Should the industry retain the MICE acronymn

By David Johnson The acronym MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) has for years been a bit of an anomaly to the industry. But the quirky moniker, originally coined by the Asian Convention and Tourism Bureau, has stuck, much to the chagrin of many in the industry. In the first in an ongoing series of news debates about the wider issues that impact and effect this industry sector, CEI Asia Pacific has surveyed leading players to canvass their views on whether the acronym should be preserved. Mint Motivation managing director Mr Nigel Gaunt is on the side of sweeping MICE under the carpet and introducing something different. Some industry observers have suggested "events" as an alternative. "It is not a global acronym. In the US they don't know what you mean by MICE. There mice are small furry things," Mr gaunt said. "If you are into acronyms, then an alternative lies in the name of your publication. A single word like 'events' will not convey the communications, motivation and business elements of the industry. I advocate breaking down the connection between the MICE elements. "I think the answer is, MICE is a silly acronym, let it go, but don't look to replace it with another which binds these four elements together, let them stand alone, or at least leave out either incentives or exhibitions. They make strange bedfellows!" Others commented that it confused people. Thailand Incentive and Convention Association executive director Mr Anuchart Channarong said he preferred "Business Events". "You have to tell the meaning of MICE every time you use it," he said. Reed Exhibition Companies Singapore president Mr Jimmy Lau was in agreement. "MICE stays stuck on everyone's mind; everyone that is directly connected to the industry, that is. But, ask someone outside of our industry and you most likely will get a confused stare. "I'm all for change if we can find one good replacement, but I think the meetings and incentives folks may not appreciate 'events'." In the public sector in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Tourism Board's senior manager business development Ms Mabel Hung also did not like 'events', preferring to look at all industry sectors individually to convey a "sophisticated and professional" image. "We do not prefer the acronym MICE because Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions are all different market segments. The nature of each type of event is different. Their requirements are different. The customers and marketing channels to reach them are different," she said. In the private sector, Jack Morton Worldwide managing director for Hong Kong and Singapore Mr Scott Schenker argued that the imagery of mice running around, lost in direction and un-organised is inconsistent with what should be taking place. "The term MICE seems insulting to the audience, whether the association is intentional or not. It might be nicer to call it CEI-M." But in the bigger picture, Mr Schenker said that it does not really matter what the industry is called among itself. "What is important is what our clients refer to us as. Hopefully this is professional, value-added, experienced and passionate," he said. In Australia, MCi managing director and chairman of the Incentive Practitioners' Council Mr Peter Gray advocated the breakdown of the acronym. "There is no such thing as the MICE industry (singular). The acronym is inaccurate. There are, in fact five separate industries that are lumped together under the one acronym (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions and Special Events) - MICES would be more accurate, but equally unacceptable," Mr Gray said. "Although two of the industries, meetings and conventions, are related, though not the same, none of the others is related to any of the rest. Each requires a separate skill. The use of the acronym gives suppliers an 'easy way out' - they create MICE departments staffed by people who may know something about one of the industries and so, by default, it is assumed they know everything about the rest. In my experience the people in MICE departments know little about any of the industries. "The acronym has become devalued because of all of these reasons and should be scrapped. The terms is not used in New Zealand, where they refer to the C&I Industries - because these are the most common elements of the five - and is being actively discouraged here in Australia." Mr Gray also argued that as acronym should not be used at all. "I would seriously suggest that anyone using the acronym is displaying a total ignorance of what is actually involved in any of the disciplines. Why do we need an acronym? Because it's trendy? Because it's a way of pigeonholing everything under one banner? More likely, it's a way of making inexperienced and largely industry-ignorant people sound good," he said. Exhibition specialist Mr Pised Chungyampin, president of the Trade Exhibition Association in Thailand, suggested C&E (Conferences and Exhibitions), but overall the jury is still out on an alternative name. Of all the suggestions canvassed by CEI Asia Pacific, "Business Events" or "Corporate Events" were the most popular, followed by simply referring to the different sectors by their individual names. However, while the majority of opinion was for shedding the MICE acronym, a significant number of respondents supported the continued usage of it. Hong Kong-based MV Destination Management general manager Mr Clemson Lo said that while it was not the best acronym, it was well recognised. "People know what you are talking about - this is the whole idea. The bad thing is it does not represent all we are doing. M is meeting, I is Incentive Travel, C is conference and convention, but then should E be Exhibition or event?" Malaysia Exhibition Services general manager Mr Ian Roberts agreed. "The MICE acronym has been used for many years now and personally I feel there is nothing wrong with this abbreviation," he said. Likewise Intermedia Group of Companies managing director Mr Ray Shaw does not think it is doing the industry any harm in keeping it. "I don't think MICE is a derogatory term. In fact it is an easily remembered acronym and so far no one has come up with a similar catchy way to describe the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition Industries," he said. "Until something better is universally accepted, and used, lets stick with MICE instead of wasting so much time and money trying to implement half baked terms that really don't do the job. I guarantee that everyone knows what MICE means." Other industry players such as EventClicks chief executive office Mr Tom Murphy argued that the most important aspect is that the acronym is understood by the industry globally, as well as in the Asia Pacific region. "MICE, whilst often used in Australia, is not particularly well known in many Asian countries and also not as well known in the States. The term 'events' is perhaps better known in the States and has the benefit of being all encompassing, including seminars and product launches, so this perhaps is preferable," Mr Murphy said. "However we should always preface that term with 'corporate' to avoid any confusion with weddings and banquets that are often also organised professionally." Thai-based IMPACT Exhibition Management managing director Mr John Sellers also supports the search for a global solution. However, he adds that MICE can still be useful to differentiate the industry from general tourism. Verdict: The industry in the main does not want to continue to use the MICE acronym, preferring to refer to the individual sectors by their separate names. The most commonly offered alternatives to MICE was "Business Events" or "Corporate Events" but there was no consensus. Although some industry observers feel strongly about getting rid of the acronym, it appears sufficiently deeply rooted in Asia Pacific, and with no strong contenders for an alternative, it looks set to stick around for the foreseeable future.