FEATURE
2014
year in
REVIEW
Fast-moving social developments, valuable research and new
perspectives on health—and the industry—inspired our most
popular stories of the year. In this 2014 wrap-up, The Meeting
Professional revisits those topics and more with updates and
original, behind-the-scenes insight.
BY MICHAEL PINCHERA
MPIWEB.ORG 55
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 55
11/25/14 3:20 PM
REVISITING 2014
d
e
h
s
r
e
t
a
W
l
a
i
c
o
AS
MARRIAGE EQUALITY
AND THE LOCAL ECONOMY
BY DIAN BARBER
April, Pgs. 54-59
N
o social issue evolved as quickly and signi icantly in the U.S. this year as that of marriage equality. In April, when The Meeting
Professional published “Marriage Equality
and the Local Economy,” same-sex marriage was legal in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Nine months later, same-sex marriage is legal in 18
additional states and, due in large part to actions by the
U.S. Supreme Court, it’ll be next to impossible to uphold
existing bans.
Marriage equality is a civil rights issue and shouldn’t
be viewed solely through an economics lens. But the
economic impact of social advances is an important
piece of the big picture—and essential to sway a percentage of the population that would otherwise remain
uninterested.
The timing of this story’s publication was perfect
and the industry community responded with praise, ahha revelations and even some confusion—most wonderfully, this kicked off a discussion as to how social changes affect your business.
The story’s genesis was serendipitous: Contributor
Dian Barber arrived in Hawaii for a Starwood Hotels &
Resorts media event the very irst day same-sex marriage ceremonies began in the state.
“During lunch at the Royal Hawaiian the next day, I
MPI MILESTONES
JANUARY
MPI grassroots effort Meetings Move Us Forward launches educational
industry-awareness commercial in 200 major U.S. markets
sL
Cooper
rhouse
mic Si The Economic Significance of
Econo the Meetings to the U.S. Economy,
to
a pan-industry study supported
etings
fo
ate
dy Upd
rim Stu
y
ummar
cutive S
try C
n Indus
nventio
by the MPI Foundation, finds that
meetings contributed more
than $115 billion to the U.S.
GDP in 2012
MEETINGS
MOVE US
FORWARD
Effective meetings
are what we do,
and it’s
time to tell our story
to the world. Learn
more
at www.mpiweb.org/forw
ard.
© 2013 Meeting
Shift to electronic invoicing estimated to
reduce MPI’s carbon footprint by 58,000
cubic square feet of CO2 annually
Professionals International
56 THE MEETING PROFESSIONAL DECEMBER 2014
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 56
11/25/14 3:27 PM
This year, The Meeting Professional’s
editors and writers shared travel
experiences from 10 destinations.
Follow the spots to read updates
from some of those locales.
Top
isited
v
e
R
Spot
“With each new state where
same-sex marriages are legally
recognized, our nation moves
closer to achieving full equality
for all Americans.”
Copenhagen’s d’Angleterre, one of only eight European hotels named to Condé Nast Traveler’s annual
“Hot List,” is anything but new, having opened in 1755.
However, the completion of a two-year, 18th-century-style refurbishment is driving worldwide attention.
FACEBOOK COMMENTS
This story also sparked a lively discussion (more than 60 comments
so far) on the Industry Friends Facebook group, spanning from
questions about the inclusion of special event- and wedding
planning-related content in The Meeting Professional to clearly
understanding the rationale and value presented. (The following
selection of comments has been edited for length and clarity.)
—U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER, OCT. 25, 2014
overheard and joined a conversation between a son and his
mother about the extraordinary midnight event at the Sheraton next door,” Barber says. “As I researched the story and
the larger context of what same-sex weddings meant for
meeting and event professionals, I realized that within this
germinating microcosm were pertinent issues that related
to not only the macrocosm of meetings and events, but of all
tourism and event-related business.”
