As the global meetings and events sector continues to recover, a focus on balance, belonging and sustainability will create many opportunities in the industry. The pandemic had a significant impact on meetings and events, but people have largely returned and attendance is expected to rise in the years to come. This is great news for the sector but it also brings fresh challenges and opportunities that will alter the way events are booked, planned and executed. “The pandemic was…
Destination Toronto revealed business events in 2023 are on pace to bring an estimated $624 million in economic impact to the Toronto economy. While these visitors will have a welcome impact in 2023, this represents 55 per cent of what meetings and events contributed in 2019. Toronto is on the road to rebuilding the impact of the meetings industry, but remains well short of pre-pandemic levels. Currently, 2024 is on pace to deliver only 21 per cent of the…
IACC, the global association representing the top 1 per cent of small to midsize conference and meeting venues, has announced details of a strategic partnership with MPI, the largest global meetings and events industry association. The alliance will see the two organizations working to advance the global events community using shared knowledge and connected intelligence. The partnership will also see IACC engaging with MPI’s diverse and substantial network of more than 90,000 meeting and event professionals across 70 chapters…
The good news is that 2022 has been a productive year for the meeting and event planning industry. We have seen a resurgence of activity for meetings, events and incentives. We need this resurrection so that planners can start to feel productive and confident again. We need it because it means that corporate businesses are starting to consider live meeting opportunities. We need it because suppliers are becoming very active again with RFPs for 2022 and beyond. Overall, we…
Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) is set to host more citywide conventions in 2023 than in most pre-pandemic years. MTCC’s strong booking calendar in 2023 signals the potential for a positive recovery for the business events industry in Ontario. The success of the meetings and events industry is vital for economic recovery. The 19 citywide conventions that are set to take place at the MTCC in 2023 will generate an estimated $219 million in direct spending economic impact for the…
The meetings and events industry is a great place to start to build a personal brand, but once your brand is created, then what? When you’re in events, you’re in the “experience” business, so it’s an ideal place for creative individuals who want to carve out a personal brand through content creation. Meetings and events have some very unique opportunities for those that want to create engaging and enticing content. It’s through this content that we start to build…
It’s now been 20 months that the meetings and events industry has struggled to survive through the COVID-19 pandemic. We have become experts in force majeure clauses, postponements, and contract cancellations. Businesses at all levels within the sector’s supply chain have navigated a new world of lobbying for support, applying for government subsidies, scaling back to skeleton teams, furloughing staff, terminating leases, selling off assets and closing offices. Some have found new ways of doing business by shifting to…
Meetings Mean Business Canada (MMBC) chair Clark Grue is the recipient of this year’s President’s Award, presented by the Toronto chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI). “Over the past year, Clark has captured not only my attention but my deep respect,” said Margaret Binns, president of MPI Toronto. “In his role as chair of MMBC, he works tirelessly to advocate to elected officials and industry stakeholders about the critical social and economic impact that our industry has on the financial…
In this age of so much to do and so little time, employers have realized that they cannot ask their employees to give up their weekends or evenings to attend business meetings. In most families, both parents work and family time is sacred. For single parent families, the case is even more so. Children are away all day in either school or daycare, and in after school programs which parents are eager to attend. Weekends are all family hustle and…
Breaking News, Event Operations, Meeting Community, Special Events
There’s a lot of chatter about whether QR codes (2D barcodes) are a technology for the future or are they just another fad. Here’s my take: I think they are still a viable technology for use in marketing and events in the future. The up and coming technology that could replace some QR code use is NFC (near field communications). However, that is a more sophisticated technology, the set up of which is out of the comfort zone of many…
Event Branding & Marketing, Event Operations, Social Media & Technology
