MIA membership hits new high

Meetings Industry Association reveals record membership at AGM.

Membership of the Meetings Industry Association (mia) has hit a record high after experiencing continued growth through 2018. 

Chair Kay England revealed at the association’s recent Annual General Meeting that the mia now boasts 804 members. Membership grew 30 per cent in the first half of the last financial year, from 475 members in September 2017 to 618 in August 2018 and has risen 70 per cent overall in the last 18 months. 

England said the growth was an “amazing achievement” and would “continue to strengthen the representation and voice of the mia in the business meetings and events industry”.

The success of the mia’s events programme was also highlighted. The association ran 28 events in 2018, including the first Destinations Summit and Sales HIIT, with a total of 1,118 members benefiting from attending. The mia’s networking Agents’ Day also won critical acclaim by securing a coveted Silver at the Association Excellence Awards 2018. 

England said: “We know this is very much valued by our members as it enables them to train and develop their staff in a cost-effective way using our team of handpicked professionals.”

Delivering his financial report treasurer Ivor Turner revealed income had grown 11.8 per cent in the last year and that the association had had an “excellent year in development and growth”.  

“The Association is financially stable, is able to meet all of its commitments and has plans in place to deliver benefits and services to its members for the foreseeable future,” he said. 

Looking at the year ahead, Jane Longhurst said the development and launch of a new membership communication system was set to improve engagement between members and drive industry discussion around topics of choice, while re-modelling of the mia’s accreditation scheme AIM was underway to encourage venue operators to move forward to the very highest levels of operational excellence. 

She said: “We are looking forward to a year of delivery of major projects, events and exceptional customer service to make sure that our members are enjoying the best we are able to offer.” 

The AGM also saw the appointment of the mia council for 2019/2020. Kay England, Chief Executive of Imago Venues, continues as Chair while Nick Milne and Ivor Turner remain as Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer respectively.   

Other council members for 2019/20 include: venuedirectory.com’s Tim Clark, 15Hatfields’ Warren Campbell, One Wimpole Street’s Nigel Collett, Park Plaza London Riverbank’s Rob Flinter, Riviera International Conference Centre’s Nicky Harding, Weetwood Hall’s Martin Hicks, Wyboston Lakes’ Steve Jones, Cavendish Venue’s Paul Martins, Newcastle Gateshead Convention Bureau’s Paul Szomoru and QEII Centre’s Mark Taylor.