Eastern Iowa has plenty of options when it comes to offsite venues, and some of its best provide a unique backdrop while highlighting the region’s past in ways that may surprise. If you’re looking for a venue away from the meeting property, hotel, convention or conference center, you can look to these four options for a little taste of the local culture, history and vibrancy.

The tourism promotion effort of Buffalo, New York, carries the tagline “Unexpected Buffalo,” and during a recent trip to the western Empire State city, Meetings Today got a taste of how the destination may surprise attendees with its eye-opening offerings. Read more.

This fourth installment of Meetings Horror Stories includes a scantily clad singer at a beach event, an inebriated tennis player and a planner that ended up in a Las Vegas police station.

On the road for meetings in October? Add a little spookiness to the agenda while convening in some of America’s most-haunted big cities. Here’s our recommendations for ghost tours in Savannah, Georgia; Portland, Oregon; New Orleans; San Diego; and Chicago.

In the third installment of “Meetings Horror Stories,” we heard even more of the crazy things that can go wrong in the meetings world … often when you least expect them to!

In this second installment of “Meetings Horror Stories,” we heard from people in the industry about some crazy things that can go wrong with speakers and the hired entertainment.

In the first installment of "Meetings Horror Stories" we heard from planners and industry veterans about what can go wrong when your CEO wants to make an entrance on a horse, why releasing live doves at your event might not be the best idea and why if it's not on the menu ... it's probably not what you think!

Every turn down every aisle at the San Jose Super Toy Show fills me with an inescapable sense of product lust. I understand why I want the 19 1/2-inch Shogun Warriors Godzilla doll. Sure, it’s going for $600, but it has a spring-loaded fist that can launch across the room. What I don’t get is why I want the Star Wars Early Bird Certificate, a symbol of childhood disappointment.

Just in time for Halloween, our list of haunted hotels extends from coast to coast, each one teeming with stories of spirits to keep guests company while meeting there with a group. Whether guests are fans of fright or modern-day ghost hunters, we advise entering at their own risk when it comes to making a reservation with any of our picks below.

Marvel’s The Black Panther did more than smash box office records this year. It inspired Wakandacon, a three-day celebration of Afrofuturism at the Hilton Chicago that combined community building with Blerd (short for Black nerd) culture.