The following is a guest blog from Dr. Eliza Hixson, a professor at the International Centre for Research in Events, Tourism and Hospitality at Leeds Metropolitan University (ICRETH) and one of the lead researchers on MPI’s Strategic Meetings Management project.

I often tell students that event management is like juggling, because there are so many elements to consider. You have to make sure you take into account all stakeholders in the process and be mindful of their perspectives and what they are aiming to achieve. At the same time, you need to make sure you provide a quality event experience to the participants. This can be very tricky, especially when trying to strategically manage events. 

The Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) resource center has been created as part of an MPI Foundation study and produced by the ICRETH team alongside Betsy Bondurant of Bondurant Consulting and Peggy Hemphill of Your Corporate Source. The center provides a succinct way of viewing meetings and explains how you can make the most out of your events whether you are a buyer, supplier, planner or intermediary. It illustrates that the key features of SMM are supply-chain management, procurement, centralization of processes, meeting quality/participant experience and executive sponsorship. This center highlights several key developments for SMM, including the need to be more focused on the delegate experience. As Lisa English of Cvent believes, “We need to get people engaged and get the most ROI from a meeting experience.”

The center, produced after a thorough review of more than 100 resources—including white papers, reports and case studies as well as interviews with practitioners—demonstrates how you can reduce costs and increase value by implementing best practice strategies. The MPI SMM resource center contains loads of resources that can help you to understand SMM and how you can implement it for your events. Whether you have an established SMM program, are just starting to embark upon the journey or have never heard of SMM before, the SMM resource center suggests several ways to gain the best strategic outcomes from your meetings. We hope you enjoy reading and get SMM-inspired.

On Wednesday, October 10, at 10 p.m./22.00, the MPI Foundation will host PURERendezvous—The IMEX America Night! Proceeds from the event will help fund important educational scholarships, grants and research benefiting MPI members and the meetings and events industry.

The event will be held at one of America's premier nightclubs, PURE, and with thousands of IMEX America buyers and suppliers expected to attend, it will be a prime opportunity to expand your network, mixing with the industry's best and brightest.

Not attending the IMEX America show? No problem. You can still purchase a ticket to PURERendezvous.

To support the MPI Foundation by purchasing a ticket, visit: www.mpifoundation.org/rendezvous/imex.

We look forward to seeing you there, and thank you in advance for supporting the MPI Foundation!

The MPI Foundation offers 12 types of scholarships throughout the year, and there are two in particular that we'd like to highlight today. 

Offered by Disney Destinations and HelmsBriscoe, Planner Membership scholarships are established for meeting planners who seek a connection to more than 20,000 meeting planners and industry suppliers worldwide. Disney Destinations and HelmsBriscoe will each award three scholarships per month. 

The scholarships are available for association and corporate meeting planners, and they are for new members only. 

Please help spread the word about this great opportunity, and encourage your colleagues, associates and friends to apply today. 

Click here to apply for the Disney Destinations scholarship, and click here to apply for the HelmsBriscoe scholarship.

The Big Deal last night at WEC was a huge success. After several hours of poker playing, three new winners emerged triumphant. 

Trevor Lui, director of operations and sustainability for International Centre Toronto, won first place in the tournament. He recently joined the MPI Foundation Canadian Council, and he likes to wear bow ties.

Cindy Kramer from Aimia, and a guest of Venetian/Palazzo, was the second place winner. Stephanie Bodanyi from Turnaround Management Association had never played before but came away as the third place winner.

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to everyone who took part in the event. 

Watch the MPI-TV News coverage of last night's event.

During his speech at the Britain For Events conference in early July, Micheal Hirst announced the commencement of The U.K. Economic Impact Study (UKEIS).

The study, which is being overseen by the MPI Foundation, will provide a coherent and precise overview of the U.K. meeting industry—its size, value and importance to the U.K. commercial landscape and economy.

Following the selection of Leeds Metropolitan University as the research team for the project, the MPI Foundation has confirmed that the study has been activated and research will commence over the summer of 2012, with initial findings to be announced in spring 2013.

"The UKEIS will be the first study on this scale ever undertaken by the U.K. meetings industry," said Samme Allen, MPI U.K. and Ireland Chapter president and Barbican head of sales. "It will give us an opportunity to demonstrate the sheer size and importance of our industry to both the government and the wider business community. With this data we will be able to lobby for a greater voice in decisions that will affect us, demonstrate why we matter and why more people should listen to what we have to say.

"To ensure the success of the study, we ask that each and every organisation within the industry become involved, provide data and promote the study through every stage of its progress," she continued. "This study is about all of us, and it is beneficial to all of us. Ultimately, the more people who get involved the more accurate the results will be."

A study of this scale would not be possible without the engagement of a knowledgeable and professional research organisation. Leeds Metropolitan University was selected for the task following an in-depth tender process. 

"Leeds Metropolitan University offer the perfect balance of industry knowledge and credibility in research on this scale," said Didier Scaillet, chief development officer for MPI and the MPI Foundation. "Their professional approach to the tender and understanding of our needs clearly established them as the perfect partner for us in this groundbreaking piece of research.

"Leeds Metropolitan University are however not the only partners vital to the success of the UKEIS," he continued. "This research would not be possible without the significant investment we have received from a select group of farsighted organisations. As sponsors of the UKEIS they have made the research possible and continue to raise its profile across the industry."

The full list of sponsors for the UKEIS is:

IHG
Reed Travel Exhibitions
Barbican
Q Hotels
London & Partners
Confex
Meetings & Incentive Travel
IMEX
ExCel
Visit Wales
Visit Scotland
Conde Nast
The Meetings Show UK
SITE
ICCA
SECC

A full timeline of the research, including initial findings and final results will be announced in the near future.

On Monday at IMEX America, James Musgrave, a senior lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University, identified key CSR trends and perspectives drawn from an analysis of hundreds of studies, policies and papers worldwide—all part of a three-year research project by the MPI Foundation and IHG. 

A world away, Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Group, addressed the 2011 SLOW LIFE Symposium, saying that the world faces “the mother of all recessions” unless more is done to encourage the development of renewable energy. SLOW LIFE has convened global thinkers, policy makers and business leaders to accelerate progress toward sustainable business practices in the tourism industry, with a particular focus on supporting small island states.

Addressing delegates at the third annual Six Senses SLOW LIFE Symposium at Soneva Fushi in the Maldives, Branson said that governments had to provide additional incentives to support the adoption of alternative fuel sources.

“If we don’t have alternative fuels we are going to have the mother of all recessions. The way to kick-start the revolution is to have no tax on all clean energy while slowly increasing tax on dirty energy. We have been diverting our profit from airlines into developing fuel for aircraft that won’t damage the environment.”

Branson called on European aviation authorities and airports to do more to reduce the aviation industry’s energy emissions and said that the climate change battle is the “biggest entrepreneurial opportunity of our lifetime.

“Every single ecosystem is in decline. We must revalue how we value our natural assets and how we reduce our consumption patterns. But it is important for all of us to stay positive. Martin Luther King did not get his message across by saying 'I have a nightmare.'"