Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
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Smart Meetings is the Web's leading free resource for event and meeting planning professionals. It is an expert on meeting planning and destinations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
6h ago
Time for a confession. Between 2021 and 2022, I committed the error of typing the phrase “the future is hybrid” not once, but seven times and even titled an early 2023 story “The Future is Hybrid-ish.” Mea culpa.
That was back in the day when the streaming tech neighborhood of IMEX America sprawled across the middle of the show floor, and VCs were throwing money at companies with names like TeeVid, Eventory and ShoFlo. Insights resource Crunchbase estimated that in 2020 and 2021, more than $1.5 billion was invested in virtual and hybrid event companies.
Today, many are running leaner versions ..read more
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
6h ago
Calling all bookworms, poets, dreamers and creatives
Writers and novelists have long found refuge in hotels: as a space to write, to find inspiration or simply to get away from the day-to-day and refresh the mind.
The literary hotels you’ll find below are go-to’s for those who love literature and art in all its forms. Each space has seen iconic achievements from celebrated creatives, and they all offer space for events.
Setting that have seen world-changing work produced within its walls and inspired creative icons, like the ones you’ll find below, will no doubt provide the backdrop for a meet ..read more
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
6h ago
The secret to planning a not-boring virtual event might be to pull a George Costanza. In an infamous Seinfeld episode, the character decides to do the opposite of what his gut tells him to see if his luck changes.
Entrepreneur Jay Schwedelson, who started the wildly popular Guru Media Hub virtual conferences in 2021 to engage with marketers, thinks a similar approach can turn around digital events.
The Constaza spin: His large-scale virtual GURU conferences prioritize fun. Guess what? People want to go.
How to Keep Virtual Attendees Engaged Jay Schwedelson
What’s fun in a virtual conference fo ..read more
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
1d ago
Spaces built to streamline community-building
New and renovated debuts bring thoughtfully designed spaces that help to make authentic gathering easier than ever. These venues and meeting spaces are committed to being a space that facilitates community-building. All do well to also weave the special flavor of each of their destinations throughout, so your attendees walk away with both a fantastic meeting memory and an outstanding destination experience.
Meet Among the City Streets Venue 42 by Convene
Venue 42 by Convene brings 30,000 sq. ft. of meeting and conference space to the fifth floor of ..read more
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
2d ago
Luxury language and presentation tips
IACC 2024 in Basking Ridge, New Jersey was centered around empowering attendees to be seen, heard and respected as they drive their careers forward as leaders in the meetings and events industry. Quinn Conyers was the keynote speaker to kick off the event, driving home her message of self-presentation and “luxury language to be an effective leader.”
Smart Meetings was also privileged to be a judge for IACC Americas Innovations Workshop. The presenters included Capital One, Verizon The Ridge Hotel, Swedish Meetings, FLIK Conference Centers, De Vere Hotels a ..read more
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
3d ago
Do you know the reasons your attendees show up at your events? And why do they wait so long to register, anyway? A new study, aptly named “Registration Insights Report: Optimizing revenue and attendance in the face of new attendee behavior” by Maritz revealed a changing model for getting people to fill out those increasingly long forms, sooner. Spoiler alert: It isn’t early bird discounts.
Emily Laufgraben
Emily Laufgraben, Maritz market insights manager, noticed a vacuum in behavioral data about what is driving people from diverse industries to register for events post-Covid. “There’s a lot o ..read more
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
3d ago
The 11th International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) Women’s Leadership Forum was a wake-up call for event professionals looking to take their careers to the next level while balancing their personal lives. “It was a safe space to come together, be themselves and talk freely without being judged,” said Marsha Flanagan, new president of the organization founded almost 100 years ago.
To level the playing field during the day-long event, name badges did not include titles for the 250 women who gathered in the nation’s capital at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in concert wit ..read more
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
3d ago
When does a headquarters building look more like a hotel? When it is the new nerve center for Marriott International in up-and-coming Bethesda, Maryland. The 21-story glass building on Wisconsin Ave. is one of the tallest in the area and affords views of the green landscape for miles.
Tag along to learn more.
A Strategic HQ
The building dedicated to managing more than 30 hospitality brands and 8,800 properties in 139 countries is filled with physical manifestations of the company’s touchstones. It opened in September 2022 and former CEO Arne Sorenson, who passed away in 2021, played a critical ..read more
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
3d ago
Resources for green meetings; for today, and for the future
Earth Day: it’s not just about spending extra time thinking about what we love about nature. It’s not a day for a green-themed party with leaf-adorned table settings, nor is it a day to hold a short-term campaign that fades into the background over the following weeks.
credit: Shutterstock
Think of it as a “green New Years’,” a day for setting resolutions we mean to keep through this year, and beyond. Its history is grounded in activism; its calls-to-action are resounding. It’s a widespread social movement, a day during which we, as h ..read more
Smart Meetings | Corporate Event Planning
3d ago
Make your summer meetings meaningful and memorable with these tips and trends
Summer is approaching fast and meeting professionals want to stay up to date on every seasonal trend. This summer is looking at experiential travel—whether that be a relaxing health and wellness retreat, a culturally rich destination or an environmentally conscious and responsible gathering, summer 2024 trends are geared towards progressive practices.
Smart Meetings has curated a list of the hottest trends and destinations meeting planners will want to consider when planning a meeting or conference this summer. With ..read more