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From Boardroom: New Zealand’s world-class convention centre, Te Pae Christchurch, is proving a focus on sustainability, cultural connection and community engagement is not only good for the environment, but also good for business. Since opening in May 2022, Te Pae Christchurch has played a key role in reinvigorating Christchurch city, while delivering a sizeable boost…
In this episode of Trade Show Talk, host Danica Tormohlen interviews Chris Skeith, CEO and Managing Director of UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, who started in this role in January 2025I. Skeith shares insights about his career path, including his tenure at the Association of Event Organizers UK, and discusses his new…
From M&IT: In this latest episode of The Meeting Room, Neil Brownlee, head of Business Events Scotland and the first non-North American chair of US-based meetings association PCMA, gives us his take on Trump’s impact on the international meetings and events sector. He also provides a withering analysis of the main challenges facing those who…
From Connection Awaits: In this new video series, we’re dropping golden nuggets we wish we’d known earlier or wish we’d practiced more — and you won’t want to miss what’s coming. We’re joined by none other than Rodney Cox, a true insider with 30 years of experience and insights from the International Association Events industry…
From Boardroom: As climate change climbs the global agenda, academia is being pushed to rethink how it conducts research, collaborates, and shares knowledge. In this timely piece, Mickael Benaim, Associate Director & Head of Research at SFA Connect, explores how CO₂ emission budgets are reshaping academic travel, conference formats, and institutional sustainability strategies…
From Identity, The Human Experience Agency: Events may have a closing date, but their impact shouldn’t. From global agreements to everyday brand moments, this feature explores how to design experiences that leave a lasting legacy, with insights from Identity’s Simon Dunnell and Helen Wright. By their very nature, events feel fleeting. There’s a date, a…
From Skift Meetings, by Andrea Doyle: The Trump administration’s tariff policies are sending ripples through global trade, and in the process, they are impacting the global trade show business, said Kai Hattendorf, CEO of HTF Business Events Expertise, and the former CEO of UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. “If permanent, this isn’t…
By Michiel Gen, Partner, Stakeholder Management, Exempla Management & Consulting : The recent Insight Update published by ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership highlights the growing pressures faced by U.S.-based professional societies, particularly in healthcare and education. Reductions in federal grants, changes in tax policy and tightening DEI policies are threatening the financial health and…
From Skift Meetings: Featuring Nicola Kastner, CEO of Event Leaders Exchange (ELX), and Kevin Hinton, managing director, group travel, at U.S. Travel Association, this week’s Skift Meetings webinar had one overriding theme — uncertainty. It took Skift Meetings Executive Editor Andrea Doyle several minutes just to describe the numerous repercussions of Trump administration changes so…
By Colja Dams, CEO & Owner, VOK DAMS: We’re seeing a shift: global events are now moving to Europe and Asia that were once headed to the U.S. World Dealer Conferences, Product Launches, Leadership Meetings – many of these gatherings are being relocated. Bringing together guests from around the world in the U.S.? For now,…
By Jorge Eduardo Q: In today’s 24/7 news cycle and hyper-connected feeds, event leaders are bombarded by headlines, hot takes, and trending crises every minute. Economic shifts, health emergencies, political strife, and algorithmic sensationalism form a loud backdrop that challenges clarity. Within this noise, strategic discernment becomes not just an asset, but a necessity for…
by Pádraic Gilligan, co-founder, SoolNua: As 2025 unfolds, it’s increasingly difficult to pin down exactly how incentive travel professionals feel about the short- to medium-term outlook for our industry. One thing is clear: sentiment has shifted since 2024. The Incentive Travel Index, released in November 2024, painted a nuanced picture—continued growth in the use and…
From Boardroom, by Senthil Gopinath, CEO, ICCA: It goes without saying that “wellness” goes beyond the basic idea of eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and engaging in physical activity that contributes to cardiovascular health. There’s no shortage of viral videos and social media clickbait encouraging viewers to try the latest powder, pill, detox,…
By Nicola Kastner, CEO of Event Leaders Exchange: Costs are rising. Expectations are not. That gap is one of the biggest risks event professionals face today, and it is not going away anytime soon. This is the third article in my series on the key risks facing the events industry in 2025 and how we,…
The new UFI chief executive, Chris Skeith OBE, shares his vision and mission for the global association of the international exhibitions sector. With an immediate focus on advocacy, talent acquisition, and sustainability, Skeith is on a mission to accumulate the data and storytelling that are crucially important in realising these three pillars during his tenure….
Well, if you’ve travelled through a record-breaking extratropical cyclone to get to the BestCities global craic in Dublin, hosted by Convention Bureau chief Sam Johnston, why wouldn’t you?! The 2025 edition of the BestCities Global Forum in the Irish capital did indeed feature both pubs and the greatest of craics, amid which the Director at…
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