Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals: Recent Episodes
Northstar Meetings Group
Hosted by Northstar Meetings Group, Eventful invites you to listen in on insightful conversations about hot topics in the meetings and events industry. Tune in for interviews and analysis of the editorial coverage in Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings, Meeting News and Incentive.
Event planners continue to seek out innovative ways to ensure their meetings are sustainably run. That’s particularly important for a destination like Monterey, Calif. With beloved sites including Big Sur, Carmel by the Sea and Pebble Beach, protecting natural surroundings is a vital part of any gathering held here.
To understand these efforts, we spoke with Teresa Savage, senior vice president of business operations for See Monterey, the destination’s marketing organization. She discusses how sustainability has been a priority for the organization for decades, but so has evolving with new developments and demands from event planners — ensuring the destination is working with groups to put the most effective eco-friendly efforts into practice.
We discuss what’s next for sustainable events and, as Savage puts it, planners can “ensure that all travel paths contribute to a better quality of place and leaving the destination better than it was before.”
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Like almost every business sector, the events industry has been abuzz about AI for months. And the more widely these tools are adopted, the more rapidly they seem to evolve to better meet the needs of meeting planners.
At this exciting but uncertain moment in event tech, we spoke with Huong Nguyen, CEO and president of Shiloh Events who will be moderating a panel at this year’s IMEX on “Leading in the AI Era: Insights and Best Practices.” Here she shares a preview of what will be discussed during the session and shares her own perspective on where AI technology best serves event planners — and where it still may be falling short.
To this last point, Nguyen breaks some news about her own efforts to develop an AI program to better meet planners’ needs when it comes to on-site event execution. She also discusses how being based in California’s Bay Area, a hotbed of innovation, has helped fuel these efforts and inspired her and her entrepreneurial efforts.
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Kyle Jordan, chair of LGBT Meeting Professionals Association, discusses inclusivity goals and best practices for business events
Join Northstar's Loren Edelstein in a conversation with Kyle Jordan, chair of the LGBT Meeting Professionals Association, for an update on the nonprofit's efforts and the current state of inclusivity in the business events industry. Planners can do more to create safe spaces and accommodations for underrepresented groups, says Jordan, particularly the LGBTQ+ community. There's a lot of discussion in June for Pride Month, but this issue requires collective action year-round, he adds.
Topics covered:
- New leadership and brand identity for LGBT Meeting Professionals Association (1:00)
- The need for more inclusive event planning to welcome LGBTQ+ attendees (4:00)
- Considering discriminatory laws and practices as an important factor in destination selection (6:00)
- What planners can do to create more inclusive events (7:00)
- How the travel industry at large needs to be more accommodating (12:00)
- LGBT MPA's long-term goals (13:45)
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When it comes to developing creative, out-of-the-box meeting experiences, independent hotels provide a number of appealing options for event planners. In this episode of Eventful, created in partnership with the Caribe Royale Orlando, we delve into the advantages of working with independent properties, by looking in depth at Caribe Royale’s approach to events. We speak with the property’s managing director, Amaury Piedra about how he and his team works with meeting planners to create exceptional events—and how input from meeting planners has shaped new, major upgrades to the property.
For a bigger-picture perspective on the value of independent hotels, we also spoke with Michael Dominguez, president and CEO of Associated Luxury Hotels International, which serves as a global sales arm for independent hotels for meetings, incentives and conventions. He shared what he thinks sets independents apart and how planners can leverage their offerings.
Listen to the in-depth conversation in our latest episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, and remember to subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
This episode was created in partnership with Caribe Royale Orlando.
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Attorney Joshua Grimes provides a legal perspective on duty of care, cancellation clauses and more when planning events in states with controversial legislation.
Many meeting professionals believe controversial issues like abortion rights are political concerns that have no bearing on their jobs. But that isn't true, says industry attorney Joshua Grimes, Esq., president of Grimes Law Offices, LLC. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Grimes talks with Northstar's Loren Edelstein about the potential risks legislation could pose to meeting organizers and attendees.
This timely and important discussion covers:
• Why controversial legislation shouldn't be dismissed as "politics" (0.15)
• How laws regarding bathroom use, prenatal health care, undocumented immigrants and other concerns can directly affect meetings and attendees (1.00)
• Possible workarounds for meeting successfully where such laws exist (3:30)
• The effectiveness of nondiscrimination clauses in meeting contracts (5:00)
• Duty of care, liability and other legal concerns (9:15)
• Weighing the decision to cancel an event (12:00)
• Why planners, suppliers and industry associations should be having candid conversations about legislative issues (14:15)
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What does the future hold for our business and personal lives? Risk-management expert Bruce McIndoe, president of McIndoe Risk Advisory, LLC, tackles that topic in this enlightening discussion with Northstar’s Loren Edelstein. From weather disasters to robotic companions, here’s what to expect in the years ahead.
1:20 Why meeting planners should anticipate more frequent and intense weather events
5:00 How hybrid events provide a number of benefits, among them a good resiliency strategy
7:00 Why human resources should be collaborating with meeting and event planners
9:20 The growing need for internal meetings as more organizations have remote workforces
11:20 Strategies for recognizing and supporting employees with mental health issues
15:20 Where and when robots will replace humans in the hospitality industry
18:05 How automation will solve the problem of staff shortages
21:20 When to expect flying taxis and personal drones to be in wide use
22:20 How education will be geared toward gig workers vs. career professionals
23:50 The role of companion robots that will support humanoid units
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Creating an emergency response plan is one of the many responsibilities that fall on an event planner's plate. While they hope to never need to execute it, sometimes disaster strikes mid-meeting.
On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Senior Associate Editor Elise Schoening spoke with LaToya Williams, manager of global accounts for HelmsBrice, who was on Turks and Caicos with an incentive group when Hurricane Fiona tore through the Caribbean. The storm cut short the incentive program and forced the group to shelter in place while the worst of the hurricane passed through.
The podcast was recorded while Williams was still on the island. In it, she shares her experience of real-time crisis management and offers advice for other meeting planners who find themselves in the midst of an emergency. Since recording, Williams and all 83 attendees have made it home safely.
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Salaries have recovered, but the pay gap between women and men has widened.
In conjunction with the publications of the 2022 Northstar Meetings Group/Meetingjobs-Cadre Salary Survey, we discuss the findings with Dawn Penfold, president of Meetingjobs.com, in this episode of Eventful, the Podcast for Meeting Professionals.
Salaries for planners have recovered from the pandemic, but the pay gap between men and women widened over the past two years. Contemplating this and other statistics from the survey, Penfold adds thoughts on what’s currently happening in the job market and which industry segments are looking for planners.
In this episode, we discuss:
• The rise in base pay for meeting planners
• The pay gap between women and men
• How certification affects planner salaries
• Planners’ stress levels
• How the pandemic affected planners’ jobs
• What would make planners happier in their jobs
• How hiring continues to shift in the meetings industry
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Bob Mitchell, an integrated marketing and event strategist with a background in the television industry, believes virtual-event tech platforms are scrambling for business now because the entire business model of the past two years was based on false assumptions. Most planners did not want to be digital marketers, he says, which created a bifurcated market for in-person and digital.
In this discussion with Northstar Meetings Group executive editor Michael Shapiro, Mitchell explains what he sees as the central disconnect between the tech platforms and meeting planners, the misguided ways in which the technology was targeted over the past two years, and how recent data should make it clear where virtual events can and should still play a significant role.
In this wide-ranging discussion in which both Mitchell and Shapiro steadfastly avoid using the 'h' word, Mitchell addresses the need to blend in-person and digital content and reach a target audience despite the challenges. Among his key points:
• Virtual event platforms should not have been designed to mimic a planner's in-person event workflow (1:40)
• Digital marketers are the real customers of virtual-event technology (4:18)
• The events industry's reliance on the hospitality industry creates conflicts of interest with tech (7:04)
• We have a bifurcated marketplace, as in-person and virtual events have different value propositions (12:17)
• Mitchell predicts which large tech companies will become event-tech game-changers (16:37)
• Organizations have to think like media companies in the way they deliver content (21:48)
• Different business models will emerge to facilitate in-person and digital audience blending (25:29)
Listen to the in-depth conversation in our latest episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, and remember to subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
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President and CEO Paul Van DeVenter discusses how the events industry organization had to find ways to remain viable during the pandemic — lessons that resulted in a new structure and focus.
Staying relevant to members was not a problem for MPI over the past two years, according to president and CEO Paul Van DeVenter. More difficult was finding a way to stay financially viable. In this podcast discussion with Northstar’s Sarah J.F. Braley, Van DeVenter describes how the association's structure was redesigned, how pandemic lessons learned are being applied to MPI's in-person events and how to achieve the goals that have been set in the group's five-year plan (among them, bringing the community size to 250,000 people by 2027; having a 40,000-person customer base; bringing in 20 percent of the association's revenue from outside North America; and having more than 20 affiliate partners). The association is now focused on creating a stronger meeting professional community that isn’t solely based on membership.
Among Van DeVenters insights are:
How Covid underscored the importance of organizations like MPI (1:20)
How MPI restructured in order to stay financially viable over the past two years (3:38)
Challenges Van DeVenter faced at MPI and as volunteer chair for the Events Industry Council (9:15)
How lessons learned during the pandemic are being applied to MPI's in-person events (11:09)
How attendee desires have changed (13:24)
What associations took away from the pandemic (15:40)
Reaching MPI’s 2027 goals (16:35)
Bold predictions going forward (19:33)
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Deception is rampant in the business world today, says body-language expert Traci Brown. After suffering significant losses, meeting planners and suppliers are more apt to bend the truth or omit important information to seal a deal. In this discussion with Northstar’s Loren Edelstein, Brown reveals the verbal and physical clues that subconsciously coincide with lying.
Key topics addressed: Why lying is so prevalent today (1:45) How deception can take many forms, including lies of omission (3:15) The danger of “alternative facts,” bold-faced denials and “deep-fake video” (3:45) Why there’s less transparency in hotel negotiations today (5:00) Clues that suggest someone is lying or holding back information (6:48) Why performance guarantees aren’t effective (8:30) How communication is critical for avoiding and resolving problems (10:00) Identifying signs of deception in a phone call (10:50) Why you should trust your gut; believe it the first time and take action (12:20) How paying close attention is the most important way to spot deception (13:00) What to do or say when you suspect a problem (13:50) How to present yourself as authoritative and trustworthy in negotiations (14:35) A simple hand trick that will give you confidence (15:00) How confidence is reflected in your choice of words (16:55) Where to go for more information on reading body language (18:40)
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Over the past few years, hundreds of meeting and event planners have made commitments to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2030, 2040 or 2050. To date, however, relatively few have taken significant steps to accomplish those critical initiatives, says Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events. Among those who have acted is Amy Kramer, market and product innovation leader for Maritz Global Events. In this episode of Eventful, Northstar's Loren Edelstein talks with Pelham and Kramer about the process of implementing sustainable business practices and supporting the sustainability efforts of clients and suppliers. Among topics discussed are: • What is the Race to Zero Accelerator Program and how do you join? (1:40) • The process of launching a sustainability program (2:48) • Resources and tools to use for measuring progress (5:59) • The process of reporting on sustainability initiatives and achievements (8:08) • How the internal commitment begins with a mindset shift (11:47) • How to address cost concerns (13:24) • Why today's voluntary measures could become mandates in the near future (17:38) • How to start with an assessment and set small goals (22:51)
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In March 2020, David Peckinpaugh was running Maritz Global Meetings, the third-party planning division of Maritz Holdings. By this past January, Peckinpaugh had been promoted to president and CEO of the overall company, but he had to make a lot of tough decisions along the way. In this episode of the Eventful Podcast, Peckinpaugh discusses the hurdles that remain as business rebounds: Filling open positions, monitoring hotel service levels and managing ever-changing contract terms. Although building back isn’t easy, Peckinpaugh says he has never felt more optimistic about the future of the events industry.
