October 2017
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.
Cover illustration by Ping Zhu
view digital edition subscribeHalloween Meetings: A Good or Bad Idea?
How potential attendees will react to a meeting scheduled over Halloween depends on the demographics, says a generations expert and researcher.
Houston After Harvey
Visit Houston’s Mike Waterman on how the destination’s meetings infrastructure weathered Hurricane Harvey — and how it’s moving forward after the storm.
Christine ‘Shimo’ Shimasaki on Opportunity
‘Opportunities will come along and may appear smaller at first glance, when in reality they could be much bigger.’
7 Business Lessons From Jazz
How experimentation, embracing errors, and other jazz tenets can be applied in business settings.
4 Medical Conferences That Put Innovation First
Medical conferences are dedicated to improving patient care. But what if instead of focusing on incremental change, they pursued amazing advances and crazy innovations? Here are four that do just that.
Behind the Scenes: For All to See
Welcoming and inclusive events don’t just happen.
We’re Not Going It Alone
Regional partnerships are key to PCMA’s global strategy.
What Keeps a Conference Coming Back?
According to three of the busiest convention centers in North America and their loyal clients, it comes down to the comfort of familiarity mixed with the ability to grow together.
Food Tours, Progressive Dinners: Ingredients for a Moveable Feast
A progressive dinner format has all the ingredients that attendees now expect: a great meal, the opportunity to make connections, and the element of surprise.
American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Annual Meeting
A record number of exhibitors set up shop at this year’s American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) Annual Meeting in Seattle — joined by about 900 orthopedic surgeons, physicians, and allied health professionals.
13th EVPA Annual Conference
An estimated 450 attendees will visit Oslo, Norway, for the European Venture Philanthropy Association’s (EVPA) 2017 Annual Conference — one of the largest and most established conferences in the world for social investment and venture philanthropy.
The Power of Advocacy: How Two Medical Conferences Empowered a Family with Disabilities
Alice Brouhard found the technology to give her daughter an independent life at a medical conference. Then she launched her own event to help other special-needs families.
3 Ways to Better Engage Audiences
Here’s how the Construction Financial Management Association has built a strong foundation for online education.
All That Jazz: How Improvisation Helps When Producing Events
Design strategist and hybrid thinker Natalie Nixon on combining qualitative and quantitative research methods and how borrowing from jazz can help you escape a ‘permission-slip culture.’
An App That You Wear
Wearable-tech jewelry keeps a meeting manager on track — and in style.
Yelp Is on the Way
To provide attendees with top drinking and dining options in San Diego, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization partnered with Yelp.
How Do You Measure Guest Experience?
Centerplate’s new initiative goes beyond customer feedback, gathering data to ensure that frontline staff at hundreds of diverse venues deliver a consistently high level of service.
How Much Should You Spend on Marketing Your Meeting?
And where should you spend it? Velvet Chainsaw’s Dave Lutz on what works and what doesn’t.
Your Event App May Become Harder to Find
Will a new rule prevent your event app from being accepted in the App Store?
A TED-Inspired Street Party in Long Beach
The Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center debuts an innovative new special-event space that brings new meaning to the phrase “out of the box” — and demonstrates how unused spaces can be transformed.