Conference Planner Groups and Associations You Need to Know

Talk to anyone in the conference industry and you hear again and again: “It’s a relationship business.”

It’s all about connecting. Planners rely heavily on their relationships to make recommendations about new hotels and suppliers, as well as leadership for clients or jobs.

Building industry relationships can be difficult when many planners work remotely. For those who are unable to perform live events, many industry groups actually meet, and some have sapp groups or slack channels. The major industry associations also have local chapters, which is a great place to start building a network of planners and suppliers in your area. In addition, there are informal online groups that meet online and in person and are known for their strong community.

Here are industry associations, online groups and communities where you can start building your network.

Industry Association

1. Conference International Professionals (MPI)
   Dallas

   MPI is one of the largest conference and event professionals, with 17,000 “engaged” members in 24 countries, with 90 chapters and clubs. Its main convention is WEC, which rotates between cities every summer. Online, planners will find a membership directory with information about their several certificate programs, career centers, and more.

2. INational Live Broadcasting Association (ILEA)
   McLean, Virginia.

   ILEA’s 2,000 members are creative event professionals from 35 countries. It hosts annual conferences, regular webinars, and is known for its most outstanding live events in the industry.

3. Professional Conference Management Association (PCMA)
   Chicago

   PCMA regards itself as “the world’s largest community of business event strategists, providing advanced education, networking and market intelligence to the global business event industry, with 8,400 members in 59 countries. In 2020, it acquired the leading community-based event marketing association (CEMA) for B2B event marketers.

4. Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)
   Alexander, Will.

   GBTA is the largest member-centric organization in the commercial travel industry, with 8,500 travel manager members, some of whom plan meetings. The association provides the basics of online courses for strategic conference management, and its conference and event committees are known for their thought leadership.

5. Association of conference professionals
   Washington, DC

   AMP is an intimate group of 250 conference professionals who gather for local conferences, community outreach and annual golf tournaments.

Niche Association

1. Inspire Travel Learning (onsite)
   Chicago

   The website members are 2,900 inspiring travel professionals located in 90 countries, working in companies, agents, airlines, cruise companies, and throughout the destination supply chain. In addition to its annual meetings, the organization is known for rewarding industry research, and is led by a site foundation.

2. Association of Government Conference Professionals (SGMP)
   Clifton, Virginia.

   SGMP is specifically targeted at individuals planning and implementing government meetings, with nearly 1,500 members in 18 chapters and 3 satellite chapters.

3. National Black Conference Professionals Alliance (NCBMP)
   Alexander, Will.

   NCBMP is primarily committed to the training needs of African American conference planners with 1,500 members. Partnerships with MPI provide members with special benefits, including access to MPI’s network and resources.

4. LGBT Conference Professionals Association (LGBT MPA)
   Alexander, Will.

   LGBT MPA is the leading voice of the LGBTQIA2+ global event community. It has a community of 2,200 members.

5. Financial and Insurance Conference Professionals
   Chicago

   FICP focuses only on the insurance and financial services industry, with over 700 conference professionals and 650 hotel partners.

6. Religious Conference Management Association (RCMA)
   Indianapolis

   RCMA is the only multi-faith, non-profit, international association whose members are religious conference planners.

1. LinkedIn Groups

Although the LinkedIn community isn’t as popular as it used to be, there are still some people in the event industry that are worth seeing. Some groups are private and planners need to apply to join. Several active groups are event professionals, event people, event planners and coordinators.

2. Facebook Group

The popular group of planners on Facebook is Event Integrity, chaired by long-time conference industry leader Joan Eisenstodt; the National Group of Conference Planners; Rotary Planners (members only); and the UK-based group The Vereg Wranglers (which also has Facebook for planners in the United States and Canada). Everyone is private and the planner is required to apply to join.

Skift conferences are also active on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.

Community

1. Club I

Club Ichi sees itself as “the number one for B2B event marketers to build connections.” Free memberships are available for access to Content and Conversations. Upgraded membership will access Slack channels and live events throughout the year.

2. Activity Leader Communication (ELX)

Elx is a community of senior event leaders from Fortune 500 brands worldwide. Member is
By acceptance only. The group provides roundtables, benchmark reports and leadership
lsummits.

3. Ten collectives

Ten collectives focus on independent planners, providing gatherings, planners and
Other resources, such as template libraries and contract terms databases, reach 200
member. The conference has no sponsorship and no sales agenda.

4. Circle of event professionals and competitors grouping

Vendry and Gromize’s “Circle” Slack channel offers free, well-curated discussions on the event
Professionals work on topics, from work to speakers to venues and suppliers. (like
Published, accepted only on the waiting list. )

Many industry associations also provide their own online communities for members. for
For example, MPI has a community targeting small business owners, women, administration
Professionals and other niche groups.