Smart Meetings brought planners and suppliers together for education, connection and elevated experiences at Loews Coral Gables
The word “luxury” often conjures images of five-star resorts, champagne and world-class restaurants. While those indulgences reflect the word’s definition for some, the most valuable luxuries for many meeting professionals are less tangible: time to connect, ideas that inspire action, and acquaintances that transform into new friends and business connections.
These priorities were the focus of Smart Meetings’ Luxury Experience 2026, held at Loews Coral Gables in Miami. Here, meeting planners and industry suppliers came together for education, one-on-one business appointments, networking and unforgettable excursions.
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Starting With Possibility
The programming kicked off Sunday with an Instant Start to Smart education session led by Rachel Druckenmiller, a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), keynote speaker and leadership trainer. Her message encouraged meeting professionals to reconsider the limitations they may place on themselves.
“We are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for,” Druckenmiller tells Smart Meetings TV host Mike Lyons in an interview about her speech.
Her goal, she shares, is to help meeting professionals gain clarity on how they might be holding themselves back. Druckenmiller encourages meeting professionals to get out of their own way, embrace opportunities and say yes to experiences that will help them reach their full potential.
Later, author and luxury brand strategic advisor Neen James took the stage for an afternoon keynote titled “Step Up Your Smarts,” which challenged the traditional definition of luxury.
Rethinking Luxury
For James, luxury is not synonymous with wealth. It can be found in small, thoughtful gestures that make others feel valued. Drawing from her own experience growing up with limited financial resources, she recalled how her mother would place flowers in a vase inside their trailer—an act that introduced simple beauty and a sense of luxury that she encouraged attendees to channel in their day-to-day lives. Luxury, James emphasizes, can mean something different to everyone.
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Anticipating needs was another central theme. The most luxurious experiences are often the ones in which attendees’ needs are addressed before they have to ask.
Following James’ keynote, attendees had an opportunity to explore those principles firsthand on a one-hour property tour of Loews Coral Gables. The tour offered a closer look at the resort’s meeting spaces, amenities and potential for groups while demonstrating how thoughtful details can influence the overall meeting experience.
The day concluded with a networking celebration reception and dinner, complete with a full buffet, live music on the hotel patio and a vendor offering customized pins and pashminas.
Breaking Boxes
Monday morning opened with Smart Meetings Vice President and Content Director JT Long asking attendees to turn to someone nearby and address a simple question: “How will you make the most of this experience?”
It was an invitation to turn the event’s education and connections into action—and a fitting lead-in to the day’s keynote from former NFL player Justin Forsett.
Forsett’s speech focused on resilience, adversity, and refusing to be defined by others’ expectations. He challenged the audience to consider how they respond to adversity. “Greatness grows best in the shadows,” Forsett said, reflecting on the opportunities in his life that only came to fruition because of rejections and adversity throughout his football career.
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He also urged audience members to “be a box breaker,” a particularly relevant message for professionals in an increasingly competitive industry. Forsett emphasized the importance of vulnerability as well, noting that it is a differentiator rather than a weakness. “There’s strength in being vulnerable with the right people,” he says.
For meeting professionals, the community that comes from vulnerability is critical. Forsett encouraged attendees to identify and leverage their “huddle”—the network of people who can provide support, perspective and encouragement while navigating change.
Where Business Meets Experience
Dedicated business appointments took place Monday afternoon, giving planners an opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss potential partnerships.
For Donna Masiulewicz, owner of Timeline Meetings and Events, those connections were among the event’s biggest draws.
“The Smart Meetings Luxury Experience is a great opportunity to meet new suppliers, reconnect with old ones and network with meeting planners that I don’t get to see that often because I’m always so busy,” she says. “The destination’s fabulous, and so are all of the suppliers.”
Taking the Fun to the Water
Monday afternoon traded the ballroom for Five Iron entertainment center, where attendees participated in team-building activities such as bowling and golf.
The evening brought what was perhaps the most quintessentially Miami experience of the event. Attendees were shuttled to Bayfront Park in downtown Miami to board the Seafair megayacht for an evening of sailing in Biscayne Bay. Food, drinks and live music set the scene for an evening that demonstrated how experiential elements with a strong wow factor can transform a networking event into something attendees will long remember.
The event drove home one of the event’s larger lessons—luxury can involve extravagance, but it isn’t required. Sometimes, it means giving people something they didn’t expect—or making them feel that an experience was created specifically with them in mind.
Luxury is not simply what attendees see when the walk through the doors. It is how thoughtfully an experience has been designed, how naturally people are able to connect and whether they leave with something valuable—whether that is a new business relationship, a fresh idea, a renewed sense of potential or a fond memory with industry peers worth taking home.
At Smart Meetings Luxury Experience 2026, Coral Gables provided an elevated backdrop—but the people, ideas and connections made the experience are what made the experience truly luxurious.
