The massive data breach of guest information at Marriott-owned Starwood Hotels & Resorts properties revealed by Marriott International at the end of November 2018 has grown in its severity, with the passport numbers of more than 5 million guests compromised, according to The New York Times.

On October 1, 2020, current driver’s licenses in 27 U.S. states will no longer be valid to board a domestic commercial airline flight in the U.S. California rolled out its Real ID-compliant driver’s licenses January 2, 2019. The new driver’s license costs $35 and a new identification card costs $30.

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

Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas is joining the list of properties offering free self- and valet parking fees for overnight hotel guests as of January 1, 2019. The parking fee was previously $10 per night, however, the hotel is simultaneously raising the daily resort fee by $4 per night, going from $35 to $39. Day visitors at the Cosmopolitan without will still be charged hourly parking fees.

NGALA Wildlife Preserve, located on a private, wooded 42-acre property outside Naples, Florida, caters to corporate events and is a home for a variety of rescued animals that cannot be reintroduced back to the wild. NGALA, which translates from Swahili to “Place of the Lion,” was founded by Donovan Smith nearly 20 years ago and is currently home to about 45 animals in addition to over 100 venomous reptiles introduced to the preserve by Smith’s “better half,” Khara Geders.

The Washington State Court of Appeals blocked a so-called “panic button” law for hotels in Seattle on Monday, December 24, 2018. According to the unanimous ruling, Seattle Initiative Measure 124 violated the “single subject condition,” which stops disparate rules being combined into a single law.

The Meetings Today editors skimmed through the analytics, grabbed the top 20 videos and then watched each one to pick our personal favorite Meetings in a Minute (MIAM) planner tips we showcased in 2018.

Although heat mapping visual representations have been around for a century or more in various forms, the digital revolution and data analytics have made this tool extremely useful and utilized in the last decade. A frequent use of heat maps in the events industry is to track attendee behavior.

Even the best laid plans for a meeting or event can be thrown asunder in the blink of an eye, or the pop of a circuit, if the on-site internet or power source suddenly goes bust. The December 27, 2018 report that internet and phone service from CenturyLink suddenly went out throughout much of its system undoubtedly caught many unawares. What should meeting and event planners do on-site if the internet goes out?

In September 2018, Hurricane Florence deluged parts of the Carolinas. Hardest hit was North Carolina, with an estimated $17 billion in crop, infrastructure and other losses. Florence went easier on South Carolina, which reportedly saw some $607 million in damages. Experiencing varying impacts, from minimal to destructive, the region’s coastal destinations have made significant recovery efforts.