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Industry Heavyweights Predict Key Issues Driving Evolution of Business Events at IMEX America

Kai Hattendorf moderated a high-powered panel consisting of Cvent CEO and founder Reggie Aggarwal, DMC Network Managing Director Aoife Delaney and IMEX’s CEO Carina Bauer on “State of the Industry: From Intention to Action”. We’ve linked to the Snapsight AI summary of the key points from their wide-ranging discussion. There’s plenty of food for thought!

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Why the Global Tourism Backlash May Be Our Best Advocacy Opportunity Ever!

Business Events advocacy veteran Rod Cameron eloquently sets out the arguments why our sector shouldn’t let the “overtourism crisis” go to waste. Business, professional and scientific events need to be clearly differentiated from leisure tourism, when communicating with the public as well as with policymakers, and now is the perfect time to do this: There…

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Why Thousands of Event Industry Pros Still Love one of the World’s Most Stressful Jobs

From GatheringPoint.news, by David Adler: Thousands of event, hospitality, and tourism pros are heading to Las Vegas for IMEX, chasing the rush they create for others—the chemistry of awe, risk, and belonging that makes the world’s hardest job worth it. IMEX is not just another convention. It’s the annual gathering of an ecosystem…

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Why Scientific Editors Go to Conferences

The editors at Nature Mircobiology outline why they attended 27 scientific conferences last year. In short, it’s for virtually the same reasons as the researchers, students, speakers, technologists and professors who make up the rest of their attendee ecosystem! A great summary of why conferences are so vital for everyone in the scientific community.

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A Political Lack of Imagination and Creativity

Meetings International’s Roger Kellerman laments the failure of so many countries’ national governments to adopt transformative event strategies, and suggests a few actions the events sector can take to help solve this problem: If a country creates a strategy for events and major sports championships, only to never actually implement it, this inverted power move…

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Why Brands Are Doubling Down on Live Events

Skift Meetings Editor-in-Chief Miguel Neves dissects key factors driving corporate trust in the power of events to unlock business value in ways that are inaccessible to other channels and tools: Brands are making bold experiential moves, and the events industry stands to benefit — if it delivers on the promise of meaningful experiences…

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Reflections on President von der Leyen’s State of the Union 2025

Guy Bigwood provides optimistic and pessimistic perspectives on potential impacts on the travel, tourism and events sectors of the EU’s latest strategic world overview. Missing from his analysis is the certainty that these geopolitical issues will generate huge demand for new sectoral meetings where their implications, risks, and potential solutions can be debated and analysed.

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How Experiential Venues Redefine Global Meetings

ICCA CEO Senthil Gopinath argues that the era of transactional venues selling rooms, tech and m2 is over, and sensitivity to the delegate experience is the key factor for future success: Over the past few years, I have witnessed something remarkable in the business events world: venues are no longer simply spaces where meetings take…

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Is the Future of the US as Global Meetings Destination Under Threat?

By Kai hattendorf, Global Business Events Industry Strategist: America’s reputation as a tourism and events hub is strained, with travel down, costs rising, and accessibility questioned. How can this be overcome, and what might happen next? Fees, access issues, and image concerns weigh on the country’s standing in the international meetings market…

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Silenced Voices: The Politics of Conference Visa Denials

James Lancaster, Editorial Director at Northstar Meetings Group, highlights how stricter immigration policies are increasingly affecting international conferences. Visa denials, particularly for delegates from the Global South, limit participation and make global collaboration more difficult, raising questions about inclusivity and the ability to address shared challenges effectively.

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Events Are Cities. Organizers Are Mayors

From GatheringPoint.news, by David Adler: The events industry is the vast ecosystem behind conventions, trade shows, conferences, festivals, and brand experiences—a powerful engine that moves people, money, and ideas. As offices went hybrid and remote, these gatherings absorbed the social, professional, and even romantic collisions that used to happen at work…

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The Pentagon Just Declared War on Convening

David Adler raises important issues on the necessity of attending meetings with people who hold diverse perspectives, and the more important point that governments have a responsibility to encourage participation and to participate in such meetings themselves. International meetings shouldn’t become echo chambers if they are to educate their participants and identify solutions to problems.

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Do Companies Need a Chief Meeting Officer?

From Skift Meetings: Dr. Steven G. Rogelberg says meetings are a bigger expense than IT when you add the cost of attendees’ time and salaries. So why is no one at the top in charge? Few corporations view meetings as a critical business function and there’s no one at the executive level who actually owns…

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