Get ready, get set, get a Gala Wouldn't your bookshelf look better with another Gala Award trophy on it? Of course it would! The 2011 Gala competition opens today—and you can find all the info you need to get your entries in by clicking here. We can't wait to see your outstanding work …

Yes and no on high-end resorts Event planners are evenly split on using luxury resorts as event venues again, with half saying they feel they can use them again while the other half says they must still avoid looking "lavish." The responses come from the latest online poll from Special Events. The compulsion to avoid the appearance of over-the-top spending has been a hallmark of the recent recession, a trend many in the business call the AIG effect after the big insurance company that found itself in a firestorm of criticism in 2008 when news broke that the company spent $400,000 on a retreat at a high-end resort after taking an $85 billion bailout from U.S. taxpayers …

Anheuser-Busch Foundation to offer recycling bins for special events The Anheuser-Busch Foundation and Keep America Beautiful have partnered to establish the “Lend-A-Bin Grant Program,” an effort to support local organizations seeking to provide recycling opportunities at special events. Applications are open to state and local government agencies, Keep America Beautiful affiliates and members of state recycling organizations; learn more here.