The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) held its 43rd Annual Pregnancy Meeting, Feb. 6-11, at Moscone West. In March, urologist Ashley Winter took to X (formerly Twitter) to share that she wouldn’t be attending the American Urological Association’s 2024 annual meeting, May 3 – 6, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. “My husband & I are trying for our 2nd child. At 39 yrs old I have a high risk of miscarriage & I don’t want to go somewhere my healthcare options are limited should I have an emergency,” she posted. “I am saying this out loud because there are a lot of people in a similar ..read more

“To get people to really have an amazing experience, to remember it, to act on it, and to create value from that experience, you’ve got to have an emotional component,” said neuroscientist Paul Zak. The phrase “immersive experience” is everywhere — for good reason. “When the brain is immersed in an experience, something extraordinary happens,” Paul Zak, a behavioral neuroscientist and professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California, writes in his book, Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness. “People ..read more

As a market research company focused on exhibits and events, EVOLIO Marketing conducts hundreds of surveys a year for various clients, industries, exhibitors, show organizers, corporate events, and more, enabling the company to create benchmarks. “The benchmarks are comprised of a combination of post-event and on-site surveys among mainly medium and large B2B trade shows — 21,269 completed surveys,” Joe Federbush, EVOLIO Marketing’s president and chief strategist, told Convene. “What we’re looking to do is continue building upon this year after year, using it for the greater good of the indus ..read more

r.World, a company that provides reusable service ware, estimates 4 billion single-use plastic cups are used annually at live events in North America. The official theme for Earth Day 2024 is “Planet vs. Plastic,” a call to arms issued by Earthday.org to reduce all plastic production by 60 percent by 2040 and to rapidly phase out all single-use plastics by 2030. Plastics are not only an imminent environmental issue, polluting our rivers and oceans and killing marine life, “they present a threat to human health as alarming as climate change,” according to a statement posted on Earthday.org ..read more

Taylor Swift accepts the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at The 66th Annual Grammy Awards Feb. 4 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Swift’s influence on music, culture, and global economics has become the topic of academic conferences dedicated to the performer. (Sonja Flemming/CBS photo) Taylor Swift’s continued rise in popularity has helped define the post-pandemic zeitgeist — so much so that her influence has been the topic of academic conferences. The first major event centered on the singer — aptly named Taylor Swift: The Conference Era in honor of her ongoing global Er ..read more

When Maritz studied when 360,000 conference-goers registered for the same 30 trade shows (i.e., 90 show instances) spanning diverse industries over three years, what emerged is how COVID remains the events industry’s biggest plot twist. While last-minute registrations spiked during the COVID years, that challenge hasn’t resolved itself. According to Maritz’s “Registration Insights Report,” in 2023, 45 percent delayed registration until less than four weeks before the event; more than one in four waited until the final two weeks before the show to register; and 9 percent registered once they a ..read more

Event organizers are worrying about increasing costs and attendance numbers at their events this year, according to responses to a recent survey conducted by AAE Speakers, a speakers bureau and talent agency. While this will come as a surprise to no one, the “2024 Speaking Industry Benchmark Report” — which includes the responses of 340 organizers planning corporate, nonprofit, academic, and other kinds of events, and 378 experienced speakers — yields valuable clues about the role organizers see speakers taking when solving for those challenges and in overall event programming. Two out of fiv ..read more

Showcase — presented by PCMA and Destinations International during Business Events Industry Week in Washington, D.C. — began with a discussion about “The State of Sourcing.” (EPNAC photo) The topic for panelists participating in “The State of Sourcing” discussion kicking off Showcase — presented by PCMA and Destinations International on April 10 during Business Events Industry Week in Washington, D.C. — was RFPs: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Jamie Murdock, Maritz’s managing vice president, sales, served as the moderator for panelists Melissa Fenwick, senior manager, event sourcing, Meet ..read more

Creating a speaker coaching webinar or tip sheets for your speakers can help them better connect with your audience. Don’t let the fact that you don’t currently have it in your budget to create a speaker coaching initiative stop you, advises Sarah Michel, CSP, vice president for professional connexity for Velvet Chainsaw Consulting, and a professional speaker. There still are a lot of small steps you can take to invest in improving your meeting’s education. Besides, she told Convene, “if you want your meeting to be sustainable in the future and to potentially grow, you can’t afford not to ..read more

Brisbane, Australia–based speaker and author Sally Foley-Lewis has worked with more than 20,000 middle managers across industries to help them become more effective leaders. The professional development expert, who will present a keynote at PCMA APAC’s The Business of Events conference on April 15 at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, shared a simple approach to becoming more efficient in the workplace: Pressing Pause — “One big hurdle to productivity and self-leadership combined is a lack of prioritizing,” Foley-Lewis told Convene via email. “In a very busy work environment, tasks, demands, deci ..read more