Independent planners have all kinds of issues corporate and association in-house planners don't—here are some articles that might help. I particularly like this one: 7 Things You Must Be to Succeed As an Independent.

Golf isn't my thing, but if you plan many (or any) tournaments or golf outings for your groups, this 2007 Golf Directory includes information on what the various courses have to offer, contact information, and lots of other good golfy-type things.

No one likes to think that a crisis could happen at their meeting, but the reality is that, sooner or later, one will. Here's some practical advice on how you can prepare for a crisis.

Another basic to planning a meeting that satisfies attendees and your organization's bottom line is income and expense planning. Here's a guide to help you do it right.

Here's another gem, I think: Principles of Negotiating.

What better way to start your meeting planning than with this RFP checklist.

This one is a few years old, but this guide to tipping for meetings still holds true today.

The headline speaks for itself: : 100 Ways to Boost Attendance.

I'll be out on a work trip, then vacation, from the 2nd to the 16th, so there won't be much in the way of hot news here for a while. But face2face won't be a complete blank—I plan to load up links to some of articles that I think every meeting...

Once again, Guy Kawasaki comes up with a great post, this one on the art of schmoozing, provided by Susan RoAne, author of How to Work a Room: Your Essential Guide to Savvy Socializing.