During the Meetings Quest Opening Celebration, co-sponsored by Visit Saint Paul, attendees were welcomed with a reception and dinner hosted by the Pool & Yacht Club, which is located on the shore of the Mississippi River. The evening continued with dessert and a river cruise aboard the Betsey Northrup, which provided spectacular sunset vistas on the Mississippi River and ended with twilight views of the beautiful Saint Paul skyline.

The following day, Bonnie Carlson, president and CEO of the Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Gene Winstead, mayor of Bloomington, welcomed attendees and noted the importance of meetings and conventions to the destination. With news headlines focusing on terror attacks and the Zika virus, a riveting educational session on event security and crisis management led by �Association Doctor� Steven Hacker received high marks from Meetings Quest attendees. A separate session on the increasing use of drones at events featured Jennifer Hoff of Taffy Event Strategies. IndyCar racing legend Lyn St. James rounded out the programming with a keynote address on how to develop a viable action plan that can help meeting planners get on the right track to success.

In addition to educational programming, Meetings Quest also included an appointment-based trade show that allowed exhibitors and planners to meet on-on-one. The trade show utilized an app-based system for requesting appointments held at the exhibitors� booths, an approach that allows for dynamic and productive interactions between buyers and sellers.

Meetings Quest is the nation�s longest-running series of educational and networking events for corporate and association meeting planners. For further information, please visit MeetingsQuest.com or call 877-577-3700. Upcoming Meetings Quest events will be held in Atlantic City, March 14�15, 2017, and on Mississippi�s Gulf Coast in 2018. Click here to watch the Meetings Quest overview. Click here to read more.

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About the Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official marketing organization for the city of Bloomington, Minnesota, and aggressively markets Bloomington area attractions and the surrounding communities to visitors around the world. Bloomington is located adjacent to Minneapolis and St. Paul, just minutes from the international airport, is the home of Mall of America, and is a premier destination for meetings, conventions and tourism. For more information, visit bloomingtonmn.org.

About Schneider Publishing
Schneider Publishing is the parent company of Association News, America�s most-read magazine for association executives, and SportsTravel, the sports world�s event magazine. In addition to Meetings Quest, Schneider Publishing organizes the TEAMS Conference & Expo, the world�s largest gathering of sports-event organizers. TEAMS �16 will be held September 26�29, 2016, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The group travel markets served by Schneider Publishing generate 106 million hotel room nights annually.

Media Contact:
Ann Shepphird
Schneider Publishing
310-577-3700