CORT Events shared four ways to have an on-trend outdoor event this year. The furniture, lighting and accessories rental company reports that transitional furniture, bold yet classic color paletes and patterns, Mediterranean influences and most importantly, bringing indoor comforts outdoors, are all trends for 2018 that will leave your attendees feeling at home in the outdoors.

SPIN, the senior planners industry network, has launched business education programs for independent planners.

Omaha’s downtown convention district along the city’s riverfront will undergo a $290 million transformation. Plans for the new development, which will connect the convention district, downtown Omaha and the riverfront, were revealed on June 14, 2018, via an announcement to the press.

Giants Enterprises senior vice president Stephen Revetria will be awarded 2018 Peter Goldman Award of Excellence from the San Francisco hotel community.

Tragedy struck during the NeoCon 50 tradeshow after Jacqueline E. Albertine, 57, fell from a swing installed in the David Edward showroom on the 3rd floor of Chicago’s Merchandise Mart. She died on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. The NeoCon example shows that it is critical for meeting and event planners to exercise the proper duty of care to mitigate accidents and reduce organizational liability if the unforeseen happens.

Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), announced he is planning to retire during an authority board meeting, according to a story published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The newspaper previously ran a report highlighting the mishandling of authority funds, including gift cards, and noted that Ralenkotter used $16,207 for personal travel.

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.