April 8 marks the sixth annual Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID), a worldwide advocacy-based celebration of our trillion-dollar industry and the professionals that make it so incredible. While this year’s celebration is once again working around significant challenges due to the ongoing threat of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the varied and muddled regulations restricting mass gatherings, our outreach, education and advocacy will, and must, continue.
As we push through these industry and worldwide challenges, we need to think about where we go from here for our industry to come back stronger and better than the “good old days.” Planning a smart recovery includes advocating for the meeting and event industry as well as evolving the overall meeting experience—a big bucket that ranges from engagement strategies to inclusivity, integration of new technology to F&B and everything in between. To expedite the recovery, it’s imperative that hospitality professionals at large speak to governments and the masses with a single voice and a universal lexicon. Everyone in our industry has the opportunity, and some would say obligation, to be an ambassador for live business events. And the more consistent and emphatic we are in the message we share of the value and importance of business events, the greater the impact of our united voices will be. In the words of the patriot Patrick Henry, “United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.”
MPI’s Global Meetings Industry Day: Virtual. April 8, 2021.
Like the proverbial rising tide raising all boats, by uniting the disparate industry associations, suppliers and meeting professionals around a set of focused, consistent and vigorously articulated messages of duty of care and value of face to face, our entire industry will benefit. We all know what we want, but there remains a long road ahead in our efforts to rebuild confidence in investors, politicians and, most importantly, event attendees, that we can gather safely and effectively once again. That goal is part of what will be discussed during MPI’s live, 12-hour-long GMID broadcast on April 8—available at no cost—as we share education and insights to help you and the industry grow beyond the pandemic.
“As we push through these industry and worldwide challenges, we need to think about where we go from here for our industry to come back stronger and better than the ‘good old days.’”
As we look ahead in 2021, we’re still dedicated to welcoming as many of you as possible during our World Education Congress (WEC), June 15-17 at CAESARS FORUM in Las Vegas. There, as with WEC Grapevine last year, best practices in holding safe meetings will be on full display. It’s important to you and your association that we continue to make industry-leading education available during the pandemic, so WEC will be a robust hybrid event, ensuring meeting professionals worldwide can join, regardless of travel and capacity restrictions.
Together, we’re crafting our own futures today—and we need your involvement and voice to ensure tomorrow is always better. Remember, when we meet, we change the world.
Paul Van Deventer
MPI President and CEO
pvandeventer@mpi.org
Follow me on Twitter @MPICEOPaul
