Press

SAUSALITO, Calif., June 30, 2022—Smart Meetings, the essential resource for the event evolution, is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Smart Stars Awards. The prestigious awards platform, now in its eleventh year, celebrates meeting planners’ choices for hotels, resorts, properties, cruise lines, and conference and convention centers worldwide.

Ranked against hundreds of their exceptional peers, these properties and destinations were hand-selected by Smart Meetings’ audience of meeting professionals, in 30 distinguished categories, including Best Hybrid-Ready Venue and Best Protocol Partner. Since its inception, the Smart Stars Awards have gained notoriety as an essential tool for today’s meeting planner community and a valuable resource for those who need recommendations of leading venues and destinations. These remarkable hospitality brands continue to reflect the highest standards of excellence in service, amenities and customer satisfaction.

You can see the full list of winners and descriptions here.

“I’m truly honored to acknowledge and celebrate these spectacular brands that continue to serve our community with unwavering excellence and dedication to their services,” said Marin Bright, Smart Meetings founder and CEO.

The 2022 Smart Stars winners are featured in the July issue of Smart Meetings print and digital magazines and showcased on the Smart Meetings website.

About Smart Meetings:
Smart Meetings is the leading media company and the most trusted resource for meeting professionals. As the inspiration for meeting professionals everywhere, Smart Meetings publishes cutting-edge meetings content in print and digital magazines, hosts elite hosted-buyer networking events, provides CEU-accredited webinars and offers myriad digital resources.

Media Contact:
JT Long
Editorial Director
jtlong@smartmeetings.com
415-339-9355

Smart Meetings Celebrates 20^th Anniversary with Virtual Event

SAUSALITO, Calif., June 6, 2022—Smart Meetings, the leading meetings industry publisher and essential resource for event professionals, marked 20 years of supporting meeting professionals by publishing educational, empowering and inspiring content now available in print, online at staging.smartmeetings.com, in Smart Chat Live! Webinar format and for the last 12 years at exclusive in-person Smart Meetings Experiences.

Founder and CEO Marin Bright marked the occasion by planning a gathering of the dynamic Smart Meetings Community on Allseated’s ExVo platform. The event highlighted creative talents of partners Mixology Mixer, Entire Productions and DJ Logic. And the presents went to the attendees as sponsors donated thousands of dollars in hospitality stays.

The milestone was also an opportunity for Bright to reflect on the state of the industry in a commemorate cover story titled, “A Passion for Innovation” and video interview about lessons learned over two decades. “This is a team effort and the more each one of us knows, the better we all will be at delivering value,” she said.

About Smart Meetings:
Smart Meetings is the leading meetings industry publisher and voice of inspiration for meeting professionals. We inspire our audience of meeting and event professionals to dream big—and create brilliant experiences that delight attendees, achieve desired results and elevate the impact of the meetings industry. We are essential reading for the evolution currently happening all over the globe. Smart Meetings publishes cutting-edge meetings content in print and digital magazines 12 times per year, hosts world-class networking events, produces CEU-accredited Smart Chat Live! webinars and offers a myriad of digital resources, including Smart Sourcing and Smart U.

CONTACT:
JT Long

Editorial Director

editor@smartmeetings.com

 

Smart Meetings Honors 2022 Smart Women in Meetings Award Winners

SAUSALITO, Calif., February 24, 2022—Smart Meetings, the leading meetings industry publisher and essential resource for event professionals, is proud to announce the winners of the seventh annual Smart Women in Meetings Awards. This prestigious awards program has come to serve as a cherished achievement for women who are making a significant impact and elevating the meetings industry.

The global meetings business is predominantly female, but women’s representation in industry leadership roles lags. Smart Meetings, a woman-owned company, aims to empower women and support their professional advancement. After a particularly stressful year when many women suddenly found the juggling of roles even more difficult these women supported their teams, customers and families. Through this awards program, Smart Meetings recognizes women in all levels of their careers who inspire us with their aptitude, leadership skills and dedication to their work in the meetings industry.

The awards highlight the industry’s top female meeting professionals in seven prestigious categories: Hall of Fame, Visionaries, Industry Leaders, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, Stellar Performers and Rising Stars. These living muses were distinguished by nominations from their industry peers and colleagues, and evaluated against hundreds of remarkable, qualified meeting candidates. They earned top honors for their commitment and significant contributions to the meetings industry.

“As the leader of a Woman Owned business under the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Smart Women in Meetings Awards are near and dear to my heart,” said Smart Meetings founder and CEO, Marin Bright. “It’s my honor to shine a light on the accomplishments of my fellow women in meetings and celebrate our progress together as one united community, particularly in this year where we all learned some challenging pandemic lessons.”

Read the stories of the Smart Women in Meetings Award winners in the Feb-March March Smart Meetings Magazine.

Smart Women in Meetings Award winners will be featured in the magazine and online and will receive on-stage honors at the Smart Women in Meetings Awards gala on August 26 at the Smart Woman Summit at Grand Hyatt Nashville.

Everyone in the meetings industry is welcome to attend this educational and professional development conference. The Smart Woman Summit will feature workshops, thought-leading keynote speakers, dynamic networking opportunities and will culminate with the Smart Women in Meetings Awards gala.

About Smart Meetings:
Smart Meetings is the leading meetings industry publisher and voice of inspiration for meeting professionals. We inspire our audience of meeting and event professionals to dream big—and create brilliant experiences that delight attendees, achieve desired results and elevate the impact of the meetings industry. We are essential reading for the evolution currently happening all over the globe. Smart Meetings publishes cutting-edge meetings content in print and digital magazines 12 times per year, hosts world-class networking events, produces CEU-accredited Smart Chat Live! webinars and offers a myriad of digital resources, including Smart Sourcing and Smart U.

CONTACT:
JT Long

Editorial Director

editor@smartmeetings.com

Smart Meetings Honors the 2021 Platinum Choice Awards Winners

SAUSALITO, Calif., December 7, 2021—Smart Meetings, the leading meetings industry publisher and voice of inspiration for meeting professionals, proudly announces the winners of its 2021 Platinum Choice Awards. The Platinum Choice Awards honor the hospitality industry’s top-ranked hotels, venues and destinations that deliver the highest standards of overall excellence.

These outstanding performers were nominated by dedicated industry professionals and received a thoughtful review by the Smart Meetings judges.

“These premier hotels, venues and destinations stepped up during a challenging time and helped to deliver safe, engaging experiences despite uncertainties. We commend their dedication to serving their customers and the entire meeting professional community,” said Marin Bright, Smart Meetings founder and CEO. “We encourage our audience of planning professionals to consider these remarkable supplier partners for meeting destinations as we return to meeting in person in the coming year.”

Platinum Choice winners will be featured in the December issue of Smart Meetings and will be showcased on the award-winning SmartMeetings.com web site.­

About Smart Meetings: Smart Meetings is the leading meetings industry publisher and voice of inspiration for meeting professionals. We inspire our audience of meeting and event professionals to dream big—and create brilliant experiences that delight attendees, achieve desired results, and elevate the impact of the meetings industry. Smart Meetings publishes cutting-edge meetings content in print and digital, hosts world-class networking events, produces CEU-accredited webinars, and offers a myriad of digital resources. The publication annually awards the prestigious Smart Stars and Platinum Choice Awards to hospitality companies that meet the publications high standards. 

 

Media Contact:
JT Long
Organization Name: Smart Meetings
Phone Number: 415.339.9355
Email: jtlong@smartmeetings.com