PTAK Warsaw Expo is now Poland’s largest shelter for Ukrainian refugees.

Things were bad enough, after years of political chaos from the Trump presidency in the US and from Brexit here in the UK. Then came the pandemic, which saw millions lose their lives and global business events forced into a traumatic reinvention of self.

Now the largest country in Europe has invaded the second largest in a brutal war of aggression entirely without reason or end game. Convention and exhibition venues in adjacent nations, so recently obliged to close their doors to business events, then to become field hospitals, then to become vaccination centres, are repurposing yet again now to shelter Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, part of the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

Sometimes the world seems an impossibly cruel place. I cling to dogged Optimism that humanity travels mostly in the direction of its betterment, notwithstanding the odd re-routing diversion to the journey. But things have now been too bad for too long. It may be time for this Candide to revise his world view, and go cultivate his garden in the metaverse instead.

So in News this issue, Iceberg partner IMEX in Frankfurt has barred all Russian state enterprises from exhibiting at the show in May, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian members of Iceberg partner ICCA (the International Congress and Convention Association) will not be attending association events until further notice. The ICCA board also cancelled planned activities and meetings in Russia. Iceberg partner UFI has suspended Russian members as well. Indeed, many other industry groups have now condemned Russia’s invasion, are raising awareness or funds, or have barred Russian state participation. More and more convention venues across Europe have now converted their facilities to house millions of Ukrainians escaping the conflict. Ukrainian scientists have called for an international boycott of scientific conferences inside Russia and have asked Russian institutes and scientific leaders to condemn the invasion. Meanwhile, international associations and other academic bodies have scrambled to cancel conferences in Russia and either find alternative venues or pivot their meetings to virtual.

Also in News, a $2 billion convention centre is to be built in Dallas next to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The new facility should almost double annual attendance and convention revenue for the city. Three industry associations have published a white paper calling on governments to harness the power of business events to stimulate economies. “Business Events are the Fast Track to Recovery” is the work of AIPC, ICCA and UFI, all Iceberg partners. UFI, global association of the exhibition sector, has released the latest edition of its flagship Global Barometer. Figures highlight the quickening pace of the industry’s recovery through 2022. Mobile World Congress has seen a “vibrant and dynamic” return after 61,000 delegates from 200 nations flocked to the meeting in Barcelona. The Russian pavilion was banned from the event. The sixteenth edition of Meetings Africa has taken place at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg. The flagship trade show of the South African National Conventions Bureau, another Iceberg partner, focussed on sector recovery. The Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event has run its much-anticipated 2022 show in Melbourne. As part of the show opening, Iceberg partner AIME launched new research about industry recovery. Plus, a journal that will document the wider benefits to society of international association meetings and of other business events has been launched in Malaysia. Curtin University and Business Events Sarawak are the main “International Journal of Business Events and Legacies” partners. Finally, Daegu Metropolitan City and the Daegu Convention and Visitors Bureau have released a report on the legacies of five business events, starting with the International Solar Cities Congress 2004. Research was reviewed by the Executive Chair of Iceberg partner GainingEdge, Gary Grimmer.

All twelve Opinions articles this issue are fresh. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen international associations with either Russian or Belarusian members, or exhibitors, or events planned, forced to take hard decisions fast, and hold difficult discussions about ending or suspending long-standing, lucrative collaborations. Ioannis Pallas, the European Society of Association Executives’ Association Manager, has a guide. After two extremely hard years for associations, the inaugural Brussels International Association Forum, from ASSOCIATIONWORLD, has been held, making a community of its attendees. Global Vice President Engagement, Associations and Communities at Iceberg partner MCI, Nikki Walker, tells us that associations are craving to get back to meeting face-to-face, yet prefer to hold a fully virtual event rather than a hybrid one. Carola van der Hoeff is the new President of AC Forum (the Associations and Conference Forum). In a broad interview on the Deep Dive podcast she discusses restarting association events, changing business models, building back better and running her first webinar. Marjorie Anderson, Community by Association Founder, explains how associations should be tackling DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). Plus, Australia’s recent reopening to the world, and the lifting of domestic border closures and restrictions, makes this an important moment for its business events. Andrew Hiebl, CEO of the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux, presents the state of play. The “Metaverse”, as a concept, has been around for a long time. Harry Prince, the Creative Content Manager at venue finder Spacehuntr, explains how it will improve networking at hybrid meetings.

Also in Opinions, legacy. International Women’s Day, which has now been marked for over a century, offered the chance to recall key conferences and other events that have moved the needle on women’s rights. “Mini-Grants” for diversity, equity and inclusion are being used by the US Brewers Association to ferment legacy at craft beer sector events. Community libraries in Sarawak, Malaysia, are leaving incredible legacies. One of them, Batang Ai’s Nanga Ukom Longhouse Library, is a business events CSR project organised by BESarawak together with Iceberg partner ICCA. Early in the pandemic, Quebec City Convention Centre’s Director of Building Management and Event Support, Marc Poirier, was upset at how many masks were winding up in the venue’s rubbish. He set to work finding a partner to recycle them. Plus, over thirty charities have benefited from materials used at last year’s COP26 in Glasgow. Identity Group, which delivered the meeting for the UK’s Government and venue SEC, tasked Event Cycle with this redistribution.

In Features this issue, the legacy planning framework of Business Events Sarawak in Malaysia, how Iceberg partner Copenhagen Legacy Lab assisted WindEurope and WindDenmark’s Electric City 2021, plus a brilliant history of neurology from Glasgow Convention Bureau, which is celebrating its Conference Ambassadors, holding Brain Awareness Week, and winning a slew of conventions in the field. In a bumper video Feature, IMEX’s Natasha Richards previews the IMEX Policy Forum, and Martin Sirk of Iceberg partner Global Association Hubs talks associations in advance of moderating Association Focus at IMEX in Frankfurt. Finally, Iceberg partner ECM (European Cities Marketing), now rebranded as the City Destinations Alliance, held a powerful session at its Hamburg International Conference and General Assembly to hear from two industry colleagues based in Lviv, Ukraine.

