The staff of the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center celebrates GMID 2016.

NYC & Company and meetings industry supporters celebrate Global Meetings Industry Day in front of New York City’s largest digital billboard in Times Square, which featured Meetings Mean Business and GMID logos.

NYC & Company tweeted out this picture of the Empire State Building lit up in shades of blue in honor of GMID.

On Global Meetings Industry Day, well-known Basal, Switzerland-based event designer and facilitator Ruud Janssen moderated an online “Blab” session called Mindful #Event Design Brainiacs Jam. Showing off their smarts on how a live meeting’s physical environment impacts an attendee’s experience were presenters Janet Sperstad, CMP, program director for the meeting and event management program at Madison Area Technical College, and Andrea Sullivan, founder, Brain Strength Systems. Sullivan and Sperstad, who co-authored a whitepaper called Mindful Event Design, gave strategies for ensuring one’s meeting venue is kind to the brain and therefore stimulates learning. One tip from Sperstad: choose LEED-certified meeting facilities because they have achieved that status based on characteristics such as sufficient daylight, air flow, and comfort.

(From left) Dana Freker Doody, vice president, corporate communications, The Expo Group; Kelly Peacy, senior vice president, education, Professional Convention Management Association; and Sherrif Karamat, CAE, COO, PCMA, prior to the GMID rally on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol in Austin. 

Meetings industry supporters gathered at the Texas State Capitol for GMID. Members of 12 industry organizations gathered to speak with one voice about the impact of meetings on people and the economy.

The GMID event in Austin, Texas, included a panel discussion with (from left) Mike Dominguez, co-chair, Meetings Mean Business and senior vice president of sales and chief sales officer, MGM Resorts International; Paul Van Deventer, president and CEO, Meeting Professionals International; Cathy Breden, CAE, CMP, executive vice president and COO, International Association of Exhibitions and Events; Sherrif Karamat, CAE, COO, PCMA; Ken Sanders, president, Freeman AV; and moderator Kevin Olsen, founding partner, Keyway, LLC.

New Englanders got together to show their love of the meetings industry simultaneously at three locations: in Boston, Providence, and Groton, Conn. The PCMA New England Chapter, in conjunction with ISES of Rhode Island, IAEE New England, SGMP of New England, and MPI, were proud to raise the industry's profile by shining a light on the value these professionals provide every day. Pictured at the Boston event are (from left) Kevin Panetta, onPeak; Diane Fabiano, Signature Boston; and Jason Ward, Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center.

Shown at the Boston GMID event are Matthew Tivnan, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Boston Cambridge and Jessica Pesaturo, AC Hotels Boston North.

More than 200 industry professionals gathered at the Phoenix Convention Center to celebrate GMID. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton issued a city proclamation to commemorate the importance of meetings at an event that also included remarks by Richard Harper, the national co-chair of the Meetings Mean Business Coalition; Steve Moore, president and CEO of Visit Phoenix; and John Chan, director of the Phoenix Convention Center. The event also featured a panel discussion (pictured) about the impact of meetings and conventions on Phoenix’s economy.

To celebrate GMID, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO William Talbert poses at the construction site of the Miami Beach Convention Center alongside the Clark Construction team working on a $600 million renovation and expansion expected to wrap up in 2018.  

Canada has been way ahead of everyone else when it comes to recognizing the power of the meetings industry. While this was the first Global Meetings Industry Day, it was the 20^th anniversary of Canada’s National Meetings Industry Day. Here’s the scene at the Hilton Lac Leamy in Gatineau, Q.C., Canada.

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognized the importance of the meetings industry with a special #GMID16 letter, which reads in part, “Meetings and event management professionals help bring people together for the exchange of information and ideas. Their services are a key part of every successful seminar, convention, trade show, and gathering. This special day of recognition helps to raise the profile of meetings professionals and highlights the many economic and social benefits the industry generates for Canada.”

The Fuse Roadshow came to the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando for #GMID16. Among the educational offerings was this panel of Meeting Professionals International Orlando members talking about what inspires them. At left is Dan Berger, founder and CEO of Social Tables, which partnered with the Convention Industry Council and the Meetings Mean Business Coalition on the Fuse educational roadshow.

Not surprisingly, Las Vegas went big for #GMID16. The festivities, led by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts, and Las Vegas Sands, were hosted in the oh-so-subtly decorated T-Mobile Arena.

U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow gave a meetings and travel industry overview to more than 200 people before turning the stage over to a panel of Las Vegas industry leaders at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

This gathering of meetings professionals was just one of many held in Mexico on #GMID16, including events in Mexico City and Monterrey, and a weekend follow-on event in Valle de Bravo.