CMP Today

Hosted and moderated by EIC

Tuesday, 30 June, 12 p.m. EDT/UTC-04:00

 

Even though meetings, events and travel have taken a pause, meeting planners and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) have not. During this crucial time, our industry needs to enable business connections and create new relationships with local health and government authorities. This month, Destinations International launched “We’re Here to Help” to elevate the role of CVBs in supporting meeting professionals. This program was developed in collaboration with several industry partners, including the Events Industry Council. 

 

Learning outcomes:

- Hear how CVBs are forging new relationships within their communities to support business events in a fast-changing landscape

- Learn about new technology platforms to search (and find) solutions for event needs

- Learn how CVBs can participate in the “We’re Here to Help” campaign

 

Panelists:

- Jim Abramson, Vice President Product Management, Cvent

- Amy Calvert, CEO, Events Industry Council (moderator)

- Al Hutchinson, President and CEO, Visit Baltimore

- Stephanie D. Jones, CAE, CMP, Acting Deputy Chief Administrative Officer & Senior Director, Conferences and Events Management, Water Environment Federation

- Don Welsh, CEO, Destinations International

Even though meetings, events and travel have taken a pause, meeting planners and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) have not. During this crucial time, our industry needs to enable business connections and create new relationships with local health and government authorities. This month, Destinations International launched “We’re Here to Help” to elevate the role of CVBs in supporting meeting professionals. This program was developed in collaboration with several industry partners, including the Events Industry Council. 

 

Learning outcomes:

Hear how CVBs are forging new relationships within their communities to support business events in a fast-changing landscape

Learn about new technology platforms to search (and find) solutions for event needs

Learn how CVBs can participate in the “We’re Here to Help” campaign

 

Panelists:

Jim Abramson, Vice President Product Management, Cvent

Amy Calvert, CEO, Events Industry Council (moderator)

Al Hutchinson, President and CEO, Visit Baltimore

Stephanie D. Jones, CAE, CMP, Acting Deputy Chief Administrative Officer & Senior Director, Conferences and Events Management, Water Environment Federation

Don Welsh, CEO, Destinations International

Time was getting tight. It was April, the COVID-19 outbreak was spreading more rapidly adding uncertainty as to what the impact of the outbreak would have on American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s Annual Meeting that was scheduled to start on Friday, 17 July. Internally, the executive leadership team started holding weekly meetings to assess the situation. With the jump in cases, deaths, and the impact on the hospitality industry and society overall caused by COVID-19, it became increasingly clear that the choices were limited. An in-person meeting was no longer a viable option, and canceling the event due to communicable disease was not covered by the event insurance that was purchased several years in advance of when the AACP Annual Meeting 2020 was booked.

Canceling the meeting would lead to a significant financial hardship that AACP would feel for years to come. So, at the very end of April, the only viable option was to pivot the Annual Meeting to a virtual format. Once executive leadership and the board of directors agreed and took the necessary actions, the internal teams at AACP (meetings, education, marketing and communications) initiated the daunting and complex task to pull off a huge, successful online conference in less than two months.