In Research you will find added The IRF 2022 Trends Report, BCD Meetings and Events’ A Sustainability Guide for Meetings and Events, IACC’s The Future of the Meetings Industry, and Iceberg partner GainingEdge’s Competitive Index 2021. Also new are the previously mentioned Business Events Legacy in Daegu, Korea, with input from Iceberg partner GainingEdge. Another partner, UFI, has released its Global Exhibition Barometer 28th Edition (February 2022). Plus, UFI and two other partners, AIPC and ICCA, have collaborated on Business Events are the Fast Track to Recovery.

This issue’s parish notices start with previously published coronavirus resource pages from within our own partner community: the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), plus publications Meetings & Incentive Travel (M&IT), Association Meetings International (AMI), Conference & Meetings World, Conference News, Exhibition World, Exhibition News and ASAE’s Associations Now Today’s Coronavirus Tracker.

There are association resources aplenty at the website of Iceberg partner Global Association Hubs, including a Free Virtual Meetings Guide made available by Julius Solaris of eventmanagerblog.com, and COVID-19 advisories from the four GAH destinations: Brussels, Dubai, Singapore and Washington DC.

The third edition of the Dubai Association Conference was successfully organised on February 21st in the brand new Dubai Exhibition Centre located on the Expo 2020 Dubai site. 172 registered delegates from fourteen countries, including 25 hosted association leaders from outside the Gulf region, attended. GAH has posted a conference report. GAH’s March newsletter is here.

As reported above, UFI has suspended Russian members from its events and activities as the result of the invasion of Ukraine. The UFI Executive Committee has also condemned the military action by Russia and will launch a designated donation to support the humanitarian effort.

Anbu Varathan, part of the UFI presidential “trio”, who served as the association’s President during 2021, resigned from the association’s Executive Committee following the decision, saying he did not feel it right “to punish the Russian exhibition community”. Mary Larkin, UFI President in 2020, has been drafted in to re-join the trio until November 2022, and UFI President Monica Lee-Müller thanked Anbu Varathan for his service to the association.

UFI Asia-Pacific Week took place from March 28th to April 1st across the entire region. The APAC region has the most UFI members, with some 350 organisations across twenty countries. A dozen events took place across the region, in Australia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

UFI has already announced the location of its next European Conference, taking place from May 4th to 6th, as Poznań, Poland. The event will be held at the Poznań Congress Center, which is a key venue for host Grupa MTP, which is celebrating its centenary anniversary in 2022. Open to members and non-members, the meeting is the leading exhibition industry event in the region, and will build on the success of November’s UFI Global Congress in Rotterdam.

UFI’s Latin America Conference 2022 will be taking place in person on May 11th and 12th in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The event, open to UFI members and non-members, brings together industry professionals from across the region and beyond. This year marks the second time UFI has organised a physical event in Latin America, following its LATAM Conference 2018 in Mexico City, at which 125 industry professionals gathered.

The seventh annual Global Exhibitions Day will take place on June 1st. The 2022 GED campaign will focus on the value of physical exhibitions and face-to-face business events in creating platforms for economic recovery and growth, as well as being the perfect occasion to network and meet new people. The event is facilitated by UFI, but all businesses and professionals in the sector are encouraged to join the celebrations.

UFI has named the winners of this year’s UFI Next Generation Leadership Grant, following expert deliberation by a jury of exhibition industry leaders. This year’s winners are: Monika Baro, Project Manager at VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific Co. (Thailand), Daniella Galante, Senior Digital Marketing Executive at RX Africa (South Africa), Joseph (Joe) Kowalsky, Show Director at Emerald X (USA), Justine Rabel, Key Account Manager at Eventmaker (France), Maria Victoria Piñeres, Operations Manager at Costa Rica Convention Center / Grupo Heroica Volio and Trejos S.A (Costa Rica), and Jon Yahirun, Customer Success Manager at Clarion Events (USA).

UFI CEO and Managing Director Kai Hattendorf has already received the PCMA Chair Award on behalf of “the leaders and colleagues behind the Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge launched during the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC, in Glasgow, Scotland”. He was named alongside Miguel Naranjo from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Now Hattendorf has received one of the Business Events Strategist of the Year trophies at the PCMA Foundation 2022 Visionary Awards. ICCA’s Ksenija Polla posted video of his acceptance speech at the ceremony in Austin.

UFI President Monica Lee-Müller posted this message in March, and this one for April. UFI CEO and Managing Director Kai Hattendorf posted this message for March, and this one for April.

ICCA President James Rees’ message for March called for governments on all sides “to end hostilities and meet to negotiate a peaceful resolution to this conflict”. In a further statement from the Board of Directors, ICCA cancelled all planned activities and events in Russia. In addition, it banned Russian members from ICCA events until further notice, and contributed €10,000 to an agreed humanitarian charity. ICCA has also posted a roundup of meeting industry support and action for victims of the conflict.

ICCA has announced that the 62nd annual ICCA Congress, scheduled for November 12th to 15th 2023, will bring the global association meetings industry together in Bangkok, Thailand. The Congress aims to reimagine the city’s future and benefit the local community.

ICCA has also posted a message and videos celebrating Global Meetings Industry Day on April 7th, calling for the sector to further contribute towards sustainability and knowledge economies.

ICCA and Iceberg partner the American Society of Association Executives have agreed to work together to “enhance access to content and community” for the international association ecosystem. The move follows the announcement that the ASAE was going to be working more closely with the European Society of Association Executives to pool knowledge and expertise.

As above, ESAE has announced a collaboration with ASAE. The partnership will bring together association leaders from both sides of the Atlantic along with opportunities for engagement and knowledge sharing. Learning opportunities are already underway with content curated by the partners, including a virtual CEO-level programme this spring with ASAE and ESAE leadership.

Numbers released by the IMEX Group show that the regeneration of the global business events sector continues apace with increasing demand from both buyers and suppliers for the forthcoming edition of IMEX in Frankfurt, May 31st to June 2nd. Well over 2,000 buyers from 70 countries have already registered for the Iceberg partner show, and hundreds of global buyers continue to register each week.

