Good Stuff from Joan Eisenstodt

It's on my mind - the idea that many people choose to not do the right thing.  They may know what the 'right thing' is and then, because of fear, they choose to either do nothing or do something that they know isn't the best way to go.

What does this have to do with meetings and our industry?

IMO, everything.

Each industry association of the CLC alphabet soup has a code of ethics or the equivalent.  Many people in this industry (and I dare say, many who read this blog and use this site) are members of industry associations.  I've found, in ethics training I've done for industry associations, that few have ever read the codes or have any idea what the language means.

So let's say you are a planner who has sought proposals from a number of DMCs.  You receive and review them.  The proposal from company "A" is fabulous but too expensive.  Besides, you know the people in company "D" a bit better and would rather work with them.  So you think: "What's the harm? I'll give A's proposal to D and see what they can do on cost.

Is that appropriate?

Or in a site search, you think that Hotel "C" is the better fit and their proposed menus and other items are really well priced but their dates are not as good as Hotel "Q" .  You shrug and figure it's a competitive business and give Q the C proposal to match.

Hmmmmm.  Good move?

Economic times are tough - we are all spending more for gas, food, and basic necessities - forget luxuries.  Your expense report is due.  Who really cares if you pad it a bit to get a bit of extra cash .. this month. 

What about next month? And your future?

There are so many issues that we could discuss and consider.  Want to?  If you don't want to post a situation with your name, email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and tell me the issues.

Let's get this out from under the covers and begin to talk about all this openly.

Maybe then, our industry will pay attention to the Codes and we all will consider more carefully the actions we take.