ASAE’s Annual Meeting & Exposition, held August 18-21 at Chicago’s McCormick Convention Center, set an attendance record for the association of associations as well as featured the unveiling of a bold pricing strategy for its experimental XDP event held in the Washington, D.C., area each April. Perhaps the biggest news item was the radical “pricing strategy” of offering free admission for association professionals to ASAE’s XDP, or Xperience Design Project, held April 11-12 next year at the Washington, D.C., area’s Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.

Omni Hotels & Resorts launched a new meeting planner loyalty program modeled after its Omni Select Guest program, which awards amenities and tier levels for free stays for planner activity. The program was announced August 20, 2018 at ASAE’s Annual Meeting & Exposition in Chicago.

799 killed and 1,418 wounded in 250 incidents. These are the sobering statistics for multiple casualty events in the U.S. between 2000 and 2017, occurring at schools, workplaces, medical institutions, houses of worship and most certainly events, among other locations, according to data presented during the “A First Responders Guide to Handling Active Shooter and Terrorism Threats” educational session at ASAE’s Annual Meeting & Exposition.

Association management and services company SmithBucklin launched SmithBucklin AXP, a methodology and range of tools that aids its association clients’ conversations about priorities, progress and opportunities for improvement, according to the Chicago-based firm.

Travelers at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport were plunged into darkness Wednesday, August 15, 2018, around 10 p.m., a situation that provides an opportunity for meeting planners to think about and assess their own risk management strategies for power outages. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said a Dominion Energy issue caused the outage, according to a report from Washington, D.C.’s NBC4.

Anchoring the theme on IMEX America’s Smart Monday will be Julius Solaris, speaker, author and editor of Event Manager Blog, delivering a keynote on “Legacy: The Power of Events.” “The theme is the impact of legacy,” Solaris said. “It’s elevating the whole event to a bigger purpose, a bigger impact. It’s about the greater good and making an impact—making change.”

Entering into its eighth year, IMEX America’s Smart Monday Powered by MPI delivers a full day of free education Oct. 15 available for registered IMEX America meeting planner attendees. The day focuses on the professional development that is critical for many planners to justify even getting out of the office to travel to Las Vegas to attend the Oct. 16-18 main event that focuses on buyer-supplier appointments. The two key MPI staffers who take a leading role conceptualizing Smart Monday are Lori Pugh, manager of global education and event production, and Jessie States, head of meeting innovation.

Steve Hill will replace Rossi Ralenkotter as Las Vegas CVA CEO on September 1, 2018.

Meeting and event audiovisual is one of those things as an attendee you often don’t notice until it blows you away—or blows up a meeting when it doesn’t work. Following are some key observations by meeting planners and AV suppliers on how planners should enter the audiovisual void and negotiate with confidence, with an eye on the bottom line.

Germany’s Frankfurt Airport was evacuated Tuesday afternoon (August 7, 2018), local time, after a security lapse in which a French family was released into a security area following a positive test for explosives. After being located and answering questions, the family was allowed to travel further.