Veteran meeting planner Sandy Biback, CMP Emeritus, CMM, of Imagination+ Meeting Planners Inc., could sit still no longer listening to reports on human trafficking and knowing that meeting planners and their attendees come in contact with it all the time. They just don’t realize it.
“For over a year, I’ve been researching human trafficking and what can be done at the planner and venue levels,” she says. “But nothing that I came across, except for one small group in Washington State, addresses the problem from a planner perspective.”
In her hometown of Toronto, she had never heard of a conversation between planners and hoteliers. Now retired, she decided to “take the plunge” and change that by hosting a breakfast on April 19, which drew 40 planners instead of the planned 20. “Our hope is that we can begin next steps and grow this grass roots conversation to create some solid information, training and more.” She is soliciting volunteers from the group that attended—and other interested planners—to create a committee to move the effort forward.
Her goal is far-reaching: “We already have some strategies, ideas to get to the next level. We will make this a part of the RFP for planners and a part of the CSR for all hotels in Toronto—someday!”
The breakfast outcomes and resource sheets are are available to planners by contacting her at [email protected].
