Meeting and event planners working with a facility’s convention services team can help ensure their program is a success by providing some very basic, but essential, information. Maxine Compean, associate event manager for the dual-branded the DOUGLAS, Autograph Collection and the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver, offered the following six tips to keep meeting and event planners and the convention services team on the same page.

Tyler Davidson talks with Michael Owen, a 30-year meetings and events industry veteran who has also worked in the entertainment industry for half a century, about why planners need to secure music licensing through performing rights organizations such as BMI or ASCAP—or risk paying hefty fines for playing music at events.

Marriott’s Convention & Resort Network (CRN) ventured decidedly out of the box with its recent 48-Hour Film Challenge, which pitted four teams of independent filmmakers against each other to produce short films on an extremely tight deadline. The competition also showed off the flexibility of the meeting space at Vancouver, British Columbia’s the DOUGLAS, Autograph Collection hotel and the convention facilities it shares with the attached JW Marriott Parq Vancouver.

Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit Executive Chef Guillaume Morance shared a tuna ceviche with mango and avocado recipe and also provided a demonstration of the recipe filmed directly on the beach.

Carrying the tagline “Beyond All-Inclusive, Beyond All Compare,” the Velas Resorts properties offer food and beverage options that rival top non-resort restaurants. Overseeing it all—22 gourmet restaurants brand-wide, with cuisine types ranging from French and Italian to Asian and Mexican—is Michel Mustiere, culinary director for Velas Resorts.

Following the recent announcement of a measles exposure in Los Angeles and at LAX, five cases in the county have been confirmed. Learn how to protect your meeting attendees. Also: A special Earth Day sustainable meetings podcast episode and article with MeetGreen's Nancy Zavada and our new Science of Meetings column by Michael Dominguez from MGM Resorts International.

Providing sustainable food and beverage options at your meeting or event doesn’t mean you have to skimp on the quality of the experience. Leading meetings industry sustainability expert Nancy Zavada, president of MeetGreen, who has been preaching the gospel of sustainability at events for more than 20 years, offers up some best practices for planners.

Rhode Island’s Providence Warwick CVB (PWCVB) named Kristen Adamo its president and CEO. Adamo will take the new role April 25, 2019. Highlights of her former tenure as vice president include marketing initiatives such as Providence Restaurant Weeks and having Providence named “America’s Favorite City” in Travel + Leisure magazine.