Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson talks with Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief sales officer for the Atlanta CVB, about how the destination is gearing up for the big game, and what it means for meetings and conventions groups in the future.

Planning any type of meeting or event is always a stress-inducing affair, but with the rampant regulations in the murky world of pharmaceutical and medical meetings, planners best know the lay of the land before they accept the mission. Three of the major healthcare meetings certification programs include: 3Sixty's Healthcare Champion Program, MPI's Healthcare Meetings Compliance Certificate and the EIC's CMP-Healthcare Subspecialty.

SmithBucklin Event Director Benjamin Rabe shares his knowledge of the evolving medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare meetings segments and what is in store for the future.

Air traffic controller sickouts related to the government shutdown at three major Northeast airport hubs are greatly affecting arriving flights, according to news reports, resulting in the rerouting of flights. The sickouts are causing significant flight delays at the following airports: LaGuardia Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport.

Meeting Planners Unite, formed to fight Marriott's commission cuts, changed its name to Alliance of Independent Meeting Professionals.

Air travelers may be in for a rude awakening when navigating airports during the government shutdown, as the absence rate for TSA workers is now on a record pace. According to reports, the absentee rate for TSA employees hit 10 percent of its more than 51,000 officers as of Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019, compared with 3 percent a year ago.

While many of the logistical challenges of the meeting- and event-planning world change very little year-over-year, some key results from our Meetings Today Trends Survey point to a major shift in some of the more personal issues of meeting planners.

Doing good on a grand scale is all in a day’s work for Richard McNary, who heads up the meetings industry effort for The Outreach Program, a nonprofit organization that enlists meetings delegates, among others, for CSR teambuilding activities that create meals for the needy on an industrial scale.