To get the best deals, planners must raise their negotiating game by thinking like sales managers, knowing the value of their business and being more flexible with dates, rates, meeting space and other logistics.

The directive for planners is simple: Seek what is genuine, what is real, what is original — not what is manufactured.

For growth-minded international associations, convening in new locations outside the United States is a key way to raise awareness of their educational offerings and, ultimately, gain new members across the world.

The experiential trend seems to be reaching every corner of the meetings industry, including conventions held by associations.

It’s no secret in the industry that SMERF meeting planners are sometimes considered to be the red-headed stepchild of the meeting biz.

Nothing is more central to the continued success of associations today than the value of the educational content presented at their conferences and meetings.

While that knowledge gap remains a constant for many planners, especially at smaller
associations, the demand from attendees for state-of-the-art Wi-Fi capabilities is driving the market.

Every destination is special, every destination is different, but not every destination has the basic component meeting experts might deem the “p” factor. Translation: perfect for planners.

Does anybody have enough staff? The answer is seldom positive in the association world, but the frequent availability of volunteers can be a real asset.

In the not-so-distant past, hotel cuisine easily outshined that of convention centers. But that generalization no longer holds, as convention center catering staffs have been upping their game.