NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The meeting industry will come together to celebrate Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) on March 30, but did you know that a day now recognized and celebrated by meeting professionals around the world began in Canada?

The first official National Meetings Industry Day was held in Canada in 1999. This followed local and regional events hosted by Canadian MPI chapters and conversations about elevating the celebration to a national level by the MPI Canadian Council—eventually leading to the first GMID in 2016.

As we get closer to GMID 2023, we’re honoring some of the MPI members in Canada who led volunteer efforts in the 1990s and understood before many others why the importance of our industry and its monetary and intrinsic value needed to be understood by governments and business.

Today, Lynne Gale from the MPI Toronto Chapter shares her insights.

In 1995-1996, I became president of the MPI Toronto Chapter. I joined in 1988 and immediately volunteered for committee positions, which eventually led to a seat on the board. First, as a director of our annual education conference, then director of monthly meetings, treasurer, vice president and president. Collaboration has always been a priority for me to ensure success, and it is the same for MPI.

In 1996, the president of CAPS (the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers) approached me about a joint effort to promote the meetings industry with a day of education. MPI and CAPS created Meetings Industry Day, which was held in Toronto in December 1996, with support from CSAE, CHMSE, IMPAC (now Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners) and I’m sure a few more, with about 80 in attendance. While intensely involved with MPI, I joined IMPAC in its early years because in 1994 I established a consulting service, Gale & Associates ~ Sales, Marketing & Management Support to the Meetings Industry. I strongly believed that associations providing education and collaboration would bring awareness to the meetings industry.

“I strongly believed that associations providing education and collaboration would bring awareness to the meetings industry.”

The transition to National Meetings Industry Day (NMID) seemed to happen organically as MPI’s Canadian chapters were like-minded in wanting the industry to raise its profile. Discussions about launching NMID were held at the MPI Canadian Council, and I served as president in 1997-1998. The misconception that meeting planners were not professionals had to be corrected. Professional planners require a broad skill set. In my planning career, I produced product launches, sales meetings, medical education conferences and surgical laboratories, which required me to order cadavers (and parts of cadavers), giving me a new skill set and supplier contacts that I had not anticipated! It’s a good illustration of the evolving role of a meeting professional—always embracing a new trend, technology, supply chain and relationships to nurture.

Advocacy and the introduction of certifications have helped raise the profile of the meeting profession. The Global Certification in Meeting Management (CMM), a Canadian initiative, held its first offering in Canada in 2003 when I earned my CMM. I continue to study and when I retired, I returned to university parttime because I love education!

Overall, what strikes me about our industry is that we believe in the importance of meeting face to face, and we’re witnessing our incredible resilience as we rebound from the pandemic. We value the significance of events like Global Meetings Industry Day, bringing together several organizations who all serve to raise the profile of the industry and support their members’ efforts to grow as professionals.

MPI’s GMID broadcast powered by Webex Events (formerly Socio).

MPI’s GMID broadcast supported by Grit Productions & Expositions and Foster + Fathom.