As the full extent of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina continues to unfold, many associations with upcoming meetings in affected areas are stuck in a limbo of indecision--they don't have enough information to decide whether to move...

What emerging trends are profoundly affecting the meetings and convention market? Panelists at the annual meeting two weeks ago of the Destination Marketing Association International in San Diego tackled that question at a session called ...

Connecting with your attendees is the name of the game, and two facility-based technologies offer a glimpse into leading-edge, on-site meeting communications...

It's no secret that the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, responding to a changing industry dynamic, has been undergoing an identity crisis in the last two years. So it was not a surprise that the association, after a...

In June, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts became the most recent hotel company to announce self-service check-in kiosks to supplement the work of the hotel front desk. In April, Starwood Hotels and Resorts introduced kiosks at Sheraton New York Hotel...

In case you didn't know it, there's an elephant in the hotel. It even has a name — labor — and in 2006 it could turn into an 800-pound gorilla...

Barry Jones used his degree in construction management to build “a dog house and a barn,” he says. Today he's using his desire to help people to build up families through his work as manager of conference planning for FamilyLife, in Little Rock...

You've heard of eight-minute dating? Well, how about eight-minute networking? That's right, the strategy behind speed dating is now making its way into the world of meetings. Boston-based Match Events Inc. recently launched Networking-Match, a...

In a world where newspapers regularly carry accounts of corrupt, arrogant, or greedy leaders and authority figures, I find myself especially cheered when I come across the genuine thing — a leader who serves the common good with strength, vision...

Maybe you've noticed convention centers popping up like daisies across the national landscape, even in heretofore unlikely locations. Over the past decade, public capital spending on convention centers has doubled, with 4 million to 5 million...