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The Meetings Mean Business Coalition  (MMBC), the meeting and event industry advocacy group tasked with raising awareness of the economic impact and value of face to face, has released a set of principles designed to assist in the reopening of meetings and events.

As more states reopen their businesses and economies, MMBC, which has been working tirelessly to advocate and protect the interests of the meeting and event industry, today announced six key principles for reopening.

“The next step is aligning on specific actions that industry professionals will take to ensure every meeting and event is secure—and that work is already under way.”

The principles are the result of work across the broader travel, health and safety communities.

“Having a shared set of principles is critical as states reopen and we prepare for the moment major meetings and events can take place again in the United States,” said Trina Camacho-London, vice president of global group sales at Hyatt Hotels Corp. and MMBC co-chair.

The six principles include:

• Adjust operations, employee practices and public spaces to help protect employees and customers.

• Consider implementing touchless solutions, where practical, to limit the opportunity for virus transmission while also enabling a positive travel experience.

• Implement enhanced sanitation procedures specifically designed to combat the transmission of COVID-19.

• Promote health screenings for employees and isolate workers with possible COVID-19 symptoms and provide health resources to customers.

• Establish new procedures, aligned with CDC guidance, to use if an employee tests positive for COVID-19.

• Follow best practices in food and beverage service to promote health of employees and customers.

“MMBC’s principles align to recent work by the U.S. Travel Association to engage organizations across the country in developing guidance that serves the entire travel eco-system, including air travel, lodging and, of course, meetings and events,” Camacho-London said. “The next step is aligning on specific actions that industry professionals will take to ensure every meeting and event is secure—and that work is already under way.”

MMBC reported results of a survey that showed 83 percent of Americans working from home say they miss attending in-person meetings and conventions, while 78 percent of respondents say they plan to attend as many or more in-person meetings and conventions when physical distancing ends.

MPI Coronavirus Resources: News, Education, Information

MMBC’s partners at the Events Industry Council have convened an APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force to develop a curated list of accepted best practices across the events eco-system and a framework for face-to-face meetings in the future.

“While there is still more to be done, we are proud of these efforts, and others at the corporate level, to create reassurance for employees, customers and suppliers as well as each and every meeting attendee,” MMBC said.

Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash