Beyond Borders Conference Tackles the ABCs of International Planning Tackling the nuts and bolts of planning events in other countries, the fourth annual Beyond Borders Conference drew about 85 attendees to the New York Hilton Hotel and Towers in New York City in March for an information-packed, two-day conference.
Emphasizing education and networking, the conference offered in-depth sessions on topics including shipping materials overseas, cultural protocol tips, risk management, and VAT reclaim. In the opening session on the pros and cons of virtual site inspections, Jane Edelstein of PlanSoft Corp. talked about the company's global efforts to include thousands more international venues in its Web-site selection database. Pamela Block, CMP, director of conferences, Chemical Week magazine, discussed how she uses the Web to help plan 13 annual conferences worldwide. "I see it as a very important tool, but in the end, nothing replaces an actual site inspection."
The Beyond Borders Conference was produced by Adams Business Media, publishers of this magazine as well as the annual Beyond Borders magazine supplement. The conference chair was Ann J. Boehme, principal, Meetings & Management Techniques, Long Island, New York. Sponsors included PGI, the New York Hilton, Shangra-La Hotels, Networld Inc., PlanSoft, and Continental Airlines.