April, 2023

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10 Ways to Make Meetings and Events Neuro-Inclusive

MeetingsNet

April is Autism Awareness Month, the perfect time for meeting professionals to commit to learning more about how a few simple changes can improve the meeting experience for neurodiverse attendees. As the growing interest in workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion expands, meeting professionals are considering how events can be more inclusive for neurodiverse attendees, including those with autism.

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10 Event Networking Ideas That Work

Smart Meetings

Would it surprise you to learn that 84% of attendees come to events for networking? Why? Because even the smallest meeting is the best place to find new leads, clients and prospects. Yet, approaching random strangers can be nerve-wracking, especially for work-from-home or introverted employees. However, there is good news. This blog post offers creative solutions that can be fun, engaging, and, most importantly, allow the shyest attendee to walk away with more connections than before they arrive

MICE professionals

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Accessible Tourism – Truths, Tips & Trends

Dana Communications

Who benefits from accessible tourism? Everyone does. More people get the opportunity to enjoy travel destinations they may not have been able to visit with ease (or at all) before. The tourism industry welcomes more visitors. New jobs become available in the travel sector. In fact, it’s quite likely that you or someone you know can benefit from more inclusive travel now or will in the foreseeable future.

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Get to Know ME with Mark Bondy

Motivation Excellence

This one could be a tear-jerker! Mark Bondy has worked in the hospitality/travel/incentive industry since 1980. As the owner of VIKTOR Incentives in Traverse City, Michigan, he sold his company to David Jobes and became part of the transition team at Motivation Excellence in January of 2022 leading up to his impending retirement in April 2023. Some of us have only known him a short time, but it’s been clear that he has immense character and positivity.

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COVID-19 Travel Consumer Sentiment Study

TravelBoom and sister agency, The Brandon Agency, release new consumer sentiment study on travel amidst the COVID-19 second wave

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European travellers opt for early summer trips to beat crowds and rising travel costs

ETC Corporate

About 72% of Europeans intend to travel between April and September this year. Leisure remains the primary reason for travel (69%), though the drop of 7% over 2022 suggests a potential slowdown in the post-pandemic ‘revenge’ travel. Business travel, in contrast, has recorded a 3% annual increase, now accounting for 8% of all intended trips.

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17 Common Event Planning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Social Tables

Event planning consistently ranks as one of most stressful jobs in the U.S. Whether planners find themselves forced to work with difficult personalities, try to juggle juxtaposing requests, fix event planning mistakes, or balance dozens of last-minute event changes, event planners have plenty of reasons to feel stressed. It can be hard to avoid the busy work environment and crazy work schedules many planners find themselves facing but identifying and avoiding common planning faux pas can help av

More Trending

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Cannabis Tourism is Going Mainstream

Smart Meetings

April 20 th is known as the informal national cannabis celebration day, yet it is no longer a day only celebrated by fringe society. With cannabis gaining momentum in state legislations and shedding its stigma to be more visible in mainstream culture, cannabis travel and tourism is a fast-rising market. Smart Meetings sat down with cannabis travel consultant and advocate Brian Applegarth to discuss the integration of cannabis into the tourism industry and what meeting professionals should know.

Tourism 264
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EMEC: 5 things to know about incentive travel in a post-pandemic world

MPI

Pádraic Gilligan, chief marketing officer for SITE, will walk attendees through the latest trends in incentive travel and its “awesome, transformational power” at MPI’s EMEC Brighton, 26-28 March.

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Don’t Shortchange Yourself When it Comes to Making Changes

Motivation Excellence

If the only type of change you can handle jingles in your pockets, it’s time to make some adjustments. After all, change is a constant, and learning how to lean into it can save you some aggravation and wasted time. Being resistant to big and little modifications in your life can mean missing out on amazing opportunities, learning new things, and discovering new interests.

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In-Person Events Build Trust — Vital in a Polarized World 

Skift Meetings

Skift Take: Trust in the business world has eroded to unprecedented levels. One of the only areas it has increased is face-to-face events.

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Evolution of the DMC:Renewing Business Relationships with Deeper Trust, Transparency & Understanding

The evolution of the DMC industry requires that it embark upon a renewed relationship with clients that is built upon transparency, trust, and understanding.

