This week, more than 100 people traveled far and wide to Irving, Texas, just outside of Dallas, for our first Meetings Today LIVE! event of 2025.
From April 13-16, our participants had the chance to experience firsthand everything that makes this Lone Star State destination an ideal choice for meetings and events of all sizes—from its accessibility (our host hotel, The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas, is just a 10- to 15-minute drive from the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)) to its Tex-Mex dining scene, warm weather and an abundance of top-tier hotels ready to welcome groups of all sizes.
Feeling the FOMO? Here’s a recap of everything attendees experienced at Meetings Today LIVE! National in Irving, Texas.
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Opening Reception
Participants shuffled in through the doors of The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas, throughout the morning and early afternoon Sunday, April 13, where they were greeted by a brand-new lobby adorned with a striking glass chandelier designed to reflect the natural surroundings of Las Colinas.
Our host property for Meetings Today LIVE! National, The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas, joined The Ritz-Carlton’s collection of over 110 hotels and resorts worldwide in early 2024 following its acquisition in 2022 through a joint venture between Trinity Investments and Partners Groups. The property completed its $60-plus million transformation in October 2024, introducing guests to a new era of luxury at the nearly 40-year-old property in the Dallas area.
"It was really inspired by the story of Las Colinas. It was the original luxury resort in Texas, and now, we're redefining modern Texas luxury," said Lance Peters, director of sales and marketing for The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas. "If you have a luxury or high-end group, 100-200 people, there's not a better choice in the center of the country...it's just a unique, unexpected experience."
Nestled on 400 acres in the scenic Las Colinas hills—and a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, distinguishing its wildlife-focused grassland management—this 427-room hotel provides a natural escape with rolling hills, scenic views of Texas wildlife and the downtown Dallas skyline in the distance.
Guests staying at the hotel can enjoy two PGA-certified golf courses, multiple food and beverage outlets, including Knife Italian, a restaurant concept by Michelin-starred chef John Tesar, and meeting spaces and state-of-the-art ballroom facilities covering 80,000 square feet.
One such space, the Pavilion, served as the site of our Meetings Today LIVE! National Welcome Reception on Sunday evening, where attendees dined on skirt steak, pork tenderloin, brisket empanadas, grilled snapper and crunchy chicken tostadas with sides including rice and smashed black beans—a true Tex-Mex menu.
In between going back for seconds, activations invited participants to brand keychains and luggage tags shaped like the state of Texas with Western-style letters and snap a themed selfie at an AI photo booth that turned attendees into comic book superheroes, pirates, Vikings, watercolor paintings and more.
[Related: Old and New Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Venues That Set the Stage for Group Success]
Day One
As every Meetings Today LIVE! event does, the first full day of Meetings Today LIVE! National kicked off with an education session, this one presented by Jessie States, vice president of consulting for Meeting Professionals International (MPI), and sponsored by Kalahari Resorts & Conventions.
States’ session, “What a Waste: Food Waste Prevention for #Eventprofs” explored the pressing global issue of food waste, its significant environmental, economic and social impacts—and how food waste is a major issue for meeting and event professionals, and their organizations, that value sustainability.
“The surface area used to grow food that’s never eaten is the size of China,” States said.
Pulling on data gathered from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), States shared the impact of food waste on the planet, reasons why conversations surrounding food waste aren’t happening as often as they should be, where food waste happens at events and how planners can be more proactive about preventing food waste—rather than taking efforts post-event to dispose of wasted food sustainably.
Following States’ session, Meetings Today LIVE! National attendees participated in the first half of 20 one-on-one appointments, connecting planners to suppliers ready to host their next event, before boarding buses to enjoy an afternoon sponsored by Visit Frisco.
Our first stop was the National Soccer Hall of Fame, which has honored soccer achievements in the U.S. since 1979 and is located within Toyota Stadium, home to the American professional soccer club FC Dallas. After exploring exhibits and interactive moments throughout the museum, we enjoyed lunch in the Gallagher Club, an open-concept space for up to 700 people with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the soccer field below.
While we dined on corn and crab bisque, sliced ribeye, salmon with sundried tomatoes, lemon butter orzo and more, Dan Irvin, a Frisco-based professional speaker and author with expertise in leadership development, took to the stage to teach us what it means to live intentionally—and why meeting planners may need this reminder most.
[Related: 7 Fun Facts About Frisco, Texas That Meeting Planners Should Know]
“Meeting planners (and let’s be honest: every high-performing leader out there) wear a hundred hats, juggle flaming swords and somehow still smile while doing it—but being busy isn’t the badge of honor we’ve made it out to be,” Irvin said. “In my book Stop Being Busy, Be More, I challenge leaders to trade burnout for impact and hustle for intentionality. One of my favorite lines from the book says, ‘Being busy is a schedule full of tasks. Being more is a life full of meaning.’ Whether you’re planning the next big conference or leading a team through chaos, this message is the reset we all need. The best events don’t just fill agendas, they fill people up.”
After lunch, Visit Frisco invited us to split into three groups for an afternoon of sponsored excursions. One group opted to take a Lone Star Food Tour of the Star District, home to a number of local eateries, retail and The Star, the 91-acre campus of the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters. Another group buckled up in Slingshots, or three-wheeled motorcycles, for a police escort through Frisco’s streets and a sneak peek at the site of the future Universal Kids Resort, while the third group practiced their aim at a shooting range.
