Sandra O’Loughlin

Openhouse Gallery on New York City’s Mulberry Street last week became a fromagerie of sorts, thanks to The Cheeses of France Marketing Council, a consortium of dairy farmers and cheese firms based in Paris, which transformed the space into a pop-up twitter café filled with cheese. The pop-up was the culmination of the council’s new marketing campaign, “Everyday Perfect,” which celebrates French cheese as part of an everyday diet.

Smirnoff once again is leveraging the power of Facebook to reach revelers around the globe through its Nightlife Exchange Project. And to shake things up a bit, this year it is introducing Madonna into the mix. Last year’s inaugural effort had Smirnoff’s Facebook fans sharing their nightlife faves, from music, to fashion, to venues, to food and, of course, cocktails. They submitted more than 33,000 ideas to facebook.com/smirnoff, and the best of them came to life at 14 events around the globe on one night—Nov.

Late-night disco parties. Packed resume seminars. High-tech virtual experiences. The over-50 set doesn’t look like it used to, Sparky. Baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) are not only looking younger and living longer, they’re working well into their retirement years, embracing modern technology and redefining what it means to age gracefully.

Whether you’re planning an event for 500 employees or a concert for 5,000, the right event registration system can help the process go more smoothly. But checking people in is just one of the many cool tools and capabilities found in today’s registration platforms. From streamlining ticket sales via mobile devices and tracking behavioral data, to facilitating networking and social media engagement among attendees, event reg is no longer just an offshoot of a boring backend database. Here’s a look at five registration technologies that are breaking new ground.

B-to-B events, like everything else, are changing fast. Hybrid events, no doubt, are the hottest thing on the event marketing planet, but other trends are taking hold in the world of internal meetings and corporate conferences. Buckle up, dear readers, for a spin past five signposts in the current b-to-b landscape. And see if you can find the common thread connecting them all.