AMCs Engaged: The New Normal. What Now?  was hosted June 5-7 in Oklahoma City, OK. Focused on tackling some of the most critical issues facing AMCs – workforce, technology, and client management - Engaged provided valuable education and practical strategies for AMCs to bring back to their teams and clients. In addition to education, Engaged attendees also were able to engage in meaningful networking, celebrate excellence in the industry, and even have a little bit of fun with AMCI Industry Partners. 

Below are some highlights of AMCs Engaged.

Exciting Updates from IMEX Frankfurt 2023

IMEX Frankfurt is where the global meetings, events and incentive travel industry comes together annually for the largest trade show of its kind in Europe. From May 23 - 25, thousands of meeting planners, supplies, and others converge on the Messe Frankfurt to network, meet, get educated, and potentially buy/sell meeting planning services, destinations or software.

In order to help broaden and increase awareness of the AMC Model on an international level, AMCI has been active with IMEX for years. Part of this effort includes bringing a group of AMCI members as hosted buyers to participate. In 2023, AMCI expanded its participation at IMEX in several exciting ways.

AMCI's Annual Meeting is just ONE WEEK away! We are excited to be joining over 180 AMCI members as we gather together at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Together we will be inspired by amazing keynotes, educated by our speaker peers, and we will build long lasting relationships as we network with each other. Additionally, we anticipate being filled with amazing food, desserts, and drinks, all while being in one of the most beautiful locations to hold meetings. And we haven't even covered everything that will be happening next week. For those who are attending, this will be a meeting that will be long remembered.

For those who have not yet registered, there is still a little time left to register.

If you are attending, please remember to check your Know Before You Go email for relevant information on:

After a rollercoaster of a year, ranging from re-openings and rescheduled events to the Delta variant surge, no one was sure what this Fall might bring. Would anyone be willing to take a risk to travel for a face-to-face event? And of those who might come, would they be willing to follow stricter health guidelines?       

After a very successful AMCs Re-Engaged, we can give a resounding YES! to both of those questions.  As an industry we should be proud that we are agile, adept, and responsive regardless of the circumstance. You have proven that we can have both a safe and engaging in-person event.

The verdict is in – AMCI’s new education tract – HITT on Demand – was a big success at this year’s Annual Meeting. Like throwing down an intense, fast workout, our High Intensity Interval Training sessions provide microlearning and soft skill opportunities on hot topics designed to enlighten and inspire AMC executives.

Dear AMCI Membership,

Many of us have watched as our industry wrestles with when and how to meet safely again. When the AMC Institute staff team worked with our industry partners to suggest shifting the Annual Meeting to June 2021, I know that the members of the Board took a collective deep breath and agreed to move forward. At the time we needed to make that decision, a relative handful of U.S. residents had received the vaccine, with no clear path forward for mass vaccination.

Dear AMCI Member,

Yes, the rumors you have heard are true! We are optimistically moving forward with an in-person meeting, June 2-4, 2021 at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Resort, Orlando, Florida.

The decision to shift this meeting to June rather than convene in February virtually was based on the clear message voiced by our AMC members.  The AMC community is universally challenged by today’s ever-changing landscape.  You are in search of solutions and best practices that will set your firm up for success in meeting the needs of your clients today and in the future.  Yesterday is old news.  Your association clients are looking to you for thought leadership on how to drive past adversity toward stability and growth.  With your insight, AMCI’s Annual Meeting Committee has carefully designed Universal Change and the Evolving AMC: Innovation. Culture. Profit., a 2021 Annual Meeting that will push us all past our 2020 pivot! 

The word of the year for successful associations? Pivot.

For AMPED and our association clients who rely on annual conferences and trade shows to deliver education and grow membership, 2020 was a chance to explore virtual meeting options, try something new without fear of failure, and, yes, pivot.

It started in March, when the pandemic stay-at-home orders hit just weeks before the annual conference of one of our newest association clients. Staff immediately moved the meeting online and partnered with a virtual platform company to deliver four days of education with both live and prerecorded content. The result was a successful event whose net income was 28 times higher than was budgeted for the original in-person meeting!

ALHI’s goal is to lead the way in 2021 by demonstrating how face-to-face meetings can happen safely without sacrificing engaging on-site experiences.

Since July, ALHI hosted nine face-to-face meetings across the United States that served as learning labs for upcoming events. The meetings offered unique opportunities to observe and participate in new room settings, food and beverage setups, and safety measures, along with virtual experiences.