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Now that meeting and event professionals are once again focused on in-person gatherings, it's the perfect time to rethink the design of the program in order to make sure attendees are getting the most out of the event. In this episode of the Eventful Podcast Anthony Vade, event experience strategy director for Encore and director USA for the Event Design Collective speaks with managing editor Sarah Braley about how planners can balance the content being delivered at a meeting with the networking opportunities being offered, as well as how to collaborate internally to create a well-designed event. Listeners will learn: • How meeting and event professionals can effect change in their organizations (1:50) • How planners can bring these practices back to the in-person environment (3:40) • The art of measuring the intangible, emotional impacts of events (6:10) • How to use keynote presentations as setup for more interactive learning (8:35) • How to collaborate internally to design a better meeting (11:20)
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Be prepared for high-profile disasters — as well as the many incidents that are more likely to arise. Event-safety training might cover a weather event or active shooter scenario, but will you know what to do if an attendee has a heart attack on-site? While it’s important to prepare for major but less common disasters, we can’t forget the incidents that are much more likely to happen, says Alan Kleinfeld, an event-safety specialist and a meeting planner. In this episode of Eventful, he shares best practices for minimizing risks and handling problems with maximum efficiency. Among topics addressed: Why we tend to be more prepared for events that are less likely to happen (3:15) How preparation helps us push past the natural reaction of fear (7:51) Basic safety elements to look for when doing a site inspection (8:21) The expectation that our next “pandemic” will be a widespread mental health crisis (11:49) The importance of communicating safety protocols to attendees (15:21) How to delegate so that safety and crisis preparation doesn’t all fall on the shoulders of the meeting planner (17:46)
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How to surprise, delight and engage meeting and event attendees
Traditional presentations generally too long, too dull and fail to hold an audience’s attention. It takes a little creativity — and lot less time — to effectively capture and hold people’s attention, according to Scott Steinberg, a global consultant, speaker and futurist. Listen in to his conversation with Northstar’s Loren Edelstein to learn how to surprise, delight and educate and educate meeting attendees in 15 minute-increments.
Listeners will learn:
Why our attention spans are shorter than ever (2:30)
How to design presentations that are shorter, highly engaging and memorable (3:20)
How to shrink content and add elements of surprise to engage virtual attendees (8:00)
The importance of storytelling — even if you’re making it up (9:25)
How to coach speakers to break out of traditional presentation styles (10:30)
Ways to break down a longer presentation into short segments (13:00)
Questions to ask when hiring a speaker (14:20)
Other ways to use speakers and thought leaders during your program (17:00)
Using the “Pop Future” method to make complex concepts simple, fun and attainable (18:25)
How to think like a futurist (23:20)
Why the future of meetings looks bright — and hybrid (25:20)
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Tonya Hempstead of American Express GBT discusses how the organization is building a more mature diversity and inclusion strategy, and how others can do the same. Diversity within the meetings and travel industries has long been lacking. Although a wave of industry organizations have made public pledges to do better, turning these promises into progress is easier said than done. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Northstar Meetings Group's senior associate editor, Elise Schoening, sat down with Tonya Hempstead, vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at American Express Global Business Travel, to discuss how the organization is building an inclusion ecosystem to ensure a long-term commitment to DEI. Hempstead explained the many partners involved with bringing the strategy to life, and why a regional-based approach is key. Other topics of discussion include: How to address staffing shortages and attract diverse talent (10:40) The role suppliers can play in driving change (12:10) The value of DEI certifications and whether they will become must-haves in the industry (14:10).
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The events industry must take action to shape the sustainability policies that will govern our business.
In Scotland this past November at COP26, the United Nation’s climate-change conference, governments and industries made a pledge to reduce carbon emissions. At that time, Northstar’s Loren Edelstein spoke with Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events, about why and how the events industry must commit to reducing its carbon footprint. (For details, listen to the Nov. 3 episode of Eventful.) Nearly five months later, very little action has been taken on that pledge, says Pelham. In this episode of Eventful, she stresses our need as an industry to have a role in framing policies that will govern our business, as well as free resources for reducing the carbon footprint of business meetings and events. Among topics addressed: What the growing focus on carbon means to the events sector today (1:25) Why government policy will soon impact the way we work (4:00) How the industry needs to shift its focus from profitability to creating a sustainable business model (5:10) Why the events sector needs to take initiative to frame the policies that will impact us (9:20) The imperative to move from pledging to action in the Race to Zero (10:00) How to make a net-zero commitment (11:00) What a commitment means and how to take action (14:10) The reality that most in our sector who have made the pledge haven’t done anything further (18:10) An open invitation to share your sustainability journey with Northstar (18:55)
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Kevin Iwamoto of Bizly talks about what event planners should be doing differently right now.
As pandemic concerns ease and gathering restrictions are lifted, how has the business of in-person meetings and events changed? What should we be doing differently now? What’s the outlook for the near future? In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Northstar’s vice president and content director, Loren Edelstein, talks with Kevin Iwamoto, chief customer officer for Bizly, about new realities and how planners can avoid troublesome surprises.
Among topics addressed:
How to justify the value of large in-person events as a necessity for business growth and opportunities (3:14)
Why in-person audiences will be smaller, and why we’ll still need to offer virtual options to participants (4:15)
Emerging meeting formats, such as holding smaller events in geographic regions rather than one national meeting, or holding one conference with digitized content for remote audiences (6:10)
How compression and labor shortages are affecting negotiations and service levels. (6:10)
The important questions planners should be asking in their RFPs and RFI’s about staffing and on-site services (7:00)
What happens if an attendee gets sick during the event? Can they stay in the hotel, or do they need to leave? (9:07)
Who covers the cost of travelers who fall ill and need to quarantine in a hotel — the host organization, the person’s employer, or the attendees themselves? (10:15)
Why we should be patient and empathize with hotels doing their best to run a property that isn’t fully staffed (14:20)
How meeting professionals learned to cope with the pandemic and are well positioned to move forward with confidence (16:50)
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In 2022, incentive planners and program owners continue to grapple with the pandemic and other challenges. Following the Incentive Research Foundation’s first board meeting of the year, president Stephanie Harris shared these concerns with Lisa Grimaldi, NMG’s editor of incentives and destinations, and discussed the findings from the 2022 Trends Report, among other recent studies from the IRF. In our conversation, we cover: • How the disaggregated workforce is creating new challenges (2:15) • Findings show travel is still a huge priority and a top noncash reward (5:10) • Program budgets are increasing (7:00) • Hybrid incentive travel programs are difficult to do well (9:50) • How cash incentives are being used to pay bills and standard expenses (12:30) • Gifts and points rewards that bring pleasure are popular now (13:30)
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In this episode of Eventful, The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we're talking with Brett Sterenson, president of Hotel Lobbyists, a 15-year-old site-selection firm that mostly focuses on government events. In the past couple of weeks, Sterenson has heard from clients far and wide — including many he hadn't spoken with during the pandemic — and his level of business on the books has ticked way up. But there are many Covid restrictions still in place for these meetings, and plenty of changes that need to be incorporated in event contracts going forward. In our conversation, we cover: • How the GSA's per-diem rate is helping government meetings stay competitive (6:20) • Where government meetings are being placed (7:00) • Which Covid protocols government meetings are paying the most attention to (9:30) • Event contract changes that are here to stay (11:30) • What the meetings volume for the rest of the year will be (17:30) • The challenges of working with state governments (20:50)
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Marriott International's Dana Pellicano discusses how the brand adjusted for the pandemic, how event food and beverage has changed for good. In the early days of the pandemic, Marriott International put in place a comprehensive set of protocols that balanced safety with a positive guest experience. The company has adjusted the policies continually to stay a step ahead of shifting circumstances. In particular, Marriott has paid attention to groups meals — and nobody has been closer to these issues than Dana Pellicano, vice president of U.S. and Canada food and beverage. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we speak with Pellicano about how Marriott has struck this difficult balance and how it has impacted attendees' expectations for food and beverage at events. She offers up the specific trends she is seeing, many of which were shaped by safety protocols, as well as what's next for group dining. On this episode, we discuss: • Marriott's approach to food safety and pandemic protocols (3:50) • Will the buffet ever come back? (6:05) • The central role of outdoor dining spaces (7:35) • The evolution of the ready-to-drink cocktail (11:50) • How attendees are looking for a higher level of experience when meeting in person (12:35) • Mobile dining as a valuable offering (14:15) • The ongoing appeal and increasing quality of mocktails and nonalcoholic spirits (14:35) • Healthy and alternative foods and beverages (15:15)
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Omicron will subside soon, believes Gregg Talley, but organizations should prepare for longer-term effects of the pandemic
For associations worldwide, the new year started with an unexpected wave of cancellations and postponements, but Gregg Talley, president and CEO of Talley Management Group, believes membership organizations are facing greater challenges to the live-event business model. In this episode of Eventful, the podcast for meeting professionals, Talley talks with Northstar’s Loren Edelstein about other factors hampering in-person events — and possible solutions.
Among the topics discussed are:
• Current realities for association meetings and unknowns about the longer-term impact of the pandemic (1:20)
• How the lack of critical services such as childcare directly impacts in-person attendance (3:00)
• The effect of staff shortages in service industries, and the imperative to pay front-line workers a living wage (5:00)
• What international meetings industry associations can and should be doing to support business events (6:00)
• The elusive goal of monetizing a digital meeting (7:30)
• How some associations obtained IATA numbers to receive commissions from airlines and hotels (8:20)
• The opportunity — and imperative — to reconsider the varied needs of members, and find new ways to engage and serve them (12:20)
• Why collaborating with sister organizations and other creative ideas are essential (13:45)
• How consolidation of meetings industry associations would serve planners and suppliers better (15:45)
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As 2022 approaches, meeting planners still are grappling with the changes the pandemic has wrought on the events industry. For this podcast, Jonathan T. Howe Esq., president and founding partner of Chicago’s Howe & Hutton law firm (and NMG’s longtime legal expert), spoke with Northstar Meetings Group managing editor Sarah Braley about three main contract trends that meeting planners need to note for the coming year. The three trends we are tackling for this podcast are: Flexibility: making sure all parties can modify or terminate agreements when situations change (starting at 1:35 of the recording) Performance details: specifying in contracts what each party expects from the other (starting at 8:15); and Shifting risks: how the risks for events — which should be spelled out in the agreement — have been changing, as responsibility moves between the host organization and the hotelier and sometimes to the attendees themselves (starting at 13:50). The podcast ends with a discussion of the negotiation landscape between planners and hotel salespeople.
