Laws & Regulations

Food Allergies

Eight Ways Meeting Planners Can Advocate for Guests with Food Allergies

From employee picnics and business lunches to association conferences and corporate conventions, food-allergic employees and event participants have a lot to navigate when at work or business and social functions . As professional meeting professionals, we have a duty of care at all times. People must be able to trust us with their health and safety while they are at the meetings and events we plan. To justify that trust, we must make the care of our event participants, supplier partners, exhibitors, speakers, sponsors and staff our first concern, treating them as individuals and respecting their dignity and their needs. That includes ensuring…

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Meetings Industry Month

April is National Meetings Industry Month

There’s a lot to celebrate in April, according to this list of offbeat holidays—Humor, Guitars, Poetry, Honesty, Pecans, Scrabble, Tweed, my birthday, Passover—but I would be remiss if I didn’t add National Meetings Industry Month to the list. My friend Shawna Suckow, founder of SPIN and The Hive Network—taking cue from our meeting planning colleagues in Canada who have been celebrating the industry in April for the last 20 years— declared the first U.S. celebration in April 2013. Branches of SPIN held lighthearted “Cupcake Wars” across the country, bringing together planners to celebrate the hard work we do as meeting…

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Influencing Eating Habits

Being the guinea pig is not necessarily the best thing when trying new foods. They (my nieces and nephew) are the first to tell me it’s gross. But, it’s fantastic when I make something they love and repeatedly ask for. Guacamole and roasted Brussels sprouts are two those things that come to mind. What’s even better is when I realize I’ve influenced them without really trying. A few days last month, I was pleasantly surprised three times.

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hands holding a globe sustainable great responsibility

Remember, with Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

The health of your event, your attendees and our nation is a great responsibility that meeting professionals must embrace   I never thought I would be quoting from Spider-Man (although my nephew would be proud), but the meaning behind Uncle Ben’s statement — “Remember, with Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” — to Peter is truly why I started my company and now this blog. When I found out eight years ago I had an allergy to yeast, you would have thought I’d be traumatized – I had to stop eating anything that contained yeast, sugar, vinegar, dairy, white flour and…

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