> Photograph courtesy USDA As we lurch forward into the digitally enhanced future in the meetings industry, I keep thinking about a long-ago afternoon when I was working at one of my first jobs, for a magazine published by a … Continue reading →

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Photograph courtesy USDA

As we lurch forward into the digitally enhanced future in the meetings industry, I keep thinking about a long-ago afternoon when I was working at one of my first jobs, for a magazine published by a state tourism department.

Desktop computers were still rare, and a few of us had gathered in front of a computer to take a  look at something then brand-new: a website created by another state tourism department.

The site itself didn’t make a big impression on me, but this did: The state’s governor had recorded …

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Photograph courtesy USDA

As we lurch forward into the digitally enhanced future in the meetings industry, I keep thinking about a long-ago afternoon when I was working at one of my first jobs, for a magazine published by a state tourism department.

Desktop computers were still rare, and a few of us had gathered in front of a computer to take a  look at something then brand-new — a  website created by another state tourism department.

The site itself didn’t make a big impression on me, but this did:  The state’s governor had …

> One of the fascinating things about this industry is that it’s seemingly impossible to find its boundaries; there’s always another epic, high-profile conference that’s gone on for years but that somehow you’ve never heard of. Such as the Conference … Continue reading →

> The conversation about digital events is making a U-turn, we report in the September issue of Convene. Instead of fearing that digital extensions will take attendees away from face-to-face events, meeting organizers are beginning to appreciate the ways in … Continue reading →

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The conversation about digital events is making a U-turn, we report in the September issue of Convene.

Instead of fearing that digital extensions will take attendees away from face-to-face events, meeting organizers are beginning to appreciate the ways in which they can bring more awareness — and ultimately more attendees — to meetings.

There’s a similar shift toward hybrid in  higher education, where educators have long debated the effectiveness of online …

> Welcome back to Extra, Extra!, the Convene blog’s semi-weekly news supplement.  So what’s news? IMEX America, scheduled for this coming Oct. 11–13 at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, has released its full-show preview. Highlights include 1,800 exhibitors and … Continue reading →

> Wireless sign in Estonia; photograph by Knoerz Estonia? Really? That thought crossed my mind last spring, when I overheard IMEX attendees discussing the virtues of the former Soviet bloc country as a meeting destination. Most of what I knew … Continue reading →

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Wireless sign in Estonia; photograph by Knoerz

Estonia? Really?
That thought crossed my mind last spring, when I overheard IMEX attendees discussing the virtues of the former Soviet bloc country as a meeting destination.
Most of what I knew then about the Baltic country was by way of a former colleague, who spent part of her childhood in Estonia. Lisa talked often about the beauty of Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, but also regaled me with stories of her relative deprivation. (For glitter, Lisa told me, her mother saved broken Christmas ornaments and crushed …

> Three years ago it was the AIG Effect. Today it’s called Muffingate. Literally today — with a new report from the U.S. Department of Justice’s inspector general decrying “wasteful or extravagant spending” at DOJ conferences, splashed on the front … Continue reading →