Centerpiece (noun) 1.) an object occupying a central position; especially: an adornment in the center of a table...

The Southern Pine at Callaway Gardens, Atlanta, recently became the first conference center in the country to earn the LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Medal of Certification, a program implemented by the U.S. Green Building...

MEETING PLANNERS AND HOTEL SALES staffs have a symbiotic relationship: Planners depend on their salespeople to make them look good, and hotels rely on groups to fill their space. It seems so simple...

In a recent survey by CMI's sister magazine Special Events, 80 percent of in-house corporate event pros predicted that their companies' spending on events in 2004 would be on par with or better than 2003 spending. One-third of respondents said...

A fine cigar can be a symbol of success. Why not make arrangements for incentive earners to learn the fine art of cigar rolling in a setting fit for royalty? The Graycliff Inn on the island of Nassau, Bahamas, is just the place...

AS MORE AND MORE PLANNERS go out on their own, competition for new customers has become keener than ever. Savvy independent meeting planners know that the Web is key to developing new markets and a larger client base. How, then, can they use the...

When you take meetings and incentives overseas, attendees' little problems (broken eyeglasses) can seem big, and the big problems (emergency surgery) can be even worse. If the hotel concierge is the person who comes to mind first for a medical...

In my 12 years covering this industry, I've seen a dramatic shift in the role of the meeting planner. The latest move by Meeting Professionals International and the National Business Travel Association to offer joint education for members and to...

Corporate Meetings & Incentives asked Carol Krugman, CMP, CMM, president and CEO of Krugman Group International Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla., to discuss the top challenges that independents face today, based on her recent address on the subject...

Judy Allen strikes again. The veteran event planner and president of Judy Allen Productions, Toronto, has published her third book on event planning in the past four years. Allen's latest, Event Planning Ethics and Etiquette (Wiley, June 2003)...