After a meetings industry career that has lasted nearly 50 years, Joan Eisenstodt announced she is dramatically scaling back her work.
Like many in the industry, my work and understanding of it has benefited greatly from Joan’s influence. If I ever wanted information about virtually any person or issue impacting the meetings industry, she was always one call or email away.
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I don’t remember when or where I met her, but she’s just one of those people who seem like they’ve always been there. But one thing is for sure: Joan has personally introduced me to some of the most impactful, knowledgeable and dedicated lights in our industry, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
I thought it would be best to let Joan explain her new shift in her own words, and share some final thoughts as her career winds down.
[Free On-Demand Joan Eisenstodt Webinar: Destination and Site Selection: The Basics and Deeper Dives]
Tyler Davidson: Expand more on your decision to scale back from your meetings industry work. What does this mean?
Joan Eisenstodt: It was a decision I was forced to make. As I wrote in my post on LinkedIn: “[hu]Man plans/God laughs,” the translation of a wonderful Yiddish folk saying.
My plan had been like many in my family—to work until I literally died either at work or on my “lunch hour.” After being oh-so-careful, my spouse brought COVID home from a mandatory teambuilding at work. He was masked and took it off to eat. There was no opportunity to eat at his desk.
I got it two days later and tested positive for 10 days, never hospitalized, but pretty darn sick. With it came odd symptoms. And the long story short, I have Long COVID which has exacerbated some other illnesses and added more, making doing the work for which I have a passion far too difficult.
I explored the idea in late 2024 with others. As time went on, the symptoms—untreatable—increased. I was, in effect, shown the door (without a “gold watch” I might add!) by Long COVID.
I could no longer devote the time or energy to the work I love to do and spend the time with clients that they deserved. I closed my business bank account, took the company name off of most of my social media (and have to do more), and in essence, to some, retired, which implies I will go to beaches and travel for fun, and, well, I’ve no idea what retired people do!
I love working and this is going to be a tough transition to working even less than I had beginning in December 2024.
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Tyler Davidson: How did you get into the meetings industry?
Joan Eisenstodt: In grade school in the 1950s, I organized street fairs to raise money for polio research, because as a “Polio Pioneer” my friend Alan got the placebo and polio, and I the vaccine and was healthy. It was the least I could do.
The incidents in the film Defending Your Life is what I hope to experience after I die: Seeing the videos (DVDs or all in the literal clouds!) of my life to understand what propelled me to take on leadership roles—grade school with the student council, high school with YTeens and the Dayton Junior Human Relations Council, among other activities—later doing events for the local art museum and public TV, including organizing on-air auctions, and then around the U.S. for the National Organization for Non-Parents, on whose board I served.
Before moving to D.C., I interviewed for jobs I thought I wanted. Not getting them, I moved anyway in the summer of 1978—talk about schvitzy! I volunteered at an NGO, where I didn’t get the job.
One day the CEO, the marvelous Karen Mulhauser, called me in and said, “We’re about to observe our 10th anniversary and I think you’re a meeting planner.” My response, as I remember it, was, “If you’re hiring me, I am!”
The hotel had been booked and I did my first formal site inspection. I am ever grateful to Walt Kiley, who was then in sales and the now late Michael Conod, the CSM with whom I’d work. I said, “I need to know everything about how hotels operate and need your help.” They graciously trained me in all that I eventually taught others.
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After that, when the NGO had money for me only for nine months a year, Planned Parenthood in New York City hired me on contract to do their annual meetings. The now late Mary Beth Moore had also moved east from Dayton and knew my abilities—she and Karen saw in me what I didn’t know existed: That then I was great at logistics and managing crises and could do what we now know meeting professionals must do well.
I found the Potomac MPI chapter and attended a meeting in early 1979, joined a committee and was on my way. Within four years I was chapter president after serving on numerous committees and interacting with remarkably creative people. A time before mobile technology, we had more time to devote to knowing and supporting each other and supporting governance and programming for our chapter.
A side note: Teaching and writing over so many years, I hear so many still say they want to be in this industry because they love people, are organized and love to travel. I don’t know that that would’ve ever described me.
What I saw and understood later was that meetings were an opportunity to learn, to build communities (“networking”) and to advance issues or industries that mattered to me. THAT is what kept me in the industry and helped me grow as a person and a professional. My number-one talent on “StrengthsFinders” is “Connectedness.” This was the profession, with my other talents of strategic ideation among them, that was the right fit.
