Many conference organizers provide potential attendees with templates and tools designed to convince the boss to approve their participation. These are cost/benefit tools with boilerplate copy. Quantifying the expense side is straightforward. The...

One reason hotel executive Michael Dominguez is so popular as a meetings industry speaker is that no matter how fast he talks (and it’s pretty fast), he never loses his audience, even as he synthesizes large amounts of data and translates...

PPlanning a daylong hybrid meeting that includes live interaction with more than 600 participants in 80 countries is not for the faint of heart. But Pat Ahaesy, CMP, CSEP, president and partner of Manhattan-based P&V Enterprises, a certified woma...

In sales, you’re only as good as your last sale. In meeting planning, you’re only as good as your last meeting. Or so it seems. There is immense pressure to deliver more, better, faster, and with less...

Michael Dominguez gives a keynote presentation at the 2015 FICP Annual ConferenceThe ever-quotable Michael Dominguez, senior vice president and chief sales officer, MGM International, launched a recent keynote presentation with a favorite quotati...

Multiple venues, change in housing in store for meeting of conference center operators

Old Man Winter doesn't care that you’ve chosen the perfect keynote speaker and confirmed every conference detail a year in advance. Think of the two recent winter storms that paralyzed much of the country, one ruining many a Thanksgiving dinner a...

There are a lot of lifestyle brands out there (try our matching game)—so many, in fact, that it’s not easy for consumers to distinguish between them. Which one is all about local flavor? Which is the one for cost-conscious (and design-conscious) ...

Convention Industry Council delegates discussed innovation, dealing with crises, generational shifts, and other trends at their recent meeting in Baltimore. Big takeaway for meetings: The time to reinvent is now.