According to Jeff Hurt, normal ain’t what it used to be, and you better get used to the idea. Coming off this year’s annual conference for his association, he posts some predictions about what the “new normal” you can expect will be. And it turns out to turn some long-held beliefs on their heads. Like your meeting’s history is a good predictor of the future. Not anymore, says Jeff. And if you’re basing your attendance on your member list, you’ve gotten it backwards.

Is he right? Probably. At any rate, there’s lots of interesting food for thought with no F&B guarantee (one prediction I will add is that you can expect F&B minimums–something I have been hearing lots of grumbling about in recent years–to continue to be a reason to grumble, if not outright shriek).

And, I may say, rightly so. See WTF? Wisconsin Tourism Federation changes name after internet jokes.

The body charged with attracting more visitors to the midwestern state will now be known as the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin (TFW), in an attempt to put a stop to the jokes.

It seems that the federation was unaware of – or unconcerned by – the modern meaning of WTF until its acronym featured on a blog that compiles unfortunate corporate logos earlier this year. (I’d provide the link, but the one in the article went nowhere and a quick Google got me nowhere.)

In case you haven’t thought about it, it might be time to check to make sure you’re not inadvertently saying something you’d rather not be with your acronym (and don’t forget to look at it from all angles. I think MM (for Medical Meetings) is pretty innocuous, thankfully.

Cindy at AE on the Verge has some good tips for meetings being held during this flu season (she positions it as for dealing with H1N1, but it’s good advice to follow to keep people from getting the seasonal flu, colds, and whatever else happens to be going around, too).