CONTENTS August 2012 Volume 27, Issue 8

COVER STORY

And the Winners Are …

44

‘If you think you’ve seen it all, let us surpass your expectations and surprise you over and over again.’

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Cover illustration by Point Five Design

2 PCMA CONVENE AUGUST 2012 PCMA.ORG

Our readers nominated the industry’s best programs, services, and venues in 10 different categories. We culled the top five for each. Convene proudly presents the 50 best things in meetings today. The Editors of Convene

Features CMP SERIES

Bed Tax and Spend An occupancy tax — okay. But a tourism-promotion fee? A convention-center tax? An auditorium tax? With more and more “special assessments” showing up on your attendees’ hotel bills, it’s time to understand what they are, what they pay for — and why CVBs can’t live without them. Corrie Dosh

Power for the People Convene was there when the 25th World Gas Conference descended on Kuala Lumpur this past June — bringing with it more than 13,800 participants, including the biggest names in the field of natural gas. Find out what happens when an emerging destination welcomes an emerging industry. Jennifer N. Dienst

ONE ON ONE

Deborah Tannen The influential linguistics expert and author of You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation discusses the good and bad of electronic communication, the growth of “argument culture,” and the importance of downtime in conference scheduling. Susan Sarfati, CAE