Interviews with the meeting and event planner respondents of the 2017 Meetings Today Trends Survey.

Starting with his first restaurant, Aureole, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Palmer soon after opened Metrazur in the city’s Grand Central Terminal, followed by another Aureole, in Las Vegas, and then Charlie Palmer Steak in Washington, D.C. A two-time James Beard Award winner—among many other professional accomplishments—author of six cookbooks and a frequent guest on NBC’s Today Show, the celebrated chef’s empire now stands at 14 venues, including three boutique hotels that cater to small meetings. But it’s the chef-driven hotel concept that truly sets him apart.

The much-anticipated opening of the Washington, D.C. area’s MGM National Harbor featured a raft of notables.

Please join me in welcoming Jennifer Juergens as our new contributing content developer.

One of the meetings world’s most-notable tech experts got her start in the event planning industry in perhaps one of the most unlikely ways.

“My career started in hospitality when I was doing marketing for a property on the Red Sea in Egypt,” remembered Dahlia El Gazzar, Tech Evangelist + Idea Igniteur of DAHLIA+ and Empowerment+, a new entrant in the meetings tech world that aims to educate attendees about event technology on-site at conferences. “I started creating these events where I would meet with the Bedouins in the Sinai to create camel races. I took the mattresses from the chaise lounge swimming pool chairs and shipped them to the middle of the desert to rent them to Italian tourists for $150 per night to see the stars.”

After 30 years in the meetings industry, Gary Schirmacher has witnessed his share of change.

Sustainability and giving back to the local community are featured items on the menu for Bob Katausky, who manages the eight primary food and beverage outlets at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, Nev.

Another year down as we close the door on 2016 and welcome in 2017.

Gun for hire may be a bit bold for a job description, but for travel directors such as Scott Carlan, the label fits. Like that Old West staple of a gunslinger who wanders the land decisively solving other people’s problems, travel directors are on-site liaisons who take care of business. Carlan has worked Super Bowls, FIFA World Cups and the last five Olympic Games.