Tyer Davidson: Who were your mentors?
Joan Eisenstodt: So many people. My parents, both of blessed memory, who by nature and nurture accepted my curiosity, and though I was willful (which will surprise no one), talked about the news and issues and were both voracious readers. They showed me the importance of inclusion and of knowing people from other cultures by living it and the number of students from around the world—Kenya, Greece, Turkey, Vietnam—who stayed with us. They modeled what allowed me to be far less fearful than I think I otherwise might have been.
High school teachers: the now late Jim Payne (speech class); Lenore Clippinger (English Lit) who both taught me how to learn and express myself. Stan Blum (civics) who taught me how to delve deeper into what I read and apply it, the greatest skill I use today for our industry and my work with clients. And the marvelous artist, Bing Davis, in whose classroom I’d sit during study hall absorbing art and music, learning what gave my brain a break and instilled creativity.
They all influenced my teaching methods as did the marvelous, and sadly now of blessed memory, Howard Feiertag, who taught the negotiations class at my first MPI Institutes program in 1981. Also at Institutes, the very much alive Jed Mandel, Esq., who taught contracts; Ken Fischer (who went on to be the head of the University (of Michigan) Music Society, who taught adult learning and got me involved in IACC, the International Association of Conference Centres.
Those who helped me realize my ability to leave my hometown and a life there: the now late Anne Saunier, a corporate executive, who, when I considered moving to D.C. and asked her if I needed a five-year plan said, “Joanie, if I had a five-year plan, I’d never take the opportunities I’ve taken. Just go and learn more of who you are.” Ro-Nita Hawes-Saunders, at the time part of our PBS station in Dayton who, like Anne, pointed me to opportunities that would reveal themselves once I left my hometown.
In the industry, some who modeled what not to do and others listed below who modeled what to do. Among them, the late Bill Myles, with Westin Hotels, who involved me in my first PMPI Committee. Weldon Webb and Beverly Kinkade, of the St. Louis MPI Chapter, both of whom went on to be MPI presidents, who, at my first MPI national meeting in 1984, took me under their wings and helped me develop my leadership skills, get outside my introversion and interact with others.
At the chapter level, Don Skiados, then with Airline Pilots Association, who today remains a resource and a friend. We served together on the chapter board and from him I learned to “let the butterflies (in your stomach when nervous to speak) fly free” when you open your mouth, and how to be an inclusive, ethical leader.
So many, Tyler… the now-late Patti Shock, who I met at my first PCMA meeting; Arlene Sheff, with whom I taught MPI Institutes—they were both “F&B mavens” and amazing people willing to mentor—and from I learned more of the importance of mentoring others. Because as a mentor, you are also a mentee.
Ed Polivka at PCMA, Doug Heath at MPI. (Realizing how many influencers in my life are no longer living and why I feel such a sense of obligation to carry on their teachings to me. THAT is another reason “leaving” is so tough.
I think I could write a book with chapters for each part of my life about those from whom I learned, including clients like Vic Basile, then the CEO of Human Rights Campaign, Gloria Steinem and others at the Ms. Foundation. Frances Hesselbein, Mike Frederickson; client honoree conduits, Bob Witeck in particular; industry attorneys, such as Steve Rudner, who first hired me to be an expert witness; and Lisa Sommer Devlin, Kelly Franklin Bagnall, John Foster, Josh Grimes, Barbara Dunn, the dear late Jim Goldberg, and of course, the very alive and kicking legal tush, Jon Howe!
Colleagues, strangers, meeting participants; planning committees for clients’ meetings; the great editors with whom I worked at Meeting News and Meetings Today. Because with each new opportunity came new experiences from which to learn and on which to build.
Tyler Davidson: Did you have a perception of what the industry was before you got into it? How has that changed?
Joan Eisenstodt: Although I had done events and meetings before I was officially in the industry, I had no real perception of it. An observer of situations and people, it took some time to gain sufficient perception and knowledge. At times it felt—and was perceived as—cliquish. I figured out why there was this perception and how to manage it.
Tyler Davidson: What has been your biggest challenge working in the meetings industry?
