Advocacy 101: Make a personal connection

Cameron Stevens (left) and Peter Fragiskatos (right)

Cameron Stevens, president of Stevens E3, is determined to raise awareness of the challenges facing Canada's meetings and business events sector. Stevens recently invited local Member of Parliament Peter Fragiskatos, to visit his London, Ont., facility where the company designs and builds innovative exhibits and environments for events.

Stevens had a special mini stage built just for the occasion, made the case for why the federal government needs to support the industry, and shared research and economic stats about the meetings sector, including showing MMBC's "Telling Our Story" video.

"Mr. Fragiskatos recommended that the events/meetings industry collaborate with the hotels and tourism industry to have a common voice to advocate with government," Stevens says. "He made no promises as to what the government could do but did invite [MMBC chair] Clark Grue and myself to make our voices heard at a budget committee briefing that will take place sometime in November. Mr. Fragiskatos agreed that the events industry did not have a strong voice at present, but did recognize that the need for this industry will be great and ongoing for some time to come."