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.

While women have an outsized representation in the hospitality industry—especially in the role of meeting planners—the number of females in upper management and c-suite roles continues to lag behind those of men. Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League, is a hotel, CVB and meetings industry veteran who took a hammer to the glass ceiling years ago.

At the helm of a lifestyle boutique hotel brand that is poised for a sizeable growth spurt in by 2020, Dream Hotel Group CEO Jay Stein literally worked his way up from the kitchen, craving to cook up inspiration to start some type of career.

With a background in financial analytics, one could argue that Mulberry Development Principal & CEO Michael Buono was as equipped as anyone to weather the economic collapse of 2008 that tore through the construction and real estate industry like a Category 5 hurricane.

One thing is undeniable: The close-shave timing of his entry into the hospitality development business couldn’t have been worse. “The word on the street was we were the last project that was funded [as a lender] in Manhattan by HSBC before the financial meltdown took place,” Buono said of his Ace Hotel New York project. “What I saw was fear and lots of instability because the market just imploded.”

Karen Kotowski resigned as CEO of the Events Industry Council (EIC), a post she has held for 10 years.