Located just outside of Chicago, the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center features a newly remodeled lobby area, guest rooms and meeting spaces full of floral and natural inspiration.

Meeting planners today want to create experiences for attendees. Hilton has taken that to heart and created and renovated meeting spaces inside some of its properties—from London to San Francisco.

When it comes to conference speaking, an innovative speaker stage setup can drive more and unexpected engagement. Meetings Today Chief Content Officer Christoph Trappe reports live from DES Madrid on how the "open air" concept works for attendees and presenters.

Worldwide hotel chain IHG is incorporating circadian lighting by partnering with Healthe by Lighting Science to put the JOURNI Mobile Task Light in guest rooms.

MGM Resorts' Michael Dominguez shares the company's research on the use of lighting at meetings and how color of light impacts mental acuity, alertness, energy, mood and engagement.

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.”

Here are seven event planner takeaways from Netflix's "7 Days Out" that show what factors into the success of any event.

Joan Eisenstodt interviews veteran meeting professionals about how planners can bring live theatre to meetings and events.

Joan Eisenstodt interviews Charlotte St. Martin, of The Broadway League, about how planners can incorporate live theatre into meetings.

George Wong, head of George Wong Design, has led inspired projects at top hotels across the globe. Resume pieces include directing the design of Moscow’s Grand Hyatt Hotel as the New York lead for the celebrated design firm Yabu Pushelberg; The St. Regis Hotel at Bal Harbour; New York’s Dos Caminos Restaurant; and Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts’ Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei.