The coronavirus crisis has led to unprecedented interest in virtual events. For many organisers, this meant seriously looking into their possibilities, in some cases for the first time. But directly transposing the aims of a live event can mean missing the potential benefits of producing relevant and bespoke video content. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Māori culture gives New Zealand its distinct identity, but is also moving centre stage at meetings hosted in the country. This was very evident during the 2019 International Union for Health Promotion and Education Conference, which drew to Rotorua 1,185 attendees from 73 countries. From Association Meetings International…
ExCeL London has become an emergency hospital, called NHS Nightingale, with the conference and exhibition centre being put into service to treat the expected surge in coronavirus patients. Other UK venues are also being prepared as ancillary hospitals: Birmingham’s NEC, Manchester Central and Glasgow’s SEC Centre. From Association Meetings International…
After the cancellation of the major industry meeting IMEX Frankfurt, IMEX Group CEO Carina Bauer has been reassuring the sector that her company is “full steam ahead” for IMEX America in September. The Iceberg partner also discussed how staff are working remotely, and what is being learnt in that process. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Emergency hospital beds to serve a total of 1,200 patients have now all been installed in New York City at the Javits Convention Center. The units built across the main exhibition floor were constructed to relieve the pressure on New York City hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases. Venues elsewhere are also being readied. From PCMA…
The coronavirus crisis is the biggest challenge ever faced by the events industry. Get ready for business as extremely unusual. In an editorial posted before the United Kingdom locked down, one Iceberg partner promised the UK meetings industry “to amplify its voice at every turn”. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Edinburgh International Conference Centre has created a sustainability programme called “Step Change”, which it claims as a “world-first” for the events industry. From now each meeting taking place at the venue will receive a detailed and tailored Event Impact Report, designed to focus on the environment, society and the economy. From Association Meetings International…
Iceberg partner M&IT’s 2020 Awards saw over 1,200 event professionals celebrating the industry at Battersea Evolution in London. For the 14th year in a row, Glasgow Convention Bureau was named the UK’s best. The former CAT Media Managing Director Martin Lewis was named “Personality of the Year”. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Iceberg partner IMEX has just taken the “devastating decision” to cancel IMEX Frankfurt. Citing the danger of the German health ministry forcing a last minute shutdown very close to the trade show’s opening this May, the meetings industry stalwart has just given the sector a textbook lesson in how to make a difficult call. From PCMA…
Action to fight climate change is a growing part of CSR. But companies are starting to align activities around all the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Meetings contribute to quality education, or SDG 4. The industry’s engagement on SDGs has now been surveyed by Fiona Pelham, CEO of Iceberg partner Positive Impact. From PCMA…
You are what you eat! But food isn’t just about physical health, it’s about mental health as well. So, in an industry where mental health is increasingly being scrutinised, how can food control mood? Beyond Food: Food and Mental Health (Lime Venue Portfolio website, registration required) Top Five Tips to Munch Your Way to Good…
Singapore’s meetings industry has been badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak, with a string of significant association events withdrawing from the city as a result to mitigate their risk. The Association of Corporate Counsel, The International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition and also Alzheimers Disease International have all cancelled or postponed. From Association Meetings International…
The plans for a new UK conference venue close to Manchester Airport have been approved. The updated EventCity venue will be built on the site of former indoor football pitches at TraffordCity leisure park, replacing the existing venue nearby. That will remain in use until its replacement opens next Spring. From Association Meetings International…
Hundreds of attendees at a London conference have been emailed by health officials after a delegate was diagnosed as having COVID-19. The patient, who has not been identified, had attended the UK Bus Summit at the QEII Centre. The email warned delegates with a fever or cough to self-isolate and seek advice. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The ambassador programme Club Liverpool has marked five years with an event held at Liverpool Town Hall attended by some of the members who have helped attract £70 million of meetings to the city. The network of influential figures from academia, medicine and business now boasts 230 ambassadors. From Association Meetings International…
What next? The question is haunting meeting and event planners as the COVID-19 shows its contempt for national borders. There’s now grim fascination in seeing organisations responding quite differently to the unfolding crisis, and what this then says about our attitude to “known unknowns”. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
Despite not sending food waste to landfill sites for over a decade now, Olympia London has introduced new measures to make sure excess isn’t created in the first place. The venue has also partnered with the sustainability advocacy group WRAP, which runs the “Guardians of Grub” campaign, to track food waste. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Iceberg is now identifying and celebrating the greater mass of hard-to-see business events legacies that lie hidden beneath the surface in a new podcast “Below the Waterline”. In the fifth of a series featuring significant meetings industry players, Iceberg founder James Latham catches up with Talley Management Group President and CEO Gregg Talley. Gregg…
As a founding member of twenty years’ standing, the departure of Edinburgh from Iceberg partner BestCities Global Alliance came as quite a shock. BestCities’ new MD Lesley Williams felt the loss very keenly, having in the past spent seven years as Head of Business Tourism at Marketing Edinburgh’s Convention Bureau. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
In China, major venues like the Wuhan International Convention and Exhibition Center have been repurposed as temporary hospitals during the novel coronavirus crisis. But British nationals evacuated from Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak, have been taken to Kents Hill Park hotel and conference centre to spend fourteen days in quarantine. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Glasgow’s Conference Ambassador Programme, the first in the UK, has contributed at least £650 million to the city’s economy since it started thirty years ago. The scheme has 1,600 members. 141 events, indeed 35 percent of all meetings held in Glasgow last year, were led by a local conference ambassador. From Association Meetings International…
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