From collecting and sharing testimonials to leveraging social media for promotional purposes to sharing post-event content, planners can utilize a wealth of techniques to take an event’s reach to the next level.

Being a meeting planner often requires a person to be a project manager, emergency preparedness specialist and crisis management expert — all rolled into one. But what key elements go into finding that “perfect” supplier or venue?

COVID-19 regulations have become norm, as associations, convention facilities and meetings planners are looking to bring people back to live meetings and events.

We spoke with five meeting planners and five hotel sales staffers to learn what lies at the core of this relationship and what it takes to make it work.

Planners continue to face critical challenges, ranging from meeting design and risk management to travel bans, technology and more.

Green and socially responsible meetings show that the association cares — a key to attracting millennial members.

The pressure is on planners to show why theirs is THE meeting to attend over others.

“Meeting planners are high performers — we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, but that’s our nature.”

Social and political issues can cause meeting planners to avoid certain cities and states, and hotels.

As we start 2017, there are several trends that organizations and the teams involved in designing and implementing meetings will need to consider in order to meet the changing needs of their members and attendees.