Smart Meetings Magazine

Tell us your best meeting anecdote?

One time we stayed up all night preparing for a Smart Event. The next day, with only three hours of sleep, the show started and I thought, “Oh lord, give us strength,” but we shined. Everything went off without a hitch and the customers didn’t know and the extra prayer I said before heading up to the podium, which got me through another nine hours before we all collapsed. That night, just to be sure, I went by the front desk and asked if they had any sleep aids. They handed me two different cures and I took them as an insurance policy. Voila! The next day I awoke after 10 hours of sleep good as new!

What do you love most about your job?

I am passionate about what I do. I love the meetings industry. I love to under promise and over deliver great service to our customers. And I love the creativity and competitive spirit I get to embrace and experience in my work every day. Best of all, we have fun and I get to work with many great people in this industry.

What’s on your dream leisure travel list?

African Safari, I’ve been talking about it forever and promised myself that I’m going in next two years.

On the weekends you are likely to be…

Playing with my three-year-old son Quentin, reading books, out and about in the great SF Bay Area or Napa/Sonoma with so much to see and do!

What’s your favorite movie, book/ author, or band?

Love Actually and Joy Luck Club for movies. Right now, I am reading Steve Jobs book and finding myself obsessed with him. It’s a great read and a fascinating study of business and character. For bands, put on “1234” by Feist and my feet are moving, and hate to admit it, but I love “my” music—stuck in the 60s and 70s…I know all the words.

What’s your motto?

If you never work more than what you get paid, you’ll never get paid for more than you work. Have lived this one!

Biography

Marin Bright, founder of Bright Business Media, LLC, as well as publisher and editorial director of Smart Meetings magazine and the Smart Meetings Action Kit, is a publishing veteran with extensive experience in the hospitality and meetings worlds. A graduate of Mills College and an alumni of the prestigious Stanford Professional Publishing Course, Bright’s prior positions at the Hyatt and the Mandarin Oriental in the hotel industry provided the foundation for a publishing career that began at San Francisco magazine and Meeting News. In 1993, she was named publisher and vice president at Meetings Media where, and during her 9-year tenure, the publication grew from a quarterly newspaper, Meetings California, to a monthly magazine, Meetings West. While Marin was publisher, Meetings Media launched Meetings South, Meetings East and Meetings 411(now Meetings Focus).

The company’s annual guides were also redesigned and reformatted to standard, user-friendly sizes. Marin has also been a torchbearer in meetings website development, one of the first publishers to create a website for meetings magazines. Understanding that people today must accomplish more in less time, Bright created new meetings publications to provide fresh perspectives and usability. Launched in 2002, Smart Meetings magazine and the Action Kit stand out from the crowd – new tools designed for fast, measurable results for both meeting planners and advertisers. Because planners increasingly wear more professional hats, Bright identified the need for a publication that breaks the “trade” mold and provides clean, easy-to-access information appealing to a broader audience. In her 20-year career, Bright developed close relationships with meeting professionals and hotels. She understands the changes the industry has undergone and has thorough insight into the business. With a passion for and understanding of the Western United States, Bright knows there are many choices in the industry when it comes to meeting planning tools. Her professional training, relationships, and years of experience put her in a unique position to provide the best products on the market.