Hearts and minds around the world are surely with the Los Angeles area, which has experienced catastrophic damage from wildfires that started last week and have ravaged idyllic neighborhoods like the Pacific Palisades and Altadena. As of publication time, approximately two dozen people have died, and more than 12,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed. Experts say that this could become the costliest wildfire disaster in U.S. history, according to the Los Angeles Times.

While in college pursuing an undergraduate degree in communications and journalism, Robin Lickliter had envisioned a possible future as a magazine writer or sports broadcaster. But still unsure about her direction and feeling restless, she made the fortuitous decision to seize the opportunity to study abroad after winning a scholarship for Semester at Sea, an educational program that offers college students the opportunity to study abroad while traveling around the world on a ship. 

If you looked up the word “versatile” in the dictionary, you just might come across a photo of Natascha Williams, HMCC (Healthcare Meeting Compliance Certificate).

Since getting into event planning in 2001, Williams has handled logistical and strategic planning for meetings hosted by pharma companies, medical-device makers, physician societies, and a group that’s close to her heart: Women of Color in Pharma (WOCIP).

To kick off the new year, Corporate Event News sat down with some of our industry’s most well-respected leaders to gain insights into what we can expect for business events in 2025.  

In this second installment of our series running through the month January, we sat down with ASM Global Executive Vice President of Convention Centers Dan Hoffend and Visit Orlando President and CEO Casandra Matej. They shared what their organizations will be focused on this year and what they expect for the corporate event industry in 2025. 

Whether it’s the Real Housewives franchise, Below Deck, Married to Medicine, or Southern Charm, Bravo’s suite of reality series has garnered passionate fan bases over the years. Bravo has celebrated these fandoms through experiential marketing—a strategy that the NBCUniversal-owned company has continued to expand since launching BravoCon in 2019. 

Two major resort and casino brands recently unveiled new properties in the northeast and south with plentiful meeting and event space for planners. 

Now in its 13th year, Amazon’s AWS re:Invent conference merged old and new for more than 60,000 in-person attendees at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. Held Dec.

To kick off the new year, Corporate Event News sat down with some of our industry’s most well-respected leaders to gain insights into what we can expect for business events in 2025. While none of them claimed to own a crystal ball, their extensive experience in producing impactful, high-quality live experiences for growing audiences has convinced us that these consummate professionals have their fingers on the pulse of the industry.  

Event Leaders Exchange (ELX) and its invitation-only community for heads of events programming is no stranger to taking things globally. For the first time ever, however, it brought its band of event-industry visionaries together in real life at the ELX European Summit 2024, held Dec. 4-6 in Berlin, Germany. 

Just in time for the holidays, an event technology provider and a business event production company announced several upgrades and a new platform, respectively, to streamline and improve the event experience for organizers, attendees, and exhibitors alike.