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The job market has swung wildly over the past two years, but as in-person meetings have returned, so have planners’ opportunities for career advancement. As demand for skilled candidates has grown, meeting professionals are likely sensing that now might be a good time to make that career move they’ve been considering. Dawn Penfold, president and founder of MeetingJobs.com, shares her insights on the shifting market for employment opportunities on this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals. Penfold, who has been helping meeting professionals find new positions for more than 30 years, speaks with Northstar Meetings Group’s managing editor, Sarah Braley about a range of career-focused topics, including: Which industries are seeing the strongest opportunities and what skills are in demand (2:15) How candidates are being more creative in their benefits requests, including flex time and even loan repayment (4:00) How much the standard salary increase from one job to another has changed (7:45) Why the right request during an interview could make a candidate look more appealing to an employer (11:20) What skills distinguish the most in-demand and resilient candidates (14:10)
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At the United Nations climate-change conference, COP26, now underway in Glasgow, Scotland, governments and industries from around the globe are presenting the strides they've made toward reducing the carbon footprint of their respective operations. Where does the events industry stand? We asked Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events, to discuss the progress to date and the challenges ahead. (For highlights, see related story [LINK.] Among topics covered: • What is COP26 and why should it be important to meeting professionals? (1:50) • What net zero means, and the significance of pledging to achieve net zero by a given date (3:00) • How the Race to Zero lets small- to medium-size businesses make a commitment and provide the resources needed to get there (6:00) • Where meetings industry associations stand on unifying members behind climate initatives (8:20) • How simply making a commitment helps the events industry at large (11:35) • Why this is a difficult topic for the travel and events sector (12:10) • How to help us advance as an industry by asking your suppliers to make the net-zero pledge (21:13) • Why sustainability awards and designations don't do anything to raise the profile of our sector in business and government (22:25) • What needs to happen for in-person events to exist in a net-zero future (25:10)
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Managing Covid tests and mask mandates can get complicated even for a small gathering—but what about a high-profile series of events across multiple venues, in which you're testing everyone from frontline workers to Lady Gaga herself? That's the situation event planners found themselves in as they prepared for the grand opening of Los Angeles' Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. To pull off this feat, health-testing company Co-Protect had to manage thousands of tests, masks and other services, ensuring the numerous galas, press events and openings went off without a hitch. On this custom episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we discuss this event with Darren K. Green, the chief sales officer for the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, and Tom Penn, cofounder and CEO of Co-Protect, as well as cofounder of the Los Angeles Football Club and a longtime sports analyst for ESPN. We delve into the specifics of the Academy Museum opening, what lessons it offers for meeting planners, and how Co-Protect's partnership with LA Tourism is helping elevate the security and safety of every event held in the city. Among the topics discussed in this episode: How Tom Penn's experience in the professional sports world helped him identify the potential of customized face masks for events, including business events (2:25) What Co-Protect and LA Tourism's partnership means for meeting planners (4:40) How the complex and high-profile opening of the new Academy Museum was held with a high level of safety and minimal logistical challenges thanks to this partnership (7:00) Why a consistent, comprehensive approach to testing is key for large-scale international events such as E3, Adobe and Japanese Anime, all being held in Los Angeles in the next year (14:05) How planners can navigate the frequently shifting mandates on vaccines and testing, particularly for international events (15:05) This episode was created in partnership with Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board.
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Their turnkey solution helps event professionals ensure their L.A. events and attendees are in compliance with the latest health protocols.
Working on in-person meetings these days, event professionals have had to spend considerable time ensuring the safety and health of their attendees. To help share these additional responsibilities, the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board has partnered with CLEAR, creator of the CLEAR Health Pass, to give attendees an easy way to verify a range of health information, including Covid test results, vaccination status and more. This turnkey solution helps planners ensure their L.A. events are in compliance with the latest protocols and lets attendees know their health is being taken seriously. In this custom episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we speak with Darren K. Green, chief sales officer for the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, and Jerome Pickett, senior vice president and general manager of sports and entertainment for CLEAR, about this partnership. Among the topics discussed: • How CLEAR has evolved in the last year to meet the shifting needs of meetings and events (3:45) • How its partnership with Los Angeles Tourism helps meeting planners get their attendees to comply with health protocols (7:30) • How this approach to attendee health can be applied to events both large and small (10:00) • How to mitigate the challenges presented by shifting restrictions and requirements for in-person gatherings, in Los Angeles and elsewhere (11:15) • How meeting planners' priorities around health and compliance have changed recently (14:00) • What's next for meeting safety (18:30)
This podcast was created in partnership with Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board
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We are in a particularly crucial moment in the evolution of events and event technology. The pandemic accelerated many trends towards digitization that were embraced by the industry, because really we had no choice. But now, industry members are taking a hard look at what we've learned so far and what our strategies should be moving. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we share excerpts from the recent MeetingsTech Roundtable 2021. Moderated by Michael Shapiro, executive editor for Northstar Meetings Group, it includes a number of insights from top industry thought leaders, including entrepreneur and advisor Marco Gilberti, CEO of Vesuvio Ventures; tech expert Dahlia El Gazzar, the founder and force behind DAHLIA+ Agency; and marketing and events executive Cathy Song Novelli, senior vice president of marketing and communications at Hubilo. Listen for some highlights of our discussion, or watch the full roundtable on demand at northstarmeetingsgroup.com/MeetingsTech2021. Topics from this conversation include: How organizers are learning because they have permission to experiment and innovate with virtual events (4:57) Why it's key for planners to move past the desire to return to how things were in 2019 (7:00) How we need to go beyond turning all of our events into basic webinars (10:00) Why we should think less about "hybrid events" and more about the hybrid world (11:49) Why 2021 is different because we should have a digital strategy in place if we cancel in person (15:42)
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IMEX America, the meetings industry trade show that will take place Nov. 9-11 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, announced last week that all attendees and exhibitors will be required to be fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization.
Carina Bauer, CEO of the Imex Group, spoke with Lisa Grimaldi, Northstar Meeting Group’s incentives and destinations editor, about the decisions that led to the show’s updated health and safety policy; how attendees and exhibitors have reacted to the news (mostly positive!) and how participants will be able to register their vaccination status. Bauer also discussed the hurdles caused by the U.S.’s strict entry requirements for European and U.K. attendees. Among the topics discussed are: • The considerations that organizers took into account before deciding to require vaccinations (2:50) • How registrants have responded to the news (5:30) • How the IMEX team is preparing for additional challenges related to travel restrictions and quarantine requirements (10:30) • What visitors can expect from IMEX America this year (13:50) • New offerings, including "walking, talking" education sessions and back-of-the-house tours throughout Las Vegas (15:00) • How this year's show will "bring the outside in" with creative space designs (16:20)
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Attorney Jonathan Howe offers advice on the latest legal questions facing the meetings and events industry.
As the Covid-19 Delta variant has shaken up plans for many upcoming in-person events, meeting planners are increasingly finding themselves forced to make decisions with only the slightest idea of what the future might hold. It’s more important than ever to ensure legal protections are in place. To discuss what options are available to event planners, industry attorney Jonathan T. Howe, Esq., president and founding partner of Howe & Hutton Ltd., took questions during a Q&A session led by Northstar Meetings Group’s managing editor, Sarah J.F. Braley.
For this episode of Eventful, we include highlights from that conversation, including:
-Whether a “pandemic clause” exists, and where such concerns should be addressed in a contract (2:05)
-How to add flexibility into your hotel agreements (6:20)
-How contracts are being adjusted to take hybrid events into account (11:45)
-How corporate travel restrictions will impact attrition (12:10)
-What challenges are presented by having to rebook an event that was already rebooked (16:30)
This episode is sponsored by Visit Long Beach.
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Meeting planners are getting nervous again — with good reason, according to risk-management expert Bruce McIndoe. If we don’t act collectively to reduce the spread of Covid-19, we’ll be grappling with the virus for years, he posits. Listen to his discussion with Northstar’s Loren Edelstein in this episode of Eventful. Among best practices for meetings, McIndoe explains why everyone should be wearing masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Among topics discussed: • What the virus is likely to do over the next few months (2:00) • Why everyone should be wearing masks, whether or not they’re vaccinated (4:00) • Challenges and solutions for meetings and events (6:30) • Why a number of companies have decided not to hold in-person events until Q1 2022 (10:20) • The reasons why unless vaccination rates are high globally, the virus will spread and new variants will emerge (11:30) • The high probability of long-term health problems among those who’ve had Covid, including cognitive decline (14:30) • Best practices for meetings and events, and common errors to avoid (18:30)
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Destinations International’s Jack Johnson discusses why destination marketers should focus first on making their cities better places to live. We generally think of destination marketing organizations as focused on bringing visitors to their destination — attracting outside business to help support the local economy. But Jack Johnson, chief advocacy officer for Destinations International, maintains that DMOs should be more concerned with how they can better their cities for the local community. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Johnson speaks with Northstar Meetings Group vice president and content director Loren Edelstein, discussing why it’s more important than ever for DMOs to find ways to support their own destination, serving as a local asset and viewing residents as customers. Recorded at DI’s Annual Convention in Baltimore, the conversation took place just before the organization published its updated “Community Shared Values Workbook,” laying out nine core values for destination marketers. Among the topics discussed: Why DMOs should be more proactive in sharing data about economic development with destination partners, ensuring everyone feels included in the tourism economy (6:45) How the funding model for DMOs should be reformed to ensure greater security for the industry (10:30) How funding sources could be expanded beyond hotel taxes, to include “anyone who benefits from the positive portrayal of the destination” (13:25) The two things DMOs should change immediately in the way they do business (15:30) Why values are going to play an increasingly important role in attracting meetings and events (17:05)
This episode is sponsored by Visit Long Beach.
