Category: Media Buzz

As everything that goes into organizing a meeting starts to add up, budget dollars can disappear pretty quickly. But there is a supporter in your corner who can help planners save big bucks: the event services professional.

Your hotel, convention center or DMO/CVB service professional—sometimes referred to as a convention services manager (CSM) or event manager—works through all the logistics of an event with a meeting planner to bring it to life after the sales team closes the sale. 

Read more at Meetings Today

These are unprecedented times for meetings and events.

The COVID-19 crisis has brought on some tough changes, but the meetings and hospitality industries are strong and resilient—the best we can do right now is lean on each other. We are all in this together!

This spring, we asked our readers: What acts of kindness and support have you seen lately?

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I moved to Washington, D.C. in 1978. My first job here was as an association planner for the group’s 10th anniversary meeting. Although I had planned meetings and events around the U.S. prior to my move, I wasn’t schooled or trained in the profession. On my first visit to the group’s already-contracted hotel, I met with the sales manager and convention services manager and said, “Tell me everything.”

When meeting planners express frustration with the CSMs (convention services managers) (aka ESPs, event service professionals) who don’t call or email in a time frame that is acceptable to the planners, or who suggest that the CSMs don’t know enough about properties, I bristle.

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Convention service managers and event managers are the glue that keeps meetings running, facilitating the relationship between sales and meeting planners. Here are some stories from veteran CSMs on their challenges, successes and why they deserve our respect.

It’s disappointed me for years that those in convention services—or event services as it is often now called—are not appreciated by owners and brands, not paid in line with their critical roles and hours, and not provided membership and time to participate in professional societies.

Read more at Meetings Today.

Volunteering and community service is an effective way to encourage event attendees to engage with what they’re doing and to engage with one another.

Community service is a great way to encourage attendees to engage with each other and form genuine connections at events. Arranging a community service project for your business event supports corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and gives an event a tangible social component that contributes to the overall experience — while making a meaningful community contribution.

Read more at the Future of Business and Tech by Media Planet

The Event Service Professionals Association (ESPA), the only association representing event service professionals from CVBs, hotels and convention centers from across North America, shared some site inspection tips with Prevue.

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Everyone who works within the trade show and meetings industry recognizes the value that events — and all the individuals involved with helping to make them successful — bring to the table. But sometimes, those outside the industry don’t understand this quite as well. To remedy that, the Event Service Professionals Association has launched a guide that showcases the expertise that event service professionals provide.

Read more at Trade Show News Network

ESPA Board member Paola Bowman, CMP, CMM, named as 40 under 40 by Connect magazine

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A post-event survey is a critical tool that planners should not confuse with another piece of junk email.

Event service professionals at hotels, convention centers, and convention and visitors bureaus carefully review and use feedback from meeting planners to improve their destinations, operations, and service.

Read more at the Future of Business and Tech by Media Planet