New Meetings and Events Insights: MPI Carolinas GMID 2026 Recap

If you work in the meetings and events industry, you know it’s a tight-knit club. We all speak the same language of room blocks, BEOs, and attendee engagement. And when you walk into a room full of people who just get it, there’s an energy that’s hard to explain to anyone on the outside.

I’ve been a proud member of this club for a long time. Earlier in my career, I served on the MPI Chicago marketing committee and was honored to be nominated for the Tomorrow’s Leader award. Over the years, I’ve spoken at several MPI events, sat on panels about the future of meetings and events, and presented as an interactive keynote speaker at IMEX, IMEX Frankfurt, PCMA, IACC, NACE, MDRT, and Association Forum.

So when I attended the MPI Carolinas Chapter Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) 2026 in Concord, North Carolina on May 6, I went in with one goal: bring back what actually matters to the people running events, leading associations, and making big marketing decisions.

MPI Carolinas serves meeting and event professionals across both North Carolina and South Carolina, and the room reflected exactly that regional reach. GMID 2026 was powered by the Events Industry Council under the theme “Business Events: The Human Catalyst for Global Growth,” celebrated during National Travel and Tourism Week, themed “Postmarked: Essential.” Both themes were earned that afternoon.

One of my favorite things about MPI rooms is the mix. Planners and suppliers learning together means real cross-pollination of ideas. At lunch, I had a great conversation with the Visit Greenville team. Greenville, South Carolina, about 90 minutes south of Charlotte, is in the middle of an exciting destination rebrand with growing meeting infrastructure and serious momentum. Put it on your sourcing list.

I also had a wonderful conversation with someone who represents both a hotel and a destination in Wilmington, North Carolina. That dual perspective is exactly why MPI events are worth attending.

It was wonderful to see fellow NSA Carolinas members and our incoming chapter president, John Edwards, who closed the afternoon with a keynote about neuroscience and leadership. More on that shortly.

One more note: Embassy Suites Charlotte/Concord Golf Resort and Spa had just completed a full renovation. The new ballroom was stunning, and those table linens were gorgeous. We notice these things. That’s the job.

About the Organizations Behind GMID 2026

Events Industry Council
Global Meetings Industry Day is powered by the Events Industry Council (EIC), the global advocate for the business events industry. The EIC represents more than 30 member organizations and tens of thousands of meeting professionals worldwide. Its mission is to advance the meetings, conventions, and business events industry through advocacy, research, and the promotion of professional standards including the globally recognized Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation. GMID 2026 united professionals in more than 60 countries under the theme “Business Events: The Human Catalyst for Global Growth,” reinforcing that what we do creates measurable economic and social impact at every level.

Meeting Professionals International (MPI)
MPI is the largest meeting and event industry association in the world, with a global community of more than 17,000 members across more than 70 chapters. MPI advances the profession through education, networking, and advocacy, and its chapters serve as the on-the-ground home for meeting professionals in their own regions.

MPI Carolinas Chapter
MPI Carolinas is the regional chapter serving meeting and event professionals across both North Carolina and South Carolina. The chapter brings together planners, suppliers, destination partners, and hospitality leaders for education, networking, and advocacy throughout the year. GMID is one of its signature annual events, and the 2026 program at Embassy Suites Charlotte/Concord Golf Resort and Spa in Concord, North Carolina demonstrated exactly what the chapter does best: creating the kind of room where meaningful conversations lead to real business and lasting connections.

Visit North Carolina
Visit NC, the state’s official destination marketing organization, operates as part of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Its mission is to position North Carolina as a preferred destination for leisure travel, group tours, meetings and conventions, sports events, and film production. Visit NC’s research team, led by Research Director Marlise Taylor, provides the comprehensive annual economic impact data that gives meeting planners and destination partners the evidence they need to make smart investment decisions.

Visit Charlotte / Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority CRVA
Visit Charlotte is the official destination marketing organization for the Charlotte region, working to bring conventions, meetings, sporting events, and leisure travelers to one of the fastest-growing cities in the Southeast. Their destination services team is a direct resource for meeting planners, connecting groups with venues, local nonprofits, cultural institutions, and community partners from the moment a piece of business is confirmed.

