Business events professionals may not see themselves as creative types, but now, more than ever, that’s who you are.

Beth Surmont, CAE, CMP, director of experience design at 360 Live Media, reflects on what she’s learned about virtual events.

California Mermaid Convention dives into its first digital event, casting a net across the seas to attract a worldwide audience of mermaid enthusiasts, influencers, and entertainers.

Convening Leaders speaker Ben Hindman, CEO of Splash, says that virtual events require a significant marketing shift — focusing less on the event experience and more on establishing your value proposition.

Kate Vitasek, an expert on collaborative business relationships, wants to help Convening Leaders participants rethink their transactional approach to contracts so they “co-create instead of negotiate” — and start fresh for a post-pandemic world.

The PCMA research study, Beyond ROI to ROE, provides a new framework and toolkit to help business event professionals analyze, quantify, and report on the impact of meetings and events — with a novel approach that makes it possible to equally measure the countable metrics and the magic that happens when we gather.

Food and culture tours — both live and virtual — can make complicated and uncomfortable history lessons much easier to digest.

To meet the evolving needs of the business events industry in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, convention centers and other meeting venues are adding broadcast studios to their list of options for event producers.

Large digital meetings have scale, while smaller in-person meetings can deliver serendipity. Hybrid meetings of the future have potential to deliver both, said futurist Mark Pesce.

Even before the pandemic, scientists were experimenting with meeting models that reduce the environmental impact of travel, while retaining the benefits of in-person communication.

The American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 2020 annual meeting offers a case-study example of how giving yourself enough time to plan a virtual event is critical to its success.

With two highly effective vaccines in the works, the world just got a dose of hope. We need that, but we also need clear-eyed vision, writes PCMA President and CEO Sherrif Karamat, to move forward as an industry.

In the second half of 2020, many virtual conferences grew attendance, attracting global and non-member participants. Part of this growth — which improves reach and brand for organizers — can be attributed to significantly reduced registration pricing. 

Destination marketing organizations are reinventing themselves in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, becoming disseminators of information, hybrid meeting experts, and stewards of the destination.

When the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions invited meeting professionals to an online event, they were hoping to provide a little bit of disconnection — in a good way.

In a nutshell, it’s this: Make the decision on the what, how, and when for your 2021 event and trade-show portfolio.

A group of Georgia Tech students, and the event technology company they founded, have created a platform that allows for flexible, self-selected conversations in the digital space.

We have to stop thinking that we are creating online events, says event producer Heather Mason, and reimagine them as broadcasts. Having that mindset will not only change how the experience is delivered to an audience, it will make organizers far more valuable to their organizations.

Of the 1.1 million U.S. workers who dropped out of the labor force last month, 80 percent were women. Here are some recommendations from workplace experts on how to stop the coronavirus crisis from creating a backwards slide in gender diversity.

As the pandemic demands we find new ways of doing things, consultant Natalie Nixon offers a strategic and tactical map to becoming more creative.

Georgia Society of Association Executives hosted its annual meeting last month in person with safety measures in place — and saw opportunities to do even better next time, with genius solves for recognizing masked attendees.

A Rotterdam art museum and convention center embraced the new drive-in trend for an innovative experience for art lovers during the pandemic.

With a host at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and nominees livestreaming from around the world, the 72nd Primetime Emmys showed how the right production footwork can seamlessly blend a live and digital event to engage audiences during COVID-19.

John Yoerger is still a student in hospitality management, but at 22, he has already amassed a wealth of event management experience.

It pays to dedicate more time to strategy and less to demos.