CONTENTS September 2012 Volume 27, Issue 9

50

‘I want all children, all children, to be born just like me — free of HIV. Every single one. Please, I am begging.’

COVER STORY Return of the Ribbon

It took a change in U.S. policy to bring the International AIDS Conference back to the United States for the first time since 1990. What kind of meeting rates that level of influence? A big, loud, intensely participatory one. Christopher Durso

Features ONE ON ONE

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Cover illustration by Keith Haring

81 2 PCMA CONVENE SEPTEMBER 2012

Laura Bush As a former schoolteacher and librarian, it was only natural that Laura Bush would make education and literacy the focus of her tenure as first lady. She speaks to Convene on why lifelong learning — the lifeblood of the meetings industry — is “key to any sort of success in society.” Susan Sarfati, CAE

CMP SERIES

Give and Take Are you ready for a seller’s market? Meeting demand has come roaring back, pushing rates to pre-recession levels, erasing the concessions that buyers enjoyed over the past four years, and requiring meeting planners to adapt to a new negotiating climate. Corrie Dosh

Sizing Things Up Our latest epanel attempts to establish a benchmark for an appropriate meetings staff size in relation to events planned. Michelle Russell

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