On November 10, 2020, IMIA held its first-ever Virtual Annual Meeting. President Dave McIlhagga kicked off the meeting with a summary of IMIA’s 2020 events and milestones, from January’s forum in Washington, D.C. and the reception at Stanford’s in London in March to the launch of our new website in September. Pivoting after the pandemic, IMIA shifted the Mapping Leaders Forum to a virtual event.
 
“I think we can all be very proud of the three quality virtual events we were able to put on this fall for our members to help keep us all connected at a time when we needed it most,” said McIlhagga. The recordings from the Virtual Mapping Leaders Forum are available here.
 
Before the business agenda of the Annual Meeting, attendees heard from keynote speaker Bennett Moe of Headwall Media, LLC, immediate past president of IMIA’s Americas group. Moe shared a few thoughts on IMIA’s past achievements and how it is evolving with a rapidly changing industry. Read more here. 
 
The final order of business for the Annual Meeting was to present a new organizational structure for approval by the membership. The proposal to unite the separate IMIA regional groups (Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific) into one structure was voted upon and approved by the membership. The board will also be restructured to now have up to 12 board seats at any time for the organization. These will be two-year positions with half of the positions rotated every year. This restructuring will allow for new leadership opportunities. The position of president will also serve in a two-year term and will be selected by the board. Immediate presidents will continue to as non-voting advisory board members after their term is complete.
 
In the next few weeks, IMIA will be creating a new slate of officers for member approval and seeking volunteers for various committees. For those members who have not participated in the board or committees in the past, these will be a chance to engage with peers as well as career development opportunities. McIlhagga concluded the meeting by saying that the new organizational structure and volunteer opportunities are “going to be a growth area for our membership, sponsorship and frankly for engagement in the broader industry.”