Leadership & Workforce Challenges

A Meeting Expert’s Need-to-Knows

June 12, 2026 By Mark Athitakis
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Conferences have put increasing demands on planners’ tech savvy. But people and negotiating skills still matter most.

An events leader at an association is a lot of things: a technology expert, a membership and marketing pro, a savvy negotiator, and more. As meetings have become more competitive and sophisticated, the people managing them are being charged to be well-informed around AI, logistics, and other skills. (See sidebar.) 

But experts generally agree that the core skill of a meeting planner is as old as the industry—an awareness of what attendees want and an instinct for seamlessly delivering it. “You still need to have the basics—how to prioritize, how to communicate,” says Lisa Block, executive vice president of conference strategy and design at Velvet Chainsaw, a meetings consultancy. “But today, leadership is looking for a more strategic perspective from planners, so an ability to manage and implement change and innovation is more important.” 

Tech savvy matters, says Bonnie Stetz, CMP, senior director of event strategy at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). But most important is the capacity to discern among the various available tools. “In the last 12 years, we’ve seen the biggest explosion in event tech,” she says. “And you’ll have to understand, are you picking one platform for all of those things, or are you trying to pick the best ones and figure out how to integrate them? With AI, that’s only compounded.” 

For instance, one thing IFT is exploring for this year’s annual conference is technology that allows the association to do heat-mapping of their movements without assigning a beacon to attendees—a process that can be time-consuming at the registration desk and feel intrusive. The new technology captures the information more passively, which means less attendee-specific information but less friction at the venue. 

“There’s a lot more of a need for event planners to be good managers.” —Bonnie Stetz, Institute of Food Technologists

Jeanne H. Riggs-Im, CEM, CMP, events logistics manager at NAFA Fleet Management Association, says that tech-wise, meeting experts should pay close attention to their events’ mobile apps, because so many relationship-building opportunities stem from them. 

“Even though it plays such a small role because it’s really only an on-site tool, it’s a huge opportunity for us to make sure our messaging and information is getting across,” she says. “You can look at registration from a simplistic standpoint of getting people registered and getting them a badge, but registration companies are doing more around heat mapping, tools that help the exhibitors and help us do our jobs better. Sometimes it’s just from a simple flow standpoint—maybe you need to move the coffee to a better spot.” 

That awareness can help leaders become the kind of behavioral experts that Stetz says meeting leaders need to be more and more. “You need to understand audience acquisition, almost to the level of a marketing degree,” she says.  

Close Connections 

NAFA’s Riggs-Im notes that some of the multitasking meeting leaders now perform is a function of better understanding strategy to better do their jobs. But it’s also a function of thinning staffs. “It’s become more of a necessity to use the planner for more things,” she says. “Things that the AV team would have done in the past are now things you’re doing, such as room sets or electrical orders directly with the convention center. I think it’s become more of a catchall position rather than just making sure the meeting happens.” 

To that end, Stetz notes that the skill she values most among planners is a firm but flexible relationship-builder—somebody who can negotiate with a venue to the association’s advantage, but who isn’t so hard-charging that they alienate long-term partners.  

“When I was searching for someone for audience engagement and strategy work, there were a ton of amazing resumes for people who were very good at logistics, operation, and negotiations, but few who had the strategy and audience work that I needed on the engagement side.” 

Block concurs. For her, all activities within the meetings department need to swing back to an understanding of how they help people better connect. 

“Everybody’s event is alive—it’s your organization come to life,” she says. “That’s your value proposition. That’s why your members, exhibitors, and speakers want to affiliate with you. So, things like sustainability, AI, business acumen—all of them need to support one another for that purpose.” 

The people side of the equation, Stetz says, is even more critical as more competition is emerging from the nonprofit world for association members’ attention. Building a culture of trustworthiness is more central to a meeting planner’s work. 

“Many companies are trying to undercut offerings done by associations by offering super-cheap CE and things like that,” she says. “But we have a long history of being trustworthy and reliable and there for them. Truly understanding your value proposition as an organization is more critical than ever. Understanding what your community needs from you.” 

Mark Athitakis
Mark Athitakis

Mark Athitakis, a contributing editor for Associations Now, has written on nonprofits, the arts, and leadership for a variety of publications. He is a coauthor of The Dumbest Moments in Business History and hopes you never qualify for the sequel.

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