by Jane Longhurst When you heard the good news last week that the UK economy has finally emerged from recession, did you rush out and buy a new hat, suit, car or house? I doubt it, more than likely you took the 1% rise in GDP with a pinch of salt and set about your daily business of making a living, confident in the knowledge that despite what the men in grey suits say, it hasn’t got much easier in the meetings and events industry. You probably didn’t give yourself a round of applause either, but perhaps you should have done this, simply because you are still here, surviving in business in the face of adversity and austerity; you must be doing something right! mia members are doing something right, simply by pooling resources to benefit from an extensive suite of member benefits that include a knowledge base, regular networking and of course the AIM standard.
Improve your knowledge of the industry, increase your impact and grow your contact base by networking. The mia's series of monthly events, offer you the opportunity to imrove business performance in a number of ways, and our Business Lunches are a great place to get started.
 When the nomination process for the mia-List 2013 coming to an end (It’s time to nominate!), leading meetings and events industry publication, Conference News, has come on board as the list’s media partner.
 The AIM Village returns to Confex 2013, it’s another chance for those with AIM to exhibit at the show, reaching new buyer contacts at a much reduced cost than exhibiting alone and maximising your benefit from AIM accreditation.
Exhibit at Confex for just £2785 (+VAT). The mia’s new online conference call booking system, that makes it easier for our members to talk to us at a time that suits them, launched earlier this month; have you booked a call yet? The system puts you in control, by enabling you to pre-book a conference call with the mia team member best suited to the topic you wish to talk about. It’s open to members and non-members and you can talk about any topic related to mia membership as often as you like. To book a call is easy, simply click here.
 We are advising members that alterations have been made to mia's Meetings Code. These changes are not major, but it is important that mia members are aware of them, to download the new Meetings Code document, log in to the mia members' lounge, click here to go to the members' lounge now. If you have difficulty signing in to the area, please contact the mia team, who can assist. Contact the team by telephone on 0845 230 5508 or email info@mia-uk.org.
 Please complete the QuickPoll, we will publish the results in next month's newsletter. Each time we conduct a QuickPoll it will provide information that is genuinely useful to know. The more people that take part the more useful it is, so please give us your views.
 Conference News is taking a focused look at the AIM standard, its history of development and evolution into the powerful tool and quality standard it is today. As a result, a special AIM Venues Supplement will need input from all AIM accredited venues with a story to tell, by way of illustrating the process involved and the benefits and challenges along the road. The aim (pardon the pun) is to promote AIM and the venues that have it, to an even larger buyer audience.
 AIM venues, suppliers and destinations can exhibit at the industry’s major new show, The Meetings Show UK, with our exclusive AIM Pavilion package. It’s a fantastic way to build awareness and reach new buyers. Places are limited and expected to sell quickly, so do not delay in booking your place.
Exhibit at the Meetings Show for just £3,200 (+ insurance charge and VAT)
by Dannie Cahill, General Manager at Radcliffe, Warwick Conferences
Based in the very heart of the Midlands, Warwick Conferences offers a huge choice of meetings and event space. We have three training and conference centres Scarman, Radcliffe and Arden and each one is equipped with the very latest in audio-visual equipment, first class accommodation, award winning food along with a dedicated, friendly team on hand to take care of our customers’ every last detail.
by Martin Pepper, Managing Director, Maxima Training and Development Ltd
How do you and your team view negotiation? Many people dread this question from the customer ‘is that the best price you can do?’ Often the price is dropped at this point or something else costing you money is included. Or we apologise to the customer and say ‘I’m afraid so.’ As if we feel guilty for demanding a wage for our service.
 A Chance to Quiz the UK Meetings and Events Association Leaders
On 22nd November, Conference News will host a special gathering of industry figures, at Olympia London. The event, entitled Conference Questions Time, will be an opportunity for people from the industry to air their views and put questions to a strong panel of industry association leaders, including Jane Longhurst, mia chief executive.  At last, there's a movie to explain the massive contribution the events industry makes to the lives of people in Britain. Click below to watch the, mia supported, Britain for Events - Events in the Community Motion Pitcure; you can share with your clients and colleagues too.
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