Inspiration Hub

Meeting planners are looking toward midsize cities to host their programs, meaning that for some destinations, being a midsize city is no longer necessarily a negative for attracting events. Download our latest report to learn more.

The results of a new study by Cancer Research UK underscore how millennials favor social media and online messaging over face-to-face conversations. Just over one-third of respondents aged 18-24 said that they felt more comfortable speaking to people they didn’t know face-to-face versus chatting online, compared to more than two-thirds of those aged 55 and over.

Think event planning might just be the perfect career for you? If you love meeting new people, handle stress well, and pay attention to even the smallest of details, then yes — it totally could be. Whether you’re an experienced professional looking to make a change or a student wondering what type of degree to pursue, there are a number of paths you can use to break into the events industry. The first step? Getting the event planning education you need to excel as an event creator.

What industry creates more jobs in the United States than auto manufacturing, chemical manufacturing (including pharmaceuticals), and oil and gas? As an event professional, you know intuitively that it is the event industry. A new study by Tourism Economics (a division of Oxford Economics) for the Events Industry Council and Meetings Mean Business Coalitionshowed that bringing people together for face-to-face meetings has massive impacts on everything from direct spending at venues to indirect spending through the supply chain and spending by people working in the industry.

In this post, we share a variety of green meeting ideas and walk you through how you can create green policies to further your sustainable reach. Plus, we are going to show you how to do it in a way that keeps costs down and actually save money through your sustainable efforts. Above all, we promise not to use jargon or bamboozle you with science that busy eventprofs simply don’t have time for.

It’s easy to get caught up in the details of an event and neglect certain tasks. One aspect of planning that requires a prominent place on your to-do list is social media marketing. But strategic use of online platforms does not have to be a full-time job. From hashtags to Snapchat, here are some tips for tagging all the bases at your next brilliant production.

The new year is looking brighter. Big event venues such as Mandalay Bay and Palm Springs convention centers have upgraded to green-energy sources, a change that will benefit not just the environment but business, too. According to this year’s SITE report, sustainability and green initiatives have become very important. Ninety-four percent of corporate clients said a top trend that’s having a positive impact on incentive travel is programs that show they are trying to do something positive. This trend is so important the IMEX Group, along with the Event Industry Council (EIC), are calling attention to it with the coveted Innovation in Sustainability Award.

Icebreakers are one of the most effective ways to kick off a meeting or conference. These interactive sessions are widely used to help attendees to get to know each other, feel more comfortable in a group and have some fun before the official program starts.

Engaging young professionals is tough, especially when it comes to events. Throw the word networking out there, and people seem to run for the hills. But you know what makes networking a lot less intimidating and a lot more appealing? When there’s an activity to break the ice. (And no, nothing cheesy.) Remember, young professionals want to connect. It’s a big reason why they joined your association in the first place. Help them do so in a way that’s going to be fun for them.

Breaking into event planning with little to no experience can be a challenge. And it’s REALLY hard to get experience if no one will hire you. Or is it? Hey, I’ve been there. I know the challenges. But they can be overcome with a few tactics, tools, and strategies. In this article, we’ll navigate this event planning career path together and give you the kind of jumpstart to your career you’ve been looking for. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about landing your first event planning position and making the most of an incredibly rewarding career.

Delivering memorable and outstanding experiences is an event professional’s overarching goal. What may challenge this goal is the rise of personal devices and continuous connectivity especially for many traditional companies which may find themselves at odds with the modern digital era. However the booming wave of digitization is a great opportunity in the hands of event professionals who strive for interaction, engagement and participation.

Conferences and meetings are usually thought of as sedentary events, as they require attendees to spend hours sitting down in enclosed spaces. Professionals in the events industry make significant efforts to create memorable events, but the health and well-being perspective often gets overlooked. In this post, we suggest five ways to ensure your next event promotes wellness and has a valuable impact on participants.

In a world where digital marketing is king, is event marketing irrelevant? No. To build personal connections between consumers and a brand, events are still key — and event marketers are just as in demand as ever. So, what makes an effective event marketer? And as an event marketer, how can you stand out in your career?

Long before social media, event marketers would pay for celebrities to promote their events and add credibility. As social media channels continue to gain popularity, consumers are more wary of what they believe when it comes to brand messaging. 92% of them trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement.

The business case for diversity is well established at this point, said Dorri McWhorter, CEO of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago. McWhorter spoke at Convening Leaders 2018 as a thought leader for Ascent, a new initiative launched by PCMA and Convene to inspire and spur inclusion and diversity in the business-events industry. In her talk, “Break Out of the Bubble — Inclusion to Enrich Your Life,” McWhorter said that gender-diverse companies are 15 percent more likely and ethnically diverse companies are 35 percent more likely to outperform their peers.

The events industry is booming — so how can you stay ahead in a saturated market? Find out in this infographic, using new data from more than 1,000 event creators in the United States and Canada. You’ll discover new insights to help you benchmark against your competition.

If you’re nervous about your next event presentation proposal or the event planning process, we also have you covered. We not only have professional-level information for you on what makes a winning presentation design, but we’ve also compiled this handy information in examples of slide deck using the best practice tips we have discussed and introducing useful content for eventprofs.

As the White House Director of Events during the Clinton Administration, IACC keynote speaker Laura Schwartz created events that represented a nation and inspired the world. Today, as a professional speaker, respected television commentator and author of Eat, Drink & Succeed,  Laura shares the secrets to building powerful, effective connections within companies, communities and events.

When Mark Lipton started researching executive leadership effectiveness decades ago, he came upon an alarming trend: A large number of the founding entrepreneurs he read about had a distinct, unfortunate personality trait — meanness. Many of us have heard stories about cold-hearted behavior of leaders such as Steve Jobs or Henry Ford, but Lipton, an adviser to major corporations, start-ups, government agencies, and not-for-profits, feels that the aggression in leaders — in particular, male leaders — goes beyond a handful of examples.

Why was I not surprised to see the first example of an employee who is highly engaged, but also burned out, in this Harvard Business Review article was a conference planner? Like so many of her planner peers, she threw everything she had into planning her event. Sadly, she ended up not leaving enough of herself for herself—she crashed before the conference happened and had to take time off to recover.

Have you ever noticed how you may be on your way to your dream job, body or relationship and somehow, you’ve sabotaged yourself? Why would we consciously or subconsciously derail efforts that are bringing us towards what we believe we want? While a few reasons may be that we’re afraid of change, afraid to put ourselves out there, and afraid to shine, there are many other reasons too.

If you’re not up on the General Data Protection Regulation, a new, stricter European Union data privacy law that goes into effect May 25, 2018, the time to pay attention is now. 

User-generated content (UGC) is attracting a lot of attention in marketing circles around the world. And it’s not surprising when you consider its many advantages. We know people trust other people, which is why peer-to-peer review sites like TripAdvisor and Foursquare have flourished in recent years. The same is true of social media. In fact, a recent study shows 85% of consumers find UGC more influential than brand-created content.