At PCMA’s Convening Leaders Conference in San Francisco earlier this month, the Meetings Mean Business Coalition announced its 2020 plans to promote the value of face-to-face meetings, as well as to safeguard the industry from financial and reputational threats. 

MMBC’s co-chairs — Trina Camacho-London, vice president of global group sales at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, and Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company — shared the below plans detailing the organization’s approach to advocacy, engagement and continued growth. These were the five main focus areas:

1. Leveraging the 2020 elections to engage policymakers around the industry’s value and remind them that they, too, leverage face-to-face meetings to do their jobs effectively.

2. Celebrating Global Meetings Industry Day (on April 14, 2020); the 2019 celebration resulted in 275 events across more than 50 countries.

3. Renewing MMBC’s focus on economic data, as other industries carefully watch market trends and indicators of what could be another global recession.

4. Strengthening MMBC’s efforts to reach external leaders online.

5. Identifying strategic partnerships to grow the coalition’s reach globally.

“We are doubling down on external outreach to ensure the value of meetings is better understood by those who make decisions, policies and protocols that impact our industry,” said Dixon. “Our ‘Worth Meeting About’ campaign will focus on educating and recruiting mayors, city council members and local chambers of commerce.”

He continued, “These groups are incredibly important champions for our industry and see firsthand how meetings support businesses and the economy.”

Dixon added that Global Meetings Industry Day will play a central role in the coalition’s advocacy agenda by helping to energize advocates across six continents.

“As a coalition, we’ve made a concerted effort over the years to create deeper, more sustained engagement among those who influence the meetings economy,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association and a MMBC founding member. 

He continued, “We’ve helped protect the industry from any number of potential threats, from security issues to an economic downturn to the ‘weaponization’ of meetings for political purposes. We’ve created an insurance policy for industry’s continued success and look forward to the year ahead.”

To learn more about MMBC or to get free resources for hosting a Global Meetings Industry Day celebration, go here.