MIA's Shonali Devereaux: “The events industry needs a mum”
A year into her role as CEO of The Meetings Industry Association (MIA) Shonali Devereaux talks to M&IT about the ongoing pressures facing events and her plans to support the association, its members and the wider sector in 2026
It’s been a busy 12 months for Shonali Devereaux, as she adjusted to the role of CEO of the Meetings Industry Association (MIA). But despite fulfilling all the usual tasks involved in leading the association that supports and grows the business meetings and events industry, Devereaux found time to listen – to the MIA’s 728 members, to other associations and the wider industry.
It hasn’t been a passive process – Devereaux and her team at the MIA have spent the past year asking MIA members important questions, held forums and awards, and engaged in industry events - but she says taking time to listen to and understand the industry’s challenges was important. It has provided ‘a more complex view of where to add value’, a key part of her vision outlined when she started the role.
“The industry right now is going through an awful lot, so the first year [in the role as CEO] was about finding out what the industry’s issues are and supporting the industry with them,” she says. “It’s an ongoing journey but we’ve become more agile and responsive as an organisation.
“It has also been business as usual in that landscape, because we’re about delivering value to our members, through Connect Days, guidance, accreditation and everything else, so trying to get into the issues while doing that has meant a really busy year.”
Collaboration
What has Devereaux learnt from listening to the industry this past year? And more importantly, what areas will she be focusing on in the next 12 months to add value?
“Collaboration will be one of the key buzzwords that I will be using this year,” she says. “We’ve seen a lot of change in the events industry in the last year. We’ve seen a lot of mergers, so I think collaboration will help us overcome the pressures.”
Devereaux has already started the ball rolling in this area. She introduced monthly association meet-ups last year, uniting associations representing members in different areas of the business events sector.
“We found a lovely spirit of what I like to call co-opetition. This hybrid between understanding where we are in competition, but also that co-operation makes us stronger,” she says.
Representation
Devereaux has also fought for better understanding and representation of the events industry outside it.
The MIA joined the All Party Parliamentary Group for Events (APPG) as a corporate member in May. Then in June, Devereaux hosted representatives from DCMS and DBT at The Meetings Show, which she said helped them better understand the industry and its challenges.
“But then they both moved on to other jobs in September, so you feel the conversation has to start again and again,” she laments.
Hope is not lost, however, Devereaux is positive about the ongoing membership with the APPG ‘which at least helps us have some consistency’ and there are plans to spearhead an MP campaign.
Support
Advocacy is important to the MIA, but guiding and supporting its members is where its greatest focus lies, says Devereaux, whose listening ear has honed her attention on what matters most: understanding the industry’s issues, finding best practice and solutions and disseminating them to help members raise standards.
“I felt after our ‘why’ session held at the start of the year, that we operate best when we can provide guidance and support,” she explains. “Because for all the co-opetition we have and all the meetings we have, the industry does feel lonely sometimes. People question what they’re doing over there in their venue or agency and wonder how others are doing it.”
Devereaux says the session led her to conclude that the meetings industry ‘needs a mum’ – meaning a guiding light and a safe space, rather than a maternal figure.
“I’m not saying I’m the mum, that’s far too egotistical,” she adds, “but I'm suggesting that associations are these safe places for people to connect.”
Raising standards
One of the MIA’s major aims is to raise industry standards, which is does through its accreditation scheme, MIA Accreditation.
It will be a ‘big focus’ for the association in the next 12 months, says Devereaux.
“In the spirit of co-opetition, in the meeting I had with beam and ABPCO, they said ‘we feel those standards are important too’ so they are going to be on a working group helping me to improve the standards across the industry,” she adds.
“I’m very excited about that because then you don’t feel like a lone wolf. I feel like the whole industry is behind me.”
So how does she summarise her first year at the helm of the good ship MIA?
“The journey is still ongoing, but I feel like we’ve made a solid start.”