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Jason Gewirtz, editor and publisher of SportsTravel, has been covering the Olympics for several years, but this year's Games have been an experience like no other. Even with no spectators permitted, an estimated 50,000 people will visit Tokyo for this year's competitions. All were issued extensive Covid-safety protocols to follow before and during the event. In this week's episode of Eventful, Gewirtz shares his experience with Loren Edelstein, vice president and content director for Northstar Meetings Group, and explains how the Olympics might set an example in Covid safety for other large-scale global events. Among the points that were discussed: • All participants needed two negative Covid tests prior to arrival, and then were tested again at the airport — a six-hour process! (2:05) • There was a lot of criticism about whether this event should even take place, with Covid rates in Tokyo even higher than they were last year when the Games were postponed. (6:25) • Logistics involved an extensive transportation system connecting the Olympic venues with about 200 area hotels. Public transit was off limits, per Covid protocols. (9:40) • Media members were required to wear masks at all times. (10:55) • For athletes on the medal stands, the 30 seconds that were allowed for photographers to get pictures of the competitors without their masks was not quite long enough. (11:30) • Extensive and well-organized testing throughout the event was critical to the safety plan. (15:00) • The loss of revenue from tickets sales and spectator spending is financially devastating to the host city. (18:45) • Planners of large-scale sporting events, meetings and conventions can learn from what worked — and what didn't — in providing a Covid-safe international gathering. (21:45)
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Event Specialists’ Mahoganey Jones shares tips for leveraging audience data, monetization opportunities and more. The restrictions on in-person gatherings over the past 16 months gave meeting planners the opportunity to embrace digital events. But for Mahoganey Jones, founder and CEO of Toronto-based Event Specialists, her company had already been “going virtual” for more than a decade. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Jones discusses how she used her experience as a longtime producer of virtual events, and how the growth of hybrid is opening up new ways for planners to extend the life of their meetings. Here she discusses how to drive value before and after the event itself through smart monetization opportunities, digging in to audience data and more. Among the points Jones discusses: Why planners must focus on their core strengths, whether they are creating a virtual, in-person or hybrid event. (3:40) How a “paid upgrade” approach can help planners monetize their virtual events. (5:55) How to stand out in a crowded marketplace. (9:35) How an affiliate model can be used to create additional funding opportunities. (10:30) Why limiting space for in-person events can be an advantage. (15:20) Why the post-event process is a crucial, but often overlooked, piece of the event marketing cycle. (19:15)
This episode is sponsored by Hubilo, the hybrid platform built for event excellence.
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The events sector must transform itself in order to address the issue of global climate change, stresses Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events. With COP26 — the United Nation’s 26th Climate Change Conference — just months away, the industry must take action now. COP26, set for Oct. 31 - Nov. 12, 2021, in Glasgow, will bring parties together to accelerate action toward meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This should be of vital importance to meeting professionals, says Pelham. Coming out of a year where we saw a dramatic reduction in meetings and travel, we are now challenged to resume those activities in a much more sustainable matter. The June 29 launch event, “Road to COP26: Events Sector Transformation,” aims to compel at least 1,000 meeting and events professionals to commit to a carbon-reduction target and begin the necessary action to achieve it. The program, which provides tailored resources and education, is ideal for small to medium enterprises that don’t already have a carbon target, says Pelham. Among the points she addresses on this episode of Eventful, the Podcast for Meeting Professionals, are: Why planners should now be seeking ways to reduce the carbon footprint of their events (8:35) Why being proactive on climate change initiatives can help planners avoid having tougher restrictions being imposed on them later (10:00) How the discussion about climate action provides an opportunity to trumpet the importance of events (12:55) What a “sustainable event” looks likes (14:20) The business opportunities that are created by focusing on sustainable meetings (20:35)
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John Nawn explains how creating impactful hybrid and digital events requires thorough analysis well in advance of the gatherings. Event planners must think strategically, whether their meetings are virtual, in-person or a hybrid version of the two. John Nawn, cofounder of Event Strategy Network, maintains that planners too often get caught up in the technical details of an event and lose track of the big-picture stuff: specifically, how a particular event fits into their overall business goals. Nawn delves into greater detail on this topic in his just-released "A Planner's Guide to Digital and Hybrid Events," which can be downloaded at northstarmeetingsgroup.com/HybridGuide. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Nawn discusses specifically what a planner should be assessing in the early stages of developing a virtual or hybrid event. Among the points he covers: • How to conduct a needs analysis to clarify an event's mission and value proposition (3:30) • How to build a team that can best execute a technically complex event (8:50) • Why selling "generic, prepackaged opportunities based on tiers" is a dead sponsorship model (14:25) • How to apply to in-person and hybrid events the lessons we've learned about gathering attendee data during virtual events (16:40)
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Pride Month is here. A time to celebrate, support and uplift members of the LGBTQ+ community. While diversity issues have taken on greater prominence over the past year, there is still much work to be done, and the meetings industry is well-positioned to lead that charge. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Derrick Johnson chair of the LGBT Meeting Professionals Association and chief diversity officer and director of event strategy for Talley Management Group speaks with Northstar Meetings Group's senior associate editor Elise Schoening about how planners can better support the LGBTQ+ community. Among the points discussed: -What sets this year's Pride apart from that of previous years (2:55). -LGBT Meeting Professionals Association's plans for the coming year (3:40). -How planners can seek out inclusive destinations and use their influence to encourage greater inclusivity in the sites they select (12:35). -Details about LGBT MPA's first ever educational event, Day of Diversity, taking place on June 30 (16:30).
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A new white paper from ADMEI lays out ways planners can strengthen their relationships with destination management partners.
One of the key resources for many meeting planners is the destination management company that helps them select a location for their event, scout venues and assist in almost every aspect of a gathering. When a planner needs local, insider knowledge they lean on their DMC partners. But the halt to many in-person events that began last spring revealed the vulnerable position in which many DMCs find themselves and the disadvantages of their current business model.
This issue is the focus of “Evolution of the DMC,” a white paper produced by the Association of Destination Management Executives International. Drawing on industry research and focus groups, this report suggests best practices for adjusting the current arrangement between many DMCs and meeting planners, providing a way forward for a more open partnership that will benefit all involved. The full white paper is available at northstarmeetingsgroup.com/DMCwhitepaper.
On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we spoke with two people instrumental in this effort: Lorenzo Pignatti, ADMEI president as well as CEO and founder of Italy-based TerraEvents, and Jill Tate, CEO of Corinthian Events & Newport Hospitality, a DMC Network Company and a member of the ADMEI Focus Group/Task Force. They discussed the ways the current business model often falls short and some simple measures that could create a better situation for meeting planners, DMCs and attendees. Among the points discussed:
How the pandemic exacerbated longstanding problems with the model for many DMC-planner partnerships. (4:20)
How a more simplified RFP process could benefit planners as well as destination management companies. (7:55)
How a letter of engagement can alleviate one of the biggest weaknesses in the current RFP process. (11:37)
Why now is a good time to rethink the industry’s standard approach to site inspections. (14:10)
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Mary-Ann Urbanovich discusses how the Pandemic Compliance Advisor designation makes health an enduring priority.
As more face-to-face events resume, health protocols should be considered in every stage of planning. Efforts to establish best practices are ensure that they are being followed bring a new set of responsibilities to the process, from the earliest stages of venue selection through post-event follow-up. This imperative led three meeting planners to develop the Pandemic Compliance Advisor certification, which trains industry professionals on the specific, practical steps needed to keep their attendees and staff safe, even as conditions are changing rapidly.
On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we speak with Mary-Ann Urbanovich, MS, CMP-HC, meeting manager at healthcare education company HMP Global. Last year, Urbanovich and two fellow healthcare meeting planners — Heather Seasholtz, director of Americas operations for the Drug Information Association; and Shannon Majewski, education program coordinator for the department of pathology at Medical College of Wisconsin — saw a need in the industry for a program that provided members with an end-to-end understanding of how to ensure event safety in the midst of a pandemic. They launched the three-hour PCA course in beta form last October and more than 2,000 industry members have taken part since (the next course takes place June 4, and Eventful listeners can sign up for 15 percent discount with the code NSM15).
Here, Urbanovich shares how the PCA program was developed (3:00), why organizations should include a pandemic compliance advisor as a distinct member within their planning team (9:45) and how best practices in attendee health continue to evolve as face-to-face meetings return (20:20).
This episode is brought to you by Visit Long Beach.
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MeetingPlay's Joe Schwinger discusses how to get the most value from events with both in-person and virtual audiences.
After a year in which most found themselves only attending events remotely, the value of in-person has never been clearer. But the meetings industry has also seen the many advantages that virtual events can provide, including greater accessibility, availability and data-collecting opportunities. As travel and gathering restrictions continue to loosen, planners are looking to create events that tap into the best of both the in-person and virtual worlds — in a word, hybrid.
On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we speak with Joe Schwinger, CEO of MeetingPlay, about how his company has shifted from planning in-person meetings to all-virtual, and is now helping clients leverage a hybrid approach. He discusses how a year of virtual events has shifted audience expectations of in-person (5:20), how organizations can manage the extra costs of connecting with both on-site and remote attendees (11:25) and why there are more options than ever to generate revenue with both audiences (17:15).
This episode is brought to you by Visit Long Beach.
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The conference for online creators transformed its annual gathering into a year-long online offering.
Pulling off a successful virtual event is no easy task, especially when there are thousands of attendees to cater to, but it can also present opportunities to rethink your entire event strategy. Such was the case for VidCon, an annual conference for digital creators that typically attracts 75,000 attendees. It was one of the first events canceled due to Covid-19 last March. But rather than cancel outright, the organizers decided to transform the four-day, in-person conference into a summer-long digital program.
It proved successful enough that VidCon was soon expanded into a year-long online offering. In the end, its 2020 numbers far surpassed that of previous years.
In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Jim Louderback, general manager and senior vice president of VidCon, speaks with Northstar Meetings Group’s associate editor Elise Schoening about how they created new opportunities by embracing digital. Louderback discusses the process of bringing an event of this size online, including how to generate engagement opportunities with such a large gathering (4:00), how to tailor content to a truly global audience (6:10) and VidCon’s new metrics for success (12:05).
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Global Wellness Institute’s Nancy Davis discusses how the pandemic has transformed the way we think about attendee wellness.
As meeting planners navigated the Covid-19 pandemic this past year, concerns about attendee wellness transformed how events were held — or, in most cases, not held. Now, as vaccinations become more widespread and in-person gatherings are poised to fully return, it looks like one of the lasting effects of this disruptive year may be a continuing, elevated focus on the health of attendees.
On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Nancy Davis, the chief creative officer and executive director for the Global Wellness Summit and Global Wellness Institute, discusses how planners’ approach to wellness at events is likely to change after the pandemic. She shares how meetings will be planned with “wellness at the core,” how planners are shifting to a more proactive approach in instituting health measures and the changes she is instituting at this year’s Global Wellness Summit.
This episode is sponsored by Colombia, the most welcoming country in the world for events.
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More than a year into a global pandemic, if there’s one thing meeting planners have learned, it’s that connecting with at-home attendees presents distinct challenges. In the virtual environment, every detail needs to be reconsidered, from the flow of the agenda to education formats, marketing and more. Even as in-person events return, it’s important to consider welcoming virtual attendees for hybrid gatherings.