The conversation around diversity in the global meetings and events industry has broadened significantly in recent years and IMEX has expanded the scope of one of its signature events accordingly. Now titled “She Means Business, a Conversation for All“, IMEX together with partners tw magazine and MPI are now inviting everyone to take a fresh look at diversity, gender equality and female empowerment. The return of IMEX in Frankfurt is set to supercharge the sector’s current momentum, according to IMEX Group CEO Carina Bauer. Bauer has introduced Association Focus, an exclusive day of networking and learning for association professionals at all levels. Led by expert global speakers, the programme takes place at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel and Conference Center on Monday May 30th.

The IMEX Group and Messe Frankfurt have extended their partnership until 2025. Messe Frankfurt, the host venue for IMEX in Frankfurt, has worked with the IMEX Group since the launch of the first show in 2003.

From March 31st, City Destinations Alliance is the new name and identity of the Iceberg partner formerly known as European Cities Marketing (ECM). The rebranding marks a key shift that has been underway for several years and accelerated by the pandemic, namely that destination leadership involves much more than marketing. A new City Destinations Alliance website has been launched.

After almost three years without an in person conference, City Destinations Alliance members finally reunited from March 30th to April 2nd in Hamburg for the ECM International Conference, at which the new name was announced. At the event, a message of solidarity with Ukraine was produced, following two statements from President Petra Stušek, the first strongly condemning unilateral attacks on Ukraine, and the second suspending membership of Russian cities until further notice.

Iceberg partner BestCities Global Alliance has posted a statement regarding Ukraine. “BestCities is horrified, saddened and enraged by the atrocities that are being committed in Ukraine. Our hearts are with the millions of innocent people who have been driven from their homes and have lost family and friends in this senseless war.“.

BestCities has also posted What’s Happening this March? and What’s Happening this April?, and issued an invitation to attend IMEX in Frankfurt as part of the BestCities Hosted Buyer Group. Finally, BestCities has collected links to the COVID-19 safety management measures across all of its destination cities.

Copenhagen Convention Bureau’s Copenhagen Legacy Lab, has improved its legacy methodology. This includes a seven-step model to deepen strategic approach to long-term legacy planning and measurement at international congresses in the future. Building on the Iceberg partner’s current four-step model from 2019 and inspired by the European Commission’s proposed approach to “Impact Social Measurement”, the new methodology offers a more nuanced approach and a deeper understanding of the mechanisms in play, leading to an even more meaningful legacy process.

A partnership between the Copenhagen Convention Bureau and the European Society of Association Executives will focus on sharing knowledge to strengthen European association communities. ESAE will pay close attention to the Copenhagen Legacy Lab which acts as a tool to deepen the impact that congresses in the city can have on the wider community, businesses and science.

Iceberg partner Mash Media’s International Confex has been held at ExCeL London. On the first day a special session on Ukraine heard calls for Russian members of UFI to be suspended from the organisation in response to the Russian invasion. The special session was convened to highlight how eventprofs can help support those suffering in Ukraine. There were a range of views on whether all Russian industry association members should be targetted with bans or just enterprises connected with the Russian state.

Iceberg partner GainingEdge has posted the advisories COVID-19 and Destination Promoters, Putting Some Order to the Chaos, What to Ask Associations Beyond “Will You Be Rebooking?”, Partnerships and Collaboration: Now Even More Essential, Building Confidence with Your Stakeholders, Destination Planning: Evolving the Role of CVBs, Legacies – the New Meetings Business Driver, Building a Better Business Case, and What Meeting Planners Are Looking For, plus insights Tracking the Return of the MICE Events Sector in a COVID-19 World, The MICE Sector in a COVID-19 World – Lockdown, Transition, New Normal, Tracking the Return of the MICE Events Sector in a COVID-19 World – Part 2, and “How Accessible is Your Association?”, plus Bulletin: COVID-19 Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, Issue #4, Issue #5, Issue #6, Issue #7, Issue #8, Issue #9, Issue #10, Issue #11, Issue #12, Issue #13, Issue #14, Issue #15, Issue #16, Issue #17, Issue #18, Issue #19, Issue #20, and Issue #21. GainingEdge also posted GainingEdge’s Pick 5 Issue #1.

Iceberg partner Talley Management Group (TMG) has welcomed Michael Thompson, CMM, as its new Director of Meeting and Event Services. Thompson’s wide background includes working with nonprofit and corporate meetings, as well as within the hotel industry. TMG has also posted Hybrid is the Future of Association Events, with tips for planning engaging hybrid events, and Global Issues Hitting Close to Home, by President and CEO Gregg Talley.

Iceberg partner Global Destination Sustainability Index has posted Destination Canada and Explore Waterloo Region on the in-house Impact Strategy and Measurement Masterclass. Contributor and Iceberg partner #MEET4IMPACT is a pioneer in coaching destination professionals and supporting DMOs to define, manage, measure and communicate the societal impacts of their events.

Iceberg partner Positive Impact is holding a meeting for event professionals on Earth Day, April 22nd, designed to meet the needs of corporate event planners or corporate heads of sustainability. The event offers the opportunity to participate in workshops led by UN bodies, corporate peers and sustainability experts, to deliver a sustainable event strategy which aligns with corporate sustainability goals.

There are extensive further COVID-19 resources at the Events Industry Council (EIC), the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA), Meetings Mean Business and Meeting Professionals International (MPI). Northstar Meetings Group updated its Pulse Survey in March 2022 (registration required).

The Society of Independent Show Organisers has issued a statement condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and banned Russian members from accessing the society’s events and activities. SISO has also launched a fundraising campaign to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Destinations International, the Washington-based association for convention bureaux and destination marketing organisations, has evicted its sole Russian member in response to the Ukraine crisis. The organisation said it had terminated the membership of the Saint Petersburg Convention Bureau and would “not engage in further business in Russia until a peaceful resolution takes place”. The organisation also donated to World Central Kitchen, a non-profit organisation that has been on the ground in Ukraine feeding displaced people since the outbreak of violence.

Meeting Professionals International has announced destinations for the next four editions of the World Education Congress. WEC is MPI’s signature event, drawing approximately 2,500 event professionals annually. WEC heads to Riviera Maya, Mexico in June 2023 at the Barcelo Maya Riviera resort. Previously announced, WEC returns in 2024 to St. Louis, Missouri, where it was last held in 2012. In 2025, WEC will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. Also announced recently, the association’s largest annual event will make its way to San Antonio in 2026. This year’s WEC will take place in San Francisco from June 21st to 23rd.

