Dear Editor
Your editorial comment in the latest Meeting magazine on the word MICE being out of the 90’s and passé – the Academy begs to differ.
The acronym MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) commenced in Asia primarily the Pacific rim about 40 years ago. It caught on swiftly and within a short period of time was adopted by Australia and New Zealand where the term perpetuates. Today MICE is used in designations and departments within a variety of organisations worldwide. The possibility the USA and parts of Europe do not use the word MICE to any great extent does not mean MICE is not flourishing.
MICE encapsulates the four main business group gatherings which although having similar basic planning requirements – progress into significantly distinct and indeed individual requirements that are not possible to ‘lump’ into the unique tasks with the one word of either events, conferences et al.
As an example, it is highly unlikely that an exhibition organiser would even consider themselves as incentive travel programme planners – similarly a conference organiser should not venture into the realms of exhibition organising.
Hence the term is not going away Mr Editor and as for the comparison with little rodents – perish the thought !
EDITOR’S RESPONSE
Dear Helen,
Thank you for your note.
I totally agree with you that MICE is here to stay and, in fact, that was what my editorial about.
As you would have read, I wrote, “Truth be known, I am not a fan term of business events. I don’t feel it adequately describes our industry. It’s a term that works well for meeting planners and professional conference organisers but not for destination management companies. MICE encompasses the four industry segments that it represents. The term has thrived because it’s easy to remember.”
MICE is indeed memorable!
For the full editor’s letter, click here.
