMP Series: June 2016
Article: What Makes for Good Internships?
Objective: Designing internships that build competencies is key to securing tomorrow’s talent. Also: You need to pay them.
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Convene CMP Series: July 2016
Article: 4 Models for Rebranding Your Meeting
Objective: Pushed to compete with high-profile events like TED and South by Southwest, these associations reinvented their annual meetings.
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Convene CMP Series: August 2016
Article: How Planners Maximize the Benefits of Telecommuting
Objective: More people than ever are working out of the office — especially in the meetings industry, where frequent travel has created professionals who are used to doing their jobs wherever they happen to be.
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Convene CMP Series: September 2016
Article: How Do You Handle Special-Meal Requests?
Objective: As meeting planners field a growing number of special-meal requests from attendees with food allergies, as well as lifestyle and religious dietary restrictions, how are they accommodating their needs and preferences?
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Convene CMP Series: October 2016
Article: Rethinking Certification at Medical Meetings
Objective: Maintenance of certification is a relatively new addition to the education and training requirements facing physicians and to medical meeting education. Not all physicians are happy about the changes.
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Convene CMP Series: November 2016
Article: All Politics is Local
Objective: Celebrate democracy by going behind the scenes at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia — with the meeting and event professionals who organized and ran them.
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Convene CMP Series: December 2016
Article: Unclear and Present Danger
Objective: Event security used to mean looking out for pickpockets on the show floor. Now it’s more about anticipating terrorism and active shooters.
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