New Features Launched For Global Online Meeting Community

New York City, NY October 24, 2006- The Meetings Community (MeCo), a virtual resource environment for planning professionals, announced the launch of its Job Board today, providing new opportunities for the event planning, meeting, and hospitality industries globally.

The top event planners and representatives worldwide have been meeting on MeCo, since its inception in February 2006, to network, job search, discuss and exchange ideas about the planning industry. This cyber community acts as a valuable resource for individuals involved in all aspects of planning events, including meeting, convention, incentive and trade show professionals and suppliers.

"This job board is just one of many new and innovative features we have added to MeCo. We have a spectacular group of moderators who are constantly looking for new, creative ways to support our members," says Dan Parks, President & Creative Director of Corporate Planners Unlimited and Monday Moderator for MeCo.

It’s no surprise that MeCo has experienced such a tremendous membership expansion over the past 6 months. To date, they have approximately 900 active members, representing established companies and planning specialists on every continent. With so many benefits, professionals still can’t believe it’s totally free. “MeCo has provided a sense of community and support that is rare in today's impersonal, fast-paced industry,” says Andrea Gold, President of Gold Stars Speakers Bureau.

“The list has provided surprising and useful resources for me, such as a car service in Seattle,” Gold admits. “On top of the business benefits; MeCo has also contributed to some growing friendships between members. This is a terrific service that the MeCo creators and moderators are offering!”

The MeCo website allows its users to gain free access to the best resources for event planning on the internet. Some of the user-friendly job board features added this month at MeCo include:

> Advanced/detailed job search options. Instead of getting miscellaneous job hits, job seekers get the jobs that really interest them.

> Companies are now welcome to post contract work. This is a great benefit for independent contractors seeking employment.

> Job Seekers and Employers can save, organize, and maintain records online for future contact and reference.

> Companies have the ability to conduct advance searches discretely, while remaining anonymous. This feature allows companies to review resumes without worrying about the surplus of responses that come from a job posting.

> Job hunters and independent contractors have the option of making their resume “Private” or “Public”.

> Comprehensive resume searches are available for companies seeking employees. Companies can now type in key words and only those resumes that match the criteria will result.

> Custom questions can be added to job postings for more detailed responses.

> Companies can set auto-responders by creating a set of personalized
e-mail messages, to be sent to selected job-seekers.

> Job postings can be activated and deactivated as needed.

The best ongoing feature at MeCo, by far, is that all of its services are completely free. After years of experience in the meeting and hospitality industries, James Louis, Loretta Lowe, Dan Parks, and William Youngs saw a groundbreaking opportunity to connect the planning management community on a global scale. In addition to being free, MeCo was designed so its resources are available to every meeting, event planner, and supplier across the world.

“As a meeting planner for 20 years, I am continually reminded that we can never know enough in this business. MeCo continues to be a lifeline for new information and ways of doing things. There is no way a planner can stay current with what's happening in the industry by reading all the excellent trade publications available, because there just aren't enough hours in the day. MeCo members and messages fill that need,” Jo Angela Maniaci, CMP Special Events Planning, LLC.

For more information on how to join MeCo, please visit www.meetingscommunity.org .

About The Meetings Community (MeCo)
The Meetings Community (MeCo) is an online resource community for meeting planners and suppliers to discuss the issues surrounding the meeting and hospitality industries. This is a community-owned group for all to share and educate themselves. MeCo is a free service; membership is open to all meeting and event planners and suppliers from around the world and encompasses all aspects of the industry. MeCo was launched to educate and foster the sharing of information on issues that affect meeting and hospitality professionals.


Contact:
Dan Parks
President & CEO of Corporate Planners Unlimited
Monday MeCo Moderator
Phone: 949 289-5002
Email: cpu@corporateplanners.com