In a show of support for New Orleans, the AMCinstitute—a trade group for association management companies—has issued a proclamation urging its members to direct meetings business to the Big Easy for the next five years. Additionally, the consortium of association management firms is encouraging its 154 members to put the proclamation in their clients' meeting materials for a trickle-down effect, spreading the word to 4,600 associations. "We saw enormous potential to help in the rebirth of New Orleans by bringing the full weight of the association management company industry—an industry that books more than $1 billion annually in hotel and convention services—to the fore," says AMCinstitute's executive vice president Sue Pine.Pine stresses that the association is not suggesting association management companies should switch already-booked meetings from other cities to New Orleans, and she says placing meetings in New Orleans does not represent a compromise of members' duty to act in their clients' best interests."As always, meeting planners and other executives at AMCs evaluate destination factors such as cost, availability, and seasonal variations," says Pine. "While the site selection process might begin with the AMC recommendation, it ends with the decision by the client association's board."