The Event World Celebrates Global Meetings Industry Day

Last year’s North American Meetings Industry Day (NAMID) was a big hit—so much so that the event is going global this year.

On Thursday, a number of event-industry groups will rev up for the first-ever Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID), which represents exponential growth for the idea of a day focused on meetings. The concept got its start two decades ago as Canadian National Meetings Industry Day. (At this rate, we should keep an eye out for a meetings industry day for the entire universe by next week.)

The event is put on by the Meetings Mean Business Coalition  (opens in a new tab) and is supported by a variety of industry groups, including the Convention Industry Council and ASAE.

“During NAMID, we saw three countries stand together with one loud and powerful voice advocating for our industry,” Michael Dominguez, the coalition’s cochair, said in a statement last year  (opens in a new tab) [PDF]. “Next year, we’ll do one better and bring together industry partners across the globe to stand with us.”

Here are some of the ways the meetings world is marking the event:

Putting it to music. Earlier this year, the event startup SongDivision  (opens in a new tab) brought a group of meetings professionals into a London studio to create a song in honor of the industry  (opens in a new tab). They contributed lyrics and musical flavor (which, according to my ear, evokes the sound of the ’80s). Take a listen, above.

Heading to Vegas. On Thursday, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) will hold a panel discussion in the city’s new T-Mobile Arena to honor the meetings industry. The session will be viewable on the web  (opens in a new tab) at 2 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, so the whole world can check in. Chris Meyer, LVCVA vice president of global business sales, told travel site Skift  (opens in a new tab) that the day highlights issues that the CVB is already focused on. “We look at Global Meetings Industry Day as the culmination of years of effort on behalf of Las Vegas to talk about why meetings and face-to-face gatherings are important,” Meyer said. “No other community in the country is embedded or affected by the convention, meetings, tradeshow, and events industry as much as Las Vegas.”

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Tweeting on a continental scale. If you’re in the meetings industry in Europe and want to draw attention to the field in a big way, hop on The Big Tweet, an effort organized by the France Suisse Chapter of Meeting Professionals International. The group is organizing local chapters to share the same pro-industry message at the same time, in multiple languages. You can set up your social message over this way  (opens in a new tab).

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Going big in Times Square. On Thursday, the digital screens that tower over the busking Elmos in New York City’s Times Square will promote the meetings industry’s benefits to the people walking around the famous neighborhood. NYC & Company, the city’s convention and visitor’s bureau, will hold several events honoring the day. “New York City offers unrivaled meetings experiences, from world-class hotels to one-of-a-kind meeting venues,” Jerry Cito, the group’s senior vice president of convention development, said in a statement  (opens in a new tab). “As a founding industry supporter of the Meetings Mean Business Coalition, we gather this week to recognize the profound impact that face-to-face meetings have on our city and the world.”

Curious to see what else is happening on Global Meetings Industry Day? Check out the full list here  (opens in a new tab).

(iStock/Thinkstock)