The pieces are beginning to come together for Global Meetings Industry Day 2024. On Thursday, April 11, the business events industry will gather virtually and in person to communicate and celebrate the importance and economic impact of meetings, conventions, incentive travel, and exhibitions.
This will be the eighth year for GMID, but its origins go back much further. It started in the mid-1990s as Canadian National Meetings Industry Day, expanded in 2015 as North American Meetings Industry Day, and one year later was relaunched as Global Meetings Industry Day under the Meetings Mean Business campaign.
From last year’s GMID, Meetings Mean Business, now part of U.S. Travel, tracked 70 GMID events in 35 countries and 45 million GMID impressions on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter (now X), and Facebook. (Check out the re-cap deck here.)
This year, the day will again feature Meeting Professionals International’s 12-hour GMID virtual broadcast from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Time, gathering event pros from time zones around the world. In 2023 the event had more than 40 educational segments on topics such as sustainability, event data strategy, incentive travel research, and anti-human trafficking education, as well as special events like the announcement of the 2023 RISE Award finalists. Registration is now open for MPI’s virtual event. It’s free but organizers are asking for a voluntary $10 contribution.
The Professional Convention Management Association’s Capital Chapter is another group that’s on top of its GMID planning. Registration is open for a face-to-face event at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., that will include a keynote on the state of Congress and the 2024 election as well as a panel discussion on workforce, labor, and union issues for the meetings industry.
Watch for more GMID 2024 events taking place on the local, national, and global level—or start one yourself—to highlight the importance of meetings to communities and the economy.