National Speakers Association Carolinas (NSA Carolinas)
NSA Carolinas is the regional chapter of the National Speakers Association, the leading organization for professional speakers in North America. The chapter connects keynote speakers, trainers, coaches, and thought leaders across the Carolinas who are committed to the business and craft of professional speaking. Several NSA Carolinas members were present at GMID 2026, reflecting the natural overlap between the speaking and meetings industries and the strength of the professional community here in Charlotte.

The Human Connection: Why This Industry Matters

TK Knight, VP of Sales and Executive Director of Visit Charlotte, opened the program with a reminder that cut straight to the heart of what we do. Every conversation at an event like this brings business to Charlotte, supports local jobs, and keeps the regional economy moving.

It’s easy to disappear into logistics and forget what you’re actually building. TK brought us back immediately. Every piece of business isn’t just about filling rooms. It’s about creating opportunity, supporting jobs, and changing the future of a city. If you ever wonder whether your events truly matter to the communities hosting them, that’s your answer.

North Carolina Tourism Hits a Record: What the 2025 Numbers Mean for You

Marlise Taylor, Research Director at Visit NC, has spent more than 20 years turning tourism data into strategy that planners can use. She teased that the 2025 numbers were coming soon. Later that same day, Governor Josh Stein confirmed it.

North Carolina tourism hit a new record in 2025: $37.2 billion in visitor spending, up from $36.7 billion in 2024, even with Hurricane Helene recovery still underway in western NC. The announcement landed during National Travel and Tourism Week. The timing felt right.

What this means if you’re sourcing meetings or advising clients on Southeast / North Carolina destinations:

• Total visitor spending: $37.2 billion, up 1.3 percent
• Domestic traveler spending: $36.1 billion, up 1.5 percent
• Tourism-supported jobs: 230,997, up 0.3 percent
• Tourism payroll: $9.8 billion, up 3.5 percent
• Tax revenue generated by visitors: $4.7 billion, up 2.5 percent
• Daily visitor spending: more than $101 million
• Average household tax savings from visitor spending: $605

The Piedmont region, which includes Charlotte, Greensboro, and the Triad, accounts for nearly 78 percent of all North Carolina business travel. If you’re sourcing meetings in this corridor, you’re in the most business-travel-dense part of the state.

Visitors from DC and New York markets spend disproportionately more per trip than their share of total visitation suggests. Volume isn’t always the goal. Value is. For CMOs and association executives making destination investment decisions, that distinction matters.

Two more planning notes: 2026 hotel demand is forecast to improve over 2025, with a stronger rebound projected for 2027. And the FIFA World Cup is coming, with three national teams already confirmed to practice in North Carolina. Start your venue conversations now.

AI, DEI, Community Impact, and Wellness: What the Panel Actually Said

The afternoon panel brought together four industry leaders who skipped the theory and got straight to what matters. Moderated by Gissell Moronta of Atrium Hospitality, the conversation featured TK Knight of Visit Charlotte, Lisa Luks of HelmsBriscoe, and Melissa Klingberg of THM Your Association Management Professionals.

This group was refreshingly candid. Here are the top takeaways by topic.

AI: What’s Working and What Isn’t

What’s working:

• Building an AI lead scoring system to prioritize business by economic impact and a dedicated AI agent for 10 to 49 person groups to accelerate speed to market
• Using AI to load client agendas into sourcing tools and generate hotel comparison rubrics, while keeping human review on every deliverable
• Pre-writing before and after social media posts before events begin so the team has grab-and-go content the moment sessions end. Simple, brilliant, immediately actionable.
• Rating every recurring task from 0 to 10 by time intensity. Focus AI integration on the 9s and 10s first.

