Conference attendees are always looking for opportunities to break out of the boardroom and immerse themselves in the local culture. These Calgary festivals will inspire, invigorate and awe your conference attendees.

We are living in a time of unprecedented technology change. How will these changes affect meetings and tradeshows? Will they remain a central form of education, networking and marketing? Will virtual meetings and other communication technologies replace the need for face-to-face events and exhibitions? Although there will likely be very significant changes in these next few years, there are some strong drivers that bode well for the future of events. Here are five constants that will keep meetings viable in the future.

Tradeshow season does more than send you home with great ideas for your next meeting or event; there’s also all of that booth swag—a seemingly endless array of trinkets and gadgets. While that tote or T-shirt felt like a must-have at the show, it often ends up forgotten in your closet or cluttering up your office. Even if you plan on using the items, consider this—what did you do with all of last year’s swag? Chances are if you didn’t keep and use it then, it’s now this year’s garbage. Why not repurpose it?

In the age of ever-evolving gender diversity acceptance and recognition, creating warm and welcoming experiences for all attendees is becoming increasingly important as meeting professionals. At MPI's WEC 2018, Bernadette Smith offered the following action steps for designing LGBTQIA-inclusive meetings and events.

MPI is collaborating with NYU to develop a four-hour course on how to make meetings and events more inclusive for attendees.

Phillip C. Ridley, CMP is now the meetings manager for the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA).

What does high-stakes international diplomacy have to do with meeting planning? A lot, as it turns out. Meet Pamela Eyring, owner and president of The Protocol School of Washington, a nationally accredited educational institution that offers international protocol, cross-cultural awareness, business etiquette and image training for business professionals and, increasingly, meeting planners of top organizations that perform on a global stage.

With more than 12,000 acres of open expanse in Irvine and 42 miles of uninterrupted coastline, Orange County has plenty of space for attendees to move around in, making it ideal for groups that want to add health and wellness components to their meetings.

The SMERF (social, military, education, religious, fraternal) banner covers an array of groups that on the surface would seem to have little in common, pertaining to everything from weddings to military reunions and fraternal conventions. What these groups share, however, is that their gatherings bring together people who are actively choosing to get together.

Like everyone else, the staff of Meetings Today was shocked to learn of the suicide of Anthony Bourdain.