To discuss these points, we spoke with Melissa Park, a global event producer who has specialized in creating events for the tech industry, first at Hortonworks data software company in California, and now as an independent planner based in Australia. She recently launched a masterclass on 7 Steps to Event Success. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Northstar Meetings Group Deputy Editor Alex Palmer speaks to Park about how to keep attendee eyes on screens for virtual events.
This episode is sponsored by Colombia, the most welcoming country in the world for all events.
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Jonathan Howe discusses the latest legal issues facing meeting planners.
Can meeting planners require attendees to be vaccinated? And what privacy issues does this raise? These are among the thorny questions that meeting professionals have to consider as they plan safe in-person events. Jonathan Howe, president and founding partner of Howe & Hutton Ltd., and the leading legal mind on meetings law, recently shared his insights as part of Northstar Meetings Group’s webcast, “Ask the Attorney: New Legal Issues for Event Planners and Suppliers.”
On this week’s episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we share an excerpt of that conversation, moderated by Sarah Braley, managing editor for Northstar Meetings Group. Howe tackled a wide range of questions from the audience, and in this episode he also discusses liability protection for event hosts and venues (7:20), how cancellation clauses differ for hybrid events (11:23) and whether planners can put language into their contract that will ensure a full refund in the case of another pandemic (14:08).
Listen now, and to view the full, hour-long webcast now, go to northstarmeetingsgroup.com/LegalWebcast.
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Bizly's Kevin Iwamoto discusses why now is the time for meeting professionals to speak out.
Last week, a gunman killed eight people in Atlanta, six of whom were Asian-Americans, but this was not an isolated incident; according to the nonprofit organization Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 3,800 incidents of violence and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported over the past year. As it has grown increasingly urgent to address these issues, members of the meetings industry have raised their voices about what actions our community can take. Prominent among these voices is Kevin Iwamoto, chief strategy officer of the event planning platform Bizly, who spoke with Northstar Meetings Group's associate editor Elise Schoening about the recent attacks, how fear of violence might make Asian Americans less likely to travel or attend events, and the continued lack of diversity within the meetings industry. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Iwamoto discusses how members of the meeting industry can help support the AAPI community (4:45), his own experiences with discrimination (9:45) and why leaders in the industry must speak up about these issues now (12:30). Listen to the in-depth conversation in our latest episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, and remember to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. And be sure to register for Northstar's upcoming webcast, Diversity Now: How to Plan a Truly Inclusive Meeting, taking place April 21 at 2 p.m. EDT. Learn more at northstarmeetingsgroup.com/DiversityNow
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Brightcove’s David Bornstein discusses how they’re helping to transform the cultural event into must-watch TV. In normal years, the month of March means people are about to flock in droves to Austin, Texas — home to South by Southwest. The gathering has become an increasingly high-profile cultural event, a conglomeration of an interactive media and tech conference with a concurrent film and music festival. But this year it's all happening online. One of the entities helping to execute SXSW in its digital incarnation, beginning March 16, is Brightcove, which will provide the video platform through which the content will be delivered. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Dave Bornstein, Brightcove’s field chief technology officer, discusses how the production of this year’s SXSW will differ from much of the virtual event content we've been consuming online over the past year. In this conversation, Bornstein tells Michael Shapiro, Northstar Meetings Group’s editor of news and technology, about how his team is creating an event where the attendee “grabs their remote, not their keyboard” (4:18), how it balances scheduled content and viewers’ choices (8:45) and the unique challenges of producing content for an event such as SXSW (12:20).
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Meetings consultant Liz Warwick discusses the EIC’s Code of Conduct and how attendees play a part in creating a safe event. A safe gathering during the pandemic and beyond now requires everyone to take some responsibility in reducing health risks – attendees included. More than ever, actions taken by individual attendees — to follow social-distancing protocols, to wear masks and take other precautions — can have an effect on every other person at the event. How can planners get participants to buy into the necessity for individual responsibility? Discussing this challenge on this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting professionals is Liz Warwick, current chair of the Events Industry Council’s Meeting and Event Redesign Workstream, which supports EIC’s Covid-19 Business Recovery Task Force. Warwick was instrumental in designing a new industry Code of Conduct, a template meeting planners can use when asking attendees to accept their own accountability. Here, Warwick speaks with Sarah J.F. Braley, Northstar Meetings Group’s managing editor, about how attendees are increasingly responsible for ensuring event safety (1:50), how the Code of Conduct provides a framework that can be adapted to any organization (8:30), the effect vaccines will play in bringing back face-to-face gatherings safely (10:25) and how protocols can help to manage an attendee who does not want to wear a mask (12:05).
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Travelocity founder Terrell Jones says digital health apps can restore confidence in flying and meeting. How can we restore confidence in traveling and attending in-person events? Proof of a negative Covid test is required of international travelers entering the U.S., but that’s not the rule for domestic travel…yet. As vaccine distribution continues to expand, we’re likely to see some form of a digital Covid passport required for all travel, believes Terrell Jones, founder of Travelocity, Kayak and several other travel startups. He’s now working with governments and travel leaders to establish such digital records. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Loren Edelstein, vice president and content director for Northstar Meetings Group, speaks with Jones about these efforts, including whether it would make sense to conduct Covid testing at airports (3:55), how a globally accepted Covid passport could work (6:50) and whether meeting planners should be prepared to require such records from attendees (14:45).
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IAVM’s Mark Herrera discusses how risk assessment is evolving.
When it comes to identifying and reducing event security risks, planners must navigate a constantly shifting landscape. Health concerns around Covid-19 continue to dominate most event professionals’ concerns, but over the last month worries about disruptions from civil unrest have taken on growing importance. In Northstar’s recent PULSE Survey, a number of respondents mentioned, unsolicited, that civil unrest is an issue that’s impacting their events.
To address these issues, we spoke with Mark Herrera, director of education for the International Association of Venue Managers. Herrera brings more than two decades of law enforcement experience to this role, and he draws on that to train managers who host large gatherings. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, he discusses what the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol could mean for venue security more broadly, as well as the strategies he teaches to help his members ensure that events are held safely.
Herrera also will be a presenter at Northstar Meetings Group’s upcoming Back to Booking digital event, taking place on Feb. 23. Learn more at www.northstarmeetingsgroup.com/BacktoBooking
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Elliott Ferguson discusses the Capitol riot, inauguration and the future of event security.
While meeting planners had high hopes that the new year would be one of recovery, 2021 got off to a rocky start in January. In addition to a slow vaccine rollout, the attack on the Capitol raised new fears about event safety.
On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Northstar Meetings Group Associate Editor Elise Schoening spoke with Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC and national chair of the U.S. Travel Association. Ferguson discussed what it was like to be in D.C. during the insurrection and shared what the CVB is doing to address planner concerns around civil unrest. He also discussed new hybrid and virtual event offerings available at the convention center and how the city is adapting to a changing meetings landscape.
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CEO Carina Bauer discusses what the cancellation means — and does not mean — for the meetings industry more broadly.
Earlier this month, IMEX Group announced that for the second year in a row it would be cancelling its annual IMEX Frankfurt event, scheduled for May 2021. The news came as a reality check to many in the industry who hoped recent positive news around vaccine distribution would mean a quicker return to in-person meetings. But while the cancellation of one of the biggest events in the industry is a reminder that we are still a long way from a return to normalcy, it doesn't necessarily mean other event organizers will follow suit.
That's one of the points emphasized by IMEX Group CEO Carina Bauer, who discusses how her organization came to the decision. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Bauer not only discusses: Why there are still plenty of reasons for optimism for the industry's comeback (3:45) How the decision to cancel IMEX Frankfrurt may affect IMEX America in Las Vegas (6:45) Bauer's general thoughts about how the U.S. political climate could affect the industry more broadly (8:00)
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As coronavirus cases continue to surge and vaccines are slowly rolled out, meeting planners should be considering protocols for in-person events when they are able to return. Beyond enacting measures to mitigate risks for participants, what will you do if an attendee tests positive for Covid-19 on-site? On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we’re speaking with Sean Murray, president of Eurofins, a testing laboratory company that provides on-site Covid testing for workplaces and corporate events — and that recently had to respond to a positive Covid test at one of its own events. Murray discusses how his organization responded to this health emergency and how Eurofins is delivering its testing services to the wider meeting and incentive market, including through its partnership with engagement firm ITA Group, Inc.
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Samantha Evans of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, provides specific ways every meeting planner can ensure their virtual or hybrid event is welcoming to all. The growth of digital and hybrid events this year has removed some barriers that attendees with physical disabilities might have faced at in-person events. But while digital events provide a new level of accessibility — outlined in a recent episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals — they also present new challenges for some attendees, which meeting planners should address. To delve deeper into creating accessible digital events, we spoke with Samantha Evans, CAE, certification manager for the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, and an accessibility advocate and specialist in certification and credentials. In this episode, she outlines why planners need to think about their events’ accessibility from the earliest planning stages, while selecting a platform provider, making staffing decisions and more. In this in-depth conversation, Evans provides actionable steps every meeting planner should take to ensure all attendees feel welcome.
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Jason Dunn reflects on an eventful year and how far the industry has yet to go.
While lack of diversity has long been an issue within the meetings industry, the death of George Floyd in May brought a renewed focus to the matter. But six months later, it's clear that there's still much work to be done. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we speak with Jason Dunn, group vice president of diversity sales and inclusion for the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau. Dunn has been leading the charge for change within the meetings industry and spent the past year serving as chairman of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals. That term ended in November and he will now serve as co-chair of the Event Industry Council's new Equity Task Force. Here, he discusses these roles as well as where the meetings industry stands now in terms of diversity and what changes he'd like to see in the year ahead.
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Holding meetings virtually can open up opportunities for those with disabilities. One of the few silver linings of 2020 and the necessity to meet online vs. in person has been the way in which digital and hybrid events allow more attendees to take part, on their terms. In advance of the United Nations' International Day of Disabled Persons on Dec. 3, we spoke with Rosemarie Rossetti, an accessibility expert and consultant, author and speaker who travels globally to discuss Universal Design and inclusive meetings and events. She told us how the changing landscape of meetings impacts those with disabilities, and how planners can ensure their events — whether digital, in-person or hybrid — are truly accessible.
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Risk management expert Bruce McIndoe on when group travel will safely return. Covid-19 has upended many companies’ plans for group gatherings, leaving planners eager for answers on when they might be able to hold events in-person again and the associated risks. During the recent Global Incentive Summit Digital, hosted by Northstar Meetings Group, attendees were able to get these insights from a risk-management expert. Bruce McIndoe, president of McIndoe Risk Advisory LLC and founder of WorldAware, shared the latest travel facts, figures and resources to help planners confidently promote group travel to their stakeholders and clients. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we share his insights.