What goes wrong:

• AI hallucinated fabricated credentials in a member’s obituary that nearly went out unchecked. Read everything before it publishes.
• A document re-uploaded into the same software it came from had breakout sessions silently stripped out and looked identical to the original. Always verify.
• Hotel proposals that are obviously AI-generated signal to planners exactly what level of personal service to expect. Your voice is a competitive advantage. Don’t outsource it.

The consensus: AI is a resource, not a voice. Use it to think faster. Don’t let it think for you. And don’t let it make you mentally lazy. Your brain is a muscle.

DEI: The Real Truths

• DEI gets reduced to race and gender when it also includes age, economic equity, accessibility, and religious and cultural calendars. Every one of those dimensions affects how your attendees experience your event.
• The real barrier isn’t disagreement. It’s the fear of saying the wrong thing, which shuts the conversation down. Assume positive intent. Extend grace.
• Practical actions that cost nothing: put the people driving the content in the room shaping it, recognize diverse voices on the main stage, schedule around cultural calendars, and go introduce yourself to the first-timers.

Community Impact: Make It Specific and Real

• The Charlotte Convention Center diverts 85,000 pounds of food through composting and donation partnerships and saves 70,000 gallons of water per month. Call Visit Charlotte’s destination services team early. They’ll connect you with the right local partners.
• Another group launched an annual scholarship contest with a local college hospitality program at a single conference. It’s now permanent. Start small and make it repeatable.
• One association’s community impact award has delivered nearly $30,000 to nonprofits across the Carolinas over time. Consistency compounds.
• Don’t let community involvement become a checkbox. Make it specific, local, and meaningful to the people in the room.

Wellness: No Big Budget Required

• A volunteer-led step challenge with a $150 prize created more networking energy than most scheduled receptions. Design for your attendees’ personalities.
• A 60-second breathing break, just three deep breaths on a team call, visibly reduced tension for everyone on screen.
• An attendee-staffed wellness room at the Charlotte Convention Center, with equipment donated entirely by conference attendees, cost the organizer nothing.
• Infused water and aromatherapy stations consistently rank among the highest-impact, lowest-cost additions you can offer.
• Wellness doesn’t require a retreat budget. It requires intentionality.

Leadership for Tomorrow: The Neuroscience Connection

My fellow NSA Carolinas member and our incoming chapter president, John F. Edwards of The Edwards Group, closed the afternoon with a keynote that was equal parts neuroscience, leadership strategy, and genuine comedy. He called meeting professionals “superheroes”—then he used brain science to prove it.

The VUCA World and Your Brain

John explained that the human brain is a prediction machine that is four times more susceptible to threat signals than rewards. In a volatile and uncertain world, a great meeting is more than just logistics; it’s a neurological gift. By creating a safe environment for peers to connect, planners give attendees a rare “moment to pause” that allows the brain to reset and think strategically again. In a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous world, most of us start each day more neurologically threatened than a generation ago.

Here’s where your work becomes essential. When you design a great meeting, you give attendees a rare gift: a safe environment to step away from the noise, connect with peers, and reset. You’re not just filling rooms. You’re giving people’s brains a chance to breathe.

The 3C Leadership Model

John introduced his signature 3C Model to help leaders navigate this complexity:

• Connect: Why the first 20 minutes of your day is the “optimal window” for programming your brain’s performance.
• Cultivate: How to make curiosity your competitive edge by asking better questions and giving new ideas room to breathe.
• Contribute: Using generosity as a “neurological counteragent” to the professional pride that often leads to leadership derailment.

John’s session was a powerful reminder: you aren’t just filling rooms; you’re giving people’s brains the space they need to lead.

Bringing Meaningful Connections Home

Before sending us into the networking reception, Floyd Isley of Atrium Hospitality The North Carolina Collection closed the program. As MPI Carolinas President-Elect, Floyd pulled every thread of the afternoon together beautifully.

The common theme running through every session, every data point, and every candid conversation: meaningful connections. Whether the topic was AI, tourism trends, DEI, community impact, or neuroscience, it always came back to how we show up for one another.

He sent us into the reception with exactly the right energy. And the reception itself was, as it always should be, spent talking to people.

