WHILE MEETING PLANNING has been around for decades, only over the last 25 years has the profession really become, well, a profession. Membership in Meeting Professionals International has increased fivefold, to 19,000 since the early 1980s, and...
FOR STARTERS, how about meetings themselves? Benchmark Hospitality, the Woodlands, Texas — based company that manages conference centers and resorts, says that meeting bookings are up about 50 percent over last year across its 28 properties in the...
VISIT FLORIDA, the state's official tourism marketing company, is stepping up its marketing campaign to help dispel misperceptions about next summer's hurricane season. A key element of the program is its Weather Warranty, which targets meeting...
DISCLOSURE OF THE way in which agents and brokers are compensated has become a significant issue as state regulators and industry insiders deal with the fallout of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's investigation into insurance industry...
Training in U.S. companies is holding steady, and high-tech training methods are on the rise, according to the American Society for Training & Development's 2004 State of the Industry Report. The annual per-person budget for employee training...
Many of us, at our jobs, before we ever begin planning a meeting, sit down and develop the strategic plan. What is the objective of this program? Who is our audience? Why are we doing it? What do we want to accomplish...
Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts joined the spa-branding frenzy last year with the introduction of CHI spas, with the first one recently opening in Bangkok. There are plans for 10 more CHI spas in the next few years. The essence of the brand comes...
The goal is straightforward: The meeting industry needs to communicate via computer. To that end, APEX — the Convention Industry Council's project to develop industrywide accepted practices — has a technology component: The APEX Technology...