Joan Eisenstodt: Learning to anticipate even more than I usually do and running a business. I hear so many who want to do the latter and I wonder why. I HATE running a biz!
Ann Raimondi, who was an amazing member of MPI and with whom I served on various industry boards and hotel customer advisory boards, and I had this conversation when she started her company. She hated selling her services; I’d learned how by talking about “we” when it was “I!”
I think, too, though not exactly a challenge because I know myself, the temptations offered for “stuff” and trips and commissions was, and is, so rampant. Such offers, to which many say “yes,” that maintaining my grounding especially on a day when income might be lacking or the work is overwhelming for many.
A challenge is that too many rely on the “letters after their names” while not continuing to learn and look deeper than surface at, for example, the contemporary issues that impact meetings. An article read just before I wrote the responses to your question was about U.S. cities that are sinking. All I could think about was clients who book 10 years out and if they were they sufficiently covered.
Because I’m curious, I desperately want others to be. Thus, I bring up the tough issues and ask people to think about them and how they might impact the industry. Elizabeth Glau asked me, before she died, to continue the Event Integrity Facebook group for her, ‘staying the course’ of insisting on issues that we face and may not want to be discussed: climate, inclusion, access and accommodation as examples.
It is still an exhausting profession, especially for those who go “all in” from RFP development that doesn’t rely on simple e-RFPs and little detail, to coordinating with every department, venue and vendor and anticipating all the possibilities that could occur to the long days onsite. Walking on marble floors, eating too little or not healthy enough and the lack of understanding of our place at the table or at least in the room.
Tyler Davidson: What are the biggest challenges facing the meetings industry?
Joan Eisenstodt: Constant change. I came to realize how little is carried forward from what is learned. I’ve seen industry organizations’ initiatives funded by suppliers just go by the wayside and never built on.
Disasters happen, they are “oh no-ed” and then forgotten in planning for the future until the next one occurs. I thought surely if 9/11 hadn’t made many changes that “stuck,” COVID would. It didn’t. Now there is a worldwide measles outbreak the likes of which we have not seen in years and it’s because of “vaccination hesitation.”
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The industry isn’t discussing it. There is “COVID fatigue” and fatigue with the changing U.S. and other governments’ leadership and policies. The industry will always see the “shiny objects”—AI is the latest—and focus on those without concerns for, especially with AI, the environment and like situations.
The world, the people, the environment are all in a tremendous flux—I’m not sure in my career it has not always been, yet now it seems more so. It is easier to “see the pretty birdie,” what my grandma said when the subject was tough. Yet, our jobs are to anticipate and explain what may be the potential impact and as best we can plan for it. Yet we are told that DMOs and hotels don’t want “lengthy RFPs,” and brand-developed contracts are still almost as bad as the one for my parents’ wedding in 1944, or those over which I was sued two years into the start of my business.
Those who have given up reading news, analyzing what is in the news and using the great improvisation technique I learned from Izzy Gesell—“yes, and”—to carry a conversation forward and learn are neglecting responsibilities that, if they’ve not come to haunt them (or litigate them), are just living in a world where disputes are a great issue and often resolved by costing parties a whole lotta money and time.
Tyler Davidson: If you could change one thing about the meetings industry, what would it be?
Joan Eisenstodt: Teach critical thinking by building it into every article, with questions to consider into every presentation, challenging conventional industry thinking; and using improvisation to move people to not stop searching when one answer is given. It’s also a great negotiation technique; thus, the benefits have lots of uses.
Tyler Davidson: In all our many talks over the years, at times you've seemed exhausted because you feel you have to continue to fight the same battles for years. What's one thing that's changed for the better, though?
Joan Eisenstodt: Laughing, sadly. The industry trade publications are now taking up issues that years ago they might not have—those that are truly huge, like what I call the “tariff tsuris” (tsuris is “troubles” in Yiddish); U.S. states and other countries taxing visitors to save the environment; the issues of inclusion and accommodation that are seemingly outlawed in the U.S.; the impact of changes. It was for so long only about sponsors, advertisers and ensuring revenue and not tackling tough issues and bringing them forward. We need more, though, to have discussions about the issues.