Discussing the subject with locals, newlyweds and her
hosts, Barber learned of 2014-2015 MPI Aloha Chapter president Steven Boyle’s involvement in the historic midnight marriage ceremonies. Although primarily a high-end corporate
meeting and incentive planner, Boyle is one of many industry
professionals across the globe to realize increased and diversi ied business as a result of marriage-equality legislation.
Another source in the story, Bernadette Coveney Smith,
founder of 14 Stories—the irst company in the U.S. to specialize in planning same-sex weddings—has seen signi icant
growth in the professional education side of her business this
year. Her Gay Wedding Institute, which educates planners on
best practices and considerations unique to same-sex events,
has experienced a 50 percent increase in certi ication courses
over 2013—and 2015 is shaping up to be even stronger.
Coveney Smith says it’s very
y encouraging
encouragin
rag
aging that
at planners
planners
n
and suppliers both realize marriage
age equality
equa
quality is here
to stay.
U.S. states where same-sex
marriage is legal
I’m happy for everyone involved in this new wedding phenomenon but
I’m confused as to how this merits a cover story for the MPI community.
DAVID RICH
SVP of client services/Cisco Worldwide, George P. Johnson Experience Marketing
The business case certainly is there —although weddings aren’t meetings, they are events. They certainly achieve the objective of “people
coming together for a common purpose.” The suppliers involved
achieve their return on investment.
CHARLES CHAN MASSEY, CMP
Founder and CEO, SYNAXIS Meetings & Events
While I understand that there would be some confusion with the
weddings focus…I think that it is completely appropriate for MPI to
finally discuss the bigger issue of LGBT issues in travel and meetings. The
weddings focus is so visible right now—has a huge impact on the hotel
and supplier business overall. It is a “new” market—new markets are
not created very often.
MICHELLE WINDHAUSEN
Sales & marketing consultant, Windhausen Marketing
It has everything to do w/ our BROAD industry… If MPI had not
published this article, would this conversation have happened?
Would the awareness be wide-spread and the ability to talk about
the issues have happened?
JOAN EISENSTODT
Founder, Eisenstodt Associates
To embrace and address social, legal changes that impact our industry
(both sides of the table) is important and necessary and I am glad MPI
did so… Are there aspects of the story from which we can learn or
broaden our viewpoints and if so, isn’t that a good thing?
LAUREL COOTE, CMM
Chief brain, Pick My Brain Consulting
FEBRUARY
ISTANBUL I TURKEY
23-25 February I 2014
Meetings Outlook debuts
The European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC)
in Istanbul gives 300 attendees a choice of professional
education with 51 sessions (52 total clock hours)
February
CLAIRE SMITH, CMP
MPI British Columbia Chapter
MPIWEB.ORG 57
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 57
11/25/14 3:27 PM
Who’s Behind
Tomorrow’s Trends
MPI’s quarterly Meetings Outlook is the most important ongoing intelligence tool for meeting and
event professionals. The survey, published quarterly in The Meeting Professional, is the result of
combined efforts from editorial, design and research experts and countless industry professionals.
BILL VOEGELI
President, Association Insights
M
eetings Outlook has become one of the most
rewarding aspects of conducting research
for MPI. Each quarter, I join a diverse
team of researchers and writers to look at ongoing
research data and determine what insights can be
most helpful to meeting and event professionals going forward. From this discussion, the survey is customized and delivered to a volunteer group of more
than 1,000 meeting professionals, who report on
current and future trends affecting their businesses
and how they are preparing. This means that every
three months we have a new set of challenges and
solutions to analyze, and a new understanding of
where the industry is headed. Meetings Outlook is
an ever-changing report, re lecting the ever-changing challenges and opportunities
ort
rtunities facing meeting and
event professionals.
M
eetings Outlook continues to be an evolving
product. Some trends pop up and we track
them and learn new things. Others, such as
short lead times, trend for years, perhaps show signs
of fading and then return in full strength.
