The manifesto includes 15 ways that business events create strategic advantages for markets during economic recovery and renewal.
GLOBAL — The Joint Meetings Industry Council has released a
Meetings Industry Manifesto, which makes the case for why conventions,
trade shows and other business events are key to driving a global
economic recovery.
Leaders from the 18 industry associations and events
around the globe that form the JMIC worked together to develop the
manifesto as a resource for industry professionals to advocate for the
safe reopening of business events in their respective communities.
"COVID-19 has again highlighted a core weakness of the
global business events industry: We struggle to share a joint message,
to stand as a united industry, when it matters", said JMIC president Kai
Hattendorf, who is also managing director and CEO of UFI, The Global
Association of the Exhibition Industry. "With policymakers, this puts us
at the end of the queue of industries seeking to showcase their
respective roles for economies and societies."
The manifesto includes 15 ways that business events create
strategic advantages for markets during economic recovery and renewal.
These include:
- Driving innovation and reinvention
- Creating an impact across multiple sectors
- Restoring relationships and building trust
- Contributing to self-sufficiency and diversification
- Assisting with transition and renewal
- Attracting talent and investment
- Creating a path to sustainable development
- Requiring highly controlled environments that are conducive to implementing strict safety measures
- Supporting the tourism economies for the communities in which they are held
- Providing measurable ROI
The manifesto's authors also asked authorities to take
into account the unique importance of business events as they lay out
public health and economic protocols. Unlike public gatherings, the
authors underscore, business events are "highly controlled assemblies
and should be classified and distinguished as distinct from generic mass
gatherings for the purposes of reopening policies." What's more, the
authors continue, business events should "be seen in the context of
trade, economic development, social and investment policies rather than
tourism policy."
The manifesto concludes with 10 "critical success" points
that meeting professionals can follow to advocate for their industry on a
local and regional level. These are:
- Get organised
- Do your research
- Identify the top issues in your community
- Organise your data and "stories"
- Access available industry resources
- Do the "translation" (i.e., tailor your message to your particular audience)
- Create a demonstration project
- Choose an occasion/use your contacts
- Practice your "elevator conversation"
- Provide feedback to your colleagues
"We know that the decisions to utilise business events as a
vehicle for economic stimulation and diversification, and to reactivate
events under appropriate health measures, will always be local," reads
the manifesto. "By adapting general principles to the specific needs of
individual countries and destinations, the result will be
destination-specific strategies that activate the power of business
events for economic stimulation for the most urgent priorities and
policies of local and regional governments."
Download the full manifesto here: https://www.the-iceberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/JMIC_Industry-Manifesto.pdf
This article that appeared in Northstar Meetings Group.