Yes, it’s New Year’s Resolution time. Maybe you’ve decided this is the year you stop working in a chaotic office environment and finally get yourself organized. Productivity expert Audrey Thomas, otherwise known as Organized Audrey, thinks that’s a great idea. And doable! Just pick one small change and keep doing it until it turns into a habit. Then move on to your next small change. Here are a dozen to try.

American Airlines made big news when it filed for bankruptcy in late November, but American’s struggles are not indicative of the health of the overall airline industry in North America, which was very profitable in 2011. That trend will continue in 2012 and for planners, a combination of increased demand and tighter seat capacity will mean higher fares. Find the pockets of over-capacity and you’ll find your greatest negotiating opportunities.

Some companies have long traditions of inviting families to their annual incentive conferences. It’s part of the corporate culture and it reinforces qualifier loyalty. There’s also the trick of sending incentive promotions to potential qualifiers’ homes in order to use the encouragement of spouses and kids as further motivation for those salespeople to go for the goal. But inviting kids invites challenges as well. How will you balance the agenda so that you get your messaging to the qualifier and the qualifier gets family time too? Do you charge for kids and spouses? If so, how much? We’ve got some answers.

Hotels from boutiques to major chains are opening in Colombia. "In recent years, Colombia has achieved international recognition as a tourism destination," says Maria Claudia Lacouture, president of Proexport Colombia. "Between 2009 and 2011, the country opened more than 1,600 new hotel rooms." From the old world charm of Cartagena to cosmopolitan Bogota to the Coffee Triangle, recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this country at the crossroads of the Americas has a lot of diversity and excitement to offer meeting and incentive groups. See a sampling.

I recently read that some theaters in Boston are thinking about setting up special seating areas for patrons who feel compelled to let their Twitter followers in on every detail of a show as it happens.

Being a rather huge fan of live-tweeting meetings, I was kind of surprised at my first reaction to the idea—namely, horror. The problem is, I can't figure out why the idea of live-tweeting a theater production raises the hackles of an ardent live-tweeter.

Stop by the face2face blog for more, and if you have any enlightening thoughts on this topic that is bedeviling these first few days of 2012 for me, please share them!

2012 may be remembered as the year when integration became the watchword of the meetings industry. At first glance, it isn’t a theme that stirs the heart. It means understanding that meetings matter only in their broader context. Their effects must be felt 365 days a year, not just three or four; their conversations conducted with a wide group of virtual stakeholders, not just attendees in one ballroom; and their revenues considered in the context of a host community’s overall economic strategies. Dwight D. Eisenhower was a big fan of solving problems by making them bigger, as a way of understanding their true solutions. Here’s how we can follow his lead.