JMIC calls for case studies to bolster research on industry achievements

The Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC) has issued a call for case studies to help it identify and document events that illustrate the broader economic, academic and professional achievements of global meetings. The Council is launching a research programme to be overseen by a group of academic partners led by the University of Technology Sydney. “The focus of our value proposition as an industry has been shifting from one based on delegate and organiser spending to the value of what these events actually achieve for organisers, participants and host communities,” said JMIC president Joachim Koenig. The challenge, said Koenig, was to quantify or monetise events that were often long term and based on things like the benefits of knowledge transfer and relationship-building. “A solid set of case studies that illustrate what such events achieve is the best possible way to illustrate the value principles, and that is the purpose of this programme,” he said. The outputs and legacies to be identified and quantified in the study could potentially cover a wide spectrum, JMIC believes, from the value of business transactions arising from an event, to medical advancements like improved disease awareness and treatment practices. The benefits that hosting events can deliver to the host community will also be explored. “We cannot possibly quantify the range of benefits arising from every event that takes place around the world so our idea is to instead provide in-depth analyses of representative events that illustrate these, and use them to demonstrate the broader principles,” Koenig added. “The events that are documented in this manner will get a great deal of attention, which will bring appropriate credit to those who organised and delivered them, and give us a much stronger basis for communicating with governments and communities about why they should support these kinds of activities in their own interests.” The Council is now seeking out events that have or can be measured against their objectives in ways that illustrate the above factors to serve as key case studies. “We have all been hearing about good examples for many years – now is the time to get these on the table and capture these examples in ways that will enable us to demonstrate the broader values to the rest of the world,” said Koenig. Further information: www.themeetingsindustry.org