April 2011 Issue: Live!

One of the things we work hard at with Convene is trying to make the abstract more concrete. A great example of that (I'm comfortable saying, since I didn't write the article) is the cover story in our April issue -- the digital edition of which is now available -- in which Hunter Slaton digs into the oft-discussed, oft-misunderstood health-care law to find a very tangible relevance for the meetings industry. Seriously. Do you know about the impending law's "Sunshine" provision? And the cover story has two more components, both related to continuing medical education: "Proof of Learning," about the growing emphasis on demonstrating that CME participants are learning what they're supposed to be learning; and "Do You CME What I CME?," which traces the evolving missions of the Alliance for CME and the Global Alliance for Medical Education.

Also in this issue:

CMP Series: "Going for Green," Barbara Palmer's preview of the long-awaited APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards, which are scheduled to be released later this year.

One on One With: Gloria Guevara, Mexico's secretary of tourism, who sat down with Michelle Russell during PCMA 2011 Convening Leaders for a frank conversation about her country's meetings business -- and the realities of its ongoing drug war.

Plenary: We begin by checking in on life in the global meetings industry a year after the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, and continue with some great photos from Toy Fair 2011 and the Laura Ingalls Wilder-themed LauraPalooza 2010, plus a Pre Con profile of the National Contract Management Association's World Congress 2011 and a Post Con profile of the 2011 Biodiesel Conference & Expo. All that, and two new bite-size Plenary departments: Tipster and Unconventional.

Working Smarter: Are you holding onto your meeting binder? You might not be for very long, once you read about planners who have made the switch to the iPad -- on site! (That camp includes PCMA's own meetings team, as you may remember.)

Other Duties as Assigned: The Tax Executive Institute's Mike Lowery remembers that time he roughed up NBA great Isiah Thomas.

As always, look for the text-only version of this issue on our homepage sometime in the next few days.