Sarah Soliman Daudin & Courtney Stanley answers additional questions from the 01.23.19 "#MeetingsToo: How to Prevent & Manage Sexual Harassment at Events" webinar.

Here’s an overview of newly opened hotel and event venues in Las Vegas for 2019, as well as a look at upcoming renovations and projects underway throughout this year and beyond.

“Watch us roar in ’94!” proclaimed MGM Hotels Inc. with the December 1993 opening of the second MGM Grand. Featuring a massive indoor Wizard of Oz attraction, MGM founder Kirk Kerkorian’s emerald green vision (the original 1973 MGM Grand became Bally’s) was the world’s largest hotel-casino, with 5,000-plus rooms and 158,000 square feet of convention space.

At 6-foot-5, Michael Massari, chief sales officer for Caesars Entertainment Corp., is hard to miss. So are his accomplishments. Since 1998, he has helped elevate Caesars Entertainment into a national leader for meetings and events. Now, behind a wave of brand-redefining investments in new venues, experiences and technology, he and the company are aiming even higher.

Distinctive leadership, vision and strategy keep four resorts on and off the Strip competitive in the increasingly diverse Las Vegas group market.

Next-generation artificial intelligence and augmented reality solutions. Flying cars, hyper-pixelated 8K televisions and a controversial robotic massager. The reveals at CES 2019, the 180,000-plus attendee blockbuster tech show that powers up Vegas’ convention calendar each January, are pushing frontiers like never before. The same goes for Las Vegas itself, which is fast becoming its own showcase for daring new realities.

Marriott International meetings and conventions veteran Alex Shotwell has sold, serviced and experienced his share of high-profile, massive meetings in his more than two-decade career. Shotwell, area director, sales, Orange County & San Diego, has vast experience working in the brand’s Convention & Resort Network Hotels. He shared three critical mistakes meeting planners must make strides to avoid for a successful event.

New York State Council for the Social Studies (NYSCSS) Treasurer Tim Potts, based in Monticello, New York, describes his experience holding the organization’s annual convention in Albany.

New York’s capital city of Albany and nearby Saratoga Springs feature superb facilities for group business, including the Albany Capital Center and the renovated Gideon Putnam hotel. Both regions also overflow with after-hours entertainment that will keep attendees entertained into the evening. Following are some standout nightlife experiences for groups.

Contracts are important to meetings and events in that they ensure both parties understand the terms of an agreement and have apportioned risk in an acceptable way between them. Following are my “top 10” essential contract tips that you can implement into contract negotiations and execution.