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PYM planner profile: Patti Shock

August 31, 2011 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, meeting and convention planning is one of the best careers to be in for the next decade. But finding colleges that offer degrees in meeting, convention or event management is difficult. One of the few colleges that did have a degree program, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, […]

Filed Under: PYM Blog, PYM profiles Tagged With: convention, education for meeting planners, eliminating programs, gsu, hospitality school, las vegas, meetings major, meetings program, organization, patti shock, university of nevada, unlv

Cost-saving strategies and solutions to industry challenges

June 3, 2011 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

Despite reassurances that the recession is over, corporate purse strings aren’t getting any looser. And that, coupled with increasing hotel and transportation costs and short booking windows, is leaving meeting and event planners feeling pinched. On the meeting supply side, hotel and convention sales managers are having a hard time connecting with potential clients and […]

Filed Under: Budgets and contracts, Event technology, Food and beverage, PYM Blog, State of the industry Tagged With: airlift, airline, concession, contract negotiation tips, convention, corporate meetings and events, event planners, excel spreadsheet templates, how to plan meetings and events, industry challenges, interactive platforms, knowledge, meeting professionals, negotiation table, planning advice, potential solutions, price integrity, private networks, purse strings, registration systems, survival strategies for suppliers, Transportation, travel

Taking a trip through Texas at the PCMA Opening Night Reception

January 11, 2010 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

The opening night reception for the 2010 PCMA annual convention in Dallas had the theme The Trails of Texas. The organizers aimed to give attendees a taste of north Texas’ many communities, from sophisticated fashion mecca Dallas to the Stockyards of Fort Worth. There were Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, rides from the Texas State Fair and […]

Filed Under: PYM Blog Tagged With: convening leaders, convention, Dallas, opening night, pcma, reception

Delta to reinstate its meeting fares program

July 4, 2009 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

Since Delta Air Lines acquired Northwest Airlines last year, corporate travel buyers have been wondering if Delta would eliminate Northwest’s discounted fares for people flying to meetings and events. After all, when Delta eliminated its Delta Meeting Network in 2005, it inspired many other airlines to do the same. Instead, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports, […]

Filed Under: Meeting industry news Tagged With: convention, delta, delta air lines, discount, meeting, meeting fares, travel

Coolest way planners (and speakers) can walk the green talk

February 26, 2009 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

Things seemed pretty straightforward at the 2009 Greening the Hospitality Industry conference in Pittsburgh yesterday (stainless steel water bottles, reusable china, local/organic cuisine, multi-stream recycling, composting bins) until the keynote presentation. That’s when Green Meeting Industry Council Executive Director Tamara Kennedy-Hill introduced our keynote speaker, L. Hunter Lovins of Natural Capitalism Solutions. Lovins didn’t walk […]

Filed Under: PYM Blog Tagged With: convention, gmic, green meeting industry council, greening the hospitality industry, pittsburgh

2009 PYM Town Hall Atlanta: State of the Industry

February 10, 2009 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

The PYM Town Hall: State of the Industry event was a partner appreciation luncheon hosted by Plan Your Meetings and held at the Atlanta Botanical Garden on Jan. 29, 2009. It was the second of its kind, the first having convened in July 2008. The event was designed to be a group “think-tank” session between […]

Filed Under: State of the industry Tagged With: Atlanta, challenges, convention, industry, meeting, PYM, solutions

Names in the news: September 2008

August 29, 2008 by pym Leave a Comment

New hires and promotions throughout the meetings industry.

Filed Under: Meeting industry news Tagged With: convention, hotels, industry news, meetings

Names in the news: August 2008

August 5, 2008 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

New hires, promotions, mergers and more throughout the meetings industry…

Filed Under: Meeting industry news Tagged With: convention, hotels, industry news, meetings

Hilton Americas-Houston on the block

May 15, 2008 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

The Houston Convention Center Hotel Corp. has put its 1,200-room convention center hotel up for sale. Any purchase would have to be approved by the City Council, which may use sale profits to fund the construction of a second convention center hotel on the north end of Discovery Green, an idea the council bandied about earlier this year.

Filed Under: Meeting industry news Tagged With: convention, hilton, hotels, Houston, purchase, sale, texas

Tornado damage in Atlanta

March 18, 2008 by Kristi Casey Sanders Leave a Comment

Major meetings and events were disrupted by a tornado that cut a six-mile swath through downtown Atlanta Friday, March 14. Events lost over the weekend included the Atlanta Home Show, a dental convention and much of the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament. Estimated damage to the city is in excess of $250 million.

Filed Under: Meeting industry news Tagged With: Atlanta, centennial olympic park, convention, damage, georgia world congress center, meetings, tornado, westin peachtree plaza







About Us

Everything we do at Plan Your Meetings @ Meeting Professionals International is designed to educate, inspire and empower meeting planners, and connect them to the ideas and resources they need to plan better meetings and events. Read More…

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PYM @ MPI seeks to empower the people who make meetings happen by providing best practices education, helping them forge strong business partnerships with suppliers and find mentors in the industry. We firmly believe that meeting and event planners are the movie producers of the corporate world. Meetings move us. Meetings mean business. When we meet, we can change the world.

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