Maria Lenhart

With constantly changing guidelines and inconsistent government mandates, handling Covid testing and vaccination requirements at live events is a complex challenge fraught with potential legal minefields. Here’s what veteran event planners and legal experts recommend. 

Predatory conferences are bogus events that exist to sell tickets using everything from shoddy registration pages to unconfirmed speakers. With the flush of virtual events during the pandemic, the situation may be getting worse.

MESA is a new association targeting an audience of small and midsize suppliers. Given all the industry organizations already in existence, why is it necessary?

The new Hybrid City Alliance is designed to enable far-flung destinations to join forces for multi-hub hybrid events, but many top destinations are noticeably absent and it’s not clear exactly what has changed about member service offerings. Is it a timely and necessary solution or just a commitment to continue offering the same services?

Encouraging vaccine rollouts have exhibition event organizers in many areas determined to go back onsite. However, they’ll need exhibitors on board. Against a backdrop of new variants and virtual alternatives, will they come back? Here’s what the data says.

Could successful vaccine rollouts in countries with strong domestic markets for trade shows and other events put a damper on resuming international events? While event executives are optimistic about a rebound in international travel, they also see factors favoring a greater shift toward local and regional events.

In-person events are making a comeback, but happy days are not quite here again. Labor shortages and rising costs are straining event planning budgets and putting a damper on the resurgence.