We reconvened at Omni PGA Frisco Resort & Spa, located 30 miles north of downtown Dallas on 600 acres next door to the Home of the PGA America. The property has 451 guest rooms, 49 suites, 10 Ranch House Villas and approximately 127,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space including a grand ballroom that can accommodate up to 2,225 people.
Our evening ended with dinner showcasing tastes of Texas barbecue at Ice House in the PGA District, offering a wide selection of beers, cocktails, a menu of hearty meals and six live hitting bays with Toptracer technology and views of the fairways.
I guess you could say the first full day of Meetings Today LIVE! National was a hole-in-one success!
Day Two
The second day of our Meetings Today LIVE! National event in Irving started with iced blueberry muffin and lavender vanilla lattes, made to order by Magnify Coffee Catering. The caffeine woke us up, but our speaker this morning is what really energized us.
Deborah Gardner, CEO of DG International, LLC, is a global keynote speaker, seven-time bestselling author and certified meeting and event expert who led attendees through her session, “LEAD AMBITIOUSLY: Navigating Chaos to Empower Your Confidence and Influence,” which was sponsored by Explore Branson.
Throughout Gardner’s high-energy, 60-minute presentation, she had attendees up and out of their seats, dancing through a mini competition. People were smiling and laughing as she cracked jokes and shared authentic stories, all while learning how to turn challenges into opportunities, build powerhouse teams and let success shine through, personally and professionally.
“The best goals don’t push,” Gardner said. “They pull you in to move you forward.”
That’s where Gardner’s GO Method comes in handy: Gravitational Goals, Own Opportunities. Gardner encouraged attendees to create a magnetic pull by designing a momentum-building plan that drives simple results, and taught attendees that by trusting themselves (and those around them), they’re more likely to lead themselves with more clarity, “even when the pressure’s on.”
“If you don’t lead yourself, who’s going to follow?” Gardner said.
Immediately following Gardner’s session, attendees participated in the second half of 20-plus one-on-one appointments with suppliers from across the country representing everything from major meetings hotels to destinations and even gifting partners. Then, we were off to lunch!
We found ourselves on the 27th floor of the iconic Hilton Anatole hotel, where SĒR Steak + Spirits sits high above the city. Lunch came with a stunning view of the Dallas/Fort Worth area and was followed by a site visit of the 46-year-old property.
Hilton Anatole completed a $37 million renovation to its Tower guest rooms in July 2024 and has plans to undergo another $90 million of renovations over the next two years. By late 2027 or early 2028, Hilton Anatole will be an entirely newly renovated property.
The hotel offers 1,610 guest rooms, 215 suites, six restaurants and bars and 600,000 square feet of event space including 79 meeting rooms, nine ballrooms and the Trinity Exhibit Complex.
"A number of properties in Irving have done upgrades," said Maura Gast, executive director of Visit Irving. "We're always putting a lot of new into the Irving Convention Center, so it's always brand new. You're always going to be in the middle of two great airports and a great collection of hotels.
"I think we are one of those great, untold secrets," she continued. "We've got a lot to offer."
For our final farewell, Visit Irving invited attendees to “experience the heart and soul of cowboy culture” at Rayleigh Underground at Toyota Music Factory, where we were greeted by a couple of cowboys themselves. Our dinner menu featured bacon mac and cheese bites, a southwestern salad, filet, smoked salmon, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, pecan tartes and more.
After we ate, The Diamond West Band took to the stage, covering everyone’s favorite country songs and more, and with one last tip of our cowboy hands, our first Meetings Today LIVE! event of 2025 came to an end.
Meet the Mentee
Following a successful launch at our LIVE! events last year, Meetings Today is continuing its mentorship initiative in collaboration the University of Iowa’s event management certificate program in which we sponsor a student attendee at each of our live events.
Maddie Willis, a soon-to-be journalism and mass communications graduate from the University of Iowa—and a student in the university’s event management certificate program—joined us in Irving for our first LIVE! event of the year. Willis had the opportunity to learn about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into Meetings Today LIVE! events, participate in numerous site visits and speak to industry professionals about how to kickstart her own career in meetings and events.
Here’s what Willis took away from her experience at Meetings Today LIVE! National.
“My greatest takeaway has been learning the behind-the-scenes efforts of a multiple-day event,” Willis said. “I learned from some great professionals this weekend. Danielle [Goepel] and Victoria [DeSilvio] are amazing planners and they navigated the event flawlessly and effortlessly. I learned a lot from them about how to carry myself in a work setting and provide the best guest experiences."
Willis also said she learned a lot about visitor bureaus, how they operate and what they do to market themselves to planners to draw more clients to their cities. She was interested to see how suppliers and planners interact and "enjoyed being able to learn more about travel events and guest management."
“The experience I gained in Irving was invaluable,” Willis continued. “Over the last few days, I have made new connections from industry professionals across the country. I would recommend this opportunity to any student looking to grow their experiences and work with an amazing team for a few short days!”
Thanks to Our Sponsors
A big thanks to the sponsors for Meetings Today LIVE! National in Irving, Texas:
- The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas
- Visit Irving
- Omni PGA Frisco Resort & Spa
- Hilton Anatole
- Visit Frisco
- Kalahari Resorts & Conventions
- Explore Branson
- The Brandit Agency
- Wandering Maverick Photo + Film
- Roadrunner Charters
- Ride Centric
- Encore
Want to attend a Meetings Today LIVE! event? Applications are open for our remaining 2025 events in Tucson, Arizona; Los Cabos, Mexico and New Orleans. Click here to learn more and apply now!
