ON THE COVER: M&C's 50th Anniversary

The year is 1966: The Beatles' Rubber Soul album goes to #1; opposition to the war in Vietnam builds; cigarette packages begin to carry a federally mandated health warning; and the first issue of M&C appears, marking a true milestone for the nascent profession of meeting and event planning.

In this special anniversary tribute, we present a timeline of M&C's colorful coverage over a half-century, and industry luminaries offer their take on how the meetings business has evolved. Online, you'll find more of such insights, and what these notables had to say about M&C's role in the marketplace. Enjoy, and here's to the next 50!

 1966
In our debut issue, "Ladies, God Bless Them! But How Do You Keep 'Em Happy at a Show?" explores "one of the most remarkable and outstanding changes in the meetings and conventions picture since the end of World War II: the presence of large numbers of women at conventions...as increasing numbers of wives have so arranged their family affairs that they feel completely free to join their husbands on these all-important business and social occasions."


1970
We foresee the demise of the handshake-sealed deal. "The day of the spelled-out agreement, i.e., contract, between hotel and client is upon us."

 1976
We cover the growing belief that exercise at meetings is a good thing.


1978
"The New Breed of Spouse Programs" finds that some organizations are steering away from the term "ladies' programs," although the vast majority of participants in such programs are still women.  

 1984
Our June cover story, "The Electronic Planner," carries the subtitle "Like it or not, there's a computer in your future" and notes within, "We also resisted electricity, automobiles (and probably the wheel), so it's safe to assume that most of us will finally accept computers bit by byte."

 1985
"Dealing With Disaster" covers weather catastrophes, fires, medical emergencies -- and not a word about terrorism. And five years before passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, we feature "Do Your Plans Exclude the Handicapped?" (Of course, today we would use more PC language.)


1986
The term "spouse programs" now becomes "guest programs," as M&C declares: "Spouse programs are no longer just for spouses. And they're not just for housewives either. These days meeting planners are designing programs for wives with their own careers, for unmarried female or male companions and, in some cases, even for husbands."

 1988
In "Where There's Smoke, There's Ire," an attendee notes the ubiquity of separate smoking and nonsmoking sections, "and  the no-smoking section is getting larger." Another milestone: "Earlier this year, the federal government outlawed smoking on all scheduled flights of two hours or less."


1990
We take stock of the recent collapse of the Soviet Union in "Razing the Iron Curtain: the Dawn of a Destination."

 

Our "Annual Guide to Fabulous Food" insists: "American is Hot!"

In likely our first generational story, "Make Room for the Boomers," a consultant predicts that "the days of meetings running into weekends will soon go the way of the Edsel and the Hula-Hoop. The last thing baby boomers want to do is have their careers cut into their free or 'quality' time."

 

"The Biodegradable Meeting" offers an early compendium of ways to plan an environmentally responsible gathering.

1991
Our special 25th-anniversary feature includes a piece on "the mixed blessings" of airline deregulation and a career retrospective that finds meeting planners now have "a lot more stress, a bit more respect."


1992
M&C is somewhat premature in declaring "Hola, Fidel! Destination Status Nearing for Cuba."


1993
Loren Edelstein, M&C's current editor in chief, joins the team as a senior editor in August.

 

In the December cover story, "Wired for Work," M&C reports, "This month, for the first time, Meeting Planners International's Professional Education Conference featured a technology exhibition, with vendors showcasing everything from meeting planning software and hardware to the latest in portable electronics."

 1994
In February's Editor's Podium, editor in chief Lori Cioffi (now senior vice president/editorial director for the Northstar Meetings Group) announces that readers now can write to the magazine via email, leading us to publish the first-ever email address to appear in these pages (laid out in all caps, a practice soon to become known as "screaming"): MANDC@RTGSECP4.

 1995
"Rising From the Rubble" recounts how the Vista International Hotel, which stood alongside the North Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, triumphantly reopened following the February 1993 terrorist detonation of a truck bomb in the underground public parking garage of the tower.

An update on airline group discounts notes that the TWA Meeting Services program offers 30 to 35 percent off most of its one-way fares.

In a news item about the nascent Internet, a Marriott spokesperson comments, "We haven't seen anyone use it effectively yet. Putting brochures on the Internet only scratches the surface of the potential." The piece goes on to provide the first web addresses to appear in the magazine.


1996
Our 30th anniversary issue in July quotes a hospitality veteran on the changes in F&B: "Thirty years ago...breast of capon was a big thing. It was really chicken, but we were able to get 25 cents more if we called it capon."