Meetings Outlook is important for the industry
on a global basis, enabling you to understand what’s
trending, consider why, compare and contrast to your
own business and adjust accordingly. Our research in
this ield—Meetings Outlook and previously Business
Barometer—has always been a leading indicator. But
for the trends to be of relevance to everyone, we need
participation globally—especially in Canada. The more
respondents we get, the more we can segment the results by region and identify what’s trending in your
area to better equip you for the future. This also helps
us learn how other parts of the world are impacted.
If you’re interested in participating (especially those
outside the U.S.), please contact me at research@
mpiweb.org.
MARJ ATKINSON, MLS, CRP
Research Librarian, MPI
APRIL
The MPI Foundation Canada’s Economic Impact
Study 3.0 reveals that business events delivered
CAD$27.5 billion to the Canadian GDP in 2012
MAY
First-ever Not-So-Silent Auction at IMEX Frankfurt raises
more than US$14,000 for MPI Foundation Europe
April
STEVEN BOYLE
MPI ALOHA CHAPTER
58 THE MEETING PROFESSIONAL DECEMBER 2014
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 58
11/25/14 3:22 PM
CHRISTIAN SAVELLI
Senior Director of Business
Intelligence and Research, MPI
B
efore I joined the MPI team, I used to look
forward to the yearly issue of the Business
Barometer. I often used the information to enrich
some of the trend information I was putting together for
Maritz Travel. What attracted me to the yearly issue was
the forward-looking focus, the pro-active approach that
hat
helped us to work with our customers to ready ourselves
ves
for incoming trends.
Thus, I am delighted that I have been part of the team
am
in charge of the redesign of Business Barometer into Meetetings Outlook. We still have the ability to measure key busisiness trends, but Meetings Outlook also allows us to ask
a new set of questions each quarter to understand and
nd
measure the impact of some key trends in luencing meeteting professionals.
What I have learned during this process and by lookoking at the indings this irst year is how challenging the
he
work of meeting professionals has become. The environon
nment is getting better, as economic indicators are in th
the
he
green, but it is not getting easier as the meetings landscape is becoming more and more complex. I hope that
Meetings Outlook will help us to be at the forefront of
detecting key trends and thus enable us to develop educational materials to support our members, as they are
going to need to develop new skills in this exciting new
environment.
Meetings Outlookk is developed in partnership with Dallas Convention
& Visitors Bureau and supported in partnership with IMEX. Research
nsights.
is conducted by Association Insights.
2014 RISE Awards
recipients announced
Robyn Mietkiewicz, CMP, CMM (Member of the Year); Silke Fleischer (Meeting Industry Leadership); Jenn Wheaton (Young Professional Achievement); MPI Chicago Area Chapter, represented
by Hali Cooper, CMP (Community Achievement in Knowledge and Ideas); MPI Rocky Mountain
Chapter, represented by Amanda Jackson (Community Achievement in Marketplace Excellence);
LPL Financial, represented by Annette Gregg, CMP, CMM, MBA (Organizational Achievement)
Nominations for the 2015 RISE
Awards are open through Dec.
12. Honor the global meeting
and event industry’s finest at
www.mpiweb.org/rise.
MPIWEB.ORG 59
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 59
11/25/14 3:22 PM
Spreading
Awareness
S
ociety’s understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD) seems to be continually luctuating. The most signi icant recent example of this was with changes made
to the diagnostic criteria revealed last year in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.
Luckily, awareness of ASD is growing.
The Meeting Professional’s exploration into the intersection
of the meeting and event industry and ASD began with former
editor Jason Hensel’s interview of author and speaker Temple
Grandin (“Temple of Wisdom,” November 2013).
Elizabeth Zielinski, CMM, a meeting and event industry consultant who is raising a son with ASD, shared her concern that
some of the comments made by Grandin could be detrimental to
both the autism and meetings communities.
