The inaugural IMEX America tradeshow last fall flooded meetings media pipelines with US and global industry buzz, plus tons of post-show survey data. From there, the IMEX Group released its predictions for the 2012 meetings, incentive travel, and events market, including the following.
1. Business is looking up – globalization is increasing.
In post-show survey comments, buyers indicated an uptick in business over the last 12 months — though predominantly at a conservative rate and mostly short-term focused. There is also a trend toward more, but smaller or shorter, meetings and events and slight growth in attendance at association meetings and events.
Here at Midwest Meetings, we're always on the lookout for new columns, blogs, product/service reviews, and other content produced by and about meeting/event professionals.
As an active member of the online meetings community, your voice helps to influence the industry dialogue, and that's why I'm inviting you to consider Midwest Meetings as an additional outlet for your thoughts and opinions about the events world.
Do you have re-printable articles or current commentary, top-ten lists or tips and tricks, war stories or lessons learned, firsthand how-to's or personal reviews, photos or videos, or any other ideas or input you'd like to see online at MidwestMeetings.com or in print through Midwest Meetings magazine?
Editor's note (December 2, 2011 @ 10:30 a.m. CT): Here at Midwest Meetings, we don't necessarily feel we should need to defend the conference costs incurred by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the recent Mortgage Bankers Association's annual meeting in Chicago. After all, the costs breakdown in the Federal Housing Finance Agency's response appears to contain justifiable line items. It looks pretty self-explanatory to us.
But alas, there's the rub: it makes sense to those who know what they're looking at.
Lawmakers, mainstream media, and the general public, on the other hand, don't have that meetings industry "insider" perspective. And $640,000 does sound like an awfully big number if one doesn't understand how to put it into perspective. So how do we, as an industry, get the message across?
Scroll down for updates as Midwest Meetings continues to gain commentary and insight regarding the latest black eye to the meetings industry from the mainstream media.
Jonathan Tisch, Loews Hotels
Jonathan Tisch, co-chair of the board, Loews Corporation and chairman and CEO, Loews Hotels, served as a witness before the Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. The hearing, “Tourism in America: Moving Our Economy Forward,” focused on the travel industry’s impact on the U.S. economy.
Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a long-time champion of the lodging industry, called the hearing to highlight the opportunity for the U.S. to create jobs and bolster the economy by attracting international travelers. Senate Commerce Committee Chair John Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Subcommittee Ranking Member, echoed the sentiment and expressed continued support for making international travelers a top priority in order to grow the economy and create U.S. jobs.
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