Michael Massari, chief sales officer for Caesars Entertainment, has been appointed co-chair of the Meetings Mean Business Coalition in a unanimous decision by the organization’s board of directors. Effective January 2021, Massari will join co-chair Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company, in guiding the coalition.
Established by the U.S. Travel Association in 2009, the MMBC is a coalition of industry suppliers, associations, convention and visitors bureaus and other organizations that promotes the value of in-person meetings to governments and other stakeholders.
“Although none of us could have predicted the Covid-19 pandemic or the losses our industry would endure this year, there is no doubt that the infrastructure and industry-wide coordination built by MMB over the course of a decade have enabled fast action on federal stimulus, fact-based resources and direct corporate engagement,” Massari says. “We still have a long way to go to reach recovery, but I believe in this coalition’s capacity to guide the industry’s vision and shared commitment to act, just as it did in 2009.”
“Michael brings an inspiring vision for the future of the meetings and event industry,” says Fred Dixon, who began his two-year appointment as co-chair in January 2020. “His expertise and connections with key players inside our industry, the broader business community and in various levels of government will be crucial for ensuring the meetings economy comes back stronger in the wake of Covid-19. I greatly look forward to leading the coalition together.”
In the coming year, Dixon notes, MMB will intensify advocacy efforts among business leaders and policymakers to raise awareness of the industry’s value and push for the protection and stimulus measures that the meetings and event industry so greatly needs. Adds Massari, “There has never been a more critical need to lean into the people and organizations working to carve a path forward for our industry, and I am proud to step into the role of MMB co-chair.”
Massari has held senior leadership roles with Caesars Entertainment for the past 20 years. As a board member with the U.S. Travel Association and Meeting Professionals International, he has helped steer MMB’s strategy. He will assume the position currently held by Trina Camacho-London, vice president of global group sales for Hyatt Hotels Corp., who will remain on MMB’s executive committee.
