A New Acronym Is Born: Link – Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge

Over the years, it has been common to hear association leaders, meeting planners, and people from convention bureaux, venues, and PCOs say that collectively, we were not an industry; we were all part of an ecosystem. In my view, that’s true, and it’s a major weakness. After all, if we can’t even define ourselves as a coherent industry, we also lack cohesion. This all makes it much more challenging to communicate what we do and why it’s important.

An industry by many names has no name  The challenge in defining our industry was always that there were numerous disparate moving parts, different types of organisations with widely varying priorities, motivations, and perspectives. We weren’t really part of the “meetings industry” because that mostly referred to the supply side. Corporations and associations held meetings, but these meetings were considered one of their activities, not their primary purpose. In reality, they were global customers in the meetings industry, which was essentially local.

So, were we the “convention industry?” Well, what about corporate meetings, conferences and exhibitions? The “MICE industry” was always at best a supply-side concept; associations and corporations weren’t part of it, they were users of it, and it was always primarily about tourism.

For a long time, many have been referring to the “Business events industry.” I have a historical perspective on the origins of that because I was chairing a meeting in Sydney over 20 years ago, where we decided that name should refer to our industry, and thus was born the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA), which is now part of the Australian Business Events Association (ABEA). However, in retrospect, that expression is problematic as well. All types of gatherings can be considered events, but not all events are business-related, unless, again, you are looking at it from a supplier’s perspective.

What is the value proposition?  In the past, the question over how to refer to our industry has been more driven by people from the supply side. Destination promoters and suppliers have long sought to define and communicate the ‘industry’ and its value proposition, in the hope of securing the government support they need at the local level to achieve success. Traditionally, that value proposition was about attracting people to the destination who left money behind, essentially linking the benefit to tourism. That too was a weak position for a couple of reasons. First, in many places, tourism was not a star player in the local economy. Second, even if it was a star player, tourism was just a piece of a much bigger pie and therefore in the end just a small piece of a small piece of a pie. Ultimately, using that logic, meetings were only important because they had a relatively modest incremental impact on tourism.

Over the past few decades, a movement has emerged to better define the actual value of meetings and events. The concepts of ‘beyond tourism impacts’ and ‘legacies’ took hold as a way to frame the broader value of the ‘industry.’ The Iceberg was established as a communication platform to build understanding and support for the industry by communicating a broader and more meaningful value proposition. The message is inevitably complicated. Meetings and events can be transformative for all kinds of communities, from professional to local, regional, and national. The transformation can be economic, social and environmental.

That it is not just about meetings per se, but also about knowledge exchange, building global networks, advancing science and medicine and, well, actually every field of endeavour under the sun.

Nobody knows what to think about us, but they are definitely thinking about IT  While we can frame the messaging in a way that communicates all of that clearly and concisely, there is still no consensus on how we even refer to our industry. Our industry is astonishingly important, comprising a diverse mix of stakeholders who can’t agree on its name. If we don’t know what to call our own industry, how could we possibly expect people who aren’t in our industry to understand what it’s all about or how important it is?

High tech is a good example of how an industry can effectively be framed. People around the world recognise that technology has a significant impact on their daily lives. That industry has an acronym everyone knows: IT. Governments worldwide are focused on developing their IT industries.

Like IT, we want governments to prioritise our industry as a means to achieve their objectives. Since our industry can have a positive impact on the work of any government ministry, we want all ministers to take an interest. We want them to understand that building the strength of their city, state or nation in our industry is key to their global trade and intellectual engagement. We need them to realise that our industry is an essential part of achieving their future visions. In fact, our industry can even help them build their IT industry among many others. But then we say we’re in the meetings industry, and they understandably want us to speak with their Tourism Minister.

If we had a meaningful name for our industry, it would need to be relevant to all the moving parts, compelling, and easy to remember and understand. It needs to be something governments at all levels could relate to and include in their policy statements. Ideally, it would be something that trips off the tongue. However, before suggesting a possible solution, I need to introduce a concept that is highly relevant to both governments and our industry, as well as to this question.

