Meetings Mean Business

By now you have heard of Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) which is celebrated across the globe every April. We spend a good one to two months ramping up to this one day to advocate for our industry and then don’t really think about it again until the next year. Why aren’t we letting people know about the contributions our industry makes all year round? The meetings industry creates jobs and stimulates the economy. We should be proud to be in an industry that impacts our communities in such a positive way and share what we do with every opportunity we have.

Here are some things that you can do to keep the momentum going all year:
• Be sure to let every planner that hosts a conference in your town or at your facility know what the economic impact of their event was to your city. Often planners are not aware of the true impact their event has; they are a great resource in spreading the value of meetings. In addition to the financial impact, let the planner know how many employees worked thanks to their meetings. (Hotels can get the economic impact of a group amount from their local Convention and Visitor Bureau.)

• Use social media to thank groups when they depart and include what the economic impact was so your local followers are aware. Also include any CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activity the group may have done to help the local community.

• Whenever possible, invite the local press to cover a conference you are hosting. The more that local residents are aware of the impact that conferences have on our cities, the better. Also, have the press include how much visitors offset local taxes.

• Know your stats so you can share at events where you may be socializing with your elected officials. Remember, anyone can run for office but most of them have no clue about our industry and what it brings to our economy so we need to educate them when we have an opportunity.

• Check the Meeting Mean Business website regularly for social media campaigns that you can share as well as other tools.

Face-to-face meetings have been taking place since the beginning of time and they have shaped the world we live in today. Every meeting we host is important to that group and is part of their history. What a great feeling to know every day, we make history working in this impactful industry.

Published in the August-September Blitz Magazine