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Debriefing an event is one of the most important duties professional event planners and event management teams undertake. An event debrief is a meeting that takes place with the event planning team after an event has finished. The event itself gets deconstructed and analyzed through group discussion. Leaders and staff review the event from start to finish, often following an event debrief template.
Last week I attended the National Speakers Association’s (NSA) Annual Meeting, Influence 2023. As a 25+ year member of NSA, I was eager to see how they would weave in their 50-year anniversary and deliver on a promise to elevate the education and main room experiences. They did not disappoint. Below I’ve highlighted five strategies NSA implemented that resulted in achieving pre-pandemic attendance, record high sponsorship and highly valued education and networking experiences.
Love knows no boundaries, and that was proven true by Alyssa and Fayaz, whose paths crossed during their time at McMaster University. They were introduced to each other by mutual friends, and as fate would have it, their love story began. Both Alyssa and Fayaz come from Indian and Muslim backgrounds, but their different branches of Islam did not stop them from coming together and having a beautiful wedding celebration that combined their cultural and religious traditions.
AI is here. It’s not a separate technology but a discipline and you’ll find it baked into an escalating amount of new and old tools. The genie is out of the bottle and it’s only going to be more pervasive and invisible as well. What does that mean for the meetings industry? It might be our salvation. While there are books, movies and endless lectures on the potential dystopian outcomes of wholesale adoption of artificial intelligence, I like to take the optimistic viewpoint.
Speaker: Aja Bradley Kemp, Founder & Chief Experience Officer at Conversate Collective
In a world where every brand is vying for attention, how do you make your events stand out? ✨ From creative swag strategies to immersive brand experiences, the key lies in fostering real connections that inspire action and leave a lasting impression. Whether you're planning a large-scale conference or an exclusive executive gathering, this session will explore how to elevate event engagement, strengthen brand perception, and maximize ROI.
Figma’s community of users helps guide the content strategy for the annual Config conference. Community building is more important than ever for annual events to thrive today, and web-based design platform Figma has found success in not only supporting the community but letting the community take the reins of its five-year-old user conference, Config.
Members are the heart of any membership-based organization. Their ongoing commitment is what builds community and brings in dues as a key form of revenue—so it only makes sense to show member appreciation! From events to perks to special resources, here are 15 unique member appreciation ideas to show gratitude and drive meaningful results for your organization.
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Event Pro Update brings together the best content for event, conference, and meeting planning professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Members are the heart of any membership-based organization. Their ongoing commitment is what builds community and brings in dues as a key form of revenue—so it only makes sense to show member appreciation! From events to perks to special resources, here are 15 unique member appreciation ideas to show gratitude and drive meaningful results for your organization.
Skift Take: Baltimore is a city where sports are more than a pastime, they are intrinsic to the culture. Its history of hosting major sporting events benefits meeting and convention planners as bringing in big groups is what the city does regularly.
If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it is that we must be cognizant of the health, well-being, and safety of people attending in-person events. As a global community, we all witnessed how fast a virus can spread and the devastating effect of a pandemic. As the pandemic has waned, we have taken lessons learned and applied them to contingency plans for events going forward.
Growing up, I was immersed in an environment that worshipped feats of mind , to the almost total exclusion of the body. Apart from compulsory school sports on Thursday after school, I spent 5½ days each week studying, studying, studying. Perhaps that’s why I eventually gravitated toward practicing mind fulness in my 50s. But recently, my mediation teachers have been suggesting a slightly different approach, one they call cultivating embodied awareness.
Selecting the right in-person event platform to manage your onsite events is critical to their success. Especially because 95% of marketers believe that in-person events help achieve business goals (American-based event technology company). But with so many options on the market, how do you determine which onsite event management software is the best fit for your needs?
Speaker: Alexa Acosta, Director of Growth Marketing & B2B Marketing Leader
Marketing is evolving at breakneck speed—new tools, AI-driven automation, and changing buyer behaviors are rewriting the playbook. With so many trends competing for attention, how do you cut through the noise and focus on what truly moves the needle? In this webinar, industry expert Alexa Acosta will break down the most impactful marketing trends shaping the industry today and how to turn them into real, revenue-generating strategies.
Skift Take: McCormick Place in Chicago, a new $3 billion hotel, gaming and entertainment district in Las Vegas, the Oak View Group is living up to its mission to disrupt the sports, live entertainment, and hospitality industries.
How to maximize meeting impact on new social media tool while minimizing downsides A week ago Julius Solaris (@tojulius), founder of Boldpush and a self-described event and media hacker, posted on Meta’s new Twitter copycat platform his Threads emoji heart Events infographic celebrating conversations, relationships and comments on the platform while simultaneously bemoaning the lack of hashtags, DMs and search.
What to do in advance and in the moment to meet your room block budget It seems simple. Book a block of rooms for meeting attendees based on the number of people and the times of the meetings. Just follow the formula, right? Not quite. Multiple variables can make this seemingly easy task quite complicated. For example, does everyone sign up with enough advance notice to meet the hotel’s deadline?
