Northstar Meetings Group

What Northstar Meetings Group does

Northstar Meetings Group (legal entity: Northstar Travel Media LLC) is a privately held B2B media and events company serving the global meetings, incentives, conventions, and events (MICE) industry. Founded in 1951 and headquartered in Rutherford, New Jersey, the company operates a multi-brand media portfolio — Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings, Incentive (in operation for over a century), SportsTravel, M&C Asia, M&C China, and Meeting News — alongside the Stella Awards program and approximately two dozen annual hosted-buyer events. The audience comprises corporate, association, third-party, SMERF, and sports event planners; the paying supplier base comprises hotels, resorts, convention and visitor bureaus (CVBs), and destination marketing organizations across the U.S., UK/EMEA, and Asia Pacific.

The digital platform integrates the Event Venue Finder, which provides searchable access to over 220,000 hotels worldwide with RFP submission and comparison capability; the My Collection personalized content-save tool; 360° virtual venue tours via the IcePortal integration; 200,000+ newsletter subscribers across multiple editorial newsletters; and industry research products including the Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey and the Incentive PULSE Survey. Additional offerings include the TEAMS Conference & Expo (sports events), EsportsTravel Summit, The Meetings Show (UK), The Meetings Show APAC, the Northstar Learning Academy, and CMP continuing education webinars. Strategic partnerships with Cvent, IcePortal, and Visit Florida anchor both technology and sponsor-revenue layers of the platform.

The company monetizes through a diversified multi-stream model: digital advertising and sponsorships on owned websites and in print magazines, hosted-buyer event participation fees paid by venues and destinations, custom branded content via the Studio 90 / Custom Media department, print magazine subscriptions, and sponsored destination hubs (illustrated by the Visit Florida model). Distribution spans owned websites, 7+ print magazines, daily and weekly newsletters, hosted events, and regional sales teams led by VPs covering the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific markets.

Name

Northstar Meetings Group

Legal name

Northstar Travel Media LLC

Website

https://northstarmeetingsgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1951

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Northstar Meetings Group is a privately held B2B media and events company serving corporate, association, third-party, and sports meeting planners via a portfolio of 7+ industry publications, hosted-buyer events, and an Event Venue Finder covering 220,000+ hotels worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Meetings & Events Media

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)

akta.pro primary industry

Meeting & Conference Planning & Coordination (HSACADAA)

Keywords

• B2B media services
• Meetings industry news
• Event venue sourcing
• Hosted buyer events
• Trade publications events

Headquarters

HQ city

Secaucus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Digital advertising and sponsorship: Sponsored content and advertising on websites and magazines from industry partners
2. Print magazine subscriptions: Award-winning print magazines featuring comprehensive guides, best-of lists, and latest on meetings, incentives and sports destinations
3. Hosted buyer events: Over two dozen hosted-buyer events offering opportunity to experience meetings destinations and source upcoming events
4. Newsletter subscriptions: Free newsletters providing breaking news and analysis direct to inbox

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Northstar Meetings Group is a B2B media and events company serving the global meetings and events industry. It operates a portfolio of industry-leading publications (Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings, Incentive, SportsTravel, M&C Asia, M&C China, Meeting News), an Event Venue Finder tool with access to 220,000+ hotels for RFP submission, hosted-buyer events, industry conferences, the Stella Awards program, and research surveys (Northstar/Cvent PULSE Surveys). The company monetizes primarily through advertising, sponsorship, event participation fees, and subscriptions.

Product overview

Northstar Meetings Group is a media and events company operating a platform-plus-portfolio architecture. The core platform (northstarmeetingsgroup.com) provides venue sourcing tools (Event Venue Finder with access to 220,000+ hotels), personalized content saving (My Collection), RFP functionality, and newsletter services reaching 200,000+ subscribers. This digital platform is complemented by a portfolio of industry magazine brands including Meetings & Conventions (M&C), Successful Meetings, Incentive, SportsTravel, M&C Asia, M&C China, and Meeting News (daily newsletter). The company also operates award programs (The Stella Awards), produces hosted-buyer events, maintains an educational platform (Northstar Learning Academy), and publishes industry research including the Northstar/Cvent PULSE Surveys on meeting and incentive industry trends. Events include the TEAMS Conference & Expo, EsportsTravel Summit, and The Meetings Show (UK).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Stella Awards: Multi-faceted awards program recognizing excellence in the meetings industry.
• Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey
• Northstar/Cvent Incentive PULSE Survey
• Northstar Learning Academy
• CMP Webinars

