Meetings Today Podcast Meetings Today

In this episode of Fast Forward, host Logan Pratt sits down with event technology expert and founder of Endless Events, Will Curran, to find out more about the future of event technology. Curran and Pratt discuss everything from AI to AR and Curran's newest project, leading Bizzabo's wearable event technology brand, Klik.

Late meeting and event registration keeping you up at night with heartburn and night sweats? Don't fret, planner! The later the registration the more ancillary spend an attendee drops at an event.

Maritz has released a groundbreaking Registration Insights Report that collected data over three years from 360,000 registrations at 30 tradeshows. Emily Laufgraben, market insight manager for the global meetings and events giant, reveals the sweet spot between fretting over late arrivals and taking their event spend to the bank.





According to a robust new survey from Maritz, late event registration translates into more ancillary meetings spend by attendees. Discover where this sweet spot
between heartburn and revenue generation lies.

In the first ever episode of the Fast Forward podcast, host Logan Pratt sits down with hybrid meetings expert Bill Reed, who shares why meeting planners should still consider planning a hybrid event, and discusses the benefit of incorporating hybrid elements to events even four years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason Dunn, CEO of the National Coalition of Black Meeting
Professionals (NCBMP), has been a leader in hospitality and DMO diversity and
inclusion efforts for decades, from his time at Visit Cincy—where he rose to be
the DMO's first Black vice president after initially participating in a travel
boycott of the destination—to lead NCBMP in November 2022.

Now, after a little more than a year at the helm of NCBMP, Dunn
reflects on his work there as well as where the meetings and events industry is
in terms of diversity and inclusion, the nuanced issue of travel boycotts and
advisories, and the generational challenge of persuading young people to
consider a career in the meetings and hospitality industries.

Dominique Bonds, director of engagement for the Pennsylvania Convention Center, shares her vision as new president of Event Service Professionals Association, including DEIAB, generational shifts in the world of event service profs, sustainability and the evolution of the role of being the No. 1 on-the-ground point of contact for meeting and event planners.
Bonds also fills us in on some of the big annual shows coming to Philly and the destination's big plans for 2026.

When most people think of standup comedy, they typically think of crude Netflix specials or dank nightclubs with comedians swearing like sailors. But when Greg Schwem takes the stage, you can hear the audience laughing about topics such as sales meetings, corporate websites or business advertising campaigns.