Lead Forensics

Making a Difference: The Meetings Industry’s Contributions to Local Communities

August 29, 2017 Kevin V Edmunds

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As I write this, the city of Houston and its suburbs are still enduring monstrous rain storms from Hurricane Harvey; those places are flooding in a way that residents have not seen in their lifetimes. The flow of people with no personal belongings shuffling into temporary shelters is heartbreaking to see on television.

One large venue that is acting as a main shelter is the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. With hundreds of volunteers and large amounts of bedding, clothing, towels, cleaning supplies and food, the facility is doing its best to accommodate perhaps more than the 4,000 evacuees it is designed to host in emergencies. “At this point, a concern about capacity isn’t the case. The concern is that people who need a high-water rescue can get one,” City of Houston spokesperson Kese Smith told The Washington Post on Monday, August 28 (see the full article about the convention center’s efforts here).

Across the entire hospitality and meetings industry, property managers understand that helping the local community in times of need is simply the proper payback for allowing us to conduct business in that particular town or destination. What’s more, we understand that our employees are local people who lives are equally are affected by negative events in a given area. So at all the properties at AIC Hotel Group we make sure to focus on the needs of each local community we inhabit, plus the needs of our employees. The goal is to maintain a long-term relationship of mutual caring and respect with them.

Besides the efforts of our individual properties, it is also our meeting and incentive customers who contribute in a positive way to each destination. There are numerous social-responsibility programs that can be used as team building events in every destination, and we make sure to connect our business groups to activities they can undertake to bring about a positive result for the people who live there.

Social responsibility is a central element in the meetings and hospitality industry, and rightfully so. AIC Hotel Group will always keep social responsibility top of mind at its properties, and we are happy to partner with our group clients so they can keep it top of mind with their attendees too.

 


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