AUTISM AND THE
FUTURE
FU
OF MEETINGS
BYY EL
ELIZABETH ZIELINSKI, CMM
April, Pgs. 36-37
To promote discussion of this topic and present greater and
more personable insight, Zielinski agreed to write a column elaborating on her initial letter. In “Autism and the Future of Meetings,” Zielinski shared some of her thoughts on employment opportunities for those with ASD in the industry and provided tips
for making events more inclusive.
The bridge between school and work for people with ASD remains a challenge, but one that is starting to get proper attention.
In October, the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health awarded
a $693,000 grant
rant to researchers at the University of Kentucky
College of Education
ucation and Indiana University-Perdue University
Indianapolis to
o study this transition.
MAY
JUNE
MPI acquires the Healthcare
Meeting Compliance Certificate (HMCC)
program, offers it at the Healthcare
Convention & Exhibitors Association
May
annual meeting
SHERYL KORN, CMP
MPI MICHIGAN CHAPTER
June
RÉMY CRÉGUT
MPI FRANCE- SWITZERLAND CHAPTER
60 THE MEETING PROFESSIONAL DECEMBER 2014
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 60
11/25/14 5:05 PM
Who We Are
JANUARY
TRACEY
BOCKHOP, CMP
MPI WISCONSIN CHAPTER
FEBRUARY
MARCH
TAMMY
KOCKAYA,
CMP, CMM
MPI POTOMAC CHAPTER
“Being flexible to sudden change—
natural disasters, political unrest, etc.—
is what we need to be great at.”
APRIL
LISA
SCHALK
MPI TAMPA BAY AREA CHAPTER
“I think about how I can help to illuminate
other people so their light can shine and
they can be magnificent in all they do.”
MAY
ASHLEY
LOWE,
CMP
MPI AT LARGE
“When my husband Jim and I started Toffee to
Go 11 years ago, I remember hoping that some
day Oprah would taste our toffee. I knew she
would love it!”
“My career contributes to a major part of the
happiness/fulfillment in my life. I couldn’t
imagine having any other career.”
JUNE
DAVID
ANDERSON,
CMP
MPI SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER
JULY
JUDI
HOLLER,
CHME
MPI CHICAGO AREA CHAPTER
“[Volunteering with MPI] was a game-changer for
me. I can’t see myself as a successful planning
professional without MPI.”
AUGUST
TAMELA
BLALOCK,
CMP, MTA
MPI POTOMAC CHAPTER
“Growing up as a military child, I never found
a community of people that felt like home …
In the meeting industry I have finally found
a community and a home.”
In each issue of The Meeting Professional an MPI member shares his
or her personal story with you. Here are the peers you met this year.
“I am a real-life testament that your background and
your circumstances have ZERO to do with your future
… You must draw your own roadmap.”
“
SEPTEMBER
O.D.
O’DONNELL
MPI DALLAS-FORT WORTH
H CHAPTER
“
“My younger brother asked if I was ever going to
retire. I told him, ‘I can’t golf, I don’t like fishing,
so I might as well keep doing what I love.”
MPI’s Speaker Resource database
of 8,000+ experts launches
HÉCTOR
VENEGAS
MPI GERMANY CHAPTER
JULY
“After graduating from law school I decided to
continue doing what I loved doing (not law)…
The meeting industry has made me the person I am.”
NOVEMBER
DANIELLE
VAN
DER KWARTEL
WARTEL
MPI MEXICO CHAPTER
“The more we listen to each other, the more we can
respect and learn from each other. This is the only
way our world can evolve in an ethical manner.”
“
Meet this month’s member,
Wojciech Liszka, on Page 20.
