Behind The Rise of Diversity in the Meetings Industry — Meetings Innovation Report
Photo Credit: Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who delivered a rousing keynote at SXSW about confronting hate. SXSW / Hutton Supancic
Skift Take
The national conversation around the need for more diversity and inclusivity in the technology and advanced industry sectors is moving to the forefront in the meetings industry, as more organizations realize the value of inclusivity to drive success on a global stage.
The Future of Meetings & Events
Inclusivity and diversity were the two big themes at the 31st annual South By Southwest Conference in Austin last week.
I spent a good chunk of my time at Washington, D.C.'s pop-up WeDC House, because I felt that the collaboration there between Mayor Muriel Bowser, the city's economic development and destination marketing organizations, and the local business and cultural communities was setting a new benchmark for positioning a city as a collective innovation ecosystem.
The vision for that was rooted in D.C.'s new "Inclusive Innovation" marketing and economic development strategy, designed to lead the national conversation around the need for more racial and gender diversity and inclusivity in tech. Also interesting, it was the first time I heard a convention bureau in the U.S. say that it wanted to position its city's competitive advantage in the meetings industry squarely on top of its tech sector and other advanced industries.
