Meetings Mean Business

Local hospitality vendors and conference center representatives gathered at SUNY Poly in Utica April 15 to show off their wares, network, and stress the local economic impact of meetings and conferences.

“We travel for business all the time,” Oneida County Tourism President Kelly Blazosky told WKTV. “So my message to think about is that, when you’re sitting in that next meeting or conference, can I bring this meeting home to Oneida County? That’s the real economic impact.”

According to organizers, if all local businesses chose to hold all of their business meetings locally instead of traveling outside the area for events, it could mean upwards of $186 million a year for the local economy.

“With everything that’s going on in our region, the emergence of nanotechnology, growth and development, we want to position ourselves not just on a local stage, but on a global stage,” Ray Durso of The Genesis Group told Time Warner Cable News. “We are open for business and we welcome people to have their business and their events, right here in the Mohawk Valley region.”

Started by the Meetings Mean Business Coalition (MMBC), leaders from across the meeting and event industry first came together to support the inaugural North American Meetings Industry Day (NAMID) in 2015, intending to shine a light on the real impact meetings and events have on businesses, economies and communities. In 2016, North American Meetings Industry Day became Global Meetings Industry Day.

This is the first time the Mohawk Valley has taken part in Meetings Industry Day.