HSMAI's MEET National Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for this year's Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) MEET National, the meeting and event-planning industry's leading show. HSMAI's MEET National, which is focused on Meetings, Events, Education and Technology, is scheduled for Sept. 4-5, 2013, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

More than 1,800 meeting and event professionals are expected to take part in HSMAI's MEET National to connect with the right resources and suppliers to help move their events forward. A sample of the quickly expanding list of exhibiting hotels, destinations and suppliers includes: Best Western International, Colonial Williamsburg Hotels, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Historic Hotels of America, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau, Madison Avenue Signs, Mexico Tourism Board, The Peabody Orlando, Virginia Tourism and Bagmasters. HSMAI's MEET National will also include a Resort Pavilion featuring Terranea, Stowe Mountain Lodge, Sea Island and other top resorts.

"HSMAI's MEET continues to offer attendees some of the most valuable networking and educational opportunities available to meeting and event professionals," said Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA, president and CEO of HSMAI. "We are very proud of these events and the opportunities they create for exhibitors and planners alike, and we are looking forward to another successful HSMAI's MEET National in September."

Educational Offerings

This year's keynote address will be delivered by Jim Davidson, expert climber and expedition leader, who will speak on the power of partnership.

Through HSMAI's MEET University, industry specialists' insights, which are geared toward both planners and exhibitors, will be shared through an interactive platform with sessions including hands-on demonstrations, case-study workshops and peer-to-peer roundtables.

Two featured sessions will be led by Midori Connolly of AVGirl Productions, including:

• I Don't Speak Lumen: AV Survival Skills from Novice to Advanced
• Hybrid Meetings: Strategy & Production

Additionally, through the second year of HSMAI's partnership with Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the organization will host two educational sessions for meeting and event planners, including:

• The Why and How of Event Management (Speaker: Peggy Hemphill, Your Corporate Source, Inc.)
• Your Road Map to CSR (Speaker: Mariela McIlwraith, Meeting Change)

"It's new, it's innovative and it's fresh information for seasoned planners," said the Federation of Animal Science Societies' Cara Tharp of HSMAI's MEET. "I have learned a lot, and after 20 years in the industry, that's saying something."

Additional HSMAI's MEET Offerings

As in years past, this year's event will provide attendees with a variety of exclusive offerings including:

• HSMAI's Attendee Concierge: HSMAI's MEET Attendee Concierge is a convenient service helping attendees personally pre-schedule one-on-one appointments during regular tradeshow hours
• HSMAI's Exhibitor Concierge: An HSMAI staff sales professional solely devoted to aiding suppliers in making advantageous business connections and maximizing their return on participation
• HSMAI's TEEM Up: A role reversal expo of exhibitors and planners where they can maximize their time for one-on-one appointments requested by the pre-qualified and hosted meeting professionals

HSMAI has partnered with numerous top-level planners for HSMAI's TEEM Up. Through this unique format, planners are connected with buyers and suppliers via scheduled appointments. Interested participants can view qualification details by visiting HSMAI's MEET website.

To see what exhibitors and planners have to say about the value of HSMAI's MEET, visit www.youtube.com/HSMAIMEET.

Limited booth space is available. Interested exhibitors may contact Bradley Eubank, exhibition sales account manager, J. Spargo & Associates, Inc., 703-631-6200, [email protected].