For courses in meeting, event, exposition and convention planning and management. The expansive growth of the meeting, exposition, event and convention (MEEC) industry within the hospitality industry, communities and college curricula, demands this current, comprehensive introduction to the various segments of the MEEC industry. This broad overview takes advantage of the expertise of many active industry experts. It is the most up-to-date text available and covers a wider range of MEEC topics than any other book on the market.

George G. Fenich is a Professor in the Lester E. Kabacoff School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Administration at the University of New Orleans.

The Meetings, Expositions, Events, and Conventions (MEEC, pronounced like geese) industry continues to grow and garner increasing attention from the hospitality industry, communities, and college faculty. This book is meant to provide a broad overview of this industry and is thus an introduction. It is not meant to provide a hands-on or step-by-step method for handling gatherings in this industry. This book is being produced at this time for a number of reasons. One is the continued growth of this industry. In spite of the economic downturn of late, and the events following the 9/11 disaster, the MEEC segment of the hospitality industry remains resilient. Communities continue to build or expand MEEC venues unabated. The private sector has become a player in convention center construction and operation. People still find a need for face-to-face meetings. The MEEC industry appears to be on a growth curve and of interest to many people, not unlike the casino industry was in the early 1990s. Also, college faculty have indicated a need, and pent-up demand, for a book such as this. The author/editor has been teaching an introductory MEEC course for many years and has found himself having to continually supplement the existing books to make them (1) current and (2) more complete in addressing the various segments of the MEEC industry. Therefore, he began to contemplate the development of a book on the subject. Then, at a meeting of the Convention Special Interest Group at the Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (CHRIE) Convention in 2001, the need for a new text was discussed. The members of this group all noted the need, and the author/editor volunteered to spearhead an effort to put together a new book using faculty and industry experts to write chapters. This book is a culmination of that effort. The result is a text where some of the best and most notable people in the MEEC industry have made a contribution. As you will see, there is a fairly even balance of educators and practitioners among the chapter contributors. The approach to deciding on topics was unusual. Rather than have a list of topics or chapters based on people's willingness to contribute, a more scientific method was used. The author/editor reviewed all existing books, both theoretical and practical, to ascertain which topics to cover: Topics that appeared in more than one text were compiled into a list. Then, a number of meetings were held with educators, and the relative importance of topics was discussed. This led to the development of a comprehensive list of topics. The list was sent to educators and practitioners, who were asked to rank the importance of each topic as either critically important, important, or not important. Results were used to pare down the list, and this iterative voting procedure (Delphi technique) was used to reach the decision as to the topics to include in the book. Meetings, Expositions, Events, and Conventionsshould be of interest to practitioners, educators, students, and the general public. It is the most upto-date book on the MEEC industry and will provide users with an overview of the industry. It is also comprehensive and covers a wider range of MEEC topics than any other book available. It can easily serve as the basis for an introductory college course on the subject or for orientation sessions for new employees in the industry. It should meet the needs of anyone interested in knowing more about the MEEC industry. George G. Fenich, Ph.D.