GU
GUS
US
VONDERHEIDE
VOND
M
MPI
PI FO
FOUNDATION CHAIRMAN
Kevin Kirby and Gus
Vonderheide begin
terms as MPI international
nal
board of directors chairman
man
and MPI Foundation chairairman, respectively
July
KEVIN KIRBY
MPI CHAIRMAN
MPIWEB.ORG 61
Dec_Feature_Year in Review PAGE 61.indd 54
11/25/14 4:33 PM
Big Names,
Bigger Insights
S
triving to enhance the multidisciplinary skillset of meeting
ting
and event professionals, this year saw some especially diverse
erse
high-proϐile personalities grace the pages of The Meeting
ting
Professional and share insights with the more than 2,000
000
attendees of the World Education Congress (WEC).
TTHE WHEELS OF WOZ
B MICHAEL PINCHERA
BY
September,
S
Pgs. 66-69
THE INVENTOR
The MPI Northern California Chapter and San Francisco Travel came
through big time by arranging for Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak
to speak at this year’s WEC during the 2015 WEC Preview Luncheon.
As an added bonus, we had the opportunity to share some original
analog Woz with you (“The Wheels of Woz”).
AUGUST
“Meetings give a
unique opportunity
to express full
potential.”
—DR. DEEPAK CHOPRA
First digital-only
WEC conference guide
500,000 +
The World Education Congress (WEC) in Minneapolis
brings more than 2,000 industry professionals face to
face with luminaries Deepak Chopra and Steve Wozniak
(Number of app interactions)
62 THE MEETING PROFESSIONAL DECEMBER 2014
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 62
11/25/14 5:09 PM
YOU MUST BE
PRESENT TO WIN
“Try to do something
for yourself and that’ll get
you to the excellence.”
BY ELAINE POFELDT
June, Pgs. 62-64
THE PRESIDENTIAL PLANNER
—STEVE WOZNIAK
ORANGE PHOTOGRAPHY
As White House director of events during the Clinton Administration, Laura Schwartz (MPI Chicago Area Chapter) has a foundation of high-level, industry-speci ic knowledge and proved to
be an in luence for members face to face and online.
“When we’re present,
we’re more valuable to
ourselves, our relationships,
our community and
our industries.”
—LAURA SCHWARTZ
C
CREATE
HEALTHY
MEETINGS
M
BBY MICHAEL PINCHERA
July,
J Pgs. 62-64
THE MINDFUL MOGUL
Dr. Deepak Chopra wants meetings to be healthier experiences (“Create Healthy Meetings”). This August, that endeavor
reached a milestone. The MGM Grand’s Stay Well Meetings
program, unveiled at WEC and debuted at the Las Vegas resort
two weeks later, is a partnership with Chopra and Delos Living
to make meetings more productive, creative and collaborative.
Raises more than
$170,000
for grants, scholarships
and research at its most
successful WEC ever
Discover Inspiration
Experience these luminaries and dozens of other education
sessions from WEC 2014 at www.mpiweb.org/wec14.
Double Dutch-MPI mobile app survey reveals
that 63% of planners currently offer or have
developed a mobile meeting/event app
63%
10th anniversary of Canada Rocks at
IncentiveWorks
ncentiveWorks raises more than $25,000
for
or the MPI Foundation
F
Canada
MPIWEB.ORG 63
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 63
11/25/14 3:26 PM
Technology, Education,
Design and You
T
BY ANDREA DRIESSEN
TED
2014
FACTOIDS
TED GOES TO
VANCOUVER
February, Pgs. 48-51
BEHIND THE
BE
SCENES
SCEN AT TED
SC
June, Pgs. 38-39
JJun
The Vancouve
Vancouver Convention Centre will again host TED in
Whistler Convention Centre will simultaneously
March, and the W
TEDActive. Maybe you’ll attend this time?
accommodate TED
Oh, and after watching his TED talk about going blind in
space, I still have a schoolgirl crush on astronaut Chris Had ield
talk and acoustic performance of David Bowie’s
(check out his tal
“Space Oddity” at http://tinyurl.com/TEDSpace).
