Convention (meeting)

A convention (or event), in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom. Trade conventions typically focus on a particular industry or industry segment, and feature keynote speakers, vendor displays, and other information and activities of interest to the event organizers and attendees. Professional conventions focus on issues of concern along with advancements related to the profession. Such conventions are generally organized by societies or communities dedicated to promotion of the topic of interest. Fan conventions usually feature displays, shows, and sales based on pop culture and guest celebrities. Science fiction conventions traditionally partake of the nature of both professional conventions and fan conventions, with the balance varying from one to another. Conventions also exist for various hobbies, such as gaming or model railroads.

Conventions are often planned and coordinated, often in exacting detail, by professional meeting and convention planners, either by staff of the convention's hosting company or by outside specialists. Most large cities will have a convention center dedicated to hosting such events. The term MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions) is widely used in Asia as a description of the industry. The Convention ("C") is one of the most dynamic elements in the M.I.C.E. segment. The industry is generally regulated under the tourism sector.

In the technical sense, a convention is a meeting of delegates or representatives. The 1947 Newfoundland National Convention is a classic example of a state-sponsored political convention. More often, organizations made up of smaller units, chapters, or lodges, such as labor unions, honorary societies, and fraternities and sororities, meet as a whole in convention by sending delegates of the units to deliberate on the organization's common issues. This also applies to a political convention, though in modern times the common issues are limited to selecting a party candidate or party chairman. In this technical sense, a congress, when it consists of representatives, is a convention. The British House of Commons is a convention, as are most other houses of a modern representative legislature. The National Convention or just "Convention" in France comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from September 20, 1792, to October 26, 1795. The governing bodies of religious groups may also be called conventions, such as the General Convention of the Episcopal Church USA and the Southern Baptist Convention.

Conventions in general enjoy a long history and rich tradition within the United States due in part to their epistemic, moral, and transformative nature. So much so that they have been stitched into the fabric of American government. There is an abundance of case law^{[citation needed]}, historical precedent, examples of congressional intent^{[citation needed]}, and Constitutional language, that demonstrate that the Federal Government of the United States formally recognizes conventions, wherever they may arise in constitutional law, as short-term deliberative assemblies. As such, they are subject to the rights of the People to enjoy free of governmental interference of any kind.^{[citation needed]} Throughout the history of the United States, conventions have served as a mechanism of self-governance, providing a vehicle to secure public rights through constitutions, or as a mechanism of redress to amend them. In fact, they have been instrumental to the nation's continued development into the representative democracy it is today.

During the Confederation period under the Articles of Confederation, the former British colonies of North America had united to form a wartime confederation of states. One characterized by state representation in a weak and decentralized central government headed by the unicameral Congress of the Confederation, the precursor to the modern-day United States Senate.

One convention of particular note during this time was held between September 11–14, 1786 in Annapolis, Maryland. The Annapolis Convention, was convened primarily to address issues of commerce between the states, but the agenda quickly became focused upon a wide range of deficiencies posed by the current frame of government. The convention ended with a resolution by Alexander Hamilton calling for a convention to amend the Articles of Confederation. Following Hamilton's suggestion, the Confederate Congress called a convention “to render the constitution … adequate to the exigencies of the Union.” The Philadelphia Convention begin on May 14, 1787, and ended on September 17, with a proposal for a new Constitution for the union.

With the guarantee of deliberative assemblies as a mechanism of redress under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, conventions have proven fundamental in civic actions meant to secure fundamental rights and civil liberties; such as, the Seneca Falls Convention, the Rochester Women's Rights Convention of 1848, and the National Women's Rights Conventions. Collectively, these conventions directly led to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution securing a woman's right to vote.

The Colored Conventions Movement was a series of national, regional, and state conventions held irregularly during the decades preceding and following the American Civil War. These conventions offered opportunities for free-born and formerly enslaved African Americans to organize and strategize for racial justice. These early conventions argued for the abolition of slavery, equal educational opportunities, land reform, and the merits of emigration out of the United States.