The 2022 Annual Meeting and General Assembly of the International Association of Professional Conference Organisers has taken  place for the first time in a hybrid format and gathered 126 members and partners in Rome, as well as 46 attendees online from 34 countries. It was the first time IAPCO members had met in person since the 2019 Annual Meeting in Vancouver. Themed  “There is no future without History”, the educational programme featured inspiring keynote speeches and panel discussions involving leaders from the meetings industry.

The Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers has elected its 43rd Executive Committee for 2022 to 2023 at its 42nd Annual General Meeting. A new slate of leaders have been entrusted by the industry association to drive forward the next phase of recovery.

The Business Events Council of Australia has appointed Dr Leo Jago, OAM, as its new Independent Chair. Dr Jago has a strong research background in business events and the visitor economy. He is widely recognised for his leadership in the inaugural National Business Events Study as Deputy CEO and Director for Research of the Co-operative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism.

The Union of International Associations is organising its 15th Associations Round Table Brussels at the Marriott Grand Place on May 20th. Supported by visit.brussels and the OIC Group, the programme includes workshops, presentations and speakers on topics like codes of good practice, digital futures and VAT issues.

In February the European Exhibition Industry Alliance, which represents nearly 400 European exhibition organisers and venue operators in Brussels to the European institutions and stakeholders, posted a position paper calling for the immediate adoption of an updated framework to travel from outside the EU that is fit for purpose. Trade fairs, exhibitions and business events, the paper says, play a vital role in the EU’s successful transition to green and digital economies.

This year’s AEO Excellence Awards will take place on Friday 24th June at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London. The event, which celebrates achievements from event organisers, venues and suppliers throughout the industry, will return to a live edition after pivoting to virtual in 2020.

The Association of Event Venues has announced the formation of the Venue Strategy Working Group, which will focus on sharing knowledge, best practice and guidance for building back the industry post-COVID. The group, which met officially for the first time on March 7th, is chaired by Anna Clover, Executive Director of Event Management and Guest Experience at ExCeL London, with Neil Chandler, Venue Operations Director, QEII Centre, as Vice-Chair.

In support of this year’s National Apprenticeship Week, the UK’s Business Visits and Events Partnership and its partners have started the process of reinvigorating the events industry apprenticeship scheme. The announcement comes at a time when recruitment challenges are affecting all types of businesses across the sector. The previous initiators of the Event Assistant Apprenticeship, originally approved in 2017, have helped the working group use existing resources and information to relaunch the initiative. BVEP partners have agreed the seed funding required to cover the first six months of operation.

The Meetings Industry Association has appointed VisitBritain / VisitEngland’s Debra Lang to its voluntary Board of Directors to lead on its diversity, equity and inclusion work. Lang, who is Director of HR and Professional Services at the national tourism agency, will be developing a strategy and best practice framework for the business events and meetings sector to make sure it is recognised as being fair, impartial and without bias.

Beam, the association formerly known as HBAA, has partnered with independent travel group Advantage Travel Partnership, with sustainability and accreditation specialists Greengage Solutions, and with market data providers Venue Performance. The strategic partnerships are part of Beam’s continuing mission to remain helpful to the business events, accommodation and meetings sector. Plus, as independent venues and hotels emerge from this transformational period, there is a sense that the major challenges have been overcome and a more steady landscape lies ahead. Beam research and interviews outline these seven key trends set to define the independent venues and hotels sector in 2022 and beyond.

The UK Events Industry Board has relaunched as the government bids to make the UK “the world’s meeting place”. New members have been announced of the EIB, a working group of the Tourism Industry Council, which exists to support delivery of the UK government’s Tourism Recovery Plan. The EIB working group has been set up to provide a sounding board for the government on the best way to help grow the business events industry across the UK.

With all remaining COVID legal restrictions in England scrapped on February 24th, including the need to isolate following a positive test, the announcement was welcomed by event professionals from across the sector. Beam Consultant Executive Director Juliet Price declared that “the handbrake is off!”. UK venue enquiries are back to where they were in March 2020, and only a fraction away from being where they were in February 2019, according to venue providers. 87 percent of UK planners are currently sourcing for in person events, according to a new report.

Event industry charity Meeting Needs has donated £10,000 to The Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal organised by the Disasters Emergency Committee. Millions of refugees have left homes and jobs and are trying to get out of the country, with only the clothes and belongings they can carry. The cash will be used for essential hygiene supplies, food and blankets. £10,000 can provide essential hygiene supplies for 1,000 people for one month, blankets for 800 families, or feed 200 families for a month.

The Meetings Show, the UK’s leading platform for the world’s meetings and events community, will celebrate its tenth edition in 2022. First produced by Centaur in 2013 before being taken over by Northstar Travel Group in 2019, The Meetings Show has continued to build on its early success to become the leading exhibition for event, meeting and conference professionals. This year’s show will return as a live event at ExCeL London on June 29th and 30th.

The world’s largest venue management company, ASM Global, has been appointed to run operations at Olympia London. The senior management team and all Olympia London staff will move to the international venue management giant. Yoo Capital and Deutsche Finance International will continue to own the 136-year-old venue. ASM Global has a portfolio of over 300 venues worldwide and was formed by the merger of AEG Facilities and SMG in 2019.

UK-based event technology platform, Hopin has responded to Slack messages leaked to TechCrunch in which CEO Johnny Boufarhat discusses the platform’s reorganisation and staff redundancies. The messages, in which Boufarhat states that layoffs have been made to “solve overlaps and duplications” to make sure Hopin is “more efficient while ensuring we have the required financial discipline and organisational rigour”, confirmed Dutch blogger Gergely Orosz’s earlier scoop that redundancies were underway at the unicorn.

To celebrate Food Waste Action Week (March 7th to 13th), the NEC Birmingham and the International Convention Centre Birmingham have released information on behind the scenes food waste reduction within the venues. In total, over 13,200 food portions have been saved during eighteeen months of operation through a partnership with food sharing app OLIO, and the NEC Group’s in-house caterers Amadeus.

