Jan 20, 2023
Meet AC, Atlantic City's destination, meetings and events marketing organization, rebranded as Visit Atlantic City to enhance its appeal among event professionals as an ideal place to gather for business while also experiencing all that the destination has to offer.
The initiative comes on the heels of a successful 2022 in terms of meetings, conventions and trade shows, and the organization is eyeing another positive year of business for 2023.
As Atlantic City is going through a major reinvestment to create a safer, culturally rich and sustainable community, the time was ripe for the… more
Jan 17, 2023
Following the swearing-in of the new Congress on Jan. 3, the Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA) announced its public policy priorities for 2023, reflected upon its advocacy accomplishments over its first two years and encouraged industry professionals to join its annual Legislative Action Day, which is returning to an in-person format this year in Washington, DC.
Founded in early 2021, ECA is an advocacy group for the face-to-face business events industry, designed to champion and support its recovery and advancement with legislators on Capitol Hill and in states and cities… more
Jan 20, 2023
The Seattle Convention Center (SCC) is gearing up to host opening celebrations on Jan. 25 for Summit, its $2 billion high-rise convention center in downtown Seattle. With 573,770 square feet of event space, the addition nearly doubles the capacity of the SCC.
Summit features 62 meeting rooms, a 58,000-square-foot, column-free and divisible ballroom with 3,900 suspended planks of reclaimed wood, 248,450 square feet of exhibit space, 140,700 square feet of naturally lit lobby space and the 14,000-square-foot outdoor Garden Terrace. Covering 1.5 million square feet, Summit and SCC’s… more
Dec 09, 2022
Leading global industry trade association International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) has become the latest organization to give its full support to VSef (Virtual Standard Export Format), including the RSDE (Reporting Standards for Digital Events) standards, citing the continued value and importance of digital events within the world’s expositions and meetings industry.
VSef was launched by event insights platform Explori in early 2021 as a response to the rising uptake of digital event platforms and the increase in virtual event experiences. Its goal was creating a global… more
Jan 12, 2023
The 2023 edition of the world’s most influential tech event, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which took place in Las Vegas Jan. 5-8, exceeded its own expectations and returned to six-digit attendance for the first time since the pandemic.
Spanning nearly 2.2 million net square feet of exhibit space (1.4 million in 2022), CES featured 3,200 exhibitors (2,300 in 2022), including 1,000 new exhibitors, and welcomed 115,000 attendees (45,000 in 2022), making it the largest audited global tech event since early 2020. With 40,000 international attendees heralding from 140 countries, it also… more
Jan 09, 2023
PCMA announced several major acquisitions, alliances and partnerships designed to forge a path forward for the global business events industry while furthering its role as a leading platform for meeting and trade show professionals. The announcements were made on the first day of Convening Leaders 2023, taking place Jan. 8-11 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. At a press conference, PCMA and CEMA President and CEO Sherrif Karamat outlined the association’s strategic plan, which is based on four foundational pillars supported by various key initiatives.
“As of today… more
Jan 05, 2023
In 2022, in-person U.S. trade shows enjoyed a steady comeback, attendees and exhibitors returned to showfloors to meet face-to-face again, event-related organizations went on hiring and promoting sprees, and industry professionals expressed a tone of optimism that hadn’t been heard since before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with rumblings of a possible recession on the minds of many business event professionals this year, how are industry leaders feeling about the future in 2023?
“The general expectation among industry members is that 2023 will build on the industry’s performance in 2022… more
Jan 04, 2023
As part of its commitment to creating a healthy environment for attendees and exhibitors to conduct and further global business, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is offerig a more touchless venue experience at CES 2023, taking place Jan. 5-8 at 11 official venues in Las Vegas, including the Las Vegas Convention Center, The Venetian Convention and Expo Center and ARIA.
According to CTA officials, health and safety measures being executed across all CES venues include increased fresh air flow and filtration systems, hand sanitizing stations, door greeters and touchless public… more
Jan 06, 2023
Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Convention Center (PCC), managed by ASM Global, and its trade show labor partners unveiled “Safety, Skills and Smiles,” a workforce training initiative—believed to be the first of its kind in the country—to further solidify the already strong working relationship between all parties and further enrich the client experience. The joint management program is dedicated to expanding and building upon existing training programs in three areas: safety, technical skills and customer service and hospitality.
The program will be financed through the new… more
Dec 20, 2022
With a looming new 6 percent Kentucky tax on 35 services, including business events, Louisville Tourism, the Exhibitions and Conferences Alliance (ECA) and the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) are voicing strong opposition to the measure, which could be detrimental to the state’s trade show, convention and meeting business. It also would pose an undue burden on event organizers and clients, as the industry continues to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The measure is set to take effect Jan. 1 and apply to many new services that have never been taxed in Kentucky,… more
Partner Voices
Located in beautiful North Carolina, Harrah’s Cherokee is the perfect mountain getaway with breathtaking views of the Great Smoky Mountains and new additions to its resort and conference spaces sure to elevate any meetings or event.
Completed in 2021, Harrah’s Cherokee’s latest $330 million expansion project introduced an entirely new fourth hotel tower, The Cherokee, as well as an additional 83,000 square feet of meeting space with the Cherokee Convention Center. The Cherokee tower brings with it 725 rooms and 70 luxurious suites spread out over 19 floors for a grand total of 1,800 rooms across the entire resort. The new rooms feature a sleek design with an earth-toned color palette and modern amenities. In addition to the new rooms, the expansion also brought with it a luxurious new lobby and lobby bar, a fitness center, a coffee & pastry bar, and a second pool.
Conventions, trade shows, banquets, receptions, and even the smallest, most intimate gatherings can find the perfect arrangement at Harrah’s Cherokee with its 130,000 square feet of flexible meeting space – including the Cherokee Convention Center. The resort offers a myriad of different spaces and configuration options for events, but the largest spaces include the following:
32,000-sq-ft Cherokee Convention Center ballroom with 22 meeting spaces
11,100-sq-ft Cherokee Convention Center ballroom pre-function space
33,000-sq-ft Cherokee Exhibit Hall
6,000-sq-ft Cherokee Exhibit Hall Pre-Function
13,801-sq-ft Council Fire Ballroom able to be reconfigured into as many as four ballrooms from 3,100 to 3,529-sq-ft each
16,815-sq-ft Event Center able to be configured in six different ways to accommodate 100 to 1,500 guests and offers four VIP suites, box seating, and more than 1,100 balcony seats.
In addition to the new accommodations and meeting space, Harrah’s Cherokee has also opened several new restaurants as part of the expansion including Guy Fieri’s Cherokee Kitchen + Bar which includes the chef’s award-winning burgers and barbeque on the menu. Another celebrity chef has also made their mark on the resort with the opening of Gordon Ramsay Food Market which features eight dining concepts ranging from sushi to New York-style deli sandwiches and classic fine-dining fare. Longtime Asheville favorite, Wicked Weed Brewing Pub has also debuted a new location next to Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center creating the perfect after-event center with its bright and bold design, over thirty different beers, and live music on weekends.
An easy drive from many of the largest cities in the Southeast, Harrah’s Cherokee provides the perfect blend of majestic mountainscapes, luxurious new accommodations, and authentic Native American culture.