A Meetings Industry Council (MIC) is a consortium of meetings industry organizations organized at a local level, either informally or formally structured, to advance meetings industry partnerships. The first MIC was created in 1988 in Denver, CO, as a coalition of
professional meetings industry-related organizations, whose underlying purpose was
to strengthen the relationships among participating organizations through increased communication and cooperation. Duplication of members, redundancy of events, multiple tradeshows, and conflicting meetings prompted board members of several meetings industry organizations to collaborate.

The benefits of the collaborative efforts of these groups include:

Exchanging calendars of events to avoid duplication of meeting dates Sharing chapter programming information and educational articles for inclusion in each other's newsletters Providing membership mailing lists at cost to other council member organizations to promote organization-sponsored events Initiating special joint programs pertaining to relevant issues within the meetings industry, such as "America's Hospitality Industry on Alert" Forum following the September 11 terrorist attacks Participating in profit sharing from educational conferences, tradeshows, holiday parties, and charity events Expanding networking opportunities and knowledge of the industry Initiating joint recommendations and action on pertinent issues to the industry-locally, nationally, and internationally (for example, a bills was supported financially by the MIC of Colorado)

Different meetings industry groups belong to different MICs, depending upon their existence in certain cities. Typical groups that are part of an MIC include:

ASAE - American Society of Association Executives www.asaenet.org ASTD - American Society of Training & Development www.astd.org CIC - Convention Industry Council www.conventionindustry.org HSMAI - Hospitality Sales and Marketing International www.hsmai.org IACVB - Int'l Assn. of Convention & Visitors Bureaus www.iacvb.org IAEM - International Assn. Event Managers ISES - International Special Events Society www.ises.com MPI - Meeting Professionals International www.mpiweb.org NACE - National Assn. of Catering Executives www.nace.net NBTA - National Business Travel Association www.nbta.org NSA - National Speakers Association www.nsaspeaker.org PCMA - Professional Convention Management Association www.pcma.org SCMP - Society of Corporate Meeting Professionals www.scmp.org SGMP - Society of Government Meeting Planners www.sgmp.org SHRM - Society of Human Resource Management www.shrm.org SMEI - Sales & Marketing Executives International www.smei.org

Typically, the president or president-elect of each member organization sits on the Council and represents their organization at meetings. So if ten different meeting organizations belong to the MIC, there will be ten people on the council. Chapter MICs range from informal internal chapter task forces that reach out through showcases and directories to
formal community councils that have their own board and functions. The best structure for your chapter will be based on your chapter's size, member expertise and experience, and local community interest.

MICs currently exist in many large metropolitan cities around the nation. The National Speakers Association (NSA) has a standing MIC committee, which coordinates and creates new MICs across the country. To find out if there is an MIC in your city, or for more information about starting one, refer to:

http://www.nsaspeaker.org/chapters/intranet/MIC.shtml

Or Contact
2003-2004 chair Laura Stack, MBA, CSP
www.TheProductivityPro.com
303-471-7401