The Convention Industry Council, founded in 1949 as an umbrella organization for associations in the meetings, conventions, and exhibitions industries, has renamed and rebranded itself as the Events Industry Council.
“The name change reflects the belief that ‘convention’ didn’t represent all of the constituencies within our membership or the industry,” said Karen Kotowski, CAE, CMP, chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.–based organization. “Our board also updated our strategic plan and much of our focus will be on advancing event professionals and event industry excellence.”
The CIC Board and a Brand Task Force has been working toward the change since 2015, said Kotowski, in conjunction with brand consultant Navigate Strategies. “We intended to just refresh the brand, but as we proceeded through the process of discovery and research, it became clear that we needed to look at our name and whether it represented all of our members and constituencies,” she said. According to information on the EIC website, “events” was the word that “consistently came to the forefront as the most universal, progressive, and preferred descriptor.”
Members of the Brand Task Force included Kevin Hinton, Society for Incentive Travel Excellence; Heike Mahmoud, Berlin Convention Bureau; Robb Lee, American Society of Association Executives; Cathy Breden, International Association of Exhibitions and Events; Tina Wehmeir, AMC Institute; Robin Lokerman, MCI; and Kimberly Miles, American Hotel and Lodging Association.
The organization’s flagship product, the Certified Meeting Professional designation, a standard for industry professionalism, will get a new logo, but no other changes to the certification have been announced.
