Call Me Maybe?

March 21, 2013

Tyler Davidson

Hi all, and welcome to the April edition of Meetings Focus.

We sincerely hope you enjoyed the inaugural issue of our new format and design last month, and continue to travel with us on a journey to deliver the most-relevant meetings industry info to help you in your career as a planner.

But even though we’ve been up to our ears fiddling and formatting our magazine, supplements, website—even the entire brand itself—we really need your help with these ongoing projects. Drop me a line to let us know what you think, and add your suggestions for future features, terrific tips, planning pros to profile, off-site venues to vet, etc. We want to hear about that amazing facility you used for your last meeting, or what some of the most vexing parts of your job are.

Even though the headline on this column is a reference to that cloying little ear worm from Carly Rae Jepsen that seems to be burrowing everywhere in our culture—the mark of a great pop song!—I’m thinking the best way to reach out is by sending an e-mail to tyler.davidson@meetingsfocus.com.

In This Issue
The April edition of Meetings Focus offers up some great feature stories, including a cover story on the greening of convention centers—those behemoths of the industry that, really by their very nature, epitomize the waste associated with any large gathering of humans. Times are changing everywhere, though, and even the largest of the large convention centers are placing a premium on sustainability. Check out our story on page 34 to discover some of the industry leaders.

Also in the good news department, our Hot Topic story, “Star Performer,” reports that the tourism and meetings industry is one massive job-creation machine, even supplanting the auto industry when it comes to manufacturing paychecks.

Finally, our brand-new Top Chefs feature cooks up some great F&B tips from some top toques serving the group market, and the “Unforgettable Luxury” piece explores four amazingly over-the-top venues that will really impress your guests.

Enjoy, and do tell!

About the author

Tyler Davidson is the vice president and chief content director for Meetings Today, which publishes the meetings industry trade magazine Meetings Today as well as MeetingsToday.com, various newsletters, webinars, the in-person Meetings Today LIVE! Hosted-buyer events and other meetings and events industry B2B channels.

Tyler has covered the travel trade for nearly 35 years. In his role with Meetings Today, which recently won the prestigious FOLIO: Eddies Award for best magazine issue, Tyler leads the editorial team on its mission to provide the most in-depth meetings content in the industry. Previously, he worked as the Asia, Canada, Pacific Northwest and Western U.S. editor at Travel Weekly magazine and TravelAge West. Before joining the dual editorial staff producing destination sections for Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, Tyler was the Africa, Israel, Middle East, Switzerland and Pacific Northwest editor at TravelAge West. He also undertook general news and feature assignments while working at the magazines.

Besides reporting on the travel trade, Tyler has covered the real estate industry, held various editorial positions at the San Francisco-based national satire magazine The Nose, wrote freelance technology industry pieces and covered the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders for a bilingual newspaper in San Francisco. He has a B.A. in Journalism from San Francisco State University, where he worked in various editorial capacities on its award-winning student magazine, Prism.

Contact: tyler.davidson@meetingstoday.com