Pleasantly surprised by Vanessa and Nina

I know a few fellow journalists who didn’t sleep at all one night because of Vanessa Mae. But I can't tell you too much about that. The celebrated pop and classical musician concluded the GIBTM gala evening in Abu Dhabi with an exciting surprise show. No one could expect that the UK’s wealthiest young entertainer would be performing for us in the Al Raha Beach Hotel. Although... in Abu Dhabi almost anything is possible. And indeed, Vanessa, no less, was there. Hosted buyers and exhibitors, they were all pleasantly surprised! But GIBTM had another surprise. Unexpectedly, a lot of people showed up for the seminar ‘Meet the influential editors behind leading meeting industry publications'. Nina Gardiner, managing partner at Cut Communications, showed great skill to challenge Rob Nicolas, Ruby Gonzalez, Hunter Slaton and myself to find out the truth behind the meeting magazines. And what is that truth? We work in one of the few industries where people think it's not required to subscribe to a trade magazine, and by that I mean, actually pay for it. That's why it's hard to find good journalism in our trade. Magazines are slaves to their advertisers and can never really tell the truth... Or have we reached a new era? Nina promised that we will continue this discussion next year. I can't wait to get back into the ring!