WASHINGTON – Meetings Mean Business Coalition (MMBC) leaders in the United States, Canada and India have issued the following statement in response to the continued global impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent postponement of Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) – which was scheduled to take place in-person across more than 50 countries on April 14, 2020:
“We recently announced that in light of COVID-19 meeting restrictions, travel guidance and social distancing policies, in-person participation in Global Meetings Industry Day is being postponed.
Our goal is to share a new date as soon as possible and we look forward to an in-person celebration later this fall – ideally, during IMEX America.
In the meantime, we don’t want April 14 to just pass us by. All of us are trying to manage through these unprecedented times, which have been especially hard on our industry. We are proud of the resilience and continued commitment that industry professionals have shown, and we stand together in navigating this crisis.
In lieu of face-to-face meetings and events, here are three industry-wide opportunities to join forces with MMBC and the broader meetings industry on April 14:
1. Participate in the 12-hour broadcast, “GMID Virtual,” hosted by Meeting Professionals International (MPI);
2. Join a first-of-its-kind 90-minute webcast, “GMID Goes Virtual,” and help break the world record for the largest virtual meeting in history; and
3. Commit to taking action in your community and tell us about it on meetingsmeanbusiness.com/commit2community.
2. Join a first-of-its-kind 90-minute webcast, “GMID Goes Virtual,” and help break the world record for the largest virtual meeting in history; and
3. Commit to taking action in your community and tell us about it on meetingsmeanbusiness.com/commit2community.
Many of us have unique abilities to foster support in our communities by doing things such as donating supplies, funds and space.
As a coalition, we are committed to bolstering April 14 as an opportunity to unite around the common goal of serving our cities and have started to collect examples from across the industry that do just that.
If you have not already, we hope that you will commit to one or more acts of service that make sense for you and your organization. No act is too small.
It’s remarkable to see the numerous actions already underway, even as meetings are being cancelled and travel is being postponed. On or before April 14, please pledge your commitment and go to meetingsmeanbusiness.com to provide details about what you will do.”