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SocialOffset: An Alternative to Destination Boycotts

Convene by PCMA

SocialOffset makes it possible for event attendees to donate to a vetted charity as a way to offset their travel to a state whose policies may be harmful to causes they support. In 2019, Elena Gerstmann, Ph.D., FASAE, CAE, found herself stuck at an airport where there were no options for food other than a Chick-fil-A. Between bites of her sandwich at the fast-food chain, Gerstmann, who now serves as executive director at INFORMS, an international association for professionals in analytics and op

Retreat 105
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Top 4 Reasons for Hosting a Corporate Event

Bizzaboo

Happy employees make happy companies because they’re more engaged and more productive. Yet across the world, just one out of every five employees is engaged at work, according to Gallup. However, Gallup says that by following employee engagement best practices, companies can boost engagement all the way to 73%. Since engaged employees are more productive, are less burned out, and stick around for longer, smart organizations are focused on doing everything they can to boost happiness and engageme

Retreat 105
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Smart Meetings Virginia Beach Experience: Lessons in the Future of F2F

Smart Meetings

Let’s face it, people like to do business with people they know. Sharing news, goals, meals and space face-to-face is the fastest way to get to know each other. That is why Smart Meetings gathered top meeting professionals F2F in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for three days this week at Smart Meetings Extraordinary Experience Mid-Atlantic to learn about the industry and each other.

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Join the fight against human trafficking during MPI’s GMID broadcast

MPI

Malinda Harrell says that when it comes to the fight against human trafficking in the meeting industry, one of the key first steps is to unlearn what you think you’ve learned.

Meeting 105
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The Time Is Now: MICE and business travel are on the rise

Travel Daily Media

The post The Time Is Now: MICE and business travel are on the rise appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Travel Daily. Over the past few decades, business travel has experienced a significant rise as companies expand their operations globally and seek to tap into new markets. In parallel, the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) industry has also grown in importance, providing a platform for businesses to connect, network, and promote their products and services to a wid

Travel 105
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The Sharing Economy and the Tourism Industry Prospects, Opportunities and Challenges

Travel Daily News

The sharing economy issue started at the beginning of the 21st century with the general goal of sharing the additional benefit through different business models, helping people save money. The sharing economy has managed to create a new way of traveling, through online sharing platforms that facilitated direct transactions between ordinary citizens to share houses and cars, traditional foods and local information, enabling social interactions that connected tourists to the local community.

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Creating Empathetic Events

Convene by PCMA

One way to design an event with empathy is to begin right away at registration — by providing snacks and drinks while attendees wait. (Whatever Media Group) ‘We sometimes forget that our audiences are made up of people.’ — Beth Surmont, CMP-Fellow, FASAE, CAE Of all the tools in my event design toolbox, I think that empathy is the most powerful one.

Events 101
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How to Navigate a Successful Site Visit

Skift Meetings

Skift Take: As hoteliers and venue operators struggle to conduct quality post-pandemic site visits, planners are having to expend more time and effort to ensure successful site selection.

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How a Service Mindset Can Help Meeting Profs

Smart Meetings

James Beck shares the power of creating lasting impressions by practicing service and giving In 2011, James Beck made the decision to give away all his personal possessions and travel the U.S. doing good deeds without asking for anything other than to pay it forward. Beck, a relationship building expert and TEDx speaker, shared with the Smart Chat Live!

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Top 12 Event Planning Certifications You Need To Propel Your Career

Bizzaboo

Ever wonder how the alphabet soup of CMP, CSEP, CPCE, and CGMP can prepare you for a successful career in event planning? Curious whether event planner courses and event planning certifications are worth it? Not sure how to become an event planner? This is the article for you! Read on to learn about the most popular event planning courses, event management courses, event planning certifications, and more to turn your passion for gatherings into a lifetime career you’ll love.

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Relationship with TMC Key to Travel Manager’s Success

Fox World Travel

Why is the relationship with your Travel Management Company the key to success? As travel services manager for a 4000-employee business and personal insurance provider, Jenna Joswick thought she knew everything her online booking tool offered. It wasn’t until the mutual insurance company contracted with Fox World Travel as their travel management company that she […] The post Relationship with TMC Key to Travel Manager’s Success appeared first on Fox World Travel.

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It’s time to change the conversation, says Encore’s Amanda Armstrong

MPI

Amanda Armstrong says that as the meeting industry prepares to celebrate Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) on March 30, it’s important to think bigger than our economic value.

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Get the Complete Destination Experience at Ocean Casino Resort

Convene by PCMA

Choosing the right venue is one of the biggest decisions you must make as a planner. With Ocean Casino Resort, the decision becomes easy. Featuring 1,860 guest rooms, an on-site spa and bathhouse, 20-plus dining concepts, and more than 160,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, this AAA Four-Diamond resort has everything you need to wow your attendees.

