The Joint Meetings Industry Council announced the release of another component in its ongoing series of COVID-related resources, a guide to carrying out local government and community advocacy.
“This Guide is not intended to be a comprehensive review of what is a very complex subject,” says JMIC President Kai Hattendorf (pictured left and above). “It is rather a collection of industry-specific tips to assembling a professional and compelling strategy for promoting the role and importance of the meetings industry under today’s challenging conditions. While it is initially aimed at helping to advance COVID-related decision-making, the principles we have set out here are just as relevant over the longer term, as the job of local industry advocacy will not end with the pandemic but is an ongoing need.”
Organized around four concepts—local alignment, creating content, delivery and follow-up—the publication offers a framework for assembling and delivering key industry messages to local audiences, recognizing that over the past year many of the critical decisions impacting the Meetings Industry have been made largely on a local or regional basis. It references arguments for both safely re-opening events under appropriate conditions and the need for greater recognition and support for the key role business events can and will play in critical areas of overall economic and community recovery as the pandemic subsides.
“The driving force behind the guide is our realization that while much of this industry conversation must take place at a local level, not all local members are necessarily experienced in engaging with governments, and could therefore benefit from some suggestions in this area,” says Hattendorf. “At the same time, the guide also provides a framework for use of the JMIC Global Manifesto and other industry resources we have created over the past year to help articulate the role and value of the industry in ways that make them easier to deliver to local audiences while remaining consistent with what industry members in other parts of the world are doing”.
The guide will be made freely available to all industry members via the JMIC web site www.themeetingsindustry.org. It is intended that it will be expanded and enriched in future editions through the addition of examples and case studies emerging from the experiences of industry members around the world as they interact with their own communities.
The Joint Meetings Industry Council is an organization that represents the combined interests of some 18 international meetings industry associations and events. It has provided a forum for information exchange amongst industry groups for over 50 years and has recently become more engaged in the process of articulating and delivering industry messages to wider community and governmental audiences as well as developing better mechanisms for documenting and communicating the value of the industry in terms of economic, academic, professional and social advancement. For more info, visit www.themeetingsindustry.org or email jmic@themeetingsindustry.org
JMIC Members Include:
AACVB | the Asian Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus
ACCLATAM | the Association of Convention Centres of the Caribbean and Latin America AIPC | the International Association of Convention Centres
ASAE | the American Society of Association Executives
COCAL | the Latin American Confederation of PCO and Related Companies ECM | European Cities Marketing
EMECA | the European Major Exhibition Centres Association EVVC | European Association of Event Centres
IAPCO | the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers ICCA | the International Congress and Convention Association
MPI | Meeting Professionals International
PCMA | the Professional Convention Management Association
SACEOS | the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers SISO | the Society of Independent Show Organizers
SITE | Society for Incentive Travel Excellence
UFI | the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry UIA | the Union of International Associations
JMIC is supported by Industry Partners IMEX and IBTM World
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