Maastricht is pulling out all the stops to accommodate ESOC's 4,200 attendees  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Read online 🇪🇺 Small City, Big Event With an expanded convention center — but limited to 5,000 hotel rooms — Maastricht is pulling out all the stops to accommodate an international conference with 4,200 attendees.   Miguel Neves, Skift Meetings Editor-in-Chief May 7th, 2026 IN THIS EDITION How Spirit Airlines’ shutdown impacts already tight event budgets. The small Dutch city of Maastricht putting its newly expanded capacity to the test with the European Stroke Organisation Conference in town. How Orlando, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale are expanding their convention infrastructure to meet growing demand. Read on below.     FEATURED STORIES Spirit’s Shutdown Is One More Cost Squeeze on Events  By Andrea Doyle Airlines are replacing Spirit's routes, but not its ultra-low-cost fares. For planners already navigating rising costs, the timing couldn’t be worse. View Article Can a Small City Handle a Big Conference? Maastricht Puts Itself to the Test By Miguel Neves The European Stroke Organisation has hosted its last five conferences in Helsinki, Basel, Munich, Lyon and Milan. This week it’s gathering somewhere much smaller — and harder to reach. View Article These Three Florida Convention Hubs Just Keep Growing By Barbara Scofidio Orlando, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale keep developing their convention infrastructures to meet growing demand — and there’s no end in sight. View Article         How Did a Second-Tier City Emerge as a World Cup Host? Visit KC + Skift Meetings The 10-year journey involves a new airport terminal, immersive cultural experiences, and some love from the likes of Taylor Swift and Paul Rudd. View Article         RECOGNITION Skift IDEA Awards’ final price increase is tomorrow, May 8. Save $50 on your entry before it goes to full price. Submit your entry to Skift IDEA Awards in five meetings and events categories: hotels, venues & convention centers, destination marketing organizations, event technology, and cruise lines. Lock in the lowest price today, then complete your entry by July 1. SECURE YOUR ENTRY         🧰 Skift Meetings Toolkit Your go-to hub for best practices in managing meetings and events. Sponsored by Ottawa Tourism EXPLORE THE TOOLKIT         Thanks for being a regular reader. We are switching to a new email platform. Why? This change will allow for better delivery, and more engaging newsletters. Please take a moment to add this new email address to your contacts to ensure you continue receiving your newsletters without interruption. During this transition, these emails might land in your promotions or spam folder. To ensure you don’t miss out, please move this newsletter to your primary inbox.       DEFINING THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL. Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 Skift 35 W 31st St. New York, New York 10001, United States Terms of Service

Still looking for help with designing a meeting your attendees will remember?

Loads of meeting planners are confronting a tough reality: Their attendees aren’t going to take away that much knowledge from the program. In fact, within an hour of the closing session, attendees will forget roughly half of what they learned.    A new report  from Skift Meetings, developed in partnership with ITA Group, looks at how small shifts in content design and delivery can significantly improve not only what attendees remember, but what they do next.   The report outlines how to move away from information overload and toward more sustained engagement, with practical ways to design content that actually sticks and continues to deliver value long after the event ends. DOWNLOAD THE REPORT This content was created collaboratively by ITA Group and Skift Meetings. Skift, 35 W 31st St., Frnt 1, New York, NY 10001, USA Manage preferences

"Register now" isn't a strategy

Most event marketing runs the same campaign across every channel and every demographic. Conversion rates differ. Nobody asks why.   The event professionals featured in our new report are doing something different: building behavioral personas, asking values-based registration questions, and segmenting post-event surveys by role and tenure — not just age. The result is events that demonstrate measurable ROI to leadership, not just positive feedback scores.   Skift Meetings’ Events for a Multigenerational Workforce report is available now. DOWNLOAD THE REPORT This report is sponsored by Ottawa Tourism.  Skift, 35 W 31st St., Frnt 1, New York, NY 10001, USA Manage preferences