Contracts are important to meetings and events in that they ensure both parties understand the terms of an agreement and have apportioned risk in an acceptable way between them. Following are my “top 10” essential contract tips that you can implement into contract negotiations and execution.

The Washington State Court of Appeals blocked a so-called “panic button” law for hotels in Seattle on Monday, December 24, 2018. According to the unanimous ruling, Seattle Initiative Measure 124 violated the “single subject condition,” which stops disparate rules being combined into a single law.

There were a number of notable hotel strikes and labor actions in major meetings and conventions destinations across the U.S. in 2018, with actions against Marriott International by the UNITE HERE labor union grabbing headlines throughout the back half of 2018.

On Wednesday, December 12, 2018, one week after 7,500 hospitality workers at 24 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange County voted overwhelmingly to authorize strikes, 800 workers were set to celebrate the Catholic holiday, Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe with public actions in front of Southern California hotels: The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles, Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, Hilton Anaheim and Sheraton Park Hotel.

Meetings Today's Joan Eisenstodt asks meetings professionals for their candid opinions on ethics.

Baltimore-based law firm Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, along with co-counsel Morgan & Morgan, announced on November 30, 2018, it had filed a class action lawsuit against Marriott International “on behalf of over 500 million customers whose personal information, including their names, birthdates, addresses, locations, gender information email addresses, payment card information, and passport information were stolen.”

UNITE HERE Local 2 hotel union workers ratified an agreement with Marriott International to end its 63-day strike in San Francisco, the last city to settle after a series of strikes at Marriott properties across the U.S. Strikes were held and later resolved in Boston, Detroit, Oakland (California), San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, Oakland and locations in on Oahu and Maui (Hawaii).

Marriott International is taking a $126 million hit to pay for the massive data breach discovered in its Starwood Hotels division in November 2018. The news reinforces the need for meeting planners to protect the data security of their attendees who book or stay at hotels.

Hotel worker labor union UNITE HERE and hotel company Kyo-ya, which owns several hotels operated by Marriott in Hawaii, reached an agreement on a new union contract on November 27, ending a 51-day strike. The contract was ratified by a 99.6 percent vote by members of UNITE HERE Local 5.

Members of the UNITE HERE labor union, which represents hotel workers across Canada and the U.S., ratified an agreement with Marriott International to end their strike in Boston.