Ciara Feely, creator of Steps to Win, hopes to create impact by elevating the conversation about Impact across the industry. Besides economic metrics, Impact analyzes the strategy behind business events to foster partnerships and create a more welcoming environment for participants. The organization hopes to move the conversation away from rates, dates, and space by focusing on impact and return on investment.  

Allegra Roccato, Head of Events World Physiotherapy 

The impact that Allegra Roccato, Head of Events, World Physiotherapy, wants to create is long-lasting partnerships with destinations and associations wherever they go. These partnerships help create several diverse types of business events with full participation from the conference participants. Exercise on the beach, open days, and legacy activities are designed to leave a lasting positive impact on the destination's community.

Impact Achieved and Desired Impact

Ciara Gallagher Manager, Meet in Ireland 

Failte Ireland continues its journey of rethinking the impact of the power of business events. In the last few years, they have worked closely with over 3000 event ambassadors to create economic impact within the destination. Beyond financial metrics, the power of business events can create environmental and social impact. Through business events, the destination aims to create a sustainable event that reduces carbon footprints and promotes inclusivity through social impact. By creating economic, environmental, and social impact, the local community benefits, making the destination a better place to live, work, and visit.

Tracy Bury, Owner & Founder, Operandi Consulting 

Tracy from Operandi Consulting contributed to Impact through her organization’s work on social inclusion. Inclusion Impact takes an integrated approach to changing the conversation around inclusivity in a global lens context. Collectively, the industry can extend beyond economics to consider the responsibility of helping make the world more inclusive by bringing about equality of opportunity and equity in access in leaving a legacy across the sector. To achieve impact, business events need to be accessible and inclusive from the start.  

Impact Achieved

Rich Reasons, President Simpleview 

Simpleview has impacted the industry in several ways that extend beyond economic metrics. Through its efforts, its organization has been able to unify the way destinations manage their workflows, track their productivity, and educate their stakeholders about the impact its destinations have on the local community.  

Kieran Ferran, Associate Director, Tourism Economics 

Impact achieved at Tourism Economics takes an integrated approach to evaluating business events. Destination organizations use the Event Impact Calculator to assess a local event's impact on their destination. This tool empowers over 350 destinations to efficiently analyze local events quickly when speaking with stakeholders and provide them with valuable information from the tool’s output report. Beyond the economic metrics of job creation, taxes, and return on investment, the tool allows organizations to impact their local communities through advocacy and improving the quality of place for its residents.

Lynn Lewis Smith, Business Events Sydney 

Business Events Sydney, this year’s Destination Organization Award for Global Impact recipient partners with the Australian government to bring business events to their destination. Regarding Impact, the organization achieved impact beyond economic metrics, including social and environmental legacy. On their journey, the organization has partnered with PCMA on the Women In Leadership initiative to increase the presence of women in executive positions within the business events industry. Research indicates that women hold 70% of the positions in the sector, but only 30% are represented in executive leadership roles at the C-suite, board, and chair levels. To learn more about business events in Sydney, we invite you to view the following page.

Legacy Resources

The Iceberg Legacies of Business and Professional Events is an excellent resource for elevating what destinations across the globe are doing to demonstrate the impact of events beyond tourism. It includes a recent video highlighting Business Events Industry Week in Washington D.C.  

Summary  

Global meetings have an impact on the world we live in, from the serendipitous encounters that lead to advancing science to the innovative solutions created through people coming together and working on a common purpose. As a result of shared stories of impact, the industry at large is inspired to intentionally create impactful events. That is where the opportunity lies. The partnership between the place and the planner is essential. The shift from request for proposal to request for partnership, from transaction to transformation.  

The value of the place through the intellectual capital or the opportunity to advance society or bridge a gap will make a difference to the triple bottom line both for the event strategist and the destination. At IMEX America this October 8-10, we will gather our global members to drive dialogue that challenges us to work together to make it easier for conferences to be successful wherever they go. We will demonstrate the need to meet in person and host impactful meetings that, as was shared by the participants from the Policy Forum, are ‘inspirational and interactive’.