The National Exhibition Centre Birmingham has announced the completion of a £7 million technology infrastructure investment across the venue. The facility is the first in the UK to adopt WaitTime, an artificial intelligence solution that provides real-time measurement of venue capacity and crowd density. The NEC, which attracts 2.3 million visitors annually, said the software provides robust crowd data and business intelligence information.

CHS Leeds, the Conference and Hospitality Show will return to where it all started more than twelve years ago. Taking place on May 24th 2022, the show is set to return to its original roots at the Royal Armouries. Taking over three large event spaces, including an outside hub for creativity and innovation, CHS Leeds will flow across New Dock, Royal Armouries Hall and the outside Square, offering more than 1,000 square metres of exhibiting and brand activation opportunities.

Originally scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan this year, the One Young World conference has relocated to Manchester. Japan’s borders remain closed to international visitors, forcing organisers to take the decision to move the conference location. One Young World will take place at Manchester Central from September 5th to 8th, with the opening ceremony held at the concert venue Bridgewater Hall, home of the BBC Philharmonic. More than 2,000 young leaders from over 190 countries will gather in the city for speeches, panels, workshops and networking sessions.

Warwick Events has become a certified B Corporation as part of its mission to drive positive change in the sector. The Stratford upon Avon-based agency is just the second event agency to achieve the sustainability certification, and joins more than 4,500 businesses in the global B Corp community including Ben and Jerry’s, The Body Shop, The Guardian, Coutts Bank, Innocent and Danone. B Corporations are a new breed of for-profit organisations putting people and the planet first, with the highest standards of social and environmental impact.

The Scottish Event Campus has pledged to become net zero by 2030, joining its home city of Glasgow, which is already taking measures to achieve the same target. Following on from hosting the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in November last year, in which the event venue co-founded and committed to the Net Zero Carbon Events pledge, the SEC has already made substantial changes to reduce its footprint. Its strategy to reach net zero centres around five key goals: climate, governance, partnership, people and resource, each providing the focus for the work that lies ahead.

ICC Wales has launched a new report which provides an in-depth analysis of the UK Government’s proposed Protect Duty legislation and its potential impact on the events sector. The study aims to provide a starting point for events industry professionals to prepare their response. The proposed legislation, also known as Martyn’s Law, will formalise the responsibilities and actions that publicly accessible locations must take to mitigate the risk of a terrorist attack. The draft bill is a direct result of campaigning by Figen Murray OBE, the mother of Martyn Hett who was tragically killed in the Manchester Arena terror attack of 2017.

The Estonian Convention Bureau has appointed Külli Teimann as a new Association Expert. Teimann’s main focus will be on attracting international associations and academic conferences to the country. She will also manage the Estonian Conference Ambassador Programme. Teimann has extensive experience in the field, and was a project manager at the Estonian Convention Bureau from  2008 to 2015.

Nordic Choice Hotels magnate Petter Stordalen has opened the doors of his Comfort Hotel to Ukrainian refugees in need of shelter. The property is situated in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, which is close to the border with Belarus. Stordalen wrote on Instagram “Our Comfort hotel in Vilnius will offer free accommodation for refugees from Ukraine”.

Airbnb has said it will offer free, temporary housing for up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine, joining a swathe of companies offering support and donations following the Russian invasion. The home rentals platform’s nonprofit arm to provide housing relief during international crises, Airbnb.org, will partner with resettlement agencies to house Ukrainian refugees across the world. The cost of the stays will be covered by Airbnb, donors to its refugee fund and hosts offering discounted or free accommodation.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, a Kyiv-based exhibition organiser issued an impassioned plea for international support. Valerii Pekar, the President of private business-to-business exhibition organiser Euroindex Kyiv and Board Member of Iceberg partner UFI, asked for help lobbying for a No-Fly Zone over Ukraine, for “devastating” sanctions, for no naval blockade, plus for international condemnation of the aggression and for financial and humanitarian assistance, weapons and equipment.

Technology provider ExpoPlatform has called on the events community “to join us in standing together” with Ukraine. Founders of Tanya Pinchuk and Mykyta Fastovets are both from Ukraine, but have been living in Cambridge in the UK for many years. They have had members of their own family forced to relocate far from their homes in Ukraine because of the invasion. CEO Tanya Pinchuk issued a plea for the events industry to join in solidarity with people under attack from Russian forces, using the hashtag #EventsWithUkraine.

On March 4th, the organisers of the Conventa Trade Show hosted a special online event dedicated to sharing first-hand information about the situation in Ukraine. Gorazd Čad, Co-founder of Conventa, was joined by Sofiya Kayinska, Acting Director at the Lviv Convention Bureau, Oksana Spoliak, Executive Assistant at Lviv Convention Bureau, and Andriy Moskalenko, First Deputy Mayor of Lviv. They explained what is happening in Lviv, how people are trying to stay safe, and how the meetings community can join forces to help them.

Alain Pittet has been appointed Head of the Geneva Convention Bureau. Tasked with increasing the number of association meetings taking place in the Swiss city, Pittet brings three decades of congress management to the table, most recently as Executive Director of International Business Development at the Italian congress organisers EGA Worldwide. Previously, he was managing director of Congrex Switzerland for nine years and before that spent sixteen years at Swiss Exhibition, the venue in Zurich.

The second edition of the Geneva International Association Forum is set to take place again from June 27th to 28th at the InterContinental Geneva. ASSOCIATIONWORLD and Congrex Switzerland, the organisers of the event, are preparing for two days of knowledge transfer, peer-to-peer exchange, sharing of best practice and designing joint initiatives.

Interprefy, the cloud-based multi-lingual translator for online and hybrid conferencing, has integrated its platform with Microsoft Teams. The plug-in for Teams meetings lets organisers add a language selector to any meeting, allowing participants to speak, listen and engage in their own language. Interpreters can work from anywhere in the world using the Interprefy platform and deliver interpretation in the required language to Teams in real-time.

Located at Pontresina in the east of Switzerland, the Convention and Event Centre Rondo has recently received the “Sustainable Company” certificate of Expo-Event Live Communication Association Switzerland. This recognises that the venue offers advanced energy management, waste prevention and mobility as well as staff trained and responsible with regards to the environment. The venue offers a large auditorium, seven seminar rooms and three foyers, all equipped with advanced technology.

