Speaking News You Can USE!
AI Leadership, Without the Boos
Graduates’ skepticism about AI is rooted in legitimate workforce questions. Executives need to deliver clearer answers. AI is a lot of things these days. One thing it isn’t is an applause line. In recent weeks, multiple graduation speakers have tubthumped on behalf...
Blake Waravdekar, DES
PCMA’s 20 in Their Twenties program honors exceptional young leaders in the business events industry. Class of 2026 member Blake Waravdekar, DES, meeting coordinator at the Association of American Medical Colleges, learned early on in her career that even the most...
This Week on the Convene Podcast: Navigating DEI Challenges, Designing for Human Capacity, and Rethinking AI’s Role in Events
Here’s what’s new on the Convene Podcast this week. Article: Minority Conferences Face Lower Attendance The effects of anti-DEI policies are being felt by associations representing minority professionals, particularly when it comes to their events. Here’s how the...
How High-Tech Art Creates an Immersive Learning Environment for Physician Attendees
In the ECR 2026 entrance hall, a towering sculpture of Athena, the Greek goddess of reason and wisdom, welcomed attendees; behind her, the venue’s polySTAGE, a staging installation made up of 52 LED panels, beckoned with an immersive atmosphere of ancient Greek...
Learning as an Art Form
Art plays a central role in ISTElive’s experiential sessions. ISTE, which stands for the International Society for Technology in Education, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping its members — educators, school leaders, and industry experts — transform the...
Factoring Art Into Meeting Design
“Searchlight Rays” by Karen Amanda Harris was part of the 2025 Bridges exhibit. Robert Fathauer brought the idea of adding an art exhibit to the organizers of the American Mathematical Society’s (AMS) Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) in 2004, when the conference was...
