Insider Experience – Global Meetings Industry Day 2024

How did you spend your Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID)? 

For those of us lucky enough to gather at the beautiful Brookstreet Hotel in Kanata on April 11, 2024, took a few hours out of our busy day to pause and recognize the impact our meetings have and celebrate each other.

We were also able to reflect on how we can best sustain our own mental health and support each other along the way, encouraged by Keynote speaker, sponsored by TA Speakers Management, Tonia Jahshan during her presentation “Self-Sustainability – Soldiering on with Self Awareness”.

If you weren’t able to make it – here’s a quick run-down of what you missed:

1. ➡️JT’s taking notice.
   Our session started with acknowledgment from Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and an official proclamation from Ottawa Mayor, Mark Sutcliffe, on the value Meetings and Business Events bring to our city and our country.
   
   
2. 📈We have a HUGE impact.
   40% - Represents the percentage of tourist spending as a direct result of Business Events that WE make happen. That is a huge economic contribution to Canada’s GDP.  Beyond that, our meetings contribute every day to the improvement of our communities and individuals. Our Chapter President, Karen Norris reminded us of these stats and more, in her impassioned plea to us to remember our value and shout about it outside of our echo chamber of colleagues and fellow meeting professionals. It’s on us to make sure the world sees and hears about the value we contribute.
   
   
3. 🌍Our community is vast and strong.
   Over lunch, we tuned into the live MPI GMID digital broadcast. It is amazing to take a moment to digest that as we see people across the globe collaborating and celebrating our industry, not too long ago, this day was only known within Canada as National Meeting’s Industry Day!

    

4. 💞We’ve got each other’s backs.
   Keynote Joshan openly shared her own journey through entrepreneurship, mental health struggles, and back again. Her story was a launchpad for spontaneous outpouring of compassion and support garnering offers of safe spaces for sharing difficult times and signposting the amazing resources available to all of us. Our community is amazing.  (Looking for those resources? We’ve included a list below.)

If you missed out – don’t worry! GMID happens every year, but long before that comes day around again, the MPI Ottawa Education Committee is planning a whole program of events for you to join. Watch for our survey coming out soon; we want to know what YOU want to know so that our education is tailored to our Chapter’s needs.

Mental Health Resource List:

• MPI Academy Wellness Resources: Wellbeing Resources for Meeting & Event Planners | MPI
• Ottawa Mental Health Crisis Line: Home - Crisis Line / 613.722.6914 (within Ottawa)
• Dare to be Vulnerable: HOME | DareToBeVulnerable
• Max Ottawa: Home - Max Ottawa

(If you know of excellent mental health resources we should be aware of let us know so we can share them with our membership)

 Article Edited by Darlene Kelly-Stewart, Stonehouse Sales and Marketing Services