ASAE is part of a coalition launching a marketing campaign to “protect and promote” the meetings industry. Also: Why Microsoft ultimately decided extend its security updates for Windows XP into 2015.

The meetings industry just got a new advocacy campaign.

“Meetings Mean Business,” an industry endeavor relaunched at this week’s PCMA Convening Leaders event, is working to encourage the industry’s growth.

Learn what this new campaign has in store in today’s Lunchtime Links:

Nice to meet you: “We can’t stop. When things are down, we scramble, but when things are good, we sit back.” Those are the words of Deborah Sexton, the president and CEO of the Professional Convention Management Association, and they speak to the challenges the event industry faces. The relaunch of Meetings Mean Business, an industry initiative started at the low point of the recession, suggests that the industry has no desire to sit back now that the economy is stronger. The coalition behind the new campaign—which counts ASAE as a member—plans to “protect and promote” the meetings profession, highlighting the industry’s role in job creation and in developing opportunities for economic value. International Meetings Review’s Jena Tesse Fox writes that the initiative is focused on building “a long-term sustainable campaign on [the] value of face-to-face meetings,” while also focusing on unifying the industry’s many elements.

An uneXPected surprise: IT staffs with older machines can breathe a sigh of relief: It looks like Windows XP just got a lifeline of support. Microsoft announced it would continue to update security products for Windows XP until July 14, 2015, slightly more than a year after it drops support for the operating system that debuted in 2001. With millions of its customers still using Windows XP, Microsoft decided to create a solution that would not cause harm to its devoted, yet stubborn, users who have yet to update. So what does this mean for your office? The Next Web’s Emil Protalinski says that the move gives tech staffs a lifeline.

Headway or hindrance? It is often hard to plan a future for your association when you’re unsure of where you failed in the past. Inc.com contributor Ilan Mochari details the risks of not keeping up with progress as a business. (It’s a phenomenon often described as “the ostrich problem,” a failure to review tasks due to our fear of receiving bad news. The result is that we tend to miss the progress made in the process.) Mochari says that failing to track progress can leave organizations unsure whether they are effectively spreading their message, saving money, or increasing membership numbers. Mochari suggests setting deadlines, discovering ways to measure success, and growing a thicker skin when faced with negative feedback.

Feel like you’re making good progress as an organization? Share your tips with us below.

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