Christoph Trappe spoke with Keith Kehl, director of marketing and sales with The Westin Michigan Avenue in Chicago, about what it means to be part of Marriott's Convention & Resort Network (CRN) and the personalized meeting experiences the hotel can offer groups.

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Christoph Trappe asked Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile Executive Frank Sanchez to identify the things meeting planners should ask their executive chef or catering team about when planning an event. His responses cover the areas of sustainability, food labeling, local sourcing and menu customization.

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Destination DC President and CEO Elliott Ferguson talks with Jeff Heilman about the sector-driven Connected Capital strategy for meetings, the real D.C. for visitors and groups, and his new role as national chair of the U.S. Travel Association.

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News that PCMA CEO Sherrif Karamat, a Canadian citizen, has yet to obtain a post-hiring EB-2 Green Card, and that PCMA has posted his position on its job board, has led to a great deal of confusion at the association and in the industry.

PCMA Chair of the Board of Directors Greg O'Dell fills in Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson on the situation and Karamat's status at the association.

Also: Learn more about PCMA EduCon 2019 in Los Angeles and a number of research studies and initiatives PCMA is pursuing.

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Tyler Davidson sits down with Tonya Almond, vice president of knowledge and experience with PCMA, to find out how meeting planners can incorporate the successes of PCMA EduCon 2019 into their meetings.

EduCon is like a meetings laboratory, so listen to its key facilitator to discover the new trends and formats that may supercharge your programs.

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Tyler Davidson talks with Kim Condon and Lauren Bachynski, from furniture—and research!—company Steelcase about its new "5,000 People, 5,000 Personal Journeys" study with PCMA about meeting attendee psychology that will help guide planners in producing more-relevant meetings.

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Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson talks with podcasting veteran Mike McAllen, of Podcasting4Associations, on how and why organizations should jump into the exploding podcasting scene to drive engagement and secure sponsorship revenue. It's basically free to begin, so don't be left out of the podcasting game!

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Meetings Today's Danielle LeBreck chatted with Chief Content Officer Christoph Trappe about the Las Vegas Convention Center after he attended the annual American Institute of Architects (AIA) conference there in 2019.

While Trappe has attended a lot of Las Vegas meetings, it was his first time meeting at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

He shares his thoughts on current state of the event space, the convention center expansion, where to stay and how to get to the center.

[Related Content: 2019 Las Vegas Destination Supplement]

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Tyler Davidson sits down with counterterrorism and security professional David Lau and risk management educator Alan Kleinfeld at MPI WEC 2019 to discuss what meeting and event planners as well as facility operators need to know to identify a possible active shooter, what security concerns to include in the RFP and site selection process, and how to react onsite if the unthinkable happens.

[Related Content:  9 Active Shooter Risk Management Tips]

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Meetings Today editors Tyler Davidson and Danielle LeBreck just returned from a content-producing frenzy at MPI WEC Toronto. Check out our coverage—all in one place!—on the Meetings Today website. And probably the biggest news of the week, meetings industry fixture Michael Dominguez is leaving MGM Resorts to take the top job at ALHI. A big congrats from all of here at Meetings Today, Mike!

Get your week’s news in early with the Weekly Wrap! And also make sure to keep circling back to see what's new on the Meetings Today website.

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