Taylor Smith took her two biggest passions in life—writing and traveling—and turned them into her career.

 

Her study of journalism started in 2015 when she began writing for her high school newspaper. She was 10 when she discovered her talent for creative writing in her fifth-grade English class during a poetry lesson on Emily Dickinson, and her passion for travel can be traced back to when she was a toddler wishing on shooting stars in northern Wisconsin.

 

Now, Taylor works as a content developer, destinations and features for Meetings Today, a business-to-business trade publication serving the meetings and events industry. She is the face behind "The Z: Planning for the Industry's Next Generation," a Meetings Today column that explores everything related to Gen Z in the business events industry. Taylor also covers topics including trending destinations, incentives, wellness, hotels and resorts, industry profiles and more for the magazine.

 

Outside of her fulltime role, Taylor works as a freelance writer for three local magazines in the Chicago suburbs, sharing stories about the people and businesses that take a neighborhood and turn it into a community.

 

Since starting at Meetings Today in May 2022, Taylor has traveled for work to destinations around the globe, from Australia to Vienna and Québec City to Sayulita. She makes an effort to travel outside of work, too, exploring places near and far from her home in the Chicago area.

 

Taylor often finds herself on the road to attend and speak at major business events industry conferences such as IMEX Las Vegas, SITE Global and MPI's World Education Congress. Her speaking endeavors have opened opportunities for her to be a featured guest on numerous podcasts including Dare To Interrupt, Adventures in Business Live! and Gen Z @ Work, and she was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the Events Industry for 2024 by Eventex.

 

Throughout her writing career, Taylor has been recognized as an Associate Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award Winner and College Media Association Pinnacle Award Winner. She has written dozens of articles for St. Louis Magazine and worked as an editorial assistant and apprentice for Aubree Nichols, who has words in premier publications including The New York Times, ELLE and The Los Angeles Times. ​

 

Taylor graduated from Ball State University in May 2022 with a bachelor's degree in news and magazine journalism and a minor in creative writing. In her free time (if she isn't globetrotting), she enjoys sipping on iced coffee, perusing the shelves of local bookstores and playing with her 3-year-old cockapoo, Romeo.