I just heard that Bruce Harris, founder of mega meeting planning firm Conferon and president of Conferon Global Services, will be retiring as of March 2. But he’ll still be on the CGS Board of Directors and work on some CGS initiatives. Bruce says in a press release:

“My immediate goal is to spend more time with my two sons and daughter, who live in Dallas, San Diego and St. Louis, respectively,” said Harris. “This could not be a better opportunity. My CGS business cards will now read ‘Founder and Chairman Emeritus’…and I will be able to do the two things I love most in life: spend more time with both my personal and work families.”

He seems to be following the trend of planners who retire, but keep working (huh?) I was reading about last night. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine retiring completely as long as I’m physically able to work. Maybe I’ll slow it down, as Bruce seems to be doing, but quit completely? Beyond my ability to contemplate at this point in my life. Talk to me again in 20 years.

I’m not a big poker person, but given the amount of poker-related spam I’ve been getting lately, there must be a lot of people who are. If your attendees are among them, this might be of interest to you: World Poker Tour Launches ‘Events’ Division. According to PokerNews, World Poker Tour’s events division will focus on providing poker events for companies, non-profits, and just about anyone else who would like to ante up.

They also hired Linda Spitz, the former senior vice president for Clear Channel, and Kim Ellis, who owns the meeting and event company, KKE Meetings & Events. But this is just one player in what appears to be a growing field. My colleague, Dave Kovaleski, wrote up U.S. Poker Series last spring, and I’m sure there are plenty more out there.

And if your folks are more into bridge, I remember doing a writeup a few years back about the American Contact Bridge League, which would be delighted to set up a tournament for your attendees, according to then-CEO Jay Baum.