Products and services

• Meetings & Conventions (M&C)
• Successful Meetings
• Incentive Magazine providing insights motivating employees to meet and exceed performance goals, offering expert strategies, news and trends for planners, decision-makers and channel partners interested in travel, merchandise, gift cards and other forms of recognition.
• SportsTravel Magazine covering sports travel industry news, trends and resources for organizers of sports events and sports-related travel.
• M&C Asia Magazine serving the meetings and events industry in the Asia-Pacific region.
• M&C China Magazine serving the meetings and conventions market in China.
• Meeting News Daily newsletter covering the latest event trends and industry updates for meeting professionals.
• Event Venue Finder Online venue sourcing tool enabling planners to find, compare and send RFPs to over 220,000 hotels worldwide with search filters for guest rooms, event space, and hotel classification.
• My Collection Personalized planning folder where users can save Northstar Meetings Group content and easily share and reference content as they plan meetings and incentive programs.
• TEAMS Conference & Expo Major conference and expo for the sports events industry organized by Northstar Meetings Group.
• EsportsTravel Summit Industry summit focused on esports travel and events.
• The Meetings Show UK's leading exhibition for the meetings, events and incentives community.
• Northstar Learning Academy Educational platform offering career development resources and training for meeting professionals.
• Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey Industry survey providing insights on meeting planning trends, cost pressures, and booking volume expectations.
• Northstar/Cvent Incentive PULSE Survey Survey providing insights on incentive travel trends and program strategies.
• The Stella Awards Multi-faceted awards program recognizing excellence in the meetings and events industry globally.

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CventcoreTechnology or IntegrationStrategic partnership for the Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey and Incentive PULSE Survey, providing industry research and benchmarking data for meeting planners and suppliers.
• Visit FloridacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsored destination hub providing Florida meeting planning resources, featuring interactive maps, destination guides, and planner resources for Florida venues and attractions.
• Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVBs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with destination marketing organizations worldwide providing content, destination guides, and co-marketing opportunities for meeting planners.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Questex: Global B2B media and events company running trade shows, conferences, and information services across multiple verticals including travel and hospitality, broadly comparable in scale and blended business model to Northstar.
• RX Global (Reed Exhibitions): One of the world's largest exhibition organizers, running trade shows across travel, meetings, and events. Comparable in the events leg of Northstar's business with much larger incumbent scale.
• Informa: Global B2B events and media giant operating major exhibitions including IMEX (meetings industry), sharing Northstar's blended model of trade media, trade shows, and industry research at significantly larger scale.

Direct peers

• BizBash: B2B media brand covering event planning and production with publications, news, and industry events, serving an overlapping audience of corporate and independent event planners.
• Skift: B2B media company covering the travel industry with newsletters, research, and events, mirroring Northstar Meetings Group's media-plus-events model targeting travel and meeting professionals.
• Trade Show News Network (TSNN): B2B media platform covering trade shows, exhibitions, and conventions with news, calendars, and industry data — directly comparable to Northstar's events and trade-show coverage franchise.
• Meetings Today: B2B media brand focused on the meetings and events industry with news, tools, and content for planners, directly competitive with Northstar's Meetings & Conventions and Successful Meetings brands.

Others

• Cvent: Event-management software platform that is both Northstar's PULSE Survey partner and a competitor in venue sourcing and RFP management — a dual relationship that materially shapes Northstar's positioning.
• PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association): The leading professional association for meeting and convention professionals — not a competitor, but a key channel partner and audience whose members overlap directly with Northstar's planner subscriber base.

Emerging players

• EventMB (Event Industry News): Online B2B publication and education resource for event professionals with newsletters, podcasts, and reports; an emerging digital-only competitor to Northstar's meetings-industry media brands.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NorthstarMeets
• Facebookfacebook.com/NorthstarMeetingsGroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/northstar-meetings-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/northstarmeets/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Northstar Meetings Group