Welcome to 2019.

Wasn’t it only yesterday we were getting ready for 2018, and 2017 right before then? Go back a bit further and the years and the days start to run together, a bit of a blur at times.

Except for Feb. 10, 2009—a day of reckoning for our industry.

“You don’t get corporate jets. You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime.”

Those words, spoken at a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Ind., by U.S. President Barack Obama, would have a profound impact on the meeting and hospitality industry. While his target was Wall Street, then in the midst of government bailouts, it was the meeting and event industry, and Las Vegas in particular, that took the brunt of the blow.

“It’s amazing we can remember that day,” says Michael Massari, chief sales officer at Caesars Entertainment. “We can remember because it’s a date etched in our history.”

“It was awful for us,” recalls Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, a former chair of the MPI International Board of Directors and at the time of the remarks president of Maritz Travel.

Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, says Obama’s comment “tanked the meetings industry. Billions of dollars of cancellations.”

It would become a defining moment in our history. In the 10 years that followed, the meeting and event industry would suffer through the AIG Effect, a national recession and rumblings that it would be replaced by emerging technology and virtual meetings—only to roar back and emerge as a global economic power that generates more business sales than consumer electronics, computers and office equipment with a gross domestic product (GDP) that ranks as the 22nd-largest in the world. A recent study reports business events generated US$1.5 trillion in worldwide spend in 2017, with nearly 30 million jobs impacted by the meeting and event industry.

But there were scary times and tense moments during the last 10 years. Throughout 2019, The Meeting Professional will report on how the industry persevered and positioned itself as a major economic force through a series called “A Decade of Change.” We begin with “Speaking With One Voice," which delves more deeply into the impact of Obama’s comments and how the industry, and Las Vegas, responded.

Throughout the year, we’ll look at other destinations that have defined themselves along with reports on how topics such as food, safety and security and technology have changed how the meeting industry—for both planners and suppliers—is vital to the global economy. We’ll also show how the industry unified, especially through what would become the Meetings Mean Business Coalition, to advocate for the value of face-to-face meetings.

“Sometimes you have to get kicked in the belly before you do what you have to do,” Massari says. “It was very damaging what President Obama said about Las Vegas. A lot of companies decided to cancel their meetings and many, many other companies decided not to come. You ask if the industry took it personally? It seemed like the next day the industry was gathering together and trying to figure out what to do.”

Our report is part of the eighth annual January issue sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. Our goal with every issue of your member magazine is to independently report and write about the topics and trends that are important to you. We take that same approach in this issue while spotlighting some unique and newsworthy aspects of Caesars Entertainment’s meeting and event portfolio.

Let us begin 2019 with hope and confidence that our industry will continue to prosper. We wish you the very best in this New Year.

When We Meet, We Change the World.

Until next time…

Rich Luna
Editor in Chief
rluna@mpiweb.org