As much as we might prepare and plan ahead for the holiday season, the stress that usually comes with the time that should be joyful often takes us by surprise, especially if you’re a busy meeting planner with seasonal events to oversee plus family life to balance. Three wellness experts—Holly Duckworth, Deb Gee and Nova Browning Rutherford—shared tips on ways to decompress, destress and re-emerge with newfound positivity.

As the new year approaches, so does a new beginning for San Francisco’s meetings business. The long-awaited opening of an upgraded Moscone Center came in early January, as the convention complex debuted a $551 million expansion.

Meetings Today reached out to Brian Friedman, vice president of digital innovation at event management software company Aventri to get his forecast on the top event technology trends.

Hyatt Regency Seattle opened with 1,260 guest rooms and more than 103,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The property is the largest hotel in the Pacific Northwest and located just two blocks from the Washington State Convention Center and adjacent to The Summit, the planned convention center expansion building slated to open Spring 2022.

Omni Hotels & Resorts is making it easy to indulge this holiday season with Cookie Cocktails, part of the brand’s month-long Omni Originals culinary series. These cookie-turned-cocktails are bound to spread holiday cheer at properties across the country and will showcase recipes from select chefs.

Michael Sam, a star college football defensive end, became the first openly gay NFL player to be drafted in the league. Sam now speaks about his experience through Keppler Speakers including the keynote at Association Forum’s 30th annual Holiday Showcase, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

On Wednesday, December 12, 2018, one week after 7,500 hospitality workers at 24 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange County voted overwhelmingly to authorize strikes, 800 workers were set to celebrate the Catholic holiday, Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe with public actions in front of Southern California hotels: The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles, Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, Hilton Anaheim and Sheraton Park Hotel.

Two industry changemakers, Sarah Soliman Daudin and Courtney Stanley, have been appointed to co-chair Meeting Professionals International's (MPI's) 2019 Women’s Advisory Board, the first of its kind for the organization.

The American pastime is proving to be a fertile field for baseball stadiums—also known as baseball parks—that are courting meetings and events. In fact, many new ballparks that have been built in the last decade or so count on non-game revenue as a healthy portion of their revenue.

The death of an attendee at NeoCon 2018, held in Chicago’s theMART in June, recently sparked a wrongful death lawsuit against Merchandise Mart Properties, Hollander Design Group—the designer of an exhibit floor showroom swing—and The David Edward Company that operated the showroom.