Meetings are Just the Beginning

“You can't discuss [diversity in meetings] in a vacuum,” says one meeting professional, who wishes to remain anonymous. This person emphasizes that the biases that play out in meetings are just reflections of what happens in association leadership, and society in general.

“I'm optimistic, and hope that diversity is no longer just about political correctness or appropriateness,” says Emil Chuck, PhD, health professions adviser and term assistant professor of biology at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va., and co-chair of the diversity committee of the National Postdoctoral Association. (Chuck notes that these are his personal reflections and not representative of any organization with which he is affiliated.) “However, diversity is much more than putting a committee together that never meets, or installing a person as chief diversity officer who has practically no budget and no office.”

One example of an organization that seems to have diversity in its DNA is the Association for Conflict Resolution, based in Washington, D.C. Executive Director Douglas Kleine says that every ACR committee, department — including the meetings department — chapter, and interest group has a trained “diversity and equity point person to provide a lens into how what that group is doing advances or hinders diversity and equity.”

He adds that for every proposal, “we ask how this fits with our strategic plan, what's the impact on staff and the budget, and what's the equity and diversity impact.” For ACR's meetings, diversity and equity efforts include holding tracks on how members can better handle conflict resolution in multicultural situations, and holding sessions in languages other than English. The programming committee also searches hard to find speakers who not only represent other races and cultures, but also share new insights into working with those groups. “At our last meeting, we had someone from the Arizona State University who just rocked people with her presentation of the misconceptions we have about the laws of indigenous American people,” says Kleine.

An organization must be committed with its infrastructure, its culture, its policies, and its social norms for goals of diversity and inclusion to be met.” Arleen Edwards, director of conference services with the Hartford (Conn.) CVB, adds, “If an organization is truly committed to diversity, their efforts are tangible and can be measured.” This means, says Sharmagne Taylor, CMP, president of Houston-based meeting management company On-Site Partners, making diversity a big-picture initiative, not just a social program, and tying diversity goals to performance measures, raises, and bonuses, as well as hiring and promotion decisions, and vendor and supplier selection for the association and its events.

Schroeder adds that it's a commitment you have to follow through on. “You can't just do one annual meeting that has different groups represented, then next year go on to something else. It has to be an ongoing mind-set,” both inside the organization and at its meetings.

As Edwards says, “The difference between being inclusive and paying inclusivity lip service is in the results.”

How Far Do You Need to Go?

One common response to the confusing and complex issue of making a meeting truly multicultural is to throw up one's hands at the thought of having to learn about every holiday and dietary need and musical preference for every race, religion, culture, and ethnicity in the world. That would be, of course, impossible.

The one thing that is guaranteed to make any nonmainstream group feel marginalized at a meeting? “Silence, complete and utter silence,” says Justin Nelson, president and co-founder of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C. “Organizations don't need to be marching in the annual gay pride parade, but in the absence of acceptance is silence. And this goes for any type of diversity, be it GLBT [gay, lesbian, bi-, or transsexual] or otherwise.”

“If you only have a few attendees of a certain culture, you don't necessarily have to change the agenda to accommodate them,” says Hala Durrah, founder and president, Fusion Event Management Services, Bowie, Md. “But if you have 50, 100, 200, you have to accommodate them.” And it shouldn't be difficult to find out just who's coming. Joan Eisenstodt of Eisenstodt and Associates, Washington, D.C., says, “Survey your audience. Most professional societies know from human resources statistics what their demographics are. Use the Internet, use your listservs. We have access to so much information these days. It's not like it's 1950.”

But before you get too comfortable thinking you have your racial, ethnic, and religious demographic nailed, listen to Sharmagne Taylor, CMP, president of Houston-based meeting management firm On-Site Partners. She points out that you may also have people with disabilities, smokers, environmentalists, Generations X and Y, Baby Boomers, and a host of other special-interest groups, all with their own set of needs. And don't forget the professional niches that also may need some attention. For example, if your main audience is physicians but you also are bringing in some pharmacists and nurses, make sure their needs are represented in the agenda and on the dais.

Nelson says, “You can't be all things to all people, but there are simple ways to make people of all kinds feel welcome.” (See page 24 for some ideas.) Ultimately, says Washington, D.C.-based Association for Conflict Resolution Executive Director Douglas Kleine, you just need to “treat people with dignity and respect. That's the bottom line.”

Why Inclusivity Matters

Once upon a time, no one gave a thought to accommodating differences when it came to meetings. They were what they were, and you attended or you didn't. Now, everyone at least is thinking about how to make their meetings inclusive to those of nonmainstream religions, races, and cultures. What changed?

“A lot of it is legislation,” says Washington, D.C.-based Association for Conflict Resolution Executive Director Douglas Kleine. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had a big impact, and “The Americans with Disabilities Act was a big waker-upper for a lot of people.”

Generational demands may also play into it, says Emil Chuck, PhD, health professions advisor and term assistant professor of biology at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va., and co-chair of the diversity committee of the National Postdoctoral Association. (He notes that these are his personal reflections and not representative of any organization with which he is affiliated.) “If you believe the many books that talk about Millennials, people in their 20s and 30s are seeking organizations that welcome diversity and specifically shun organizations that don't. So organizations that wish to nurture a pipeline of young, energetic people should recognize that inclusiveness is essential.”

Then there's pure market sense. One in three U.S. residents is multiethnic, multiracial, or multicultural — by 2050, 47 percent of the population will be non-white, according to the U.S Census Bureau; 25 percent of the population will be Hispanic or Latino, 14 percent will be black, 8 percent will be Asian, and 5 percent will be of other races. And their economic clout is growing along with their numbers. Consumers also are making buying decisions — including conference registration fees — based on what organizations stand for. “That's why so many companies have diversity statements,” says Asheville, N.C.-based Patti Digh, co-founder of The Circle Project, which uses art, story, and theater to help individuals build more inclusive communities.

“I always use the economic argument for diversity first, and leave the social justice mantra to others,” says Justin Nelson, president and co-founder of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C. “Of course, I'm with a chamber of commerce. But the end result is the same, whichever way you approach it.”

Market	Population	Buying Power
African American	30 Million	$535 Billion
Gay American	16.5 Million	$450 Billion
Hispanic American	31 Million	$383 Billion
Asian American	11 Million	$229 Billion
Source: Selig Center for Economic Growth, University of Georgia

Comments? Contact Sue Pelletier at spelletier@meetingsnet.com