 Education, networking and the opportunity to survey some of the latest destination and meeting venue innovations drew more than 1,000 meeting planners to the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) annual Affordable Meetings® Mid-America show, which took place in April at Chicago’s Navy Pier In addition to 1,040 meeting professionals, ranging from industry newcomers to seasoned veterans, the event attracted 302 exhibitors (occupying 334 booths), 14 of which were new to this year’s show and included meeting venues, destinations, hotels, airlines, technology companies, and other industry-related suppliers.
Exhibitors new to the show this year included: jetBlue Airways, which took the opportunity at the convention to  introduce a new group package customized for corporate meeting planners, Sodexho Conferencing, The Islands of the Bahamas; and Grace Hospitality Hotels & Resorts. For an exclusive photo-survey of some of this year’s exhibitors, click here.
 By all counts, the show featured an exceptional educational series with15 seminars and five in-depth workshops. A packed crowd eager to learn about the technological advancements that have flooded the industry over the last few years and the continuous impact they have, attended the general session, titled “The Future of the Meeting Industry: Impact and Actions,” which touched on the future of the meetings, hospitality and tourism industries and shared the core competencies that are needed in order to move forward into the future of the ever-changing profession.
“We strive to provide our attendees, both the experienced planner and those new to the field, with workshops and seminars to help them further develop skills while offering insightful industry information that will allow them to thrive in the business,” said Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, president/CEO of HSMAI. 
For the second consecutive year, HSMAI held its “Best Booth Awards” competition and challenged exhibitors to use their creativity to design exhibits that would truly “wow” delegates, and this year’s booths included some of the best to-date. The “Best Booth Awards”  were given out to multiple and single booth exhibitors in three categories:
Best Overall Booth (Single: Champaign County Convention & Visitors Bureau ; Multiple: Carlson Hotels Worldwide )
Best New Exhibitor Booth (Single: Renaissance Orlando Hotel; Multiple: Hawthorne Race Course & Expo Center); Best On-Site Booth Promotion and Marketing (Single: Dubuque Convention & Visitors Bureau ; Multiple: Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau)
Exhibitors weren’t the only winners at the show. Prize drawings for meeting planners included jetBlue Airways tickets to anywhere in the Continental U.S. along with $250 American Express gift cards, as well as HSMAI-sponsored cash prizes. Winners of these various prizes included: Jennifer Cohen, Guest Services Assistant, Season’s, A Center for Renewal , in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Amy Komorowski, Meeting Assistant, Association Management Center in,  Glenview, Illinois; Evelyn Tolliver, Meeting Planner, National Association, Women Church of God; Barbara Ferriter, Meeting and Event manager, American Dental Association, and Darnella Harris, Specialist Conference Services, Alzheimer’s Association.
The next show on this organization's 2007 schedule is HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings® West, being held June 19-20,  2007 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California . The final show of the 2007 series will be HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings® National, September 5-6, 2007 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. |
