Meetings Overseas--When Members Won't Go
At a roundtable in one Learning Lab, a hotel business partner asked an association professional why her organization never held meetings outside of the U.S.
She said her members think all foreign travel is a "boondoggle" and an excuse for a "pleasure trip." Do many others still have that problem? Seems so '80s to me. Usually it's a money concern or the hassle over visas or government travel approvals. I'd like to hear what other meeting planners, past or present, would advise to counter this mindset.
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Comments
That sounds like the excuse our meetings department gives for not having any events in Vegas ;)
We have had a few meetings in Canada, but not really branched out anywhere further outside of the US. However, the motivation is there. International members make up 20% of our constituency, and our subject matter is pretty global in nature. We will be colocating our annual meeting in 2010 with a European organization who holds their meetings on every continent. It will be held here in the states, but I have hopes that it may act as a springboard for our events to go further abroad.
I think if you really want to successfully counter this fear then it needs to come from the top down. Globalization and its effects should be on the table for senior management in any association, because even if their membership is entirely domestic, it's rare (at least in my opinion) that in today's connected world you are not having some effect on people and professions outside of the US. If extending your global reach, increasing international membership, and other such goals are part of your organizations overall strategy, then I would expect the initial fears expressed to melt away quickly.
Posted by: Liam O'Malley | August 18, 2008 6:13 PM