Optimism is up in meetings industry, says IMEX America
Optimism in the meetings and events industry is on the rise, according the latest IMEX America Index of Optimism. 
Sustainable Meetings Conference 2012: The Idea Auction (VIDEO)
“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” — George Bernard Shaw
Conference organizers at [...]
New meeting and hospitality industry hires, promotions: May 2012
Choice Hotels International promoted Stephanie Lykins to vice president of talent development.
Michael Halsall joined Grace Hotels as director of sales and marketing, responsible for the group’s international sales strategy.
Hilton Worldwide named Stuart Foster its vice president of marketing.
Simon Manning became vice president of sales and marketing for the Langham Hospitality Group, overseeing 14 hotels on [...]
New hotels, renovations, expansions and other destination news: May 2012
International
China
The 342-room Renaissance Huizhou Hotel opened in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, with 11 meeting rooms and more than 24,500 square feet of event space.
Japan
The 290-room Palace Hotel Tokyo was scheduled to open May 17 as part of a $1.2 billion mixed-used development. It will have eight multipurpose meeting rooms, a formal boardroom and two smaller [...]
Visit Orlando’s Gary Sain dies at 61
Gary Sain, credited with helping bring millions of tourists to Central Florida, has died at age 61.
Sain, president and CEO of Visit Orlando, collapsed after speaking at a fundraiser Friday and was later pronounced dead at an area hospital. He was scheduled to be honored for his leadership during Tourism Week, which started Saturday. An [...]
Meeting professionals battle GSA legislation
The fallout of the U.S. General Services Administration’s mismanaged 2010 Western Region Conference continues to impact the meetings industry. Last week, the Global Business Travel Association postponed its National Travel Forum, a meeting for government travel planners, because GSA employees are now restricted from attending. And ASAE, the Center for Association Leadership, is part of [...]
Sustainable Meetings Conference 2012: Games, blinks and weavers
This year's Sustainable Meetings Conference convened in Montreal on April 22-25. Part 2 of our report considers "gamification," the "blink" concept and weavers.
