After an initial foray into hybrid meetings at its 2010 annual meeting, the American Society of Association Executives is pulling back on the virtual reins. The association does not plan to have any live streaming component at its 2011 annual meeting in St. Louis, August 6–9. Here’s why and what’s happening instead.

During the recent MeetingsNet webinar on mobile meeting apps, attendees peppered the presenters with questions. We’ve collected 10 of the most frequently asked, looking at development times, costs, attendee adoption, and other issues on the minds of meeting pros who now have the job of producing apps for their meetings and conventions.

The LinkedIn group “Webcasting & Webinars Best Practices” is having an interesting discussion about the current state of webinars. I had to add my two cents, of course, and in the spirit of being inclusive, I wanted to share my thoughts with you. So full speed to the self-plagiarizing engines… Here’s what I wrote on the frustrations of terminology, the preponderance of low-quality video, virtual environments, and more.

Mobile devices are the wave of the, of the, well, of today. So why aren’t most planners focusing their tech strategy on their attendees’ always-on tools? (You do have a tech strategy, right?) Here’s my take on three basics: a portal for meeting industry apps, mobile meeting guides, and mobile landing pages. You’ve got to start somewhere.

With as many as 50,000 jobs to fill before the end of the year, Marriott International has come up with a novel way to entice new recruits: A free Facebook game called My Marriott Hotel. Positioned as a Farmville for the hotel business, it’s designed to let users get their virtual hands on everything it takes to run a hotel. So far, you can only play with the food and beverage department, but convention services can’t be too far behind.