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Bolivar is director of food and beverage for Innisbrook, A Salamander Resort in Tampa Bay, Florida, where he will oversee the property’s five F&B options, as well as its banquet operations. Luksza us director of food and beverage and Bergman is executive chef for NoMo SoHo in New York City. Gilbert Bolivar.
And that makes it critical for conference organizers to ensure that their first-time attendees are set up for successparticularly as a tidal wave of newcomers continues to flood the b-to-b event landscape. Providing first-time attendees with both a comfortable and valuable experience, however, requires a measured approach.
It wasnt until Laura Nelson was invited to speak at a womens entrepreneurial conference on a wellness panel, that she realized she wasnt alone in her perception of alcohols role in events. I’m an extrovert, I’m a speaker, I’m there to be involved in the meeting, be involved with the attendees, and I wasn’t doing it.
My work at a pre-con is different from that of a typical meeting planner since I focus on the meeting’s design and facilitation. I’ve been convening meetings for decades, though, so I know a fair amount about meeting planning. The traditional bread and butter of a meeting planner’s job.
Most conference and meeting professionals want the coolest, hippest, latest ideas and trends for their events. We are on the hunt for the next meeting, seating, session format, technology, and food and beverage fad. We want to know what unique things other conferences are doing so we can borrow their ideas.
Sustainable Foods. Fortunately, with good planning and collaboration with venue staff, you can assemble the right food for the right attendee at the right time without budget overruns. Nine Ways to Meet Attendees Where They Are It shouldn’t surprise you that 25% of the average meeting budget is spent on food and beverage.
She brings over two decades of experience managing high-profile conferences across various industries, spending the last decade of her career as president of events at Digiday, where she oversaw a team responsible for producing some of the media industry’s most influential gatherings.
Data The meetings and events industry is projected to flourish in 2025, with meeting professionals expressing confidence in its future and noting planned increases in meetings budgets, as revealed in the 14th Annual Global Meetings and Events Forecast by Amex GBT Meetings & Events. The audit revealed that 73.3
Ahead of the United Nations’ International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste on 29 September, heart of London events venue, IET London: Savoy Place , has launched new sustainable menus in partnership with renowned caterers Searcys. With every bottle sold, the company donates 5p to the Lemonaid and ChariTea Foundation.
The recent death of a participant at an event due to a food allergy led a number of event organizers to comment about event planners taking attendees health concerns seriously. She reportedly felt ill after eating the food and died shortly after. Clear labeling, informed staff, and meticulous planning are the bare minimum.
The Sweets & Snacks Expo—a gathering that draws the biggest brands in candy, chocolate and snack foods sold at major retailers—made a sweet return as the first post-pandemic food show, taking place June 23-25 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Agency: MC2, Paramus, NJ. Agency: MSM , Webster, NY.
COVID-19 has virtually eliminated in-person meetings: our industry’s bread and butter. In order to overcome the many significant challenges created by the coronavirus, the meeting industry has made valiant efforts to rethink in-person meetings. Why in-person meetings do not make sense in a COVID-19 environment.
How can we provide new experiences at meetings? Providing new experiences at meetings can be as simple as this. This universal fear is the reason the meeting industry continues to struggle with incorporating new experiences into events. How to provide valuable new experiences at meetings. Not new F&B, decor, or glitz.
2024 kicked off with our Annual Conference, The Power of Discovery , where we provided an insightful programme to support our members business strategies for the year ahead. With over 50 member venues, the Venues of Excellence consortium takes pride in representing the very best in independent conference and event venues.
There, the brand invited consumers attending the events pregame FanFest to celebrate their passion for college football through activations, food and performances. To use the rappers far-reaching influence and cultural relevance to elevate the events profile. Now in its 25 th year, the tour kicked off Aug. 31 at the University of Florida.
This year, hotel food and beverage departments as well as catering outlets and F&B in conference and exhibition centers struggled to catch up to post-Covid pent up demand as well as to what is now called “accommodation cuisine.” As meetings went back to in-person settings, health and safety stayed paramount.
Most conferences are stuck in a rut! So how do you create a conference experience that is not like all the others? Start by considering one or more of these conference big ideas. They are the conference planning road less traveled that harvests success! Big Conference Ideas On The Road Less Traveled Part 1.
The changing dynamics of the workplace and the role of AI in the business meetings and events industry are among the topics being discussed at the miaSummit 2024. MIA chief executive, Kerrin MacPhie, said: “Our flagship annual conference has a pedigree stretching back more than a decade.
The number of meetings being scheduled now is quickly picking up steam as mask mandates are lifted and people start gathering again, but meeting formats have evolved. With Salamander Hotels & Resorts , a luxury resort management company founded by Sheila Johnson , a Smart Women in Meetings Hall of Fame winner. Ty Brassie.
Grand openings and major renovations refresh meeting space in famous international cities All across the world, in some of the most sought-after international cities, come new and renovated hotels and meeting spaces, leaving the stage set for outstanding gatherings, wherever your attendees may be traveling from to get there.
Meeting and event planners are now at the forefront of food and beverage trends, providing event attendees with unique gastronomical experiences. Today we share some of the top food and beverage trends shared by planners, venues and caterers around the country. Alternative beverages are hot.
How your audience responds will have a direct impact on your conference’s brand image and credibility. From a conference design perspective, we believe the current best practice is to bookend your conference by opening with a strong-thought provoking speaker and closing with inspiration. Invest in Professional Speakers.
