The Power of Religious Meetings

Tough economic times have put a damper on faith-based meetings, but RCMA's member survey shows that religious conferences continue to be a strong component of U.S. meetings...

The Big News About Meetings

Here’s our inside look at the big numbers from the new Convention Industry Council economic significance study...

CVB Execs on Medical Meeting Trends

Because they spend a lot of time tracking trends in the various market segments they want to host in their cities, we asked some professionals at destination marketing organizations to give their perspectives on the state of medical meetings. Here’s what they see coming down the pike....

Planners Respond: Have You Seen a Change in Room Rate Negotiations?

Is the improving economy helping or hurting your room rate negotiations...

What Did You Do to Boost Attendance for your 2010 Meeting?

Was attendance for your 2010 meeting up or down...

CEIR Index: Government/Nonprofit and Medical Meetings Outperform Other Sectors

In 2009, a historically bad year for exhibitions, government/nonprofit conventions and medical exhibitions were among the best performing industries measured in the CEIR Index annual report...

Hotel Industry Forecast Improves as Construction Drops Off

Smith Travel Research has updated its forecast for 2010 to reflect a stronger performance than previously predicted in the three main metrics—occupancy, revenue per available room, and average daily rate. ...

How Meetings Are Changing Post-Recession

according to an expert panel of planners and hoteliers at the 2010 Pharmaceutical Meeting Management Forum, the worst of the recession's fallout on the meeting's industry is ending. ...

2009: As Bad as It Gets for Exhibition Industry

The worst year for the exhibition industry in recent history—2009—ended with an overall decline of 12.5 percent, representing declines in attendance, number of exhibiting companies, net square footage of exhibit space booked, and revenues, according to the CEIR Index, published by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research...

The 2009 Hotel Scene: How Bad Was It?

Check In with Barbara Scofidio: 2010: No Doom, Just Gloom

As we desperately try to distance ourselves from what has been—by far—the most punishing year the meetings and incentives industry has ever known, I’d like to share my predictions about what lies ahead...

6 Steps to Start Sourcing Small Meetings

While each meetings-in-a-box program will differ based on a company’s priorities and strategic meetings management program, here are six steps you can take to get started...

Microsoft Starts Sourcing Small Meetings

Therese Jardine, senior procurement manager, events, at Microsoft in Redmond, Wash., rolled out a small-meetings program at the company in September, and has been working on introducing improvements to streamline the process...

What the Distressed Hotel Market Means for Meetings

Hundreds of hotels around the country are struggling to survive in the down economy, and the trend has serious implications for meetings and meeting contracts....

Association Meetings Readers Say Worst is Behind Them

Our second-annual survey of the effects of the economy on Association Meetings readers confirms what has been observed since we did the first survey last November: 2009 was a very difficult year. There is some optimism for 2010, or at least a belief that the bottom has been reached: 38.5 percent of meeting planners believe 2010 attendance at their largest meeting will be better than 2009...

Didn't Take TARP Funds? You're Still a Target.

The government bailout of banks and the current focus on healthcare reform is combining to put intense focus on the insurance and financial services industry. You need to know how to get your story straight and survive the scrutiny with meetings intact....

Dale Irvin’s Luxury Expenditures Policy Guidelines

I will be the first to admit that I have accepted TARP money. I used the money I got for my ninth birthday to buy a tarp, which I then used to make a...

Voices: What Have You Done This Year to Cut Costs?

Bonnie Wallsh,CMP, CMM, ChiefStrategistBonnie Wallsh Associates LLC,Charlotte, N.C. Here are some actions that I took for an association meeting that...

Jim Goldberg’s Legal Ease: Hotel Bankruptcy: How to Protect Your Meetings

As the lodging industry’s recession drags on, many meeting planners will become all too familiar with issues surrounding bankruptcy, foreclosure, and receivership in the next several months...

New Research Quantifies the ROI of Meetings and Business Travel

Findings from two studies released last week, one commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association and one by the National Business Travel Association and American Express Business Travel, each show a positive correlation between business travel spend and the growth of corporate profitability...