 1998
In February, "Bad Date," advises readers on how to prepare for the problems computers might experience on Jan. 1, 2000. A doomsday sidebar lists worst-case scenarios such as air-traffic control systems shutting down, ATM cards not working and being locked out of your own office.

 1999
Our December issue reflects on the turn of the century. "There was a time, not so long ago, when 2000 seemed infinitely far off. The very phrase 'year 2000' did not raise fears of malfunctioning computers so much as conjure Tomorrowlandish images right out of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (or at least Hanna-Barbera's The Jetsons) - towering, futuristic cities, flying cars, moving sidewalks and voice-activated food replicators."

Male meeting planners earn, on average, $76,079, while females earn $48,360, per M&C's Salary Survey.


2001
From Lori Cioffi's Editor's Podium in October: "Much of this issue had already been sent to the printer when our country was attacked. We have scrambled to update those sections that were not yet printed, but we apologize for any content that now seems inappropriate or insensitive. It was, like so many things in the past 10 days, beyond our control."

 2002
Our January cover story, "Moving Forward," warns of a new dire threat: "Since anthrax was detected at postal sites around the country, association and trade-show managers face a new wrinkle in marketing their events: how to reach out to an audience that doesn't want to be touched."


2003
"Chain Reaction" presents a roundtable of hotel executives discussing the continuing fallout from 9/11. Says one Hyatt director of sales and marketing, "It is no secret that government planners felt hotels did not want their business back in the good times. I hope the message is getting out that we sincerely care about their business, because we do."


2004
Our January forecast, "12 Months Out," reports "a dramatic rise in low-cost airlines" coming online this year, including Ted from United Airlines, JetStar from Qantas Airways and something called Project Roam."

"The Titans of Tech" finds that online travel companies such as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity are poised to cause a "seismic shift" in the way planners do business.

 

Only 17 percent of planners polled say WiFi access in meeting space/public areas will be important in '04.

 2005
One month after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, M&C sent an editor to tour the destruction alongside embattled hospitality leaders. "We were humming," said one local convention center official of the flush times prior to the storm. "Then, suddenly, we got knocked out and put into a coma."

2006
In "The New Face of Meetings," we note that "America is becoming a more diverse, pluralistic society. The meetings industry must adjust to the country's evolving tastes and mores, as well as cultural sensibilities and sensitivities."

Our special Green Issue features ways to save money while saving resources, the top 20 cities for green meetings and more.


2007
Male meeting planners earn, on average, $94,342, while females earn $67,079, per M&C's Salary Survey.

 2008
Our December "Outlook '09" notes: "The long shadow of this fall's stock market collapse has reached the U.S. lodging industry, abruptly halting four consecutive years of record-breaking, year-over-year profits. Going forward into 2009, hotel companies are facing a very different and challenging landscape."

 2009
In the wake of high-profile meetings-related scandals (remember the AIG imbroglio?), our July cover story touts "Meeting Beyond Reproach: How to shield your event from negative publicity."


2010
At a time of labor unrest, M&C looks at "the decidedly shaky state of relations between Unite Here, the powerful union representing hotel workers, and hotel management. The forecast: cloudy with chance of strikes."

Our July cover story, "The Boycott," recounts how a controversial immigration law in Arizona has roiled the meetings and hospitality industries. (Sound familiar?)


2012
A special issue on "Youth & Meetings" examines how meeting professionals age 30 or younger are reshaping the industry. Says one young planner, "I see my generation keeping certain traditions but with a new spin, to jazz up things."


2013
Eight years after Hurricane Katrina, M&C heads north to report on the fallout from Hurricane Sandy in hard-hit New York and New Jersey.

 

Our November cover story, "Beware of Room Poachers," sheds light on the practice of some third-party firms that lure attendees and exhibitors to book hotel rooms at discounted rates, often falsely claiming to be the official housing bureau. The feature's impact is such that soon after, the Convention Industry Council convenes a work group to study the problem and, in January 2015, issues a white paper and best practices for the meetings industry.

 2014
Our special report on "Coming to Terms With Airbnb" outlines a burgeoning world of alternative housing sites that are luring attendees from room blocks and creating a host of concerns for planners, ranging from attrition to liability and more.


2015
M&C's in-depth profile of meetings-tech juggernaut Cvent examines how what began as a modest registration software company created by some college friends has helped spur a revolution in the way meetings are planned.

Coming full circle from our first issue's "Ladies, God Bless Them!," the July cover story offers "M&C's Top 25 Women in the Meetings Industry," a stellar array of high achievers who have helped infuse the industry with bold new ideas, passionate advocacy and a commitment to bettering the world.