Focusing resources on four primary areas—food, break sessions, the setting and culture—is the most efficient way to harness a health program that boosts attentiveness at your events. Adding early morning running, yoga sessions or Tai Chi classes into conference agendas is becoming the norm. Create a Relaxing Off-Grid Zone.
Accessible, healthy, creative food and the people who order F&B for events took center stage at Smart Meetings Culinary Experience at Paris Las Vegas this week. Meetings & Events founder Tracy Stuckrath kicked off the insights with a primer on not killing or offending your attendees.
Tsui fills the role of director of food and beverage, bringing over two decades of experience in luxury hospitality. Wells serves as senior catering sales manager, bringing extensive experience in catering, conference services and wedding planning. Dukes is an expert in craft beer, wine and spirits and will serve as mixologist.
IStock Photo by cyano66 Before the pandemic, one could argue that jobs with life-and-death consequences were surely more stressful than planning an annual conference. Exhibitors are being more selective about the conferences they will support. Annual conference budgets are usually finalized 12-plus months prior to the event.
When you bring people together for a meeting or event, there is always a reason. While we often meticulously plan the culinary experiences at our events, beverages, particularly wine, are frequently chosen from a generic banquet menu. Request to meet with the beverage director or sommelier. Know who to talk to.
Meet at these bright new and renovated resorts in San Diego, Oahu and Barbados that enjoy sunshine and the ocean breeze nearly every day of the year. The resort draws inspiration from its island location to host tranquil yet highly motivating meetings and events. When you hold your meeting in the 1,500 sq.
The Frankfurt Airport Marriott Hotel and Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel & Conference Center represents the first dual-brand concept for Marriott International. Additionally, Frankfurt Airport Marriott Hotel and Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center stand out as large conference venues in Europe.
Lopez will serve as director of food & beverage, bringing with him 21 years of experience in food and wine in the hospitality industry. He will manage all food and beverage processes and events and will establish and uphold exceptional culinary experiences for guests.
From mixology to meeting and event service, culinary arts to towel art, students were able to experience firsthand the variety of rewarding career paths available in this industry. Engaging in interactive, hands-on experiences, the workshops gave students the chance to meet, listen to and work alongside industry experts.
And it made me think about meeting design. And, me being me, I thought about what Marcy had just said in the context of meeting design. And meetings are no exception. But when we are fully engaged in a meeting, we are just there , immersed in and responding to what is happening. The art and craft of the meeting designer.
Accor Survey: “Meeting Expectations: The Future of Meetings & Events” World-leading hospitality group Accor operates a diverse hospitality group of over 40 hotel brands, from luxury to economy. They offers experiences in over 110 countries with 5,500 properties, 10,000 food and beverage venues, wellness facilities and workspaces.
The quest to design green meetings often feels like a greenhouse gas-cutting limbo game. This is more than a sustainability moment for meetings. Green meetings are here to stay. But when the phrase “ regenerative meetings ” started getting tossed around, we were curious if that was even possible.
A conference in California’s vineyard-covered, rolling Napa Valley just feels different than any other place in the world. Alain Negueloua, Vice President and General Manager Alain Negueloua Being located right in Yountville—the very heart of Napa Valley—“Napa-izing” meetings and events for groups at Bardessono is second nature.
Breaking down the company’s recent sustainability strategy International exhibition and convention center ExCel London is a carbon-neutral venue and an advocate for the path towards green meetings. There, over 300,000 worms convert leftover food waste into compost that is used in the center’s green spaces. At over 100,000 sq.
Throughout 2022, nearly every meeting service provider continues to be short-staffed and plagued by last-minute no-shows or insufficiently skilled workers. To best prepare you, here are eight kinds of curveballs other meeting professionals have been thrown so far in 2022, with expectations extending into 2023— and how to deal with them.
As Maggie Kearney, meeting and publications manager with the International College of Surgeons–U.S. While you could shorten your meeting just enough to eliminate the final meal—as 44 percent of our survey respondents suggested—there are less drastic ways to trim the fat. First, ask them which food functions they are attending.
Annual conference center gathering in Durham addressed staffing, sustainability and collaboration A nine-year average drop in the age of the meeting/hospitality professional since the start of the pandemic translates into a loss of nine years of collective knowledge. Knowledge is what helps you handle the unexpected,” he said.
When John Walsh, general manager of The National Conference Center, started preparing the legacy Leesburg, Virginia, meetings venue for its newest clients, he knew he was in for a life and palate-changing experience. Their chef and their dining team made great Afghan food, kabobs. Critical Acclaim. Artwork by Afghan children.
Stylists working on the look and feel of an event often use it to stimulate fresh thinking about the venue, the décor, the lighting, the food and beverage, entertainment, and so on. Rarely, however, is this tool used to design events that creatively incorporate, illuminate, and support core desires and outcomes for the meeting.
Luxury language and presentation tips IACC 2024 in Basking Ridge, New Jersey was centered around empowering attendees to be seen, heard and respected as they drive their careers forward as leaders in the meetings and events industry. Smart Meetings was also privileged to be a judge for IACC Americas Innovations Workshop.
Unique venues for meetings with charm From coast to coast, meeting venues and hotels renovate and debut expanded, redesigned meeting spaces. Blending Productivity and Play Expanded meeting space at ilani Meeting & Entertainment Center A 10,000 sq. addition expands ilani Meeting & Entertainment Center.
.” —Sarah Kendzior, The View From Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America The meeting industry is no exception. A “creative” event design is one with a novel venue and/or decor and lighting and/or food and beverage. The meeting industry has redefined novelty as creativity.
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