hinton+grusich (h+g), a leading US sales organization that represents upscale meeting hotels, destinations and hospitality suppliers, introduced a five-minute video resulting from its grassroots “Recovery Soapbox” initiative.

Recognizing that members of this business community have long wanted to express their thoughts and ideas in support economic improvement, the firm reached out to a variety of attendees during this year’s Incentive Travel & Meetings Executives/Motivation Show in Chicago.

Over the course of two days, dozens of meeting professionals from diverse industries and roles shared their thoughts in front of a rolling camera in the hope of reaching influential business, political, media and government leaders.

Four recurring themes resulted from one question:  “What do you think will help the meetings industry recover?”

The short video summary of these interviews includes real meeting professionals voicing real issues and potential solutions.  The four main themes identified in support of meaningful recovery within our industry include:

1.Face-to-face meetings are critical components within business.  There is a pressing need to overcome the negative perception of meetings.

2.The exponential economic impact from the elimination of meetings and events extends well beyond the obvious stakeholders.  Those affected include airline attendants, taxi drivers, hotel employees, restaurant staff, local vendors, and can be traced all the way back to farmers and manufacturers.

3.The formation of cross-sector alliances can increase the effectiveness and reach of the messaging.  Business, non-profit, government, media and industry associations can gain from eachother.

4.There is hope.  Working together, the meetings industry and its allies can learn from this experience, rebuild and eventually prosper.

hinton+grusich delivered a package with an introductory letter with the video on DVD to high profile “influencers” who play key roles in various organizations and can represent meeting professionals within organizations of all “shapes and sizes.”  

Kevin Hinton, principal of h+g stated, “The purpose of submitting a professionally produced video representing members of our industry to key influencers is to help us gain a louder, clearer voice in advocating the business impact and value of meetings - from Washington, DC and capitols, to corporate boardrooms across the globe. We needed to actively participate in sharing our industry’s voice, and ITME provided the perfect backdrop.”

Hinton plans to continue the firm’s educational and grassroots initiatives, promoting the business of meetings through his firm’s industry leadership position.  

View the video on http://www.hintonandgrusich.com/soapbox_video.html

Image: Kevin Hinton, Principal, hinton+grusich

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Copyright 2009 Lucht Publishing

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