GMID attempt to break the Guinness World Record
Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) is an initiative created by Meetings Mean Business (MMB) designed to be an international forum for advocacy, awareness and celebration for the meetings & events industry. Each year, event professionals from around the globe come together to raise the collective voice of the community. Many events were set to take place on April 14, but in 2020, GMID will look very different. After the announcement of postponement of all live events for GMID due to COVID-19, a group of event professionals connected by their passion for the industry and their social media accounts, decided to create a platform to deliver positivity and hope to the highly affected event industry. And that is how, with a tweet from Anh Nguyen, Principal and Founder of Spark Event Management, the project “GMID Goes Virtual” was born. The group of organizers includes over 50 international event professionals, all volunteering their time and skills to offer an opportunity to connect, and a platform to share a message of resilience with their colleagues.
On April 14, 2020, thousands of event professionals will gather online to celebrate the tenacity and perseverance of the people that make up this industry. GMID Goes Virtual will attempt to bring together 15,000+ industry peers from all over the world for a 30minute, interactive virtual event to break the Guinness World Record for Largest Audience for a Virtual Conference, all while connecting a community that needs a spark of positivity and to look forward to the future.
“GMID Goes Virtual is the online alternative event that all meetings professionals should attend and support on April 14th to show the world that event professionals are still connecting, collaborating and advocating for the importance of the global meetings and live events industry”
Anh Nguyen explains.
The Event
The free, interactive session is designed to provide attendees with a forum to have their voices heard while contributing to valuable industry research. It is set to take place at 12 PM EDT. To break the Guinness World Record for Largest Audience for a Virtual Conference, 15,000 attendees must be connected for 30 minutes.
Industry Support
The online gathering will be hosted by Meetings Mean Business, Meetings Mean Business Canada, and Meetings Mean Business India. Many industry organizations have come together to support the idea, including Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the International Live Event Association (ILEA), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), IAPCO, the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE Global), the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IEAA), CO-CAL, and many other industry leaders.
About Meetings Mean Business Canada
Meetings Mean Business is the single advocacy voice of the meetings industry in Canada. Our key focus is to communicate the importance of these business events to stakeholders across the country in order to promote investment to ensure our industry prospers. Through our relationship with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), we communicate the economic and social value of face-to-face meetings and business events to elected officials at all levels of government. This is intended to assist our leaders in government as they shape policy and legislation to grow the industry across Canada. www.meetingsmeanbusiness.ca