In October, meeting and conference organizers, and suppliers welcomed new talent and promoted seasoned professionals as the corporate event industry continues a bustling fall and turns its attention toward a strong finish to a busy year. In addition to the news that Julie Coker has been tapped to lead NYC Tourism + Conventions, here’s our recap of corporate event moves in the last month. 

As one of the fastest-growing U.S. cities in terms of population (according to an analysis by Exploding Topics), Nashville continues to develop and enhance its event offerings, and the city presents a dynamic landscape for event producers.

The meetings and events industry is approaching advancing sustainability on multiple fronts.

For example, in the past few weeks the Professional Convention Management Association launched the Convene 4 Climate conference while Marriott International rolled out a new program called Connect Responsibly that provides groups with post-event impact reports.

Organized by Informa Markets with Informa Connect as co-organizer, Connect Marketplace Hong Kong is launching March 19-21, 2025, at AsiaWorld-Expo.

With marketing events becoming ever more important to companies’ customer-acquisition and -relationship efforts, Liz Lathan, CMP saw a need for focused, substantive conversations among the professionals who create those events—not just brief encounters during the big conventions for the wider meeting-planning industry.

Look up “bad-ass event professional” and you’ll likely see a photo of Monique Ruff-Bell next to it. As the chief program and strategy officer for TED, producer of world-renowned TED conferences, Ruff-Bell isn’t afraid to push boundaries and disrupt TED’s winning formula to keep its events compelling, engaging, memorable, inclusive, and always on-trend.  

PCMA and event technology solutions provider Gevme recently rolled out new enhancements to Spark, a generative AI tool built by event professionals for event professionals. Introduced to the global business events community nearly 17 months ago, Spark now boasts more than 9,000 users.

A downtown Las Vegas resort and a mixed-use development in New York City recently announced the completion of a guest room expansion and a new experiential meeting and event space, respectively. 

According to a recent survey, it seems that a lot of corporate meeting planners are juggling more work beyond booking and building out their organizations’ events.

What do corporate event organizers need to know about Orlando, Fla.? 

In October, we spent 72 hours in the Sunshine State to discover what’s new for attendees and exhibitors in the theme park capital of the world, as well to find out what’s trending for meetings and trade shows. 

Here’s what you need to know.