Yet, despite the very competitive environment, we lent one another equipment and sub-contracted events to one another. We worked together. And we learned from each other. As a novice, I did most of the learning, but you get the point - we absolutely were worthy rivals.


In light of those experiences (and countless others too numerous to relate here), I should not have been surprised that the repre- sentatives of competing venues would voluntarily get together and help one another to be better at what we do.


As I mentioned earlier, Simon’s infinite game perspective on business is based on five tenets, the first of which is to identify your “just cause.” Perhaps the reason why I have so many experiences of collaboration across competitive lines is that, in the meeting industry, we all share the same “just cause” - to be of service.


A week after Convening Leaders, I was fortunate enough to have another group of industry leaders convene in my conference center for the MPI PHL January Education Event. Bringing together decades of event experience and industry leadership, the group of panelists shared insights about what it takes to succeed in this business and what drives them to do what they do. In response to a question, one panelist said that the thing everyone in the room had in common - on stage and in the audience - was that we all shared in a “life of service.”


To be “of service” may sound a little Downton Abbey, but in the 2020 world of events and hospitality, all of us are working for the same person: our client, and we share the same “just cause” - to be of service to that client. Our cause knits us together across organizational boundaries and corporate rivalries.


As I move forward in 2020 with all the vision metaphors required of that specific calendar year, I’m envisioning the meeting indus- try as already embodying the five concepts of The Infinite Game.


Before hearing Simon’s talk (and reading his book), I may not have had the language to define it as such, but I now see that we spend every day (1) advancing towards an unattainable vision of the perfect event. We have (2) built trusting teams, not just within our organizations, but across our entire industry. We are surrounded by (3) worthy rivals and we study and learn from them constantly. No one occupation is more (4) agile and constantly capably of flexibility than a meeting planner or event manager. And, as for the final tenet, (5) we have the courage to lead so that we wake up every day in service to our cause - the industry’s collective cause to be of service.


5­ 4 March­z April­2020


Simon says there are no winners or losers; there is only ahead and behind. As we move into a new decade, I’m thrilled to work in an industry that is definitely “ahead.”


Emily Nichols is the General Manager of the Science History Institute’s Conference Center and is a fan of Simon Sinek’s TED Talks. To view Simon’s TED Talks, visit www.ted.com/speakers/simon_sinek


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