Meetings Today Podcast Meetings Today

Meetings industry
veteran Eric Rozenberg is one of the foremost experts on international business
events, having served as chair of MPI's International Board of Directors and by
running his own business serving a global clientele.

Rozenberg is also an author of
business books and a speaker and instructor on the topic of entrepreneurship,
especially in the meetings and events industry.

Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson caught up with Rozenberg
to talk about the state of international meetings as well as his work with Dr.
Lalia Rach, who leads ALHI Strategic Consulting Services, where he helps
business owners navigate their journey in starting and running businesses.

From a spectacular new 976-room Signia by Hilton headquarters hotel rising from the site of the former Georgia Dome to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Centennial Olympic Park and the Georgia World Congress Center itself, Atlanta's 200-acre Georgia World Congress Center Campus--the largest combined convention, sports and entertainment campus in North America--is a meetings and conventions powerhouse.

Beyond Atlanta, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) is also busy with a massive expansion to the Savannah Convention Center that will transform that storied coastal Georgia destination in terms of its conventions offering.

Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson sat down with Jennifer LeMaster, chief administrative officer of the GWCCA, during ASAE's Annual Meeting & Exposition to discuss the new facilities and major expansions throughout the "Championship Campus" and beyond.

EventMobi recently acquired virtual events platform Run the World, which held an astonishing 50,000 virtual events during the pandemic for heavy hitters such as Forbes, Meta, Amazon, the United Nations Development Programme and Harvard University.

Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson sat down with event management software company EventMobi founder and CEO Bob Vaez to explore the benefits of the acquisition as face-to-face meetings have rebounded post-pandemic, as well as his take on some of the major meetings and events technology issues impacting the industry.

Hear why EventMobi is upping its hybrid meetings offering, and why you should continue to explore both standalone virtual events as well as meetings that combine virtual with in-person.

Omni Hotels & Resorts has embarked on its first brand refresh in more than a decade, coinciding with an impressive growth phase that figures convention hotels large in the equation.

Dan Surette, chief sales officer for Omni Hotels & Resorts, explains how the privately owned hotel company is placing a premium on the customer by working with global experience transformation company Materials Plus on a $1 million project to create two signature employee training programs that focus on personalization.

The meetings industry is losing a vast reservoir of institutional knowledge with the retirement of Christine "Shimo" Shimasaki, whose most recent position was managing director of 2SYNERGIZE, a Simpleview consulting company specializing on delivering intelligence to DMOs.

Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson caught up with Shimo shortly after the retirement announcement to discuss her 40 years in the meetings and hospitality industry, advice for those just starting out, as well as her post-career plans.

Feeling boxed in and not recognized for your accomplishments? Lifelong hospitality industry veteran Dr. Lalia Rach has a prescription to help you manage your evolution within your profession, and in particular women executives and those climbing the organizational ladder.

The author of Managing the Book on YOU!, who is also executive managing director of Strategic Consulting Service, a division of ALHI, and founding dean of the NYU Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management, shares her experience being “born into” the hospitality industry, how she elevated NYU’s meeting planning certificate program into an undergraduate degree program and her work helping hospitality industry professionals via her consulting work with global luxury hotel sales powerhouse ALHI.