The deserving winners of the 2025 Distinctive Achievement Awards presented by Association Conventions & Facilities magazine have met or exceeded the high standards that association meeting planners demand today.

Creating personalized event experiences for your attendees can make or break your next event.

Partnering with influencers can be a game-changer for a lot of reasons, from diversifying your audience to creating buzz about your event and increasing brand awareness, social media influencers have a lot of, well, influence, particularly among Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

The most popular exhibitor spaces consistently attract the biggest masses of curious passersby by offering a truly exciting, engaging and memorable experience — but why is it important to incorporate innovative exhibitors into association conventions?

From unique eateries to diverse cultural events, association meeting planners and event attendees have a wealth of opportunities to be exposed to memorable cultural experiences.

Thankfully, not every outing features a calamity, but there are enough moving parts at every expo, trade show and convention to provide plenty of opportunities for something to go sideways. That’s what makes it so important to have preplanned strategies in place to deal with the unexpected.

As associations ramp up efforts to plan international meetings, there are subtleties that play into making them a success.

A crisis management plan ensures all stakeholders — attendees, presenters, vendors, event and venue staff — are safe, informed and respond accordingly.

Even in the best of times, understanding how to increase registration is critical to successful meetings.

Whether it’s due to circumstance or choice, more people — including meeting planners — are striking out on their own.