Better is Canada’s Heather Reid, creating CECP™—an events industry certification in contracts—that is critical. I can’t speak for hoteliers and vendors; I do know from testifying in two cases of meeting cancellations because of COVID, that the excuse of “not enough time” is not a good one when you are challenged in arbitration or court because you didn’t read or ask and clarify contracts. The program, for which I am an expert consultant (with two lawyers) is a HUGE change for the better.
Tyler Davidson: Do you think the meetings industry has suffered from "commoditization," and will continue to do so more in the future at the expense of personal relationships? Should the historic value of strong personal relationships impacting business decisions not be so cherished?
Joan Eisenstodt: It’s a great question. I think we’ve continued to call it a “relationship industry” and I’m not sure what that means any more. Technology, which is a boon compared to the IBM Selectric that helped me start my business is also a harm.
I remember when Jim Goldberg, Esq., did a book and a CD with fill-in-the-blank contract clauses that I thought then was a bad idea. I mentioned earlier that people believe we are a detail and people profession. The relationships are often not long term; they often weren’t before. It takes work to keep up a relationship, and when it’s a business relationship vs. a true friendship, it can harm one’s sense of what should be done.
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The industry looks for shortcuts because people are “so busy,” yet I think we were busier before technology and still made time for others. I’ll quote attorney Barbara Dunn on this, too—“it depends”—which she says about contract provisions and I about relationships and meetings and business as commodities.
My long-term relationships, some of which began by doing business and turned into friendships, are invaluable. And yes, these are people I turn to with dilemmas about all kinds of business issues, or personal/professional. My hope is that we look realistically at the value of what we do and the relationships we have and determine what we want them to be; that it’s not quid pro quo in either party’s thinking.
Tyler Davidson: What would you communicate to a young person regarding why a career in the meetings industry is a viable option to explore?
Joan Eisenstodt: LAW! Retirements and deaths of hospitality industry attorneys are a danger. Go to law school or start with the CECP™ to learn meetings and events, contracts and then go to law school.
Funerals and memorial services: May 12 is the yahrzeit (death anniversary) of two very involved industry colleagues and friends: Arlene Sheff and Sally Karwowski. I had forgotten this article, “Life Lessons From an End of Life Planner” – written at the time.
So many want to plan weddings or be part of the staff of major events like the Super Bowl or Olympics. Some will. An IACC scholarship recipient years ago went on to work on two Olympic Games for China, her home country.
Death is far more likely to occur than marriage given the statistics. What a gift to learn to do this well and help others while earning. It is a rarely offered option as a career in meetings and events.
Having just taught in the certificate program (for the last time after 15 years) in the University of North Carolina/Charlotte’s meetings and events certificate program, hearing again all those who want their own businesses to plan special events (weddings, especially), we owe realistic education about this industry. Many fear AI will take away meeting planning jobs, and it may eliminate those in sales, transportation, planning and other aspects of meetings.
This industry needs to rethink the future and how the skills that have been and are being used to plan, create spaces for, and hold meetings and events, safely, needs to be explored with futurists. We may know the value of meetings and a “seat at the table,” and the jobs are going away partly because technology appears to do it better. It doesn’t… yet.
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Tyler Davidson: What are you most proud of regarding your personal involvement in the meetings industry?
Joan Eisenstodt: Helping others learn and seeing them grow and incorporate new learning into what they do. Calling attention to the issues of inclusion, the current U.S. Administration aside, and more so for disabled people, lessons told to the then CIC (not EIC) Board when the ADA passed and still not incorporated.
Pushing—or as I say “noodging” (which should not be spelled as “nudging” – very different) tough topics out for discussion. We do not grow and change unless we pay attention and act.
Tyler Davidson: Do you know where the bodies are buried?
Joan Eisenstodt: HA HA HA! Uh… maybe so.
Tyler Davidson: What's next for Joan?
Joan Eisenstodt: Literally, finishing evaluating the submissions from the UNCC class, holding an “extra session” for those from the class that want to join to review elements of contracts. Cleaning my office (which is as appealing as ….). Continuing to work with Heather Reid on her amazing creation. And getting to the huge stack of books, fiction and non-fiction, Substacks and other reading.
I’ll continue to be active on social media as much as I was beginning in 1999 when Rod Marymor handed MIMList responsibilities to me to ensure the industry to which I devoted the greatest part of my life grows and thrives. I'm a learner and an educator at heart and will continue both.
Read more Joan Eisenstodt stories from Meetings Today