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SongDivision CEO Andy Sharpe shares how his company pivoted to online events.
After pivoting to virtual events, meeting planners now face a new challenge: how to keep attendees engaged and battle Zoom fatigue? One option is to add a musical component to the event, whether it be bringing in A-list talent to perform, hosting a lip-sync battle or working with songwriters to create a team anthem. “Whenever someone comes onto a session with us, if they’re getting Zoom fatigue in their current environment, we’re going to be a shot in the arm, a breath of fresh air for them," says Andy Sharpe, founder and CEO of SongDivision, which offers interactive musical experiences for events. SongDivision has worked on more than 400 digital events since the pandemic began. In this episode of the Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, SongDivision founder and CEO Andy Sharpe discusses how the company transitioned from working on live to virtual meetings, and how music can help unite virtual terms and liven up digital meetings.
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To address these new imperatives, Northstar Meetings Group recently hosted a webcast featuring Tracy Stuckrath, owner of Thrive! Meetings & Events and an expert on food safety and allergies. She discussed the range of questions that planners should be asking, from staff training to food sourcing and room design. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we share some highlights from that conversation. Listeners will learn: • Why food safety practices should no longer be kept “behind the kitchen door” (beginning at 2:30 minutes) • Ways F&B can present risks to attendees — even though the virus is not passed through food itself (6:40) • How the pandemic is likely to impact food prices (13:45) • How to modify the timing and layout of your meals to ensure social distancing (16:50) • Why it might make sense to renegotiate F&B minimums (22:50) To view the full webcast on-demand, and earn CMP credits, visit northstarmeetingsgroup.com/FoodWebcast.
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Since Covid-19 hit, so much has changed about how we approach travel, and how individuals and organizations assess the risks of going to another city or country. Today, event planners and individual business travelers must navigate new rules and restrictions, take additional precautions and manage a number of logistical steps that would have been hard to imagine just a few months ago.
During Incentive Live, Northstar’s digital event, Suzanne Sangiovese, commercial and communications director at Riskline [LINK], presented on “The New Science of Travel.” She discussed each stage of the attendee’s journey, how it has changed in response to Covid-19 and steps every traveler should take to ensure their safety.
On today’s episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we share those tips.
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David Kliman discusses navigating the current crisis and thriving in a challenging environment.
When the Covid crisis hit, David Kliman, president of The Kliman Group, watched his business plans disintegrate. “The day before the lockdown, I had a full calendar — it was going to be a banner year,” he says. “A day after, I had an empty calendar.”
In that way, he’s like many in the industry, who faced unprecedented difficulties as the pandemic hit. But instead of mourning his lost business or idly waiting for it to come back, he picked up the phone — reaching out to industry members to ask how he could help.
In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Kliman discusses what came out of those phone calls: The Events Industry Council’s APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force — an international team of industry thought leaders helping to curate and share accepted practices to help the industry recover. He also offers other tips for navigating the current crisis and positioning your business to meet the demands of a changed landscape for meetings and events.
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Bizly’s Kevin Iwamoto explains how meeting planners can adapt to a changed world. The meetings industry as a whole is experiencing the five stages of grief, according to Bizly chief strategy officer Kevin Iwamoto, and a lot of professionals are stuck in the denial stage. We need to fast-track that psychological process, he says, so that we can reach the final stage — acceptance. Iwamoto, a longtime industry consultant and thought leader, says that planners should be busy preparing for the many COVID-driven realities that will reshape live events for the long term. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, he talks with Northstar’s Loren Edelstein about modifiying meeting agendas for an online audience, and preparing both in-person and remote audiences for a very different experience.
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Legal expert Jonathan Howe on the latest legal risks for meeting professionals. The COVID-19 pandemic has created plenty of legal issues for the events industry, from grappling with force majeure clauses to negotiating attrition terms that make sense. As face-to-face events slowly begin to resume in some form, one question continues to pop up: Can planners be held liable if an attendee contracts COVID at their event? It’s a tricky matter, and one that was recently addressed by Jonathan Howe, founding partner of Chicago's Howe & Hutton law firm and Northstar Meetings Group's longtime legal expert. Howe spoke with Loren Edelstein, vice president and content director for Northstar Meetings Group, during Interact Independent Planners, the latest in Northstar’s new series of half-day digital meetings for planners and suppliers. He discussed liability and contract issues and answered questions from the attendees who joined the event. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we are featuring excerpts from that conversation.
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This certification helps assure event stakeholders of their venues’ commitment to health safety. As the meetings industry continues to grapple with the many challenges presented by the COVID pandemic, venues are revamping their hygiene practices in order to mitigate health risks for visitors. To help in this effort, a new certificate program from the Global BioRisk Advisory Council, a division of the worldwide cleaning industry association ISSA, has been introduced with the aim of providing meeting planners and attendees the assurance that high levels of cleanliness and safety are being followed. A handful of hotels, convention centers and cities have already signed on to this GBAC Star program, with many more in the process of gaining accreditation. On this episode of Eventful, we speak with Patricia Olinger, executive director of the Global BioRisk Advisory Council, as well as Dominic Bruno, director of facility operations for the Georgia World Congress Center — the first venue to receive the GBAC Star certification. They discuss the steps required for venues to attain certification and why this kind of program is key if face-to-face meetings are to return.
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How to enhance the meeting experience for both in-person attendees and remote viewers
The freeze on live-in-person events in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many meeting planners to become more comfortable creating digital meetings. As physical gatherings slowly and haltingly return, these same planners can channel their new digital experience into the design of hybrid events, combining the in-person and remote audiences to accomplish meeting goals.
On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we speak with a pair of experts about best practices for these hybrid events. Alex Patriquin, founder and CEO of events management platform EventGeek, believes we should be preparing for the fact that all events will soon be hybrid. Ashanti Bentil-Dhue, founder and director of virtual and hybrid-event production company EventMind, shares the four key elements vital to the success of any hybrid gathering. They discuss how to engage each audience in distinct ways, how to leverage venue and sponsor partners to enhance the experience for all involved, and why these meetings will be a big part of our collective future.
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Elizabeth West of the BTN Group details the current and future realities of business travel.
Not many employees are on the road right now, but travel managers have had a very busy year. Even with minimal travel volume, it’s going to take a lot of legwork to prepare companies for the safe return of business travel and meetings. Elizabeth West, editorial director of The BTN Group, has been leading regular group discussions with travel managers since the beginning of the pandemic. In her role, she oversees content for Business Travel News, Travel Procurement and The Beat. For this episode of Eventful, we talked with Elizabeth about this odd time in the corporate travel world, what will be different as business travel ramps up again.
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While our meetings may be taking place online, they still offer many unique revenue-generating opportunities.
Restrictions on face-to-face gatherings have led to a surge in virtual meetings. But while webcasts and digital networking sessions have proven popular, they have many planners concerned about the lack of revenue they are bringing in. Not all of the same engaging sponsorship opportunities associated with live events are available in the digital realm, but there are still plenty of creative ways to incorporate sponsor branding, exposure, messaging and complete virtual sponsorship packages for your digital events.
On today’s episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we feature a pair of experts on virtual sponsorships. The first is Keri Mcintosh, senior vice president of events for The Castle Group, a full-service event management and PR firm based in Boston. Keri has been working with clients who had to move their events online to develop creative sponsor programs. We’ll also hear insights from Beth Surmont, director of experience design for 360 Live Media. She recently presented at a live Northstar Meetings Group webcast, “Boosting Audience Engagement at Virtual Meetings,” and took a few minutes to speak specifically about event virtual sponsorships.
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Global trend-watcher Vikram Mansharamani advises planners to consult experts when necessary, but take responsibility for the big decisions.
At a time of such unpredictability, disruption and risk, it is hard for even the most experienced meeting planner to feel confident when making major decisions about when or whether to hold their next event, or what form it should take. To help explore how planners can make these choices, Vikram Mansharamani, a lecturer at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and author of the just-released Think for Yourself: Restoring Common Sense in an Age of Experts and Artificial Intelligence, as well as Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst, offers his insights.
He spoke previously at Northstar Meetings Group’s SMU International at the end of February, just as the threat of the coronavirus was beginning to be understood. At that time, he told the audience of meeting planners and supplier, “This is a turbulent time, but there's always been turbulence. That’s not the issue. The issue is how you think about it."
While things have changed significantly since then, that statement still seems to holds true. “We need to keep experts on tap but not on top,” he explains. “We should be using expert input to decide a path forward for ourselves, but we are responsible for understanding the big-picture story, we are responsible for understanding the context of our decisions.”
Here, Mansharamani walks listeners through decision-making strategies and describes why at this time when nobody has all the answers, planners ultimately must make big decisions themselves.
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June is Pride Month, but this year the rainbow flag that celebrates freedom of sexual expression has perhaps been overshadowed by Black Lives Matter flags, signs and banners, as the issue of racial inequality drawn heated attention and concern across the country and in many parts of the world.
For the meetings and travel business, this is a difficult and important time to assess our progress with diversity and inclusion among all oppressed groups, says Jim Clapes, events manager for the Specialty Food Association and chair of the LGBT Meeting Professionals Association (and former events manager for the Drug Policy Alliance). We’ve made some strides as an industry, Clapes says, but there’s plenty of work to be done.
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Gregg Talley discusses how associations are managing events amid the pandemic.
The "glory days" of international conferences are probably over, says Gregg Talley, CAE, FASAE. As president and CEO of Talley Management Group, Inc., which manages 35 international associations, he's been helping clients launch virtual events in the short term and organize hybrid meetings in the longer term. Two months ago he told Northstar that COVID-19 would force associations to rethink their business models. Now he's helping them tackle that challenge.
The pandemic is just one factor driving change. Deepening economic pressures, health concerns, political issues and civil unrest are cracking the foundation of traditional association business models. In a recent conversation, I asked Talley, "Do associations need to reinvent themselves completely?" His answer: "You hold your values in place, but yeah, I think it's all brand new now." Talley does see a silver lining amid today's challenges: the much-needed opportunity to reset our personal priorities, rethink how we live our daily lives and reinvent how we meet.
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Black meeting professionals share their thoughts on the Black Lives Matter protests and how the industry should respond.
The past two weeks have seen large-scale demonstrations in almost every major U.S. city and across the world as hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the killing of George Floyd, and the need for widespread police reform. The events have not only renewed demands for major changes, but have put the spotlight on the country’s ongoing discrimination against people of color, and black people in particular. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we hear from industry insiders on the protests, their own experiences, and the need for greater diversity in the meetings industry. Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC and national chair for the U.S. Travel Association (left), and Jason Dunn, group vice president of diversity sales and inclusion for the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau and chair of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (right), are among those who share their thoughts.
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Entrepreneur and investor Marco Giberti discusses the meetings tech changes we can expect in the years to come.
