Sacramento is poised to capture meetings and conventions business in the post-pandemic era with a major convention center expansion, new entertainment district and hotel openings.

As meetings and events prepare for an in-person reboot, event service professionals can provide crucial tools to meeting planners operating in a changed environment.

GrooveBoston/Mission Six (GBM6) built a 10-minute “dream sequence” called “Project Lucidity” that allows in-person attendees to safely explore, wonder, vent and heal in an onsite virtual environment.

Every year Kearney hosts more than 1,350 events. On average, that breaks down to at least one convention, trade show, meeting or sporting event per day. Kearney has the best meeting and event facilities between Denver and Omaha. Continued facility improvements and expansions ensure that Kearney is where the Heartland gathers.

From a conference center in Springfield, an exciting public transportation update in Kansas City to a forthcoming food hall in St. Louis, Missouri is ready to welcome back groups in a big way.

Attracting mainly drive-in regional corporate groups of up to 150 attendees, Wind Creek Bethlehem integrates flexible meeting, event and live entertainment space with AAA Four-Diamond hotel accommodations, world-class dining, gaming and shopping under one roof, and is primed to welcome back groups. 

In an effort to support local tourism businesses, the Visit Omaha team is shutting its office doors for the next 12-24 months and will make its home in various meeting spaces throughout the city instead.

Amid sinking gaming revenues and group business last year, East Coast players have doubled down on health and safety protocols and are encouraged by an anticipated pent-up demand for face-to-face meetings.

Meetings Today reached out to executives at the largest convention centers on each coast of the U.S., Southern California’s Anaheim Convention Center and Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center, to gauge their progress on the road to recovery back to large in-person meetings, tradeshows and events.

Many top chefs find their inspiration from their mothers and grandmothers while growing up. Here are 18 recipes that inspired these culinary masters, from simple to complex, but all featuring the common thread of coming from the heart.