MPI reviews safe industry gatherings in 2021 and looks ahead to a booming meetings landscape in 2022.
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is predicting a comeback for 2022 meetings and events. A new e-handbook discusses a range of successful 2021 industry events including IMEX Americas in November, with more than 8,500 total participants; MPI’s World Education Congress in July, with 1,238 in-person attendees and 574 digital attendees; the SITE Classic in September with around 240 incentive travel pro attendees; and Destinations International annual conference in July with more than 800 in-person attendees and 200 digital attendees.
These safe 2021 gatherings “reveal an industry on a strong recovery trajectory as industry leaders look ahead to a new year.” However, there are challenges ahead. Said MPI President and CEO Paul Van Deventer in an e-book article: “I think our biggest challenge now is proving [in-person events] can be managed in an effective, safe environment. We manage the risk just like we manage risks throughout our day to day lives.” In November 2020, he continued “MPI brought 900 people together for four days and came away with zero trackable cases of COVID. We proved before vaccinations that you could do it safely. There’s been countless examples since then of safe professional meetings. We now need to get together as a single voice and say our industry is a controlled environment where safe meetings can be held with economic benefits.”
Among other MPI takeaways as planners prepare for 2022:
Vaccine-related regulations are expected to continue. 92% of industry professionals reported being fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 in the fall 2021 edition of MPI’s Meetings Outlook survey.
Hybrid meetings and events are part of the planning playbook. “What the pandemic has done is really democratized access to the tools so that it’s now not just your largest medical congress that can actually have hybrid meetings. It’s accessible to all of us,” said Encore CEO Ben Erwin in an e-book article.
Career shifts during the pandemic have brought new opportunities. MPI’s Career Center, launched in April, has thousands of job listings.
Learn more in MPI’s 2022 Ready for Business Meetings and Events e-book, free to download.
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