We tend to speak of convention centers in terms of square feet, as though they are simply boxes into which we place our attendees and exhibitors. Certainly some convention centers still approach business that way. But savvy operators know they're...

Conferenza means conference in Italian. But in English, it means "cut to the chase" for people who follow tech industry conferences. At www.conferenza.com, conference reviewers brook no nonsense: "Woefully short on information, and not much of a...

It has been said that nobody who buys a drill actually wants a drill. They want holes. They want the tool for what it can do: bore through plywood, metal, or a cement wall; hammer through the earth to find oil, or prepare a tooth for a filling. In...

Broadcast Music Inc. announced that it will expand its music license agreement with the meetings and trade show industries by including meeting management companies in the pact. The agreement now allows association or show management firms to...

In the cutthroat high-tech recruiting environment, companies need strong retention programs to keep employees from walking out the door. One of the most common mistakes is expecting compensation--including cash bonuses and stock options--to play...

The third official meeting of the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Forum opens with Lee Warren, the organization's acting director, cutting straight to the chase--asking the members whether they are there to write new wireless...

In the latest dot-com pairing, b-there.com (www.b-there.com) is working with GetThere (www.getthere.com) to offer travel booking capabilities as part of the event registration Web sites it creates for meeting planner clients...

Event planner torture: The splendid city of Vienna (or Budapest, Paris, New Orleans, Brisbane ... you name the spot) awaits just outside your hotel room walls. You've got half a day to kill before you're off to the airport, but duty calls...

Conference centers promise a certain welcome uniformity. Meeting planners appreciate knowing that when they walk into a facility that meets the standards of the International Association of Conference Centers, they will find distraction-free...

In an effort to take the hassle out of paying and tracking meeting-related expenses, American Express has launched a credit card specifically for meetings and events...