GSA Debacle Leads to Travel Ban
In an ongoing case, Association Meetings reports that the General Services Administration has suspended all travel, a total of 32, to external private-sector conferences for the remainder of fiscal year 2012, which ends September 30. The scandal made national headlines for its spending excesses, contracting missteps, and ethics violations on a Western Region Conference costing $823,000 2010. Mark Decker, director of government affairs for Experient, has already had one government agency client cancel a meeting since the GSA story broke, and...
read more7 Budgeting Oversights
MeetingsNet has compiled a list of 7 ways keep your budget down! Read below for the helpful tips! 1) Forgetting that history repeats itself—Historical data is valuable. If you don’t track how much regular or decaf coffee your group drinks, whether or not they eat breakfast, if they prefer beer or wine, how can you plan your meals and allocate your food budget correctly? Ask the hotel to confirm how much of each item ordered was consumed, so you have a starting point for next year. 2) Paying for what you didn’t get—First of all,...
read moreTop 100 Meeting Hotels Named
Cvent names the top 100 meeting hotel locations. Cvent, an online event management platform, based rankings on a variety of criteria including; the number of requests for proposal the property received, number of meeting rooms available, total square footage of meeting space offered, and the amount of business awarded to each property by planners using the Supplier Network. Can you guess who made the number one spot? Check out here which properties made the list and which didn’t. Did your favorite make the list? If not, share with us...
read moreDo you Social Media?
In an ever growing and changing industry, it’s hard to keep up with what’s trending. Or is it? With social media sights such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, it’s now more than ever easier to tap into what your peers are thinking and doing. Corporate Meetings & Incentives magazine conducted the first ever survey on social media usage in the meetings industry. Click here to find out which social media sights are worth trying out, and which are better suited for your personal life. Let us know what you think! Do...
read moreMaritz Travel Acquires Experient
Maritz Travel Company announced Tuesday that they acquired Experient, a major provider of meeting and event services. ”As a result of this deal, Maritz Travel will lead the industry in four key areas – corporate, association, tradeshow and strategic meetings management. Coming together this way will fuel our shared objective to grow in the markets we serve,” said David Peckinpaugh, president of Maritz Travel. To get all the facts and details, click...
read moreGratuity Guidelines for Meeting Planners
Do you tip the concierge? Your convention services manager? The sommelier? Tipping the hotel staffers responsible for helping to make your meeting a success can be tricky business. MEETINGSNET has come to the rescue and compiled a handy grid to help you decide who gets what, and when. Click here to get your cheat sheet!
read moreThe Power of Third-Party Planners
In the past 10 years, third party planners have gone from zero to hero with an ever growing popularity across every segment of the industry including hotels, convention and visitor bureaus, destination management companies and even technology providers. In a recent article posted in Meetings & Conventions, Cheryl-Anne Sturken explains how third party planners are now international power brokers in the meetings realm, providing a wide range of services that range from professional meeting services to social media marketing and so much...
read moreA meeting of great minds reflects on global events the future
The EIBTM CEO Summit will take place on Wednesday November 30th for its 6th year in Fira Gran Via, Barcelona. EIBTM is the leading exhibition for the conference, incentives, events, business travel and meetings industry. This global forum will bring together over 60 executives from across the meetings and incentive industry to discuss trends that could influence the businesses now and in the future. The key theme for this year’s EIBTM CEO Summit will focus on ‘Global Events’ and include up-to-date analysis of the global economy- with...
read moreHow higher taxes could keep TDs grounded
It is no secret that over the past few years, the meetings industry has changed drastically. Annual meetings have been cut in half and many incentive trips have been cancelled altogether. TDs are still crossing their fingers for the exotic destinations of the past, but those trips have become very few and far between. Clients do continue to want experienced, professional staff and near perfect meetings, but keeping the program costs as low as possible has become the main agenda for many meeting planners. It first impacted the...
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