Global Meetings Industry Day: A round-up of events and comments

April 12 marked the third Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID), an annual commemoration by business event professionals to appreciate and showcase the value of the industry to businesses, people, and communities.

GMID was initiated by industry-wide coalition Meetings Mean Business, and this year’s tagline is “real results, real impact, all around the world”.

Here’s what major associations and centres got up to on GMID.

Meetings Mean Business

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first-ever #GMID Virtual Event presented by MPI and the MMB Coalition! More than 1,000 attendees tuned in throughout our 12-hour live stream. https://t.co/KKvomSka64 @meetingsmeanbiz #mpi #eventprofs #meetingprofs pic.twitter.com/1TCK6kpbyV

— MPI (@MPI) April 12, 2018

GMID founders Meetings Mean Business and Meetings Professionals International (MPI) organized a 12-hour livestream of GMID events from around the globe. This included industry discussions on topics such as meetings at sea, growing attendance numbers, and women in the industry.

PCMA-ICESAP

“The services provided by the meetings industry often go unnoticed. But the impact is unmistakable.” Read more on how our industry impacts the world while celebrating #GMID18: https://t.co/VMu4PKGJmu

#pcma #eventprof pic.twitter.com/hh0WaYopXe

— PCMA (@pcmahq) April 12, 2018

Professional Convention Management Association - The Incentive Conference & Event Society Asia-Pacific) hosted its first Knowledge Exchange for corporate event organisers, agencies and associations in the Asia-Pacific region at the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Experience Centre in Hong Kong.

The session explored the digital evolution of business events in the region, presented by the industry experts including Guy Parsonage, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tony Chow, regional director, creative and content marketing, Marriott International, and Darren Chuckry, regional vice president, PCMA-ICESAP and managing director at Uniplan.

“A catalyst for creating invaluable business connections, this interactive session aimed to give industry peers the opportunity to exchange ideas about the most debated topics across our industry in the digital age and find innovative ways to engage key audiences,” said Michelle Crowley, PCMA vice president, global growth & innovation.

MCB

Melbourne Convention Bureau has delivered 600 conferences and business meetings, 180K delegates and 600K hotel room nights to support Victoria's visitor economy in the last 3 years. https://t.co/nI172EUvaL #GMID18 #Melbourne #Australia pic.twitter.com/FbXCu3m37L

— MelbConventionBureau (@MelbConventions) April 12, 2018

The Melbourne Convention Centre (MCB) along with women's service voluntary organisation International Inner Wheel toasted to GMID at the 17th International Inner Wheel Convention currently taking place at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

“It’s significant that this conference falls on Global Meetings Industry Day, where the industry highlights the value of business events across the world,” said Karen Bolinger, chief executive officer at Melbourne Convention Bureau.

“The International Inner Wheel Convention is the ideal event to demonstrate how business events bring people together, foster relationships, drive positive outcomes and support communities.”

IMEX

“This is a wonderful, relationship-driven industry. We don’t have the gender bias you see in other sectors. You just need to show people you want to be part of it, aren’t afraid to take on new roles and responsibilities, and go for it.” Carina Bauer, @IMEX_Group CEO#GMID18 pic.twitter.com/cDx0NNFa5y

— SmartMeetings (@SmartMeetings) April 12, 2018

In honour of GMID, CEO of IMEX Carina Bauer shared four major tipping points that have transformed the industry over the last decade, which are globalisation, knowledge hubs, rise of mobile technologies and the internet, as well as the “TED factor”.

On the latter, Bauer said “for anyone in the business of regularly delivering information or education, be it to B2B or consumer audiences, TED changed the game and the rules”. For instance, events such as SXSW, the me Convention in Frankfurt and C2 in Montreal were partly shaped and inspired by TED talks.

SCB

In conjunction with GMID, the Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) chose to promote inclusivity of rural communities in its recent CSR excursion at Kampung Sting, Bengoh Valley. SCB channelled efforts into the construction of a chapel and basic homestay facilities to help locals make the shift from agriculture to eco-tourism.

“Sarawak joins in the global conversation to advocate the real impacts and real results of business events. This sector has the capacity to bring about real change to communities, especially to those who need it the most,” said Amelia Roziman, chief operating officer at SCB.