Meetings Today Podcast

Top Cvent execs Brian Ludwig and David Quattrone talk with Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson about how the meetings tech giant pivoted to virtual for its big annual conference and is expecting 40,000 attendees. Also, discover their predictions about the direction of the meetings industry.

Buffets? Gone. And don’t even think about a donut wall! The meetings F&B environment has been disrupted flatter than a collapsed souffle, but that doesn’t mean you need to let the air out of your culinary programs. Tracy Stuckrath, owner of thrive! meetings & events, is the foremost expert on food allergies in the meetings and conventions environment, and has extended her knowledge to operating in the COVID-19 environment. This Meetings Today Podcast with Vice President & Chief Content Director Tyler Davidson gets Stuckrath’s take on how to manage your post-shutdown culinary programs, what to ask venues and attendees, and the life-and-death matter of food allergies.

Furloughs. Layoffs. An economy-crippling pandemic with seemingly no end in sight. Who could’ve predicted the tumult that would enter our lives in 2020? In troubling times such as these, maintaining one’s sanity can often seem like the most important job of all. Mindfulness speaker, trainer and author Lee Papa, a leading wellness expert on the meetings and conventions circuit and beyond, is well-versed to help us through these chaotic times. Meetings Today’s Tyler Davidson talked with Papa about her new book, A Year of Mindfulness for Beginners: Daily Mantras, Meditations and Prompts, and her advice for all of us who are weathering these most-stressful days.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, legal issues in the meetings industry primarily centered around cancellation, attrition and what became the moving target of force majeure. Now, with face-to-face meetings taking baby steps to resuming, meeting and event planners need to cover their organizations and ensure the safety of attendees by including key contract clauses in an environment that lacks definition. In this Meetings Today Podcast, Tyler Davidson check in with leading meetings industry attorney Joshua L. Grimes to see what contract clause musts planners should include going forward. Key elements of a “COVID contract provision” could deal with cleaning protocols; the right to cancel if government-required measures make it so restrictive that your meeting can’t go forward; and indemnification. Grimes also offers one contract addendum all planners should make sure are included in their contracts. And will we soon start seeing “COVID surcharges?” Listen to this Meetings Today Podcast to find out more.

Business development expert and speaker Scott Steinberg shares some positive survey results regarding planner optimism about a face-to-face meetings revival by the end of 2020, with a few caveats thrown in, of course. Meetings Today’s Tyler Davidson interviewed Steinberg about some of the statistics he’s crunched to come to his conclusions, and also how the meetings industry will be fundamentally changed by the rise of virtual and hybrid events.

June 4, 2020, marks the day when Las Vegas awakens from its coronavirus shutdown slumber, with major casino-resorts reopening their doors at least for leisure travelers. Caesars Entertainment is joining the party by reopening its Caesars Palace and Flamingo properties, with more set to join them shortly. Meetings Today’s Tyler Davidson caught up with Michael Massari, chief sales officer for Caesars Entertainment, to get updates on the casino and entertainment giant; his team’s reaction to having the shutdown hit right before the launch of its crown jewel CAESARS FORUM conference center; what visitors to Las Vegas can expect when they arrive; and his take on how the meetings industry will fare in the next year. The Las Vegas meetings and events landscape is always evolving. Stay up to date with what’s new on our Las Vegas destination page!

Outspoken Orlando hotel icon Harris Rosen believes constant guest and staff screening is critical to getting the meetings industry out of its deep depression. Hear what the firebrand independent hotelier told Vice President Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a coronavirus hospitality industry roundtable at his Rosen Shingle Creek property. In this Meetings Today Podcast, Tyler Davidson engaged Rosen on the deep funk coronavirus has put the meetings industry in, the state of tourism in Orlando and his Rosen Plan for getting back to business pronto.

Meeting venues like the Javits Center have been pulled into service as field hospitals and other spaces for healthcare delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jim Henry, healthcare sector leader at CallisonRTKL, walks us through what it takes to transform hospitality and meeting spaces into sophisticated healthcare facilities.

What will the meetings and events F&B experience look like after the COVID-19 shutdown ends? Meetings Today’s Tyler Davidson sat down with Mary Cline, regional director, catering sales-East Coast for Wolfgang Puck Catering to get an idea of what the meetings cuisine scene will look like when we all start meeting face-to-face again.

Meetings Today's Sarah Kloepple talks with Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), about the organization's Safe Stay guidelines, supporting hotel workers as these new healthy and safety protocols are put in place, and how technology will play a critical role in future live meetings.