The Global Business Travel Association and German business travel buyer association VDR have wrapped up their seventh joint conference in Europe. Hosted in Berlin, the event brought together over 550 attendees from 22 countries for insights, collaboration, networking and education. The event was rescheduled from 2021 due to the pandemic. The 2022 conference will take place at The Square Convention Centre, Brussels from November 8th to 10th.

The Bavarian capital has just hosted ICE Europe, CCE International and InPrint Munich side-by-side at the Munich Trade Fair Centre. The three specialised exhibitions marked a long-awaited return of business and networking opportunities and welcomed 10,618 attendees from 65 countries to Munich to discover machinery, systems, materials, and accessories. The majority of visitors came from Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Austria and France.

The Frankfurter Neue Presse claimed in February that Messe Frankfurt was “fighting for survival”, as the trade fair site continued to suffer because of COVID-19 restrictions breeding uncertainty for organisers and exhibitors. In 2020, coronavirus was calculated to have cost the business €122 million, with the final loss expected to be even higher in the full 2021 accounts. FNP said Messe Frankfurt had applied for reimbursement for eight trade fairs cancelled during the pandemic and not yet received any pay out. Messe Frankfurt said the reporting had presented “the current status of the ongoing talks in a factually correct and objective manner, even if the impression could be created that Messe Frankfurt’s existence would be directly threatened. This is not the case.”.

The German-based international trade show for the hotel, restaurant, bakery and confectionery sectors, INTERNORGA, has been re-scheduled from mid-March until April 30th to May 4th. The show, which has a 100-year history, will now return at the Hamburg Messehallen, with the postponement due to the ongoing wave of Omicron throughout Europe.

Following consultation with sponsors, the Exhibition Advisory Board and with registered exhibitors, organiser NürnbergMesse says it has decided to move back its POWTECH 2022, the international trade fair for powder and bulk solids processing and analytics, by four weeks. It will now be held at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from September 27th to 29th, in parallel with FACHPACK, the European trade fair for packaging, technology and processing. The organiser hopes holding POWTECH 2022 in parallel with FACHPACK will highlight the entire value chain from product manufacture through to packaging.

NürnbergMesse and the Nuremberg Municipal Fire Brigade have been fitting out Hall 3C of the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre as an emergency shelter for up to 600 refugees from Ukraine. Staff from the company’s Security and Logistics department worked with the city’s Fire Brigade to equip the 9,600 square metre hall as a temporary shelter, subdivided into a day room area and a sleeping area. Camp beds have been put in place, shower and rest room trailers have been hooked up, and a continuous power supply has been installed. A play area for children is also included.

The European Association Summit, the annual education and networking forum held in Brussels for international associations, has announced its dates. Registration is already open. The hybrid event will be held from May 3rd to 5th 2022, offering three days of idea exchange, case studies and workshops on topics like efficient leadership, positive advocacy and successful hybrid events. EAS is organised by visit.brussels.

The Aviation Summit was held in Toulouse on February 3rd and 4th, with the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Directors General of Civil Aviation of the 27 EU Member States in attendance, alongside representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament and air transport stakeholders. As part of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Summit dealt with the decarbonisation of air transport. The participating countries affirmed their support for the goal of achieving carbon-neutrality in the sector by 2050, which led to the Toulouse Declaration.

IOT Solutions World Congress and Integrated Systems Europe have agreed to join forces. IOTSWC and ISE will be held at the Spanish Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue, from May 10th to 12th and May 10th to 13th 2022 respectively. The joint celebration of the two events aims to explore the crossroads between two different sets of disruptive technologies. The agreement will allow visitors to access both exhibition areas at no extra cost, while delegates registered to either event’s congress programme will get a fifty percent discount if they register for sessions at the other.

A team of ten industry professionals have cycled 400 kilometres along the Spanish coast to raise awareness of the pandemic-hit live events industry and to raise funds for charity. Organised by #WeMakeEvents in UK and Spain, BikeFest Spain 2022 has so far raised €6,000. The funds are being split between two industry charities that help individuals through financial hardship, Backup in the UK and the AAA Foundation in Spain. The team started its trip at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, and over three days cycled along the coast, crossing the finishing line at the Fira Barcelona exhibition centre.

The General Secretary of Italian trade fair industry association AEFI, Loredana Sarti, has said that after an uncertain reopening, the country’s 2022 exhibition calendar looks promising. Lifted restrictions mean international operators can now participate in Italian trade fairs which “makes it possible to implement the full programmes by sector and activity of the 235 international and 241 national events that are envisaged in the official calendar prepared by Italy’s Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces”. Foreign nationals coming to Italy who have a certificate of COVID-19 recovery or who are vaccinated are allowed access to services and activities for which Italy’s Enhanced Green Pass is required, including events.

Palacongressi di Rimini will host IHSS 2024, the meeting of a scientific association working in the field of the humic substances found in soil and natural water. With the combined efforts of the Event and Conference Division of Italian Exhibition Group and the city of Rimini, the event will be held from August 26th to 30th 2024. IHSS 2024 is one of twelve confirmed events scheduled from 2022 to 2025 for Palacongressi di Rimini. Others include WWEC, an international association meeting that embraces the wind energy industry, and ICCC, an academic conference on inorganic chemistry.

The Jewellery Boutique Show Vicenzaoro 22, organised by the Italian Exhibition Group, has completed its exhibition with a 24 percent registration increase over the Vicenzaoro 21 edition held last September. The international trade show was hosted at the Vicenzaoro Exhibition and Trade Centre in Vicenza, Italy, from March 17th to 21st. Vicenzaoro 22 included five days of business, training, round tables and analysis in conjunction with T.Gold, the international exhibition for jewellery machinery, hosted in tandem at the same venue.

The eighth Travel Trade Athens, a business-to-business marketing event of the city of Athens, will be held once again from May 9th to 10th 2022. The two-day annual event will host key players from international tourism industry local suppliers to pursue new business opportunities and discover Athens’ strides in sustainability. The event is organised by the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency through This is Athens – Convention and Visitors Bureau, in cooperation with the European Tour Operators Association.

