Meetings and Events Industry News

London Tech Week shows the impact that convention bureaus can have on developing live events that shift a city's destination brand image.

IBM has come a long, long way in rebuilding its brand thanks to all of the cool factor surrounding Watson. But it could do more to showcase the consumer appeal around cognitive travel in 2017, including the benefits of machine learning to better connect us with travel destinations.

The results of the U.S. presidential election showed us unequivocally that we all tend to default into our own professional and personal bubbles in different ways. Meetings and events have always been a platform to bust out of those, and that's something the industry needs to trumpet more.

By segmenting the personalities of their individual neighborhoods, cities like San Francisco have more options to align their visitor experiences with different visitor profiles. That customization helps cities expand their destination image, build destination loyalty, and boost repeat visitation.

Lots of news coming out of IMEX America. Hotels are delivering more personalized and interactive experiences, and event tech companies are getting better at connecting attendees, sourcing venues, and leveraging big data.

Want an events team comprised of the most brilliant players in the area? So does everyone else. Here are a few things you need to know about how to woo them and stand out from the crowd.

The newest event tech is getting better at connecting attendees, establishing the business case for events, and sourcing more creative venues. But CMOs still don't have any really good platforms to track the entire attendee journey to help them develop solid one-to-one marketing messaging.

The legacy hotel companies are developing new strategies to engage meeting planners and attendees more like they do with their leisure crowds, but some of these initiatives seem overly ambitious or too corporate to become mainstream.

This week, Sydney, Los Angeles, and Omni Hotels are showing how tourism and hospitality companies are disrupting the meetings and events industry, both online and offline.

Governments, convention bureaus, and universities like those in Australia are collaborating more strategically to diversify the economy and drive economic development by targeting specific international conferences aligned with national interests.