"Conventioneers add charity work to golf and speeches" by Matt Krupnick New York Times November 15, 2016
Many industry conventions now involve more than speeches, golf, and hospitality suites. As new generations of executives and professionals become leaders in their fields, some are emphasizing philanthropy over revelry when they gather for their annual meetings.
“It just feels good,” said James C. Denneny III, the group’s chief executive.
Whatever the professional field, volunteerism is catching on, said William Reed, senior director of meetings and community engagement for the American Society of Hematology and chairman of the board for the Professional Convention Management Association.
The phenomenon is benefiting charities across the country.
The impulse to volunteer is likely to continue as meeting attendees get younger, some experts say. Millennials are less likely than older generations to donate money to philanthropic causes, but seem to enjoy charity work, said Patrick Rooney, associate dean for academic affairs and research at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
“People want to be socially engaged,” Rooney said. “We live in this electronic era where we’re all connected in many ways, but we’re not connected face-to-face.”
And the trend could feed on itself, Rooney indicated, as cities and their convention centers and hospitality industries play up their connections to local charities in competing for the business of meeting planners....
What i$ thi$ about again?
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Related: ‘Rage donations’ become an anti-Trump movement
Also see: Charities Should Be Run Like Corporations
Gee, who do you think wins that fight?