As a tangible concept, diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) is an essential principle in any thriving and harmonious society. As event planners, we strive to create inclusive environments, to build spaces that celebrate and embrace people in all their glorious diversity. By putting DEI at the heart of our events, we not only enhance the attendee experience, but also play an active part in shaping a more inclusive and equitable society.
In order to create a successful event, you must: Optimize Event Website and Registration Process Utilize Social Media Platforms Effectively Implement Targeted Email Campaigns Harness the Power of Video Content Benefit from a Mobile App Download now and learn how to simplify this process with Eventpedia.
Myriad 360, a New York-based cybersecurity consultancy, at their company retreat in Orlando, FL. Skift Take: Today’s work world has undergone a seismic shift as corporate offices have closed and most employees are fully dispersed. Getting together as a company is more important than ever, and offsite retreats offer the opportunity to bring teams together in one place at one time.
At Connect 2023, Cvent showcased new features planners will love Opening the first day of Cvent Connect 2023 with a Broadway performance by experience company Broadway Plus was fitting. As the performers of the opening show sang about the joys of connecting and networking with likeminded meeting and hospitality industry professionals, those very professionals in attendance both live and in person likely sung just as joyously about the new event tech products that were showcased at Cvent’s latest
Welcome to our “Day in the Life” series! We feature wedding and event planners from around the world with many different levels of experience. If you would like to be featured, download our questionnaire here and email your responses and photos to info@plannerslounge.com. We are excited to feature Tracie Morris of Detroit, Michigan. Name: Tracie Morris, CEO/Certified Wedding Planner Business Name & Location: You’re The Bride, Metro Detroit, MI Years Working in the Event Industry: 24 years Ye
Freight carrier Yellow Corp. is shutting down its large operation as early as next week. Coupled with rising gas prices, this could mean notably higher shipping costs for event organizers and exhibitors. Yellow Corporation, one of the country’s largest less-than-truckload freight companies, plans to file for bankruptcy by August 1, according to CNN and other business-news outlets.
The greats learn from the greats. Set yourself and your team up for success with tried and tested strategies and insights from event marketing geniuses at Vanta, Partnership Leaders, Quantum Metric, Rocketlane, and Explori.
Skift Take: The pandemic made the world smaller and more inclusive and, thanks to event technology, connected a broad range of global attendees. This helped Destinations International expand its global footprint, which was on full display in Dallas during its annual convention.
Venues, Historic and Future-Facing, Unveil New Meeting Space Around the Globe New and renovated event venues open in the historic building that housed the first railroad station in Jacksonville, Florida, in-between Autralia’s two most famous World Heritage sites and in a vibrant new hotel that celebrates the architecture of Washington Heights in New York City.
Skiddle has recently announced the return of its promoter bursary scheme, this year titled the Skiddle Promoter Fund, in collaboration with not-for-profit trade body, the Night Time Industries Association.
In this best practices guide, you’ll learn how to tap into the cost-efficiencies of advocacy and word-of-mouth marketing with video. Examples include speakers providing a preview of their upcoming sessions, exhibitors creating “please stop by” invitations and attendees creating “looking forward to seeing you” introduction videos. Learn about best practices and programs created by leading companies and associations including ASIS, AUVSI, SuperZoo, National Restaurant Association, World of Concret
Skift Take: In a refreshing move that isn't just about AI, Bizzabo is betting big on wearable event technology that passively collects attendee behavior data.
Samuel Spurrier Samuel Spurrier Spurrier is appointed as The Westin Maui Resort and Spa Ka’anapali ’s director of sales and marketing. In his most recent role as the director of group sales at Westin Maui, his work contributed to impressive growth in the Average Daily Rate. He has led an outstanding sales team that achieved 116 percent of the room revenue booking goal in 2022.
Looking for new ways to level up your event marketing? TikTok is an extremely powerful tool for showcasing your event to tons of people across generations! With the rise of short-form video in recent years, creating TikToks starring your events will get them in front of a wider audience than ever before. With over 1.6 billion users on the app today, you’re sure to find a niche community as passionate about your events as you are!
As part of its ongoing sustainability developments, Evolution Dome has invested in a new fan system which has resulted in a significant reduction in the power consumption of its inflatable structures.
Speaker: Jennifer Hodroge, Omni-Channel Strategic Leader, Forrester CX Certified
Marketers know that personalization is the key to engagement—but with limited budgets and time, how do you prioritize what, where, and how to personalize? Aligning your content, campaigns, and buyer experiences requires a deep understanding of customer needs. In this new webinar with expert Jennifer Hodroge, we’ll explore how to leverage insights and customer journey mapping to build personalization strategies that deliver real impact.
Skift Take: Recent research from Freeman shows that 82 percent of professionals are looking to combine business travel with leisure. Taking inspiration from DC, here are five ways to ensure that your attendees benefit from the full bleisure experience at your next meeting.
Room blocks at Radisson, Cambria, Comfort Inns & Suites, Clarion, and Quality Inn properties will soon be bookable without RFPs, aiding corporate-event planners and perhaps association-convention planners. Online hotel-research and -booking engine Cvent has finalized an agreement with Choice Hotels to offer Instant Book functionality across the entire Choice portfolio, Cvent’s first such arrangement with a hotel company’s full roster of properties.
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