CHRIS HADFIELD
JAMES DUNCAN DAVIDSON
his year kicked off fully immersed in all
things TED. I wrote a cover story on the
Vancouver-TED partnership (“TED Goes to
Vancouver”), attended TEDActive in Whistler
and subsequently shared my experience
ce (“Behind the
Scenes at TED”). I still struggle to adequately
quately describe
the richness of TEDActive, but it has
as
directly in luenced my life and career.
That wonderful week led to: A
“curated content” club to help fellow
w
meeting professionals foster more coheesion and connection in their events; new
w
friendships with people from around the
he
world; my company serving as the Expeerience Sponsor for the MPI Washington
n
State Chapter’s Meetings Industry Summmit; and provocative
conversations that conirm how hungry we are
for ways to make meetings more meaningful.
Some of the concepts I recommend to
clients for boosting
event engagement are
rooted in my TEDActive experience and the
5 Days
behind-the-scenes tour
80+ Incredible Talks
of the TED event space.
1/3 of Speakers are Women
And clients are increasNSA Whistleblower Edward
ingly asking me how
Snowden Debuts as “Snowdenthey can “TEDify” their
bot” for Live Onstage Interview
events with speaker
via Telepresence Robot
coaching and formatting
recommendations.
SEPTEMBER
More than 240 chapter leaders—
a record—converge in Dallas for four
days of education and networking
61 people earn the HMCC in the first
three months it’s offered by MPI
64 THE MEETING PROFESSIONAL DECEMBER 2014
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 64
11/25/14 3:28 PM
A Safer World
I
n January, the MPI Washington State Chapter sign The Code of
Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism (The Code)—the irst chapter to
do so.
“We were pushing for this status as the irst MPI chapter to do
this, because we wanted to create a little bit of urgency and competition amongst other chapters to do the same thing,” said Leslie Young Cutler, then-director of sponsorship and strategic partnerships for the chapter. “For our chapter it’s a matter of creating
awareness and providing an avenue for education. While we can’t
actually create any policies for our vendors per se, we can encourage them to get involved, and we’re asking our membership of
suppliers and planners to take a look at this issue and get involved
within their own organizations to help ight it.”
Prompted by that action, writer Rob Cotter addressed the subject matter through the context of the 2014 Super Bowl (“Meeting
Industry Brings Human Traf icking to Forefront” and “Taking a
Stand Against Human Traf icking”) and spoke with an early signer
of The Code, Molly Hackett (MPI St. Louis Area Chapter), principal
at Nix Conference and Meeting Management and founder of social
action organization the Exchange Initiative.
“Not just the Super Bowl, but conferences and large trade shows
are a target and traf ickers will travel to those cities where they are
being held and bring their children with them,” Hackett said. “If you
monitor a city’s activity of these websites that sell children, you
can watch the number available for sale grow as it gets closer to a
conference.”
Although the decision to include the topic of human traf icking
meeting industry publication has been questioned, MPI
in a meetin
members responded with appreciation for the story as
mem
well as the efforts of their peers.
we
Top
ted
i
s
i
v
e
R
Spot
More than 1,200 organizations
in 52 countries have signed The
Code, and more than 140,000
employees have been trained to
oita
recognize signs of child exploitaedd
tion and deal with suspected
b
cases. You can get involved by
g
g.
visiting www.thecode.org.
TAKING A STAND
AGAINST HUMAN
TRAFFICKING
BY ROB COTTER
April, Pgs. 26-27
Thank you for your brilliant article regarding human
trafficking. We in New Northern New Jersey (near the
Super Bowl site) are painfully aware of the problem
and its heinous result on human lives. The Bishop of
the Episcopal Diocese of Newark (N.J.), Rt. Rev. Mark
Beckwith, has produced an article that I pass along for
your understandable concern with the problem:
http://goo.gl/vBsFBh.
RON OWENS, CEP
MPI New Jersey Chapter
I would like to commend MPI’s Washington State
Chapter and member Molly Hackett for her leading
efforts to bring attention to a serious issue that affects
meetings and events.
