When they attend meetings, delegates typically go home with new knowledge, connections, and contacts. What they bring to the meeting, however, can be just as powerful as what they take away from it, according to meeting professionals Shawna Suckow, founder of the Senior Planners Industry Network (SPIN), and Colleen Abernethy, owner of Platinum DMC Collection.
Inspired by a trip they took together in 2013, the pair last week launched a new nonprofit initiative called the Empty Suitcase Campaign, which leverages meeting attendees to collect everyday items for people in need around the globe.
"We were planning a trip to Nepal in 2013, and heard of a doctor there who offers an annual eye clinic in a remote area and needed used prescription eyeglasses," Suckow said. "Through Colleen's connection with the Lion's Club, we brought a suitcase filled with over 200 pairs with us."
Added Abernethy, "The feeling that overcame us after we met the doctor and left with that empty suitcase was so gratifying. Sometimes it feels better coming home with an empty suitcase rather than a full one."
Here's how the Empty Suitcase Campaign works: Planners visit the campaign's website, which features a list of destinations around the world and everyday items that are in need there, compiled with the help of local destination management companies (DMCs). When they're organizing a meeting in a listed destination, planners can order foldable duffle bags for attendees and distribute them before the event, instructing delegates to fill the bags with needed items and bring them to the meeting. Attendees also can pack items directly into their luggage. Planners then work with local DMCs, convention and visitors bureaus, or tourist boards to identify the best channels to distribute collected items to people who need them.
Said meeting planner Doug Chorpenning, founder of Wet Paint Creative Group, who partnered with Suckow and Abernethy to launch the Empty Suitcase Campaign, "The web site is self-perpetuating, with suppliers and planners providing lists of items needed all around the world, and then sharing their success stories to inspire other planners."
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