In an industry that’s constantly in flux—with a steady stream of style trends, technological developments, and new ideas—staying ahead of the curve is difficult, but required. Here are the event professionals who rise to that challenge. They use events to advance business goals, they delight guests in unexpected ways, and they move the industry forward.

Read More: BizBash

A new tool makes Twitter a better backchannel for events and panels.
Bill Couch, a software engineer at Twitter, demo-ed the new tool at SXSW on Friday during the “Design from the Gut” panel.
Read More: Mashable

The Incentive Research Foundation’s (IRF) newly released executive briefing, 2012 Trends in Rewards and Recognition, reveals that businesses will be emphasizing “individualization” in their motivation programs this year. Specific trends include:
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The National Conference Center compiled ten tips for conducting more productive meetings.  According to Sarah Vining, marketing manager at The National Conference Center, “To conduct the most productive meetings, smarter conversations should occur with venue contacts and on the site-tour to ensure the right factors are being addressed.”  
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The Rundown:
Some would call this a logistical nightmare: 49,000 registrants. 2,098 music festival showcases. 1,221 conference sessions. 1,096 exhibit spaces. 293 film festival screenings. But for Mike Shea, executive director of the popular South by Southwest (SXSW) annual conference and festival in Austin, Texas, orchestrating an event of this magnitude has become second-nature, although it's not without its fair share of harebrained headaches. Read more…

The health and well being of employees is closely tied to the success of an organization. Executives down to employees are encouraged and rewarded for adopting healthy lifestyles and creating balanced lives, resulting in greater workplace productivity. A healthy body is perceived to contain a sharp, productive mind.
Today, this wellness concept has found its way into meetings, influencing planners who realize that from the foods offered to the activity options, a company is exerting influence on the wellness choices employees make. 

As the CEO of Cvent, I have had the opportunity to speak with thousands of meeting and event planner clients over the years. When I reflect on the necessary skills these meeting planners must possess in order to produce hundreds of thousands of successful events on Cvent every year, I see how they mirror the qualities of an impactful CEO. Planners must expertly manage the operations, human capital, finance, sales and marketing of an event. Read More:

I had a chance to speak at the recent PCMA annual convention on a panel covering the topic of utilizing fresh new digital media ideas for traditional event marketing. Social media can be a powerful way to promote your event beforehand, while in progress, as well as keeping the conversation going afterwards. Here are 6 things that you should consider to implement before your next event to both increase participation as well as have a more informed and engaged audience. Read More:

Whether you’re new to Twitter or you’re experienced with the platform, at some time or another, all event professionals or tweeps (people using twitter) have been faced with a hashtag they weren’t familiar with. 
 We’ll explain more.

Events are no longer planned with pen and paper, but rather typed and communicated electronically. Sarah O’Donnell selects the top meeting apps, which should be on every organiser’s tablet.
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The U.S. Travel Association will lead an initiative to convince members of Congress of the importance of meetings to their districts and to the nation’s economy as a whole. 
 “The goal of this campaign is to build new champions. 
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 Following three consecutive years of reported decline, the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) has good news to share in its 2011 Index: industry activity increased by 2.7 percent for the year, surpassing the growth of real GDP, which rose by 1.7 percent.
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Business travel finishes 2011 with stronger growth than expected, and the industry will see steady expansion in 2012 that is greater than anticipated GDP growth, according to the latest Business Travel Quarterly Outlook. Despite the uncertainties in the global economy, the business travel environment will remain healthy. Full story...