Meetings and Events Industry News

Strong leaders create space for others to contribute and ask good questions, but still must be able to make the tough decisions, says this Skift Meetings Woman Leader in Meetings.

Most conferences are ramping up marketing efforts six months before doors open. Nordic Business Forum 2026 was already sold out by then — and the strategy started before the previous edition had even ended.

Baltimore risks losing major meetings to cities with newer convention infrastructure. New Visit Baltimore CEO Kireem Swinton is making modernization of the city’s convention center a top priority, alongside short-term incentives to keep business flowing.

Geopolitical tensions and travel barriers are increasingly determining where global events are held.

Among the latest ships making their debut this year are yachts from two new players, Orient Express and Four Seasons.

A boycott threat against one of the world’s most important scientific meetings underscores a broader challenge: geopolitical tensions and cross-border travel barriers are increasingly determining where global events can, and can’t, take place. 

Event agencies are becoming targets for misclassification of workers,  and contractors who feel they should be classified as employees are pushing back. 

Global companies increasingly want event partners that can own the entire process, from storytelling and design to production and execution, and private equity is fueling the scale to make that happen.

With declining leisure demand, mega-events and conventions have become more important to the city’s tourism mix. 

Gartner’s latest assessment of event tech vendors comes with a new name, a narrower scope, and a reshuffled leaderboard.