The Trade Show Exhibitors Association has become the latest industry association to introduce a hosted-buyers meeting, announcing the launch of its new event, Face-to-Face Connections.

The event, which will be held January 6 to 8, 2010, at the Embassy Suites Dallas-Market Center, gives TSEA members an opportunity to meet in 30-minute private meetings with vendors who provide products and services to the exhibitions industry. The meetings will take place in hotel suites, not on the exhibit floor. TSEA will pay for the guests’ expenses—including airfare, hotel rooms, and meals. For a flat fee, the sellers will get a hotel suite in which to set up shop and meet with the buyers.

“The idea actually came from our members, who are exhibitors at trade shows,” says Dave Brull, director of marketing and membership at TSEA. Read more about TSEA's new hosted-buyer meeting.

The average company allocated 34 percent of its marketing budget to exhibitions in 2009, down slightly from 36 percent in 2008, according to a new study by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, “The Spend Decision: Analyzing How Exhibits Fit Into the Overall Marketing Budget.”

The study, which polled 236 marketing executives, also revealed that 53 percent of respondents are exhibiting in fewer shows in 2009 than they did in 2008. For 2010, 39 percent said they would participate in the same number of shows they did in 2009, while 29 percent project an increase and 30 percent expect a decline in 2010.

Marketing executives explained the pullback by saying the economy has forced greater scrutiny of how marketing dollars are spent. Consequently, companies are shedding events that are perceived to be of lower value.

Read more about how much exhibitors are spending on booths.

The buzz these days is all about social media, from Facebook to LinkedIn to Twitter to Flickr to blogs and podcasts and …well, the array of options is seemingly endless. But is social media right for your organization's events, or is it just a fad? To help you sort through what you need to know before jumping into this pool of sociability, Association Meetings called on the expertise of Lindy Dreyer and Maddie Grant of SocialFish, a consulting company based in Washington, D.C., that they formed to help associations and nonprofits build community via the Web.

AM: Let's start with the question I heard repeatedly at ASAE and The Center's annual meeting in Toronto this summer: Is social media just what the cool kids are doing, or does it really add value to an organization's meeting strategy?

Here’s the answer, and strategies you can use to make social media work for your events.

On November 18, MeetingsNet will host two free webinars for association professionals who plan meetings outside the U.S. Planners have never been more challenged to maintain or increase attendance at their meetings. One area of opportunity is to reach beyond U.S. borders with face-to-face events for a growing international membership.

Association Day will feature expert panelists in two separate webinars covering topics from site selection, budgeting, and negotiating to finding the right partners and sponsorship opportunities.

At 12 noon Eastern Time, watch “10 Things You Need to Know Before Launching an International Association Meeting.” At 1:15 p.m Eastern Time, listen in on “20 Cost-Saving Techniques for International Association Meetings.”

Click here for free registration.

The hotel industry saw marginal improvements in the third quarter, with occupancy and revenue per available room improving slightly from second-quarter numbers.

According to Smith Travel Research, occupancy climbed to 60.5 percent, up from 58 percent in the second quarter. However, third-quarter occupancy rates are still 8 percent lower than in the third quarter of 2008.

Read about the only city that didn't see occupancy rates drop in the third quarter.