Meet Minneapolis Convention and Visitors Association will host 5,500 meeting and event planners from three noteworthy meeting planner associations in the next three years in Minneapolis.
Conventions include the Religious Conference Management Association’s (RCMA) 2013 World Conference & Exposition, Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) 2014 World Education Congress and Society of Government Meeting Professionals’ (SGMP)2015 National Education Conference & Expo. The attending meeting planners each have the potential to bring future convention business to the destination, making them highly sought-after and potentially lucrative for Minneapolis.
RCMA specializes in faith-based meetings and events and are working to help planners increase event attendance. Members of RCMA currently plan roughly 14,000 meetings and events of all sorts, drawing in more than 11 million participants each year. RCMA’s World Conference & Exposition will bring 1,300 attendees to Minneapolis and take place Jan. 29 – Feb. 1, 2013.
MPI is a diverse meeting and event planning industry group that consists of more than 21,000 members from 86 different countries. The MPI community brings together thousands of professionals from around the globe who believe in the power of connecting people.
MPI’s World Education Congress will take place Aug. 2-5, 2014, and bring 3,200 meeting professionals to Minneapolis.
SGMP members include federal, state and local government employees as well as contract meeting planners who specialize in government-related events. SGMP’s 2015 National Education Conference and Expo will take place April 27-30, 2015, and will bring 1,000 professionals to Minneapolis.
All three conventions will occur at the Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC) and SGMP’s National Education Conference & Expo is also at the connected Hilton Minneapolis hotel. The MCC is located in the heart of downtown Minneapolis within a mile of 5,828 hotel rooms.
Meeting planner conventions such as these are known for creating positive economic impacts on the cities in which they take place and often lead to repeat visits.
“Our past experience and data tells us that once someone visits Minneapolis, they are three times more likely to return and recommend it to others,” said Melvin Tennant, president and CEO, Meet Minneapolis. “Bringing 5,500 meeting planners here to experience our destination first-hand is invaluable; each planner will experience personally our hospitality community, venue, transportation, attractions and all the attributes that help them hold successful meetings. We are thrilled to welcome these three prestigious groups to Minneapolis in the next three years.”