Frequently Asked Questions About Meetings Industry Trends in 2026

What are the biggest trends shaping meetings and events in 2026?
Using AI as a workflow tool rather than a content voice, targeting high-value attendee markets over pure volume, building specific and local community impact programs, and designing events that give attendees a genuine neurological reset.

How are meeting planners using AI right now?
Lead scoring, hotel comparison rubrics, and pre-written social media content. The consistent caution: AI handles logistics while humans maintain an authentic voice, relationships, and final approval on everything client-facing.

Why is Charlotte, North Carolina, a top Southeast meetings destination?
The Piedmont region drives nearly 78 percent of North Carolina business travel. The Charlotte Convention Center is green-certified, saves 70,000 gallons of water monthly, and diverts 85,000 pounds of food through donation and composting partnerships. Visit Charlotte’s destination services team actively connects planners with local nonprofit partners.

What is GMID and why does it matter?
Global Meetings Industry Day is an annual worldwide event powered by the Events Industry Council that demonstrates the economic and social impact of business events and conventions. In 2026, GMID was held May 6 under the theme “Business Events: The Human Catalyst for Global Growth.” MPI Carolinas represents meeting professionals across both North Carolina and South Carolina.

What does North Carolina’s record $37.2 billion in visitor spending mean for planners?
A healthy, growing market with strong infrastructure, motivated destination partners, and increasing demand. For planners sourcing Southeast meetings, it means competitive destination support, proven ROI, and a hospitality workforce that shows up.

Is Your Next Event, Program, or Team Ready for What’s Coming?

The meetings and events landscape is changing faster than most organizations can keep up with. AI is reshaping how we communicate. Attendees are more distracted, more selective, and harder to impress. And the pressure on CMOs, meeting planners, and association executives to deliver programs that actually move people has never been higher.

That’s exactly where I come in.

If you’re a CMO, your team needs more than a motivational speaker. They need a strategist who understands where marketing, communications, and human connection intersect right now, and who can translate that into a keynote or workshop your team will actually use on Monday morning. Let’s build something that gives them a real competitive edge.

If you’re a meeting planner or event professional, your reputation is on the line with every program you produce. Your attendees came because they trust you to deliver something worth their time. I help you make that happen with a keynote that’s customized, interactive, and built around what your specific audience needs to hear right now. Let’s design a program they’ll still be talking about at next year’s event.

If you’re an association executive, your members renew when they feel the value. A generic agenda won’t do it. I work with association leaders to build conference experiences that balance thought leadership, practical strategy, and the kind of genuine peer connection that makes membership feel essential. Let’s design that together.

The path forward is simple. Reach out, tell me about your audience and your goals, and we’ll figure out together whether we’re a fit. No pressure, just a real conversation.

[Start the conversation here: Insert contact link]

About Barbara Rozgonyi

Barbara Rozgonyi turns visibility into velocity. As a keynote speaker, visibility strategist, and fractional CMO based in Charlotte, North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois, she works with B2B brands, executives, and associations who are done being the best-kept secret in their industry.

Barbara has spent her career at the intersection of marketing, PR, communications, and human connection, helping organizations build the kind of presence that doesn’t just get noticed, but gets real results. She has presented at conferences worldwide including IMEX, IMEX Frankfurt, PCMA, IACC, NACE, and Association Forum, and brings the same strategic thinking she delivers from the stage into every consulting engagement, workshop, and keynote she designs.

A recognized leader in the meetings and events industry, Barbara served on the MPI Chicago marketing committee and was nominated for the Tomorrow’s Leader award. She understands this industry from the inside because she has lived it, planned it, spoken at it, and written about it for years on her top 40 PR blog, wiredPRworks.

Her audiences don’t just leave inspired. They leave knowing exactly what to do next.

Have a project or an event in mind? Talk to Barbara and schedule a discovery session.

AI Disclosure: We use AI as a collaborative research and structuring assistant to help ensure this content is well organized, search-optimized, and easy to read. The insights, observations, industry experience, and voice in this post are entirely Barbara’s own, drawn from her attendance at the event.