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The best languages to learn for business and the hospitality industry

EHL Insights

L earning and speaking foreign languages opens doors to new cultures and countries, helps to work in international environments , and altogether , is an additional asset in life. In terms of employability, language proficiency constitutes a significant added value to your CV. But are there any languages in particular that might benefit a prospective hospitality industry employee?

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Food Rules to Effectively Navigate Your Meeting Menus

Smart Meetings

Satisfy special requests by following this checklist Vegetarian. Gluten-Free. Paleo. Sustainable Foods. These are just some of today’s attendees’ requirements and requests. Menu choices are more varied and sustainable than ever before. And they must be social media shareable. A lot of pressure on you and the chef…right? Fortunately, with good planning and collaboration with venue staff, you can assemble the right food for the right attendee at the right time without budget overruns.

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12 Steps for Creating a Great Event Marketing Plan 

Bizzaboo

Event marketing can be a complex and time-consuming process, but it is essential for ensuring that your event is a success. A well-crafted marketing plan for events will help you reach your target audience, generate interest in your event, and drive ticket sales. Curious how to create a marketing plan for an event? Here are 12 steps to help you create a success-oriented marketing plan: 1.

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7 Questions to Make You a Better Buyer of On-Site Internet

MeetingsNet

How robust does your event network need to be, and what’s negotiable? Here are some things to consider before signing a connectivity contract. In the past year, Jay Klein planned one event where he was charged $150 for an ethernet line for a week and another where the same-size line was $2,500 per day. Tens of thousands of dollars can separate one hotel’s internet fees from another.

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Jessie States, VP of MPI Academy, receives IACC Award of Excellence

MPI

Jessie States, CMP, CMM, vice president of the MPI Academy, was honored with IACC’s Award of Excellence yesterday during the IACC Americas Knowledge Exchange 2023 in Durham, N.C.

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Find Your Vibe in Columbus

Convene by PCMA

After a successful run as the host of PCMA Convening Leaders 2023 this past January , Columbus should be on every planner’s short list for their next event. Ohio’s capital has been listed on so many “best places” lists that it’s hard to keep track. And its reputation for collaboration, innovation and inclusivity helps create a welcoming and energetic vibe that both planners and attendees love.

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How to stop the culture of fear and bullying in the Hospitality Industry

EHL Insights

Formerly Professor of Food and Beverage and Service Operations Management at EHL, Ian Scarth has a background in strategic development and leadership within the hotel and hospitality sectors. In this article he gives his views on the culture of fear and bullying the hospitality industry has gained a reputation for. He aims to shed light on our sector which is struggling with the contradiction between its core purpose of offering hospitality and the often-highlighted bullying - yet to be eliminat

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Meeting Profs Travel Report: Brightline Adds Orlando

Smart Meetings

In what may be a ground-changing move for hotels and meeting planners doing business in Florida, Brightline, the only intercity, eco-friendly high-speed rail in the U.S. has unveiled its Brightline Orlando Station at Orlando International Airport (MCO). The rail will connect service to Central and South Florida. Brightline also announced that Orlando ticket sales will launch in May for future dates, with one-way fares starting at $79 for SMART and $149 for PREMIUM.

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It’s About Time: 5 Faster Ways to Source Your Next Venue

Skift Meetings

Skift Take: Time is a planner’s most precious resource. Make the most of it by utilizing venue sourcing technology to cut through the clutter and book your meeting essentials at record speed, leaving you free to get back to what you do best: creating event magic.

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SEARCH Foundation Hits Giving Records

MeetingsNet

The organization, formed in 1997 as a safety net for people in the events, meetings, and catering industries, continues to raise funds—and hopes—during tough times. The SEARCH Foundation has hit a remarkable milestone. The 26-year-old organization that assists meeting, event, and catering professionals during times of crisis has now distributed over $1 million to industry colleagues in need.

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Delicious virtual engagement

MPI

At the end of 2022, I R.S.V.P.’d for two virtual experiences after receiving press invitations, curious to see what’s on offer for groups and participants with such events.

Events 97
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Food, Bourbon and Southern Charm Draws Attendees to Louisville

Convene by PCMA

Recently added to The New York Times list of “52 Places to Travel in 2023,” Louisville, Kentucky, has steadily become one of the hottest destinations in the U.S. Here’s why you should bring your next meeting to Bourbon City: Bourbon, Bourbon, Bourbon If you’re in search of a unique team-building experience, Bourbon City has just what you’re looking for.