For the first time ever, a Continuing Education credit-worthy education session on social media will be incorporated into a buyer education tour for meeting planners hosted by the Visit Albuquerque (Visit Albuquerque). Completing the session enables the participants to claim one clock hour of Continuing Education.

The Visit Albuquerque is hosting 18 convention planners and guests June 3-5, 2012, for an intensive buyer education tour of meeting facilities, lodging and attractions that preview experiences that delegates to future conventions could enjoy, should they select Albuquerque for their future meetings.

What:      “Hot Technologies 2012: It’s Social, Mobile & Local”
Who:        Meetings & Conventions Industry
When:      Monday, June 4th at 11:00am
Where:    Marriott Pyramid North Hotel


The continuing education session, presented by James Spellos, CMP, is “Hot Technologies 2012: It’s Social, Mobile & Local.” This session will introduce the newest uses of technological advancements to meeting planners and hospitality suppliers, and methods for integrating social media into event promotion and implementation. Topics include hands-on samples of what’s here for planners to use now, and what’s coming in the future for the meeting industry, including the latest information about critical smart phone and iPad/tablet apps for the hospitality industry.

After participating in this session, the learner will be able to identify the most critical tech tools that are impacting the job, understand how to manage the flow of information using social media and curation tools, and recognize the new technologies that are changing the meetings industry.

James Spellos is the president of Meeting U., a company specializing in helping people become more productive and comfortable with technology. Jim is certified as a Microsoft Office Specialist. He also spent 20 years as a meeting planner. Jim is a recognized expert in the field of technology for business professionals, delivering over 150 seminars annually on how to become more productive and efficient using technology applications, including social media. He is a faculty member at New York University, having taught there since 1990. Jim is a frequent speaker and educator for industry conferences, such as MPI, PCMA and SGMP.

As part of Visit Albuquerque’s ongoing effort to improve our destination sales efforts, this session is being offered to representatives of Visit Albuquerque partner hotels as well as the convention sales, services and sports marketing staff of the Bureau, who will learn alongside their clients.