For the 2019 World Tunnel Congress, organizer AIM Group International mined unusual off-site locations in Naples — including, you guessed it, in tunnels — to both educate and create a strong sense of place.

The International Literacy Association met the challenge of delivering an exceptional professional development experience on a limited operational budget by holding its conference in a unique — and yet entirely fitting — setting.

Experts say the gender issues that traditionally have impacted women more than their male counterparts could create even bigger barriers for them as all workers face changes in technology and automation.

Here’s a striking example of using technology — 3D holograms to be specific — to preserve human history, for our benefit. Underscore the benefit part.

HospitableMe helps tourism and hospitality industry professionals make LGBTQ travelers feel welcome. Sometimes, its founder says, that requires “a little bit of history, a little bit of sociology, a little bit of biology, a little bit of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, to kind of bring [them] around.”

The American Society of Hematology asked health-care practitioners, whose own wellness often takes a back seat, to answer the question, “What Keeps Your Heart in Medicine?”— through an art installation at its annual meeting.

What better way to demonstrate how women can take the lead in blockchain and cryptocurrency communities than with a hackathon in which they tackle big challenges?

There’s no shortage of creativity when it comes to professionals designing their events. For this year’s annual Best in Show, Convene shares how some organizers’ innovative initiatives have set their events apart.

AIM Group International created a gala dinner that wowed 4,000 International Bar Association conference participants. How? For starters, with the setting, a villa outside of Rome, where construction work began in 1598 and the views go on forever.

The Heart Rhythm Society lowered registration fees for conference participants coming from lower- and lower-middle income countries in order to spread electrophysiology education to developing economies.

Sustainable Brands chose Detroit to host its conference, and used interactive experiences in parts of the city as ways to showcase how to respond to sustainability challenges.

Each year, a volunteer program at the Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting gives student attendees an opportunity to work off their registration fee.

Six emerging start-up exhibitors at RIMS Conference demonstrated their technologies during a “Shark Tank”–style showdown judged by an expert panel of risk professionals.

The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers declared war on boring lectures with a two-day leadership workshop held at the National World War II Museum.

A pair of Oxford University researchers calculated the likelihood that jobs across a wide range of industries and professions could be lost to automation. Where do event organizers fall on the list?

Feel like you have to check your emotions at the door when you go to work? In the future, say the authors of a new book, that will no longer be the case.

Looking for ways to freshen up its meeting for nearly 8,000 attendees, the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology dropped the Q&A and opted for a conversations and input format. Here’s how it went over.

At PCMA’s Convening Leaders 2019, the Virtual Reality Empathy Experience, designed by researchers at Stanford University, gave participants a chance to experience the power of VR for themselves and to evaluate its potential use for their own events.

The WFD Congress is organized by one of the oldest international organizations for people with disabilities, so making it inclusive and accessible to all attendees is a priority. At this year’s event, organizers ensured that the venue was physically accessible, and gave significant considerations to language access.

Vancouver seems to be a magnet for those who think a little bigger, and take a few more chances, says a Convene writer after her recent trip sponsored by Tourism Vancouver.

It began as a joke between two professors and grew into a movement and an event celebrating the work of individuals who keep society’s systems running — professionals who are largely ignored in a culture that places a premium on innovation.

The business events industry lost a giant with the passing in July of former PCMA President and CEO Roy B. Evans, Jr., CAE, who built PCMA into the global leader in the business events industry it is today.

A lot has changed in the last five years, when the business website Inc. published a list of job skills pundits predicted would be critical in 2020. But, although we suggest a few tweaks, much of the advice is holding up.

Looking at how three trends identified in the PCMA Foundation and Marriott “Future of Meetings & Events” report — sense of place, multimodal design, and bigger than oneself — resonate for planners.

When the largest conference on gender equality, Women Deliver, gathered in Vancouver last month, they explored one question in particular: How are you going to use your power for good?

Looking for a way to differentiate your conference? Drop the ‘something-for-everyone’ program approach and use your event as a setting to deliver wisdom, says Dave Lutz of Velvet Chainsaw Consulting. Here’s what that looks like.

An online movement to rethink research posters at medical and scientific meetings has found a following. Here’s the simple way to transform this stock feature of major medical and scientific conferences that has gone viral.

Vanessa Loney, head of global planning at Blue Ribbon Events, talked to Convene about her biggest career mistake, along with advice for young meeting professionals.