The rapid shift away from face-to-face events due to the COVID-19 pandemic has meant a steep drop in revenue, loss of jobs and widespread disruption in the meetings industry. But it has also created a situation that could significantly accelerate innovation in the world of event technology.
That’s the opinion of entrepreneur and investor Marco Giberti, featured inthis episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals. The founder of Vesuvio Ventures and a serial entrepreneur himself in the events sector shares his thoughts on the long-term changes we might expect from this upheaval — and how our current experiences with technology could form the basis for the tools we use for years to come. True innovation and fresh perspectives, he adds, could well come from outside the meetings industry.
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Expert tips on connecting with an audience that isn’t in the room. As planners have had to cancel face-to-face gatherings of all sizes, digital meetings have become a vital alternative. But for those accustomed to developing in-person events, it’s become clear that the rules for engaging face-to-face attendees don’t necessarily apply in the digital universe. To provide best practices for designing a captivating virtual event, Northstar Meetings Group recently hosted a webcast, “Welcoming the Virtual Attendee,” featuring a pair of presenters experienced in planning digital and hybrid events. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we’re bringing you highlights from that webcast. You’ll hear from Elise Keith, co-founder and CEO of Lucid Meetings and Meeting School and the author of Where the Action Is: The Meetings That Make or Break Your Organization; and Nancy Settle-Murphy, president of meeting facilitation company Guided Insights and author of Leading Effective Virtual Teams. Together they provide valuable insights about hosting virtual events and how to avoid common mistakes made when transitioning to a digital format. The full version of this webcast, along with additional live and on-demand Northstar webcasts, can be found at northstarmeetingsgroup.com/webcasts.
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No mask? No problem. Based on attendee pushback, a coronavirus test at the door will be the only health safety measure for this business event.
Do attendees want to wear masks and keep their distance when meetings resume, or will such practices detract too much from the experience of live events? That’s a question Bradley Metrock, CEO of Nashville-based Score Publishing, has been grappling with for months.
His team painstakingly created Project Voice Series Protocols that would include COVID-19 testing, daily temperature checks and health monitoring. “It was really hardcore,” says Metrock. “We said there’s going to be masks, distancing, no food, no swag.” The 420-person capacity of the conference center at Harvard Medical School would be cut down to 200 with appropriately distanced room setups.
But two factors upended that plan: Harvard will likely remain closed until Labor Day, and attendees didn’t want to come to an event so mired in health safety measures. Within days, a completely different plan was hatched. The Voice of Healthcare Summit, Special Edition, will be a one-day event at the Boston Winery on Aug. 5, 2020, with a projected 125 to 150 participants. The only health protocol will be a COVID-19 test at registration. Those who test positive will be sent home with a refund; those negative will enjoy a “halfway normal” event, said Metrock.
We spoke with Metrock on May 15 about the factors that drove his decision, and how he expects to pull it off.
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Jonathan Spero of InHouse Physicians describes what it will take to give attendees the confidence to meet again.
When can we start meeting again? There’s no simple answer to this question, considering the various local restrictions, evolving public-health developments and the individual preferences and concerns of attendees. But whenever meetings finally resume, we can be sure that planners will need to have a plan in place for protecting their attendees, reducing the risk of infection spread and providing every stakeholder with the resources they need to meet without fearing for their health.
For every meeting there must be a health security plan, according to Jonathan Spero, CEO of InHouse Physicians. For 30 years InHouse Physicians has provided corporate meetings and events with medical care resources to help attendees and offer health guidance to both planners and venues. For the latest episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we spoke with Spero about how planners can set out a clear plan, drawn on expert advice, to prevent, detect and respond to COVID-19 risks at meetings of all sizes. Even once meetings are allowed to resume, he points out, they can only happen if attendees are comfortable enough to attend.
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Dawn Penfold, an executive recruiter for the meetings industry, offers advice for event professionals. The unprecedented job losses and economic damage caused by the pandemic shutdown have seriously impacted almost all areas of the meetings industry, as countless event professionals are now out of work or suddenly unsure about their futures. But while things might be unclear and even alarming, there are some steps that meeting planners can be taking now to navigate this fast-changing terrain and to position themselves for a comeback. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we spoke with Dawn Penfold, founder and president of Meetingjobs.com. She discusses what planners can be doing now to improve their job prospects, how this crisis will reorient employers' priorities and what lessons we can apply from previous crises.
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Michael Dominguez, president and CEO of Associated Luxury Hotels International, sees reasons for hope for the meetings industry — and not just in the distant future. "I see a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not another train coming at us," he says. How bright that light is depends on where you're located. "What's happening in New York, New Jersey and other states in that area is different than anywhere else in the country. That's not the reality outside of that corridor." With the April 16 release of the "Opening Up America Again" guidelines from the White House, Dominguez says that if precautions are taken and we don't see a spike in cases, some areas might see something resembling normalcy as soon as six weeks from now. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Dominguez outlines his reasons for cautious optimism, the steps ALHI is taking to establish health and safety measures for its member properties and how he expects the industry to "come back in phases."
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Meetings Mean Business Co-Chair Trina Camacho-London on how the industry must be proactive in the face of global challenges.
Last Tuesday, April 14, was supposed to be Global Meetings Industry Day — the annual day of advocacy for in-person events in which groups around the world gather together to celebrate. But due to lockdowns and travel restrictions in response to COVID-19, that was not an option this year. Yet the Meetings Mean Business Coalition, which created GMID, partnered with Meeting Professionals International and the Events Industry Council to create GMID Virtual. The online series of events and education sessions gave members of the industry plenty of insights and information, even if it lacked the face-to-face experience that has been part of the event in its previous four iterations. To discuss the event and the state of the meetings industry at this critical time, we reached out to Trina Camacho-London, vice president of global group sales for Hyatt Hotels Corp., who serves as co-chair of the Meetings Mean Business Coalition. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Camacho-London discusses how the organization is working to address the COVID-19 crisis, working closely with the U.S. Travel Association and serving as a hub for its numerous meetings industry partners — and how MMBC aims to help the industry come out of this stronger than ever.
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Positive Impact Events' Fiona Pelham outlines how the events industry will need to get more strategic in the wake of the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the global economy, public health and the meetings industry in particular. And even as events return, it is likely that planners will face more questions on why an event must happen in person and feel greater pressure to make the business case for face-to-face meetings. To discuss the long-term effect that the pandemic may have on the role of meeting planners, we spoke with Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events, who has dedicated herself to helping meeting planners evolve their approach to prepare not for the next few months, but for years into the future. Last year, she submitted an acceleration action to the UN Sustainable Development Goals Summit that showed how the in-person events industry could help accomplish the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and help it find new solutions. Here she discusses how in the wake of COVID-19, meeting and event planners will need to get more strategic, serving far more than a logistical role as they make the case for meetings, and elevate their reporting on how these gatherings can have a positive impact for both the global economy and environment. She also discusses why virtual meetings offer plenty of opportunities — but can't replace the "serendipity" of in-person gatherings.
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Crisis management expert Edward Segal shares his tips for getting through such unprecedented times. These are challenging times for any meeting planner. But instead of being fearful of the economic upheaval brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a time to focus on what can be done to survive the crisis and bounce back once it ends. That’s the advice of Edward Segal, a crisis-management and public relations consultant whose clients have included companies and trade shows in the meetings, consumer electronics, plastics and real estate industries. He is also the author of Crisis Ready — 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies, out later this month. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we speak with Segal about his tips for getting through such unprecedented times.
This episode is sponsored by Meet AC. Atlantic City is eager to welcome you back to our seaside destination when we defeat this crisis and come back stronger together. Learn more at meetac.com.
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Productivity guru David Allen offers tips on how to cut out wasted time at meetings and events.
While the industry continues to reel from the COVID-19 pandemic, we thought we would pause the news onslaught and get back to basics: How do meetings help us get things done? Whether hosting a gathering in-person or from home, with five attendees or 5,000, there are some constants when it comes to making your event productive. That's the outlook of David Allen, productivity expert and author of Getting Things Done, who has introduced more than 2 million people to his approach to tracking and managing all of the things one wants to complete in one's work and personal life — and actually doing them. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, we speak with Allen about how to run meetings more effectively — clarifying the purpose of gatherings of all sizes, determining who is responsible for what and ensuring that every event ends with actionable takeaways. He also talks about why magic happens when getting people together for face-to-face events. Note that this conversation took place several weeks before the coronavirus pandemic began to significantly disrupt the global meetings industry.
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These are unpredictable times, to say the least, with all signs pointing to a dramatic economic downturn. When conditions improve, many businesses will not look the same as they once did. Instead of just bracing yourself and hoping for the best, now is the time to take proactive steps to shore up your business. That’s the advice of Jonathan Slain, author of Rock the Recession, who in 2009 had to borrow a quarter-million dollars from his mother-in-law to keep his business afloat. In the years since, he’s dedicated himself to identifying what he could have done differently so that instead of sinking in the downturn, he could have used it to his advantage. We spoke with Jonathan about some of those lessons, how meeting professionals can determine their level of preparedness, and what they should be doing right now to strengthen their business as the going gets tougher.
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The world has been turned upside down in the past week by the spread of COVID-19, and even the most knowledgeable experts are unsure of what it will mean to the travel and meetings business in the months and even years ahead. But while such unpredictable times create challenges for forecasting about the future and the meetings industry specifically, upheaval and change also demand creative thinking, and a plan not just for weathering the current crisis, but how to recover after it.
To that end, we spoke with Dan Berger, founder of Social Tables, who recently shared his predictions for the next decade at Northstar Meetings Group’s SMU International event in New York City just two weeks ago. We spoke with Berger on March 10 about how the coronavirus could impact events long term, and more general trends around meeting technology, venue sourcing and the future of meetings.
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The fast spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has led a large number of event and meeting organizers to ask tough questions about changes they might need to make to the event or whether it can be held at all. At the top of most of these lists: What are our options as far as insurance? While this often depends on the specific event and policy held by the organizer, there are some general rules of thumb that planners should keep in mind — and important questions that they can ask in reviewing the policies they currently have in place. To better understand what options are available to planners when it comes to their event insurance in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, Northstar Meetings Group’s news and technology editor, Michael Shapiro, caught up with Michael Giusti, senior writer at InsuranceQuotes.com and expert on special-event insurance. Listen to learn where event insurance can be a major help — and where it can’t.
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Puerto Rico has seen more than its fair share of adversity in recent years. Just this year, it has experienced a 6.4-magnitude earthquake and thousands of smaller quakes and aftershocks since, as well as political unrest and protests. This as the destination is still recovering from the impact of Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the Zika virus before that.
But as it has been hit by one challenge after another, the island has shown itself to be nothing if not resilient, coming back stronger than it had been before and ready to welcome back meeting and incentive groups. As concerns about the impact of coronavirus affect a growing number of destinations, Puerto Rico offers an inspiring example of how a place can boomerang back after difficulty and seemingly insurmountable setbacks.
