Speaking from Luxembourg at the AIPC annual conference, the Iceberg Ambassador and Global Executive Vice President of MCI, Oscar Cerezales, picks up the thread of Skift editor Angela Doyle’s recent post titled ‘Consolidation on the Horizon for Meetings Industry Associations’ insisting that the alphabet soup of association interests needs recalibration.
But it doesn’t stop there. The Iceberg Ambassador sees major challenges for professional associations across the spectrum as memberships stagnate and the majority of associations fail to respond to dwindling revenues and reserves. Anticipating only 20-30 European associations capable of adopting a ‘Business Model Platform’, Cerezales indicates that the Meeting Industry Sector experience is reflective of cross-sectoral inertia.
And the Business Event sector is failing further to adopt social impact strategies similar to those of the automotive sector and is losing the opportunity to engage in effective advocacy and lobbying as a result. This underlying call for a Social Impact Measurement is growing, not just within The Iceberg fraternity but beyond as association communities seek to maintain relevance to future memberships, government, and to Civil Society.
ASSOCIATIONS: Adaptation is essential for survival
