Some of the Best and Brightest

behind the

scenes

Michelle Russell Editor in Chief mrussell@pcma.org

Sweeping Changes?

Speaking of the U.S. government, what are the implications of the approved Affordable Care Act for medical meetings? To find out, we spoke to the executive vice president of the Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association (p. 17).

Welcome to our first-ever full-fledged August issue ofConvene!

N

ot only is this our inaugural August issue, it’s the first time we’ve ventured into “best in the industry” territory. Speaking for the rest of my team, I think we had underestimated how

much fun this would be — sorting through our readers’ nominations, set- tling on five standouts across 10 catego- ries, seeking out testimonials to back up those nominations, and then personally sharing the good news with some of the winners. “Congratulations” is an excit- ing word — whether you’re on the giving or the receiving end of it. (Read who won bragging rights on p. 44.) When we decided on this “best of”

issue — to recognize those tools, ser- vices, places, and initiatives that are the meetings industry’s cream of the crop

— we wanted to make sure that it would be more than just a popularity contest. So we exercised some editorial judg- ment when culling the nominations of our 230-plus survey respondents. The number of times a particular nomina- tion was made was taken into account, but so was whether many of those were self-nominations. And candidates who included comments spelling out their attributes were weighted a little heavier. Of course, the results are hardly scientific. But the meetings industry is a crowded market whose products, services, and business practices can seem to swim in a sea of sameness. We’re happy to cast a beacon toward those things that bob to the surface and sparkle a little brighter.

Which is essentially what we try to

do in each issue of Convene: to showcase those events and initiatives that dis- tinguish themselves and demonstrate innovation. Case in point: the C2-MTL conference, which I attended in Mon- treal in late May (see my write-up on p.

8 PCMA CONVENE AUGUST 2012

79). An inaugural event that focused on how to meld creativity with commerce, C2-MTL pushed the boundaries of traditional meetings. Not everything at C2-MTL would fly with every attendee (foie-gras–stuffed edible flower appetiz- ers, for one), but because the confer- ence hung its hat on creativity, every element was deliberately approached from a fresh perspective. The speakers, format, and environ- ment were remarkable — as were C2-MTL’s variety of attendees, who ranged from the heavily tattooed to the buttoned-up business-suit type. But even more remarkable to my mind was that the conference was financially sup- ported by several levels of the Canadian government. Right before C2-MTL welcomed its first-ever attendees, it was announced that Canada Economic Development’s Business and Regional Growth program had made a $750,000 non-repayable contribution. When it comes to the value of meet-

ings, the U.S.-based industry still seems stuck in a defensive position, especially with and toward the government, so it’s hard to imagine local or federal backing for an unproven, inaugural conference devoted to something as squishy as cre- ativity — even when that event serves to showcase a city’s unique strengths to a global audience. Please prove me wrong. I’d love to hear from you.

. PCMA.ORG

PHOTOGRAPH BY JACOB SLATON