We recently held our Destination Michigan Thought Leaders luncheons in Lansing and metro Detroit and were able to identify trends in the meetings industry. Technology Integration for Enhanced Experiences: Technology continues to revolutionize the meetings landscape, offering innovative solutions for [...]

Tracy Padot For those of us in the meetings and events industry we know that budgets are shrinking and we’re being asked to do more with less. Often an event planner is not only responsible for coordinating all [...]

Mark Bondy Recently, at the Michigan Meetings Expo I had the opportunity to facilitate a discussion on Food and Beverage Trends in the meetings and incentive industry. Times have evolved and it is no longer about selecting menus [...]

Leslie Blair, CMP For the past three or four years, we’ve been operating in a buyer’s market. That is changing, and as a result, contracts are changing. Flexibility and willingness to eliminate certain clauses have gone by the [...]

Dawn Whitcomb, CMP, Calhoun County Visitors Bureau The Team Building Idea Swap groups shared some great ideas for group activities at the Michigan Meetings Expo. The favorites included contests using items such as play-doh sculptures, golf cart decorations [...]

Sara Faircloth, Mission Point Resort The topic of “What’s New in Contract Negotiations” is an interesting one as well as ever-changing. It seems there is something new that pops up with every contract. It was interesting to hear [...]

Sherry L. Cummins, CMP, CMM A meetings management strategist must be savvy with contract verbiage and negotiations, return on investment, budgets and accounting, procurement, risk management, professional presentation, sustainability, and networking! Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) is a continual [...]

Aaron D. Wolowiec, MSA, CAE, CMP, CTA Earlier this year, CareerCast released its 2012 Job Stress Report listing meeting planner as the sixth most stressful job based upon work environment, job competitiveness and risk. Consider, for a moment, [...]

Let's face it, time is money and today senior management expects meetings, incentives and events to deliver business results. The days are gone where your daily tasks were reviewing rooming lists and BEOs. Meeting planning requires strategic management and a [...]