If, unlike the guy who unloaded his frustration surrounding media and governmental idiocy around meetings on his blog, you don't have a place to rant, and your congressman is already sick of hearing from you, here's some good news.
The Meetings Community (aka MeCo--what, you're not a member? You can join here for free) has had enough, too. Here's a letter MeCo listserv moderator Andrea Gold sent around this morning (she gave me the OK to reprint it here).
- Many of us here on MeCo have been asking about who is speaking out for the meetings industry. We’ve seen a number of “flaps” lately, such as the “AIG Effect,” the location blacklist, and the Phoenix Social Security Administration meeting issue. All of these have put meetings in a negative light, and have caused a negative perception.
While Roger Dow and USTA/Keep America Meeting are taking positive steps, especially focusing on travel and hospitality, we believe there is more that can be done through a grassroots campaign. We, as MeCo, can help promote the value and positive impact that meetings have on business, personal and professional growth and the world economy.
We would like to see a dedicated spokesperson who reaches out and counters negative press and promotes the value of meetings. After some direct inquiry to some trade associations, we know that our industry leaders have some limited activity in this area, mostly responding to any inbound press inquiries. There is no dedicated spokesperson for the meetings industry at this time.
A GRASSROOTS VOICE…and we need your help too!
We want to see a louder meetings voice in the general public. A number of the moderators on MeCo have created a committee to head up and to create a “VOICE” –-so we in the meetings industry can all be heard. From planners to suppliers, we want to reach out and share the good word in a grassroots effort. And we will need YOUR help to do this in a big way. Here are some initiatives that we are working on:
Communications Tools (more to come):
• Name of our “voice”: YES2MEETINGS
• TWITTER Account: YES2MTGS
• Website: To be live soon. In development stage.
• Social Media: We are creating additional sites for Yes2Meetings and will let you know.
Who we wish to reach:
• Businesses, especially C-level management
• Government
• General public
• Media
For now, you can join in the conversation on the listserv by signing up here, and follow Yes2Meetings on its @Yes2Mtgs tag on Twitter. And stay tuned, because Andrea says there's more to come...