One day, one industry, one voice; that is what you can expect from Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) in 2019. Year over year, the Meetings Means Business Coalition has grown the engagement and number of events held each year for GMID. In 2018, there were 206 registered GMID events, including rallies, press conferences, speaking panels, educational events and award presentations. We’re expecting even higher numbers this year.

Here in Colorado, we have also focused on continuous growth year over year. Our first GMID program was hosted in 2016 in conjunction with an educational event with the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA). There was a small table set up with collateral, a short 5-minute talk and a video. Fast forward to 2019 and I have now begun working with the Meetings Industry Council of Colorado (MIC) to create a stand-alone event that includes all 13 organizations that make up MIC: CMCA, Colorado Festival and Events, CSAE, GBTA, HSMAI, IAEE, ILEA, MPI, NSA, NACE, PCMA, SGMP and Visit Denver.  

This year’s MIC GMID Program will include an educational panel discussion focused on the importance of the economic impact of the meeting and events industry, followed by a celebration reception. The panelists include top executives from Visit Denver, Visit Aurora, Visit Colorado Springs and Visit Cheyenne. For the first time, we have expanded our reach outside of the state of Colorado and made this a regionally-focused event by including representation from Wyoming. Our event is taking place across the street from the Colorado State Capitol, so we will be taking advantage of that by taking the entire group to the Capitol steps for a photo. We have a few fun surprises planned for the attendees for our walk between venues and at the State Capitol!

In additional to including the area convention and visitors’ bureaus, we have invited local and state politicians to our program. We have requested proclamations from all cities represented. Lastly, we are beginning to reach out to local media contacts for coverage of our program; the first time we have done so for a GMID event.

Year over year, we are making a conscious effort to expand the reach and engagement of our GMID event. We can’t wait for our 2019 event and we are excited to engage with all the other event hosts and attendees around the world.

Megan Martin is a Senior Meeting Manager at the National Conference of State Legislatures.