Meetings and Events Industry News

Conference organizers are developing more multidisciplinary programming that pulls from both the business and creative industries, creating a new convergence of experiences that help brands plug into business events in more ways.

CES 2017 this month in Las Vegas marked the emergence of Artificial Intelligence-integrated connectivity and voice responsiveness into the mainstream, especially in terms of smart cars and smart homes. We will soon all be basically living and driving inside our mobile phones.

This one-hour interactive session features a conversation between Skift Senior Editor Greg Oates and Jonathan Sicroff, SVP, Global Sales, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts about key trends taking place in the meetings and events space.

Meeting planners have a lot of opportunities to grow as professionals by becoming more involved in business strategy, but meetings industry organizations can do more to support that evolution with better event content, versus promotional and generic marketing-speak.

The $1.4 billion expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center is significant because it cements the city as the meetings and events capital of the western U.S. for the foreseeable future.

The three primary trends in meetings in 2017 revolve around the growing convergence of different communities collaborating together, the festivalization of business events, and the role of conferences as experiential brand-marketing platforms.

The meetings industry is evolving beyond its preoccupation with event technology and the impact of Millennials over the last five years. The new focus for 2017 revolves around developing more multidisciplinary business events, integrating education and entertainment, to engage attendees in new ways on different levels.

Destinations are determining the need to focus more on the impact and value of meetings on their cities over the long term.

Competition is stiff for attendees and for clients. It’s hard to “get heard” in today’s world. You have to do something to stand out and beat the competition. Here are a few ideas.

The BestCities Global Alliance and Dubai Business Events are focusing more on how convention bureaus can collaborate with association conference organizers to create a longer legacy impact of business events for both the organizations and host destinations.