MARIANNE THOMPSON, CMP, CMM
MPI Toronto Chapter
Approximately 50 percent of Walt Disney World guests now use Disney’s
MagicBand, reducing entry wait time by 25 percent. In October, Fast
Company magazine named the system to its “2014 Innovation by Design”
awards list under the “Experience” category, saying, “…it’s a peek at a smarter, more automated future, with applications beyond the theme park.”
OCTOBER
At IMEX America, MPI delivers 45.25
clock hours of education, attracts 1,100
to its keynotes and, for the first time,
presents education sessions in its booth
during the trade show
The MPI Foundation raises more than
$190,000 during IMEX America, setting
a new record for the most funds raised
through a single event
First-ever EMEC hostedbuyer program announced
MPIWEB.ORG 65
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 65
11/25/14 3:28 PM
Top 10
Stories of 2014
The most-honored magazine in meetings
and events, The Meeting Professional is
understandably the industry publication the
MPI community reads more than any other.
What topics were you and your peers most
interested in reading about this year? Following
are the stories from The Meeting Professional and
MPI’s email newsletters that received the greatest
online traffic in 2014.
The weekly MPIpulse e-newsletter provides
fresh content for industry professionals to
stay up-to-date and continue learning.
The biweekly MPIspotlight e-newsletter
rotates between exclusive content from
The Meeting Professional and valuable
technology, social media and career advice.
MOST POPULAR
MOST POPULAR
1. Trim Your F&B Budget Without
Skimping on the Experience
TIPS FOR UNFORGETTABLE EVENTS
1. Should PowerPoint be Banned
During Presentations?
MOST POPULAR
1. Valuable Skills You Don’t List on
Your Résumé
2. 10 Meeting Tech Trends for the
Coming Year
2. “Meeting Planner” Ranks High
on Job List
2. The Five Greatest Challenges You Face
SUCCEEDING IN 2014
3. 12 Ways to Cut Event Costs,
Not Quality
3. Create Healthier Meetings
INTERVIEW WITH DR. DEEPAK CHOPRA
4. Five Event Contract Areas to Consider
4. Marriage Equality and the Local
Economy
THE BOON OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
5. Convention Center (Economic) Blues
CREATIVE WAYS TO ATTRACT BUSINESS
6. TED Goes to Vancouver
WHAT IT TOOK TO SCORE THE BIG-THINK CONFERENCE
7. Highlighting the Best
2014 RISE AWARDS RECIPIENTS
8. Breathing Easy
FOOD ALLERGIES AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
9. The Shows Go On
VALUE OF HOSTED-BUYER FORMATS
5. Restaurant Group Predicts 2014
F&B Trends
4. 10 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
6. Five Tech Trends in Hotels’ Future
5. 7 Career Lessons World Travel Can
Teach You
7. Industry Group Targets Room Block
Poaching
6. Getting Past the Myths of
Networking
8. Five Changes on the Way for the
Hotel Industry
7. 17 Things Your LinkedIn Proϐile
Should Have
9. Music Licensing to Undergo
Federal Review
8. When to Take Stock of Your Career
10. Avoid These Five Networking
Mistakes
10. Moving From Team Member
to Leader
Top
d
evisite
R
Spot
10. Ticket to Ride
EXPERIMENTING WITH UBER
3. Fortune’s Top 100 Companies
to Work For
9. Advice for Those Starting Out
Starwood Hotels & Resorts released the new Aloha Guide
mobile app (free, Android and iOS) to conveniently connect
visitors with dining, entertainment and shopping options—
and digital coupons—anywhere in Hawaii.
NOVEMBER
November
50 participants attend the first CMM program offered by both
MPI and the Global Business Travel Association
ELI GORIN, CMP, CMM
MPI AT LARGE
66 THE MEETING PROFESSIONAL DECEMBER 2014
Dec_Feature_Year in Review.indd 66
11/25/14 5:16 PM