Meetings Mean Community, a new Facebook group created by keynote speaker Courtney Stanley, and event designer-energy worker, Christine Mack, is connecting professionals in the meetings, hospitality and travel industry who are interested in transforming conflict and uncertainty into positive collaboration and growth.

The two women have a history of shaking things up in the events world, experience designers to social impact initiators. The online community will continue this theme through virtual hangouts, education-focused conversations, resources for meeting professionals, and a sense of supportive and constructive. “Members will have the opportunity to embrace the fear and uncertainty that we’re all facing, ask for help in a non-judgmental space, share resources and work with others to create avenues of change that they can implement in their own communities, meetings and events,” Mack says. 

Like many, the onset of COVID-19 has flipped Stanley and Mack's worlds upside down. We spoke with them at depth about what the pandemic has meant for them, how they are finding work-life equilibrium and maintaining a positive outlook as we collectively head into the unknown, including projections of another global recession. 

“Our industry is facing a tremendous crisis," Stanley says. "Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we show up and support one another. Now is the time to get creative, to forge stronger partnerships and to break down barriers that exist in our community. Together, we will exercise innovation and evolve with grit. Together, we will do what we do best: we will bring people together.”

"As the industry faces its largest financial crisis since the recession, Meetings Mean Community will focus on providing support and sparking dialogue that catapults the value of meetings to the forefront of business," the women say. “As connectors, meeting professionals are uniquely positioned to change communities. We can be the change we want to see. We can grow together and decide what that change is. This is our opportunity to determine how we want to operate moving forward, and how we can work together to make it happen."

Mack and Stanley believe that beyond dollar signs, it's a sense of community and connectedness that will lift the industry off its knees and into future success. To better help support and connect people on a broader scale, the two women have also sparked a new social media campaign, #MeetingsMeanCommunity. Using the hashtag, posts will fill social media channels with stories of humanity and compassion, transforming elements of the global crisis into opportunities of positive impact and community-building.