The African Society of Association Executives has announced that nominations for the 2022 Associations Advance Africa Awards are now open. Being a winner, or even just a nominee, means that your association’s programmes and activities are advancing society and improving economies. This year’s winners will be announced at the fourth Africa Association summit to be held in September in Kigali, Rwanda.

The physiotherapy world will meet in person for the first time for four years in 2023, but not in the originally planned destination. Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in Tokyo, World Physiotherapy has moved its Congress to Dubai. Despite the meeting being over a year away, planners have been unable to conduct site visits in Tokyo and remain doubtful they would get the opportunity before May 2022. However, World Physiotherapy has announced that the Congress will be hosted by JPTA in 2025.

Events strategy consulting specialists AMR International, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau, has released a new White Paper for meetings destinations entitled Post-pandemic B2B Event Subvention Strategies. In an increasingly competitive market, the paper calls for destinations to up their game post‑pandemic, both to remain competitive and to attract events that specifically add value to their destinations.

The Saudi Infrastructure Expo is to be launched by dmg events at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center from September 6th to 8th. The organiser, which has offices in Riyadh and Jeddah, has spent a decade staging events in Saudi Arabia, including The Big 5 Saudi, the country’s largest construction event. The exhibition will launch as Saudi Arabia embarks on a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure boom.

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research has reported that the US business-to-business exhibitions industry improved significantly in the fourth quarter of 2021 from the previous seven quarters. Cancellation rates for physical on site events dropped to 12.5 percent from 91.3 percent in the first quarter, 66.2 percent in the second quarter and 20.6 percent in the third quarter of 2021. About 98 percent of exhibitions were cancelled during the second half of 2020. The CEIR Total Index however, a measure of overall exhibition performance, remains below 2019 results.

The New York City Anime convention held last November in the Javits Center was most likely not to have been a superspreader event for Omicron, according to a new study from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Scare stories had abounded after one of the first people known to have tested positive for the variant in the US was found to have attended the 53,000-delegate convention organised by LeftField Media.

Since last June, the Las Vegas Convention Center has hosted 52 trade shows and events with more than 700,000 attendees, according to research published by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. This included the return of hallmark trade shows such as World of Concrete in June, the first major trade show to reconvene in the US since the start of the pandemic, and SEMA, an automotive industry trade show that attracted over 100,000 attendees. An estimated 2.2 million convention attendees were also hosted throughout Las Vegas since trade shows returned to the destination in person.

LVCVA has also announced deals that will bring major trade shows to the LVCC over the next decade. The National Confectioners Association has announced that its Sweets and Snacks Expo will rotate between Las Vegas and Indianapolis for the next ten years, with the show being held in Las Vegas every third year beginning in 2026. The show has been held in Chicago for the past 25 years. The GSM Asoociation will also move its North American edition of Mobile World Congress to Las Vegas for the first time from September 28th to 30th, and will return to the LVCC in 2023.

What started as creating a solution for a virtual event to earn UFI Approved Event status has, nearly a year later, morphed into the launch of a much larger initiative for the events industry, Reporting Standards for Digital Events. Designed to benefit organisers, exhibitors and digital event platform vendors, RSDE represents a standardised set of seventeen data tables and glossary terms. It was created by a working group made up of representatives from fifteen organisations across the events industry, under the leadership of BPA Worldwide, the global assurance provider.

Cisco Webex has announced that its Socio event management platform has developed into Webex Events, signalling a new stage in the brand’s strategy for powering end-to-end virtual, in person and hybrid events. It is also a signal big tech is making a more decisive move to the in person meetings market. With web and mobile app, registration, ticketing, check-in, badge-printing and more, Webex Events now claims to be an end-to-end, hybrid-ready event management platform.

The International Association for Vehicle System Dynamics has chosen Ottawa to host its 28th IAVSD Symposium on Dynamics of Vehicle on Roads and on Tracks from August 21st to 25th 2023 at the Shaw Centre. Researchers, scientists and engineers involved in the study of vehicle dynamics will meet for a conference that city leaders hope will accelerate the Canadian capital’s technology sector. To develop the event, the Ottawa IAVSD organising committee, including the National Research Council of Canada, Carleton University and Ottawa Tourism, has been working closely with Invest Ottawa and the Shaw Centre as well as with several local partners.

Messe Frankfurt India has announced it has secured fresh dates and a new venue for the International Elevator and Escalator Expo in Mumbai. The trade show will take place September 6th to 8th at JIO World Convention Centre, moving back from its previous February date and giving the vertical transportation industry additional time to prepare while offering safety, confidence and flexibility to both exhibitors and attendees. The surge of Omicron cases in India, together with regulatory guidelines in the state of Maharashtra, had led the organiser to reschedule dates for the IEE Expo’s 9th edition.

The Mumbai launch of Gartex Texprocess India and Denim Show will take place May 12th to 14th at the Jio World Trade Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai, organisers have confirmed. Taking centre stage this year will be the show’s “Fabrics and Trims” segment along with the co-located Screen Print India exhibition. Having witnessed opportunities at the show’s Delhi edition in December 2021, organisers hinted of a possible Mumbai edition in the first half of this year to keep trade momentum going. Dates have now been set for a Mumbai chapter debut.

Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center in China has been connected to the first phase of Shenzhen Metro Line 20. The line, which has five stations, links municipal rail traffic to the complex. Starting from Airport North station of Line 11, Metro Line 20 is now running through Convention and Exhibition City, stopping at Airport North, Shenzhen World South, Shenzhen World, Shenzhen World North and Convention and Exhibition City. Line 20 will in the future connect directly with Bao’an International Airport Terminal 4, currently under construction.

In the first step of the strategic partnership between the Italian Exhibition Group and Koelnmesse, the International Trade Show of Artisan Gelato, Pastry, Bakery and the Coffee World  is set to take place in Shenzhen in 2023. SIGEP is hosted annually at the Rimini Expo Centre in Italy where it showcases Italian-made products. This new partnership will extend the show to other worldwide locations. It was announced at the 43rd edition of SIGEP in March that an edition will debut in Shenzhen in 2023.

