The Fort Worth Herd of Longhorn cattle paraded past the Destination Texas attendees. Photo Credit: Robert Wilson of RC Photographic Productions
Northstar Meetings Group's Destination Texas event brought together more than 60 meeting planners and suppliers for three days of networking and learning at the Kimpton Harper Hotel in Fort Worth. Held Dec. 5-7, the meeting featured sessions on travel wellness and 2023 meeting trends, as well as one-on-one hosted-buyer appointments, and a special evening at the city's famed Stockyards, complete with the Longhorn Cattle Drive that takes place daily down the district's main street.
The event's first education session addressed the personal side of working in the travel business, as wellness and travel expert John Ayo's presentation, "From Travel Hell to Travel Well," offered wise advice for staying healthy on the road and combating jet lag (such as staying awake until 9 p.m. each night in your new destination; drinking lots of water before, during and after your flight; and getting outside to allow the sun to reset your body clock).
On day three, a Q&A with futurist Scott Steinberg tackled trends he's seeing in events for 2023. He advised making sessions shorter and more interactive to keep attendees' attention sharp, and allowing organizations to pack more content into the meeting. Steinberg noted, however, that the organizations that are hiring him now are actually asking him to speak longer and longer, heading back to the status quo of 2019.
Northstar's generous sponsors helped make the event a success. Along with the Kimpton Harper Hotel, those partners were Visit Fort Worth, Stova (formerly MeetingPlay + Aventri + Eventcore), PC/Nametag, Kalahari Hotels & Resorts and Visit the Woodlands.
The following photographs, by Robert Wilson of RC Photographic Productions, capture some highlights from the event.
Please take a look at the full roster of Northstar's 2023 events to register your interest as a hosted buyer or supplier in the new year.