President of US Travel Association to address IMEX America

Roger Dow, President & CEO of the U.S. Travel Association will give the latest picture on the economic outlook for the U.S. meetings industry when he speaks at a ‘Meetings Mean Business’ campaign update as part of IMEX America’s education program on Tuesday, October 11 at 4p.m. Dow will be joined by USTA executive vice president, Geoff Freeman, in what is expected to be a strongly attended open-to-all seminar.

Dow will talk about the strong progress already made within the industry over the past couple of years and, in particular, the ongoing effort to capture and consistently prove the true economic value of the meetings industry, most recently valued at $100 billion in annual revenues. He will also reveal the many resources now available to destinations and other suppliers to help the industry protect itself from what the association calls ‘misguided rhetorical attacks’.

A number of other high-profile industry leaders and personalities are set to cause strong interest at IMEX America. Former Mayor of Las Vegas and current chair of the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority Host Committee, Oscar B. Goodman, will join IMEX Chairman, Ray Bloom, and MPI President & CEO, Bruce MacMillan for an opening address at the first of the tradeshow’s morning Keynotes on Tuesday, October 11, which take place each morning prior to the show opening. In August this year, Goodman was invited to take on a special role as ‘ambassador’ for Las Vegas with a brief to promote and celebrate the city’s meetings and events infrastructure to the world and the local business community.

Further strong draws during IMEX America will be the three keynote speakers who form part of the extremely varied and free education program being delivered over four days by partner and educational provider, Meeting Professionals International (MPI). Their contribution also includes the incorporation of the MPI MeetDifferent Day of Education and Innovation into the show’s professional development day – ‘Smart Monday’ – on October 10.

The MPI daily General Session Keynote speakers are: Scottish businessman and international best-selling author of Natural Born Winners, Robin Sieger on Tuesday, October 11 at 8.45am; award-winning educator and research professor, Dr Brené Brown on Wednesday, October 12 at the same time and, rounding-up on the final day, best-selling author of Fl!p and five other books, Peter Sheahan, also at 8.45am.

Each of the speakers has been chosen for their innovative and passionate approach to challenging business models and inspiring change – both immediate behavioral change as well as longer-term organizational change. They have also been carefully selected by MPI to fit with its educational vision and values and to give show participants an energetic and motivating start to their business day during IMEX America.