The quadruple helix  An AI search will provide you with information about the quadruple helix. In short, it’s a model that relates to economics, public policy, and innovation. The quadruple helix is an extension of the triple helix model, which is based on the theory that collaboration between government, academia, and industry is the most efficient way to drive innovation. The quadruple helix introduces civil society, including professional and trade associations, as a fourth critical element. It recognises that innovation also requires a response to societal needs, values and real-world challenges.

The government provides policy and investment, corporations offer business know-how, strategic acumen and investment, universities provide research, analysis, and theoretical frameworks, and associations offer international perspectives, expertise, applied knowledge and insights on global best practices. The quadruple helix is a match made in heaven. It actually defines what our industry is all about and is aligned with the modern thinking of progressive governments.

Could we be the Link industry?  Link is an interesting word. It can be a noun, as in a link or nexus between people or things. It can be a verb, meaning to connect things. The quadruple helix is a model that seeks to link the four key engines of innovation. Our industry is all about connections at every level.

One of the everyday things about our ‘industry’ is that it’s all about linking people and innovation. Our industry is fundamentally about collaboration and coordination. Associations aim to link their members through shared knowledge and networks. Corporations seek to link with the innovation and markets that associations and exhibitions offer. Academia is seeking research connections and links to other parts of the academic ecosystem as a path to scholarly innovation and grant opportunities.

Governments pursue policies that are strengthened by their links to the helix, and our industry can connect their local helix to global ones. Destination promoters aim to link their hospitality suppliers and event planners. By doing so, these events also provide links for local civil society, academia, corporations and government to access global knowledge and networks for building local capacities, trade, and achieving social progress.

Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge (LINK)  Link might also be used as a meaningful and powerful acronym. Ultimately, building networks and knowledge is the fundamental purpose of our industry. Leveraging those networks and that knowledge is where meetings and events play a crucial role.

Indeed, innovation is possible in a closed system. However, history has shown that collaboration across borders is a powerful accelerator of innovation. Yes, people can create things in their own labs. But, likely many of the tools, methods, background knowledge and theories that enabled them to discover or invent new things came from outside their own labs.

Doctors and scientists have been leveraging knowledge, insights, and revelations from the scientific community long before any of them attended university. They continue to leverage throughout their careers through collaborative efforts and participation in societies. Leveraging communities of interest and corporate sponsorship is the lifeblood of associations. Their members, in turn, leverage the associations for knowledge and networks. Corporations may be charitable, but in most instances, they sponsor association activities because they can leverage them for commercial gain. Universities and R&D facilities are leveraging meetings to develop research links or to connect to funders.

Governments are increasingly recognising that hosting meetings and events is a powerful and high-value strategy for fostering global trade and intellectual engagement. Leveraging a global helix instead of just operating in a local one offers pathways to new talent, investment, sector development, exports, social and environmental policy improvements, improved health and public welfare …and the list goes on.

Yes, there are other means of leveraging global networks and accessing global knowledge. Still, few would disagree with the premise that actually getting people together is the most powerful way to do that. But meetings are not the industry. Meetings are a platform, albeit the most efficient one, utilised by the Link industry.

The Link industry uses meetings to leverage global communities, bringing them together to power its engine room. Hosting these meetings is an opportunistic strategy for local communities to capitalise on that leverage. It is essentially a way of leveraging other people’s successful leveraging efforts. When you think about it, that’s a truly powerful concept.

Here is where the destination promoters come in. Convention bureaux and their industry partners, including venues, PCOs, hotels, and service providers, are the supply chain partners that enable a local stake in the Link industry. They are the conduit through which regional and global Link industries connect and are essential to the growth and success of the Link industry.

So, when you think about it, every player in our industry is linking and leveraging international networks and knowledge, which fundamentally drives it.

The Iceberg is currently transitioning from being primarily a communications platform to becoming a support mechanism for building a global movement that has “one message, many voices.” Developing a simple, compelling and memorable way to refer to our industry would simplify that challenge enormously. That could be the “Link industry” or something similar.