The world has been turned upside down in the past week by the spread of COVID-19, and even the most knowledgeable experts are unsure of what it will mean to the travel and meetings business in the months and even years ahead. But while such unpredictable times create challenges for forecasting about the future and the meetings industry specifically, upheaval and change also demand creative thinking, and a plan not just for weathering the current crisis, but how to recover after it.

To that end, we spoke with Dan Berger, founder of Social Tables, who recently shared his predictions for the next decade at Northstar Meetings Group’s SMU International event in New York City just two weeks ago. We spoke with Berger on March 10 about how the coronavirus could impact events long term, and more general trends around meeting technology, venue sourcing and the future of meetings.