From shoes to computer chips to automobiles, the globalization of commerce is a reality - and a quantifiable one at that. According to the World Trade Organization, countries around the world annually exchange more than $9 trillion in merchandise.  Global trade has become an economic necessity. But there is another kind of global trade - the exchange of knowledge that takes place at face-to-face meetings - that's more difficult to put a price tag on. As the world becomes ever more interconnected and interdependent, fields such as science, technology, and medicine share an urgent need for this exchange to take place.

Our three cover stories approach this international knowledge exchange from both sides of the spectrum: attracting international attendees to meetings on our soil, and executing meetings abroad. Each is rife with challenges for meeting professionals.

Many associations struggle to not only attract international attendees and presenters to U.S. meetings, but to walk them through what has often become an arduous process to get here (see p. 32). Plus, they need to fight the global perception that we are not a nation that welcomes people from other countries. The effect of that negative perception can be quantified: In the past few years, a 17 percent decline in international arrivals = $90 billion in lost revenue (see p. 79).

When we plan meetings abroad, we need to fight another unfortunate perception: the "Ugly American" stereotype, the tourist who doesn't have an interest in or respect for other cultures, who acts as if ours is the only way to conduct business. Organizations holding a meeting in an international destination can buck that stereotype by educating their U.S. attendees about that society's mores before they arrive (see p. 44).

In many cases, surmounting these issues is crucial. It's not an overstatement to say lives hang in the balance. Who knows how many lives will be saved because an incredibly difficult meeting to organize on AIDS was successfully executed in Rwanda? (See p. 51.)

In the spirit of going beyond our borders for inspiration, we headed across the pond to interview British journalist and innovation expert Charles Leadbeater for this month's Leading by Example (see p. 62). What he has to say about the power of collaboration holds great significance for associations and meetings.