Last month, we caught up with Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico, to discuss how the destination has navigated so many challenges and continues to keep attracting corporate and incentive groups. With the expansive new entertainment district El Distrito slated to open in San Juan in a few weeks, he discussed why Puerto Rico is not just back, but a better destination than ever for meetings.
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Each day brings alarming headlines about the fast-spreading coronavirus, with the numbers of people infected and countries impacted rising steadily. Health concerns haven’t just halted travel in China, they’ve taken a toll on the global travel and meetings industry. In reality though, there’s no reason for meetings outside of China to be canceled, according to Dr. William Spangler, a board-certified emergency physician and the global medical director for AIG Travel Guard, We spoke with Dr. Spangler last week about the realities of the risk, and how we can protect ourselves in meetings, on the road and at home. In short, wash your hands! Note that this interview was recorded last week, so some of the statistics mentioned have changed.
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Last year saw a surge of public interest in climate change — and the impact of travel and meetings on the environment. Since travel, consumption and producing waste are often components of large-scale gatherings, pressure is growing on events to find ways to reduce their carbon emissions. But how can we accomplish this goal when travel, consumption and waste are usually integral components to gatherings of people? This edition of Eventful, produced as part of the Better Meetings, Better Future initiative between Northstar Meetings Group and Positive Impact Events, aims to answer these questions. The team at Positive Impact Events sat down with Miguel Naranjo, program officer at Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Michael Schneider, assistant director of the International Air Transport Association, to discuss practical ways event professionals can reduce the carbon emissions, the role carbon offsetting can play, and how lowering carbon emissions can help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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As we dive into a new decade, it’s a good time to stop and consider the value that events and the people who plan them provide — both in a direct, revenue-generating sense and in a more big-picture way. To discuss the evolving role of meeting planners, we spoke with Sherrif Karamat, CEO and president of the Professional Convention Management Association. Here he discusses why financial returns are just a piece of the ROI that event organizers should be measuring and how planners should be thinking about the work they do.
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In a time of unpredictability, instability and security concerns, the meetings industry has proven surprisingly resilient, enjoying more than 10 straight years of growth. But while the outlook remains positive, it is important to maintain a sense of caution, as well.
At the most recent Northstar Leadership Forum, held in Sea Island, Georgia, we had the chance to speak one-on-one with Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. We discussed how the travel industry, including meetings and events, has proven surprisingly resilient during a time of global instability and security concerns. But he stressed that this is not the time to let down our guards, explaining the importance of making a strong business case for the value of meetings — to city leaders, corporate executives and policymakers. In this wide-ranging discussion, Dow touches on topics including overtourism, responsible travel and meetings’ impact on the global economy.
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The fast-changing legal status of cannabis has introduced some important issues for meeting professionals. These include ensuring that attendees know the rules on cannabis consumption in the meeting location, the proliferation of events related to the legal cannabis industry and what exactly CBD is — and how it can be integrated into an event.
“Will we be seeing bud bars at receptions or marijuana-laced edibles in swag bags? Will pot tastings be the new wine tastings?,” asks Barbara Peterson in Meetings & Conventions' recent cover story. While her answer is “probably not,” her article explores where cannabis is playing a role in events and how planners should be approaching this burgeoning industry.
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It's a phrase plenty of meeting planners have heard before: "meetings are boring." It's often true, but it doesn't have to be. What needs to change so that the audience is excited, engaged — and not tempted to check email? For this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, sponsored by Wynn Resorts, we speak with a pair of experts on busting up the typical boring meeting. They offer tips on how to connect with attendees and create an event that will not only hold their interest, but have them talking about what they learned long after the event is over. The guests for this episode are: Lain Hensley, co-owner and head dream chaser of Odyssey Teams, Inc., who founded the company to create teambuilding and CSR experiences for companies of all kinds. Dianne Devitt, founder and owner of The DND Group and author of What Color Is Your Event?, has decades of experience in helping clients deliver their best and cut through the noise of a typical gathering.
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Planning a med-pharma event requires navigating a complex maze of regulations and laws on the federal and state levels — not to mention new rules in a growing number of international destinations. But keeping your eye only on compliance can dull the engagement elements. Health-care professionals are people, too, and want to meet at memorable venues, hear great speakers and partake in fun activities as much as any other attendee. For this episode of Eventful, sponsored by Visit Seattle, we speak with experts on med-pharma meetings about how to create impactful events for these industries to ensure compliance and produce an engaging gathering. Guests include: Pat Schaumann, president of Schaumann Consulting Group, the former senior director of health-care compliance for both Maritz Global Events and Meeting Professionals International. She is the author of Breaking the Code to Healthcare Compliance. Windy Christner, senior director of meetings and expositions for the American Pharmacists Association, which hosts educational programming throughout the year, including a 6,000-person annual meeting in March and the 1,000-person Joint Federal Pharmacy Seminar. Katie Koziol, director of client services at Ashfield Meetings & Events, which specializes in health-care meetings and has published a series of guides and white papers on planning med-pharma events. This episode is sponsored by Visit Seattle.
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Fostering a sense of inclusion is of growing importance for any meeting or convention today, and key to accomplishing that is the selection of a destination. A city that creates a sense of welcome to attendees of a wide range of experiences and backgrounds can make the difference between an engaging, well-attended event and one that gets skipped. But what makes a destination “inclusive” and how can planners work with a CVB, venue and other partners to ensure their event warmly welcomes all types of visitors?
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Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events, discusses how business events can play a role in the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals, how climate change must be central to meeting and event planning strategy, and how we, as an industry, can adopt more sustainable behaviors in our professional and personal lives.
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To understand how the youngest members of the workforce are approaching meetings differently than those who came before them, we speak with David and Jonah Stillman. David, a longtime researcher and expert on generational marketing, teamed up with his son Jonah (a member of Gen Z himself) to found Gen Z Guru. The two speak on the topic of how to connect to Gen Z employees and customers and are the authors of Gen Z @ Work.
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From the producers of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, this special podcast episode, created in partnership with Wynn Resorts, focuses on how these innovations provide big benefits to corporate groups. Wynn Resorts Chief Sustainability Officer Erik Hansen discusses how this cutting-edge approach to energy procurement enhances meetings and events held at a Wynn property. He outlines how Wynn’s new Zero Carbon, Zero Waste Event service, one of the most exciting advancements to date from Wynn Las Vegas, brings benefits to meetings and conventions clients of all sizes — and to the wider world.
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Domestic cities offer cost savings and logistical ease compared to more far-flung options. But can they also work as an incentive destination — providing immersive experiences as motivating as any posh getaway? For this episode, we speak to experts from One10, BCD Meetings & Events and more to discuss how to make domestic cities succeed as incentive destinations.
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Convention centers are changing. Rather than huge boxy buildings set on the outskirts of a city, ambitious new facilities are being fully integrated with their surrounding cities, putting attendees in the middle of the action, even if they spend much of the day on the trade show floor. Consider Seattle, where the Washington State Convention Center is in the midst of a transformation. We spoke with Visit Seattle President & CEO Tom Norwalk and Washington State Convention Center President & CEO Jeff Blosser about what it means for the destination and how it reflects the broader changes happening for conventions today.
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Are your meetings and events welcoming environments for LGBTQ participants? The meetings industry has made progress, but there is plenty of room for improvement. In the latest episode, we spoke with Jim Clapes, conference and events manager for Drug Policy Alliance, who is also chair of the LGBT Meeting Professionals Association. He discussed how small changes — providing all-gender bathrooms, encouraging use of preferred pronouns and planning LGBTQ mixers — can make a big difference.
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Innovation in the meetings industry is moving at a fast pace. New tools and creative solutions are making it easier than ever for planners to create impactful events and boost their bottom line. For today's episode, we speak with a pair of experts who have their fingers on the pulse of how the industry is using tech: Keith Johnston, managing partner of i3 and the person behind Plannerwire, and Mark Cooper, CEO of the International Association of Conference Centers, which represents almost 400 venues worldwide. They share their specific tips on how planners can use technology to better reach their goals.
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How accessible is your event? Meeting the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act is not nearly enough to fully accommodate attendees with differing abilities. For this week’s episode, Rosemarie Rossetti, an accessibility expert and consultant who travels globally to discuss inclusive meetings and events and Universal Design, discusses physical space details to consider, such as height of registration desks or the direction in which a door opens, how to use “person-first” language when referencing people with disabilities and more.
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Convention and visitor bureaus have traditionally been viewed by planners as a handy resource — an organization with useful info about a destination’s latest updates or available attractions. But for those planners who know what to ask, these organizations can offer far more, helping planners elevate their events and better meet their goals in myriad ways.
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Bruce McIndoe, president and founder of WorldAware, discusses the risks that meetings planners must consider, including why monitoring social media is a key component of protecting your meetings and why it's vital to ask about every scenario and situation: "what could go wrong?"
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Melissa Majors, CEO of Melissa Majors Consulting, works with organizations to help them develop an approach to diversity that fosters genuine inclusion with creates bottom-line benefits. Sponsored by American Airlines, on this episode, we speak with Majors about how to effectively make one’s events feel more inclusive — not just in terms of race and gender, but generation, personality and numerous other areas.
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As the big hotel brands get bigger, independent hotels are touting their freedom to be nimble and flexible to meet clients’ needs. That’s the sweet spot for Danielle Bishop, president and founder of HB Hospitality, a membership-based community of luxury independent properties and meeting planner clients. In this week’s episode, Bishop tells us about the benefits of working directly with independent hotels, why the industry should simplify the current business model so that it’s more transparent and more.
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This week, guns again commanded headlines as a pair of mass shootings took place in Texas and Ohio hours apart, resulting in the deaths of more than 30 people. Recorded before these latest incidents, this episode looks at some of these issues around how to ensure the security and safety of their guests or attendees while obeying federal and state laws around gun possession.
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Planners of international events are concerned about terrorism threats, airfare costs and local health concerns. These were among the top findings of M&C’s 15th annual Global Planner survey, which asked those who plan meetings outside the United States to share their experiences in areas such as site selection, budgeting and working with international suppliers. In this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Northstar Meetings Group’s destinations editor, Lisa A. Grimaldi, discusses key takeaways from this original research, as well as what she is learning about international travel from top meetings destinations.
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As Michael Dominguez moves this week from his role as chief sales officer for MGM Resorts into the CEO post at Associated Luxury Hotels International, some things won't change: his commitment to the meetings industry — and MGM — and knack for sizing up the state of the industry and looking into the future.
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Anywhere from 30 million to 40 million people in the world today are estimated to be victims of human trafficking — and there are things that meeting planners could be doing to help fight this exploitation. On the inaugural episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Northstar Meetings Group's vice president, content director, Loren Edelstein speaks with contributing editor Cheryl-Anne Sturken about why hotel brands, industry leaders and meeting planners are sounding the alarm on human trafficking, and the steps that can be taken to fight it.
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