One of the greatest opportunities for leveraging AI in 2026 for your session content is not creating more of it, but rather chunking it into digestible, bite-sized snacks.

Sometimes, difficult discourse isn’t about sharing conflicting perspectives but addressing serious issues your group shares in common. An Opening General Session that acknowledges the challenges your community is experiencing while also uplifting them may require more than a nice speech by an earnest speaker. For the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference, it took a primal scream — and a few animals.

How a conference for municipal leaders helped spur a movement toward civil discourse in the political arena and beyond.

A code of conduct for events should go beyond preventing harassment and set the standard for treating fellow participants with respect, according to National League of Cities Director of Business Events Janice Pauline, who shares their approach.

Convene is turning 40 in 2026 and we’re celebrating.

A new movement to give people tools to have more productive and humane disagreements is gaining ground.

A speedy win at the Convening Leaders 2026 Spark Hackathon was the result of years of combined experience and experimentation among three strangers.

Celebrating our 70th anniversary with our eyes on the future.

Having just returned from Convening Leaders (CL) in Philadelphia as I write this, my head is swirling with conversations from the stage and in the hallways, snippets of which mesh with the stories we’ve worked on for this issue. The thread I keep pulling? The importance of reframing.

This association for groundskeepers makes it a practice to co-locate their annual event with a trade show, doubling the educational and networking opportunities for attendees.

For more than 25 years, a Philadelphia food bank has provided low-income residents a pathway to employment in food service. A new partnership with the Philadelphia CVB and Michelin seeks to elevate and expand career opportunities for those students while filling a need in the local hospitality sector. 

Even one hour of intentional conversation can reshape how
people experience an entire event.

Ben Goedegebuure, a 2020 PCMA Lifetime Achievement Honoree, Business Events Strategist, is starting ‘a new chapter.’

The tweaks made at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery’s Annual Meeting and Expo offer a valuable reminder for all event professionals: Transformation doesn’t need to happen overnight — taking even small steps represents progress.

Budget cuts, visa headaches, and a six-week government shutdown in the U.S. proved to be no match for STEM and government meeting planners — and one innovative educator who understands the value of conferences.

Design strategist Natalie Nixon on how a fundamental reframing of our notion of productivity could transform your meetings.

How a sustainability event grew from a small meeting into a global gathering — and embedded its values into every facet of its design along the way.

Exhibitors are looking for different ways to show up at your event — and to make a bigger statement without a bigger booth. Here’s how to rethink your exhibitor offerings.