Hi there. I’m David McMillin, and it’s my first week as the head of content at Skift Meetings. I’ve been a fan of Skift since I first attended the company’s flagship program in the fall of 2015. At the time, I was a contributing editor at PCMA Convene, and I remember being impressed by Skift’s ahead-of-the-curve approach. As most leaders in the travel industry were sounding the alarm bell about Airbnb as a dangerous disruptor, Skift invited the company’s chief marketing officer for a conversation. |
I left PCMA in the peak of the pandemic, desperate for a break from covering the doomsday vibe of digital events. (Remember staring at yourself through all those virtual happy hours?) As I focused on starting a family, I continued watching Skift, keeping a close eye on the company’s dedication to helping meeting planners navigate an overwhelming mountain of questions about how to survive. I’ve been freelancing for Skift for the past couple of years, along with counseling some destinations on the shifts in the meetings industry, and I’m now ready to hit the ground running in this role. |
While the beginning of this decade was a challenging period for meeting planners, the current environment feels even more difficult. Costs are up. Engagement is down. Geopolitical tensions are forcing organizations to rethink where to go next. AI is promising to create cost efficiencies, but it’s giving everyone headaches. All those factors are adding up to one hard reality: Planning a meeting feels more stressful than ever before. |
I join with a deep respect and appreciation for everything that Miguel Neves has accomplished here and a plan to continue building Skift Meetings into something even bigger. There’s no shortage of content in this industry. What I want to add isn’t more of it. Instead, it’s the kind of coverage that can help you make more convincing arguments for your boss and create more compelling programs for your attendees. We’ll continue to cover the news — Andrea Doyle and Barbara Scofidio are two of the best in the business at it — but we’ll aim to translate that news into coverage you can use to decrease the stress of planning your next meeting and increase its odds of success. |
Skift Meetings is evolving from a news site into an intelligence engine, designed to help you mitigate risks and make more informed decisions about every aspect of your next program — where to host it, what speakers to invite, how to adjust your contract clauses to better protect your organization, how to effectively measure ROI and more. |
Don’t hesitate to reach out to share what you want to see more or less of. You can write me directly at dmc@skift.com. And if you’ll be in Portland this week for Destinations International, please say hello. |
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ITA Group + Skift Meetings |
The real measure of an event isn't applause on day one. It’s what sticks well down the road. Learn how a new approach can turn fleeting moments into lasting outcomes and deliver the kind of ROI that protects future spend. |
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EVENTS |
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More to deliver. Less to work with. A landscape that won't sit still. |
Travel policy, AI-driven fraud, shrinking budgets. Skift Meetings Forum is a working day with the planners under the same pressure: 320 last year, 77% director-level and up, half managing $5M+ budgets. |
Sept 22 · Javits Center, NYC. Reserved for senior planners, by application. |
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SKIFT PICK: TRANSLATING TRAVEL TRENDS FOR MEETINGS |
The New Airline Pricing Environment Isn’t Great for Your Next Meeting Budget |
Airfares have jumped by 20% this year, and they aren’t poised for a descent. Instead, it seems they have reached a comfortable cruising altitude, according to United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. Part of the surge is due to hefty fuel costs, but he also pointed to the demise of Spirit Airlines as another critical factor in reshaping what people can expect to pay for flights in the future. |
Airfare used to be the budget line planners could shrug off — a rough year, then it settles back down. If there’s no settling down, that travel stipend you set for attendees last year is probably already too low. And if you’ve been eyeing a flashy fly-to destination for your next meeting, it might be worth giving the drive-to options another look — because whatever you save on the hotel room could get eaten by the flight before anyone even checks in.
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FREE REPORT |
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Our latest report uncovers how AI is transforming the event experience and provides crucial insights for anyone looking to invest in event tech today. |
What’s inside: |
A vision of the ideal AI-powered event experience. A plain-language explainer on LLMs, agentic AI, and MCP. 130+ AI-native event tech tools mapped across event phases. Questions to ask and red flags to look out for buying event tech.
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This report was produced in partnership with MPI and is sponsored by Wordly. |
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Great events are built on strategy, innovation, and the right resources. The Skift Meetings Toolkit is your go-to hub for best practices in managing meetings and events. |
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