Who Influences Event Pros? #Eventtable Chat Participants Sound Off
Influencers are personal, make waves, can have nothing to do with the meetings industry or everything to do with it, according to participants in this week’s #eventtable Twitter chat, “Meeting/Event Industry Influencers: Who Are They, Really?” The topic was sparked by an article in Successful Meetings that listed 12 men, 1 bug and 0 women [...]
The New Event Sustainability Standards: Why They Matter
What are the new event sustainability standards and what do the mean for event professionals? We will address that question during the next #eventtable Twitter chat Monday, Feb. 27 at 3 pm est when our guest will be Andrew Walker of E3 Strategy. Andrew has been immersed in the world of event sustainability for some [...]
General Session Design 3.0: Keys to Your Organizational and Personal Success
Fusion Productions collaborated with Meeting Professionals International (MPI) to produce the general sessions for the 2010 World Education Congress (WEC 2010). To demonstrate its “meeting of the future” design strategy, Fusion brought in a team of world-class partners and continued to co-create through the entire production process—before, during and after the WEC. During a Monday [...]
Meetings that Changed the World
Anyone who has ever worked as a meeting professional can tell you about their favorite meetings and proudest moments onsite. When planners and suppliers begin swapping those war stories, they’re usually talking about meetings that changed the world. When Fusion Productions and The Conference Publishers set out to gather testimonials in advance of MPI’s 2010 [...]
SMMP: Finding the Best Fit for Your Organization
“There’s no-cookie cutter process for an SMMP [Strategic Meetings Management Plan],” said Ross VanDooser, director of value analysis at StarCite, during a panel at MPI’s 2010 World Education Congress. “The idea is to examine your organization’s culture and pick out what will work best.” “Before you can begin any SMMP program, you need to go [...]
Out of Chaos: SMMP at Microsoft
To move from “a state of chaos” and implement strategic event management at his organization, Jeff Singsaas, general manager of Microsoft Studios and global event marketing for Microsoft Corporation, said he focussed on building partnerships. “We can’t do it all, and don’t want to do it all,” Singsaas said at a session Tuesday afternoon at [...]
Green Meeting Standards Mark Industry Transformation
After three years of rigorous debate and extensive input from more than 200 volunteers and pan-industry experts, a uniform set of green meetings standards is set for release before the end of this year. A joint project of the Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) and the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), the APEX/ASTM Green Meeting [...]
Building an SMMP: Partnership, Collaboration Needed on All Levels
Collaboration is essential to implementing a Strategic Meetings Management Plan (SMMP), so “don’t try to do it yourself,” warned Carolyn Pund of Cisco Systems in a Tuesday morning session at MPI’s 2010 World Education Congress. “Change occurs when people believe change is necessary,” Pund said. “If you can make a value proposition that’s strong enough, [...]
Tread More Lightly on the Planet: Advice for Meeting Planners
Planning a sustainable event is about doing more with less, said Andrew Walker, Toronto-based founder and managing director of Eco-Efficient Events, who led participants in an interactive Tuesday morning session at MPI’s 2010 World Education Congress. Participants discussed strategies for reducing the carbon footprint of the meetings industry, which has a reputation for unsustainable practices. [...]
Action Against Carbon Emissions will Raise Travel Costs
The end of cheap oil could affect the meetings economy in a number of different ways, but panelists in a Tuesday morning breakout on peak oil agreed that the industry must adapt to an era of volatile energy prices and drastic reductions in the carbon emissions that cause climate change. Economists may debate whether oil [...]
