The Boys and the Brash: MPI Study Looks at How Events, Meetings Can Serve Diverse Guests

Event planners already know it’s tough to meeting the diverse needs of diverse attendees, but MPI has stepped in to help. The association has just released a study that offers both benchmarking statistics for meeting planners as well as crowd-sourced practices to maximize diversity and inclusion at events. The findings are reported by our sister publications group, MeetingsNet:

Titled "State of Inclusion in Meetings & Events"  and conducted in partnership with New York University’s Jonathan M. Tisch School of Hospitality, the report addresses a wide range of categories by which attendees can be considered for purposes of ensuring full inclusion at events. Specifically, MPI examined attendee factors such as physical ability, health, culture, demographic characteristics, personal characteristics, and professional background.

For instance, the results from 1,087 responding planners showed, unsurprisingly, that males and extroverts are best served by the meetings and events industry, while introverts are least served. To remedy this, the report recommends that meeting professionals use technology to ask questions in different ways during sessions and use assigned seating at meal events in order to better engage and serve introverts.  

Other research results include:  20 percent of respondents say they implement diversity and inclusion initiatives to comply with legal requirements, while 31 percent use diversity and inclusion initiatives to respond to guest expectations ... MeetingsNet