Michael Massari - Leading The Way

LEADING THE WAY

Michael Massari to Co-Chair the Meetings Mean Business Coalition

Michael Massari, Chief Sales Officer for Caesars Entertainment, has been unanimously selected as co-chair of the Meetings Mean Business Coalition by its board of directors, effective January 2021. He joins Fred Dixon, President and Chief Executive Officer of NYC & Company, in guiding the coalition through this pivotal time for the meetings industry.

This, Massari noted, is precisely why he wanted to serve as co-chair for the coalition. “Providing strong leadership is more important than ever.”

Together, Massari and Dixon will continue to advance the mission of Meetings Mean Business - promoting and protecting the enduring value that business meetings, trade shows, incentive travel, exhibitions, conferences and conventions bring to people, businesses and the economy.

Massari has dedicated his career to the meetings and travel industry, having served for nearly 20 years as a senior leader for Caesars Entertainment and its 40 first-class properties located in more than 20 U.S. destinations that, together, boast 42,000 guest rooms and 1.9-millionsquare feet of function space.

A valued industry leader, he has helped to steer the Meetings Mean Business Coalition’s strategy and continues to serve as a board member for both the U.S. Travel Association and Meeting Professionals International.

In his new role for Meetings Mean Business, Massari said he will further intensify advocacy efforts among business leaders and policy makers in an effort to raise awareness of the industry’s value, and also to push for the protection and stimulus measures that the meetings and events industry needs.

As co-chair, Massari will encourage industry professionals to become more involved, particularly on a local level. “Be advocates and educators,” he urged. Among his goals for Meetings Mean Business, he said, is advocating a safe return to face-to-face meetings, seeking to ensure that the story of meeting and hospitality industry professionals is better understood, and building up a greater cash position to further strengthen the coalition and enable it to “speak out and bang the drum loudly” the next time difficult circumstances impact the industry in a negative way.

During a recent Zoom meeting hosted by U.S. Travel, Massari expressed that planners and attendees want to meet in-person again, and that the hospitality industry wants to host these groups. With this being the case, he asked, “Where do we go from here?”

Massari explained that the meetings and hospitality industries are poorly understood and urged those in these professions to increase their level of engagement, particularly with regard to advocacy. He added that it is very important to help others understand what those in meetings and hospitality do, as well as the value they bring to their communities and to the economy.

With regard to the strong desire for a return to in-person meetings, he shared his experience at Caesars. “Sales has been a bright spot, as we have booked $300-million in future business over the past 6 months.”

There is a difference between 1,000-square foot, 10,000-square foot and 100,000-square foot venues, he said, and they should be viewed differently, adding, “We need to continue to work hard to convince others that scale, in our industry, is important to consider.”

“Meetings and events can operate safely,” Massari continued. “They are organized at specific times. They are easy to manage and control... Meetings can be held in large spaces with more room to operate and plenty of physical distancing in place.”

“If we can host face-to-face meetings, and we’re confident that we can do it safely, we shouldn’t be shy about telling people,” he asserted.

With regard to the strong desire for a return to in-person meetings, he shared his experience at Caesars.

“Sales has been a bright spot, as we have booked $300-million in future business over the past 6 months.”