The 13th edition of SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou and Asiamold were hosted at the China Import and Export Fair Complex from March 3rd to 5th. The two shows attracted 408 exhibitors and 23,825 visitors. SIAF Guangzhou and Asiamold content aligned with the national raising of domestic production and technological innovation standards, in sustainable manufacturing, 5G, digital factories, digital transformation, data transactions, 3D printing technologies and mould-making technology.

Malaysia’s bid to become an Asian centre of excellence in wound healing has received a boost with the country winning a bid to host a major medical conference on the subject. Capital Kuala Lumpur will host the quadrennial World Union of Wound Healing Society Congress 2026, following this year’s event in Abu Dhabi. Around 5,000 international delegates are expected at WUWHS, which will be themed “Global Paradigm Shift: Wound Management Specialty and Recognition”.

A new four-year partnership has been signed between the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Malaysia Section. The Memorandum of Understanding aims to bring more regional and international conferences to Malaysia, mostly related to electrical and computer sciences and engineering, an opportunity for Asia Pacific-based experts in the field to exchange knowledge and best practice. KLCC is also offering a Conventions Value-Add Programme for any regional and international conferences held there, as well as meetings packages customised for IEEE.

As Malaysia prepared to open its borders on April 1st, Business Events Sarawak and the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau launched BEimpactful, a package by both bureaus for business events planners to cushion the aftermath of COVID-19 on business events planning. BEimpactful provides extended financial and in-kind incentives. It is applicable for physical, hybrid and homegrown national and international conventions, exhibitions and corporate meetings. For national and international corporate incentives, the event must be held physically.

To raise standards and enhance business event sustainability, the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau has integrated the Bio-Circular-Green economic model, now a national agenda, with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and announced its own journey to Net Zero Carbon Events starting from 2023. TCEB aims to raise awareness in carbon calculation and compensation while encouraging event entrepreneurs to realise the importance of a carbon-neutral sector.

Organisers BolognaFiere Group and Informa Markets have announced they are relocating Cosmoprof Asia from Hong Kong to Singapore for what they term a “special edition” in 2022. The show will run from November 16th to 18th at Singapore Expo. The decision was made after extensive discussions with business leaders, exhibitors and partners, and came as no big surprise under current entry restrictions for travellers to Hong Kong. While waiting to meet each other face-to-face, Cosmoprof’s community will have the opportunity to participate in the virtual Cosmoprof Asia Digital Week, a match-making platform for buyers and sellers from June 27th to July 5th.

Jewellery and Gem World has joined the temporary event exodus from Hong Kong to Singapore. Asia’s business-to-business sourcing trade fair will now take place in Singapore Expo from September 27th to 30th. JGW Singapore organiser Informa Markets says the show will continue to showcase the best that the jewellery world has to offer, and has stressed the change is a one-off arrangement for 2022. The move makes the show more accessible to international suppliers and buyers given Hong Kong COVID restrictions.

Organisers of international conferences now have Australia back in their sights after the country reopened its borders on February 21st. COVID-vaccinated travellers are able to enter Australia and don’t have to quarantine. However, a negative COVID test taken within 24 hours of departure needs to be shown on arrival. Business Events Australia is looking to resharpen its focus to attract high visitor numbers as border rules for fully vaccinated travellers loosen. Australia’s business events leaders have been commenting, among them Melbourne Convention Bureau CEO Julia Swanson, and BESydney CEO Lyn Lewis-Smith.

Tourism Australia’s specialist business unit, Business Events Australia, has launched a new brand campaign to remind the world why there’s nothing like Australia for international meetings. It targets incentive and association customers and will run across trade media in the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, South South-East Asia, New Zealand and China. Tourism Australia’s Executive General Manager of Commercial and Business Events Australia, Robin Mack, said the launch of the new campaign marks the first phase of a broader strategy to position Australia as a global leader in business events.

Arinex has become the first Australian event management company with carbon-neutral certification. The company says it is excited about the benefits for its clients, as the award will ultimately help reduce the carbon footprint of events it manages. It comes as Arinex reports several new sustainable initiatives, all designed to further reduce emissions. The carbon-neutral certification by Climate Active is awarded to businesses and organisations that have achieved a state of net zero emissions.

EvokeAg, Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood tech event, is taking place in Adelaide in February 2023. The Adelaide Convention Bureau presented the city’s agrifood advancements, as well as its technology and renewed venues, to win the important bid. 2,000 delegates are expected in the city to discuss the sector’s issues, bringing a vital economic lift to the region. Damien Kitto, ACB Chief Executive, said “The event is expected to create seventy jobs. That is without taking into consideration the jobs and economic boost to the State from knowledge transfer, research collaborations and business partnerships that make up the economic tail from the business event.”.

Brisbane has won the right to host the world’s most influential conference on the wide-ranging topic of population. Over 2,000 of the world’s leading experts in the field will meet at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre for the International Population Conference in 2025. This will mark the first time in the event’s 93-year history that it has been held in Australia. Organised every four years by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, the six-day conference is expected to deliver AU$7.2 million in direct economic spend for Queensland, and is supported by three levels of government.

For years, Business Events Sydney has collected data on the value of its face-to-face meetings. Now it has published the essay “The Value of Face-to-Face Events’. This collects various pieces of past research with the views of BESydney Ambassadors on how conferences are crucial to scientific development. Among them is Dr Pia Winberg of Venus Shell Systems, which produces seaweed biomass for health applications. The Director, CEO and Chief Scientist says conferences have helped establish her industry.

The second Reconciliation Action Plan has been launched at International Convention Centre Sydney. Building on a project that started in 2018, this next phase was presented during the very first Business Sydney First Nations Forum. The whole initiative is designed to connect, learn and share with the city’s First Nations community. Reconciliation Australia CEO, Karen Mundine said “ICC Sydney’s Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan is an opportunity for the venue to strengthen existing and new connections that will become the lifeblood of its Reconciliation Action Plan commitments.”.

Until the next time…

Robert Coren, Curator of The Iceberg

• Features
• News
• Case Studies
• Research
• Opinions
• Education
• Events
• Publications
• Newsletters
• Partners
• Ambassadors