“You have to think big to drive economic success,” Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, the world’s largest software company, told an IMEX America press conference this week.
The man who turned around the fortunes of the giant corporation, made a passionate defence for the power of the international meetings industry and said the sector was “finally at a stage where we are playing offence and not defence”.
Interviewed live by Kevin Olsen, at a conference promoted by the US Meetings Means Business (MMB) coalition, McDermott promised to lobby for the industry’s interests at the highest level and said “growth is the key not streamlining”.
McDermott, who’s book ‘Winners Dream’ is published this week, shared many lessons from his career as an entrepreneur in building an initial business with a US$7,000 loan and then leading Xeroox as its youngest ever corporate officer.
Olsen told the audience that more corporate executives were needed with “this mindset”.
Dave Peckinpaugh from Maritz Travel, Co-Chair of the MMB coalition added that he was “excited” by the progress of the organisation in recent months which, he said, had harnessed the backing of all leading US trade associations and was making a clear case to government of the power of meetings.
“We know another crisis is coming,” Peckinpaugh said, “but the big difference is that this time we have a coalition and are prepared”.
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