The Business Events industry in Canada contributes between $27-$30 billion to GDP annually and supports over 341,000 full-time jobs (2012 figures) yet is largely invisible to elected officials and policymakers at the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government. It touches every sector of the economy yet has no national advocacy voice. We are changing that. In January 2017, at our first board meeting of the year, I presented 4 key objectives and success drivers:
I am proud to report that over the course of the year, we were successful in accomplishing much of what we set out to do, and more. We now have:
Over 100 CEOs, Presidents, General Managers and other senior industry executives signed on as supporters of the coalition with new supporters joining every week -https://www.meetingsmeanbusiness.ca/supporters;
Over $100,000 in early financial and in-kind funding with many more organizations wanting to know how they can support the cause;
A vibrant website and active social media (@MtgsMeanBizCA) presence supported by our agency, SoolNua;
Strong relationships with the senior leadership of key industry associations and coalitions outside Canada including Meetings Mean Business USA (with whom we have a licensing agreement for the “MMB” brand), ASAE, Business Events Canada (which has endorsed the coalition), Destinations International, Events Industry Council, IMEX, MPI, PCMA, SITE Global and more.
Excellent relationships with the senior leadership of key players in the data / economic impact space such as SimpleView, Tourism Economics, HLT Advisory;
A signed agreement with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) with the transition of our secretariat to their Ottawa headquarters well underway;
The next phase of our relationship with TIAC under review following intensive discussions at the recent TIAC 2017 Congress;
A solid 2018 Executive Team, Board and Advisory Council, recently elected
I would like to thank everyone who has been a part of the success of our coalition building efforts this year. It has been an honour to serve as your 2017 Chair and I look forward to great things ahead as Heidi Welker of Freeman Audio Visual Canada assumes her role as 2018 Chairperson. Sincerely,
Grant Snider
2017 Chair – Meetings Mean Business Canada President & CEO, Meeting Escrow Inc. Grant.Snider@MeetingEscrow.com