At Smart Meeting, we pride ourselves on bringing the best content, voices and tools to your fingertips and computer screens.
In 2024, we invited industry experts to offer their insights, tips and trends to help planners create the best event possible. Our webinars, the Knowledge Exchange, brought us essential insights on AI, incentives, wellness and contracts, just to name a few!
How to Avoid Wellness-Washing
Being aware of your attendees’ wellness needs is an essential ingredient. Our February webinar highlighted the importance of incorporating mindfulness, physical activity, healthy food choices, relaxation spaces and wellness programs into an event’s structure.
Allowing attendees to explore these wellness options within the event space shows them that they aren’t just warm bodies in a room but co-creators of a memorable experience.
Design for Impact
How do you create something that you know will leave an impression? Devon Montgomery Pasha, CMP, CED, director of North America for Event Design Collective, joined Smart Meetings to highlight the most significant challenges planners face in growing engagement.
Pasha explored the issues of purposeful design, sustainability, innovation, flexible seating and data-driven adjustments.
How to Empower a New Generation of Association Leaders
According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), 67% of hotels are experiencing staffing issues. Additionally, 68% of planners are new to this industry, resulting in a demand for a skilled and talented workforce.
Smart Meetings chatted with Maisha Hogue of the American Society of Interior Designers and Mariel Solomon, M.S., CC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist, to understand how planners can find and retain qualified staff.
Incentive Secrets: Tips for All-Inclusive Smooth Sailing
What are the perks of all-inclusive incentive travel? Smart Meetings interviewed Melissa Moten, vice president of experience and event solutions at The Collective by BCD M&E.
Moten explored the benefits, which include budget predictability, convenience and the option for group bonding experiences. She also delved into the challenges, such as hidden costs.
Moten also touched on the best practices planners should consider, such as clear communication, accommodating diverse interests and working closely with the resort’s staff.
How to Plan Must-Attend Healthcare Conferences
Smart Meetings spoke to Ariana Reed, director of global strategic partnerships at American Express Global Business Travel, and Andre Hoag, category manager of commercial meetings and events at Biogen, to help planners navigate their next medical conference.
Hoag and Reed explored F&B suggestions such as choosing mocktails over cocktails, how planners should consider international events regarding compliance and regulations, and how local laws may impact their events.
