Meetings Mean Business

Meetings Mean Business
Name	Meetings Mean Business
Type	Nonprofit advocacy coalition
Founded	2015
Headquarters	United States
Focus	Business events, conventions, meetings industry advocacy

Meetings Mean Business

Meetings Mean Business is an advocacy coalition that represents the meetings, conventions, and events industry; it engages policymakers, corporations, and trade associations to emphasize the economic role of business gatherings. The coalition works with stakeholders from the hospitality sector, trade organizations, and city convention bureaus to influence public policy, corporate procurement, and media narratives about meetings and events.

Overview

Meetings Mean Business operates as a coalition of associations, companies, and venues drawn from across the meetings supply chain, including partners similar to American Hotel and Lodging Association, U.S. Travel Association, International Association of Exhibitions and Events, PCMA, and Convention Industry Council; it aims to quantify economic impact for stakeholders such as Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, InterContinental Hotels Group, and major convention centers like McCormick Place, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and Moscone Center. The organization produces reports and toolkits used by municipal partners such as Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, New York City Tourism + Conventions, and Visit Orlando and engages with country-level tourism bodies like VisitBritain and Tourism Australia. Meetings Mean Business collaborates with corporate members that include event management firms linked to Cvent, Maritz, Freeman, Informa Markets, and Reed Exhibitions to influence procurement and sustainability practices.

History and Origins

Founded in the mid-2010s, Meetings Mean Business emerged from a coalition-building effort among associations and firms with antecedents in organizations like Professional Convention Management Association and Society for Incentive Travel Excellence and corporate partners such as CVS Health and Microsoft. Early convenings involved city partners including Las Vegas, New York City, and Chicago municipal convention bureaus and drew on economic-impact methodologies used by Oxford Economics, Smith Travel Research, and PwC to quantify event-related spending. The initiative was shaped by contemporaneous policy debates involving stakeholders connected to U.S. Congress hearings on travel and tourism and by industry responses to crises that engaged institutions such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization.

Objectives and Advocacy Initiatives

Meetings Mean Business articulates objectives aimed at advancing the business events sector by promoting fiscal recognition, regulatory relief, and corporate procurement reform; it pursues these goals via partnerships with trade bodies like National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Business Roundtable and by engaging with government actors including U.S. Department of Commerce and state governors' offices. Advocacy initiatives link to workforce development programs associated with institutions such as American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, and higher-education partners like Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The coalition advances sustainability and health-safety priorities aligned with NGOs and standard-setters such as Global Sustainable Tourism Council, International Organization for Standardization, and ISO 20121 adopters.

Key Programs and Campaigns

Key programs include economic-impact research campaigns with consulting partners like Oxford Economics, public-awareness efforts modeled on corporate campaigns by Brand USA and U.S. Travel Association, and supplier-engagement initiatives that echo procurement reforms promoted by General Services Administration and private-sector buyers including Google, Amazon (company), and Facebook. Campaigns also spotlight workforce and diversity efforts linked to National Urban League, National Minority Supplier Development Council, and professional-development offerings resembling curricula from Meeting Professionals International and Event Manager Blog partners. Crisis-response programming has been coordinated with public-health and emergency-management entities such as Federal Emergency Management Agency and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Impact on Business and Economic Policy

Meetings Mean Business has influenced municipal and corporate recognition of meetings-related economic data used by city-planning agencies like Chicago Department of Aviation and tourism bureaus such as Visit Philadelphia and San Francisco Travel. Its research has been cited in public affairs by legislative staff in chambers including the U.S. Senate and in policy briefings prepared for industry-facing regulators like the Federal Trade Commission and procurement offices at multinational firms like IBM and Accenture. The coalition's work has contributed to tax and incentive discussions in jurisdictions that include Nevada, Florida, California, and Texas and has intersected with international trade and visa policy debates involving embassies and consulates.

Criticism and Controversies

Critics have argued that Meetings Mean Business privileges corporate and hospitality interests and that its advocacy aligns with large venue operators and hotel chains such as Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide rather than smaller local firms and independent organizers; commentators from think tanks and media outlets linked to Brookings Institution, Council on Foreign Relations, and newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have scrutinized industry influence on public subsidies. Environmental groups and NGOs such as Greenpeace and 350.org have raised objections when the coalition's event-advocacy intersects with carbon-emission concerns addressed by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Labor organizations including UNITE HERE and Service Employees International Union have contested industry positions on workforce issues and wage standards. Some public-health experts connected to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention debates have questioned the balance between economic advocacy and community safety during health emergencies.

Category:Trade associations