No convention bureau would be seen dead without a conference ambassador programme. But why are they important? Here’s a round up from Edinburgh, where budget cuts recently threatened the very existence of its ambassadors, to Glasgow, Dubai, Montreal (whose ambassador gala awards is pictured), Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto and Korea. From Association Meetings International…
The meetings industry has joined others in condemning anti-LGBT laws in Brunei, where sex between men just became a capital offence and sex between women punishable by up to ten years in prison. IAPCO and DRPG have warned of damage this will cause to the sultanate’s destination status. From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
How can events have a “positive impact” on their destination? James Latham of The Iceberg discusses key trends in legacy and how meetings can create them, legacies being those outcomes relating to the purpose of an event in trade, innovation, education, healthcare, conflict resolution etc. which grow over time. From BestCities Global Alliuance…
Thailand’s aspiration to become a leading pharmaceutical destination has received a shot in the arm with the country recently hosting the CPhI Southeast Asia trade show. Organiser UBM brought the event to Bangkok for the first time in conjunction with the Thai Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and Board of Investment. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Imagine a place where strong African culture meets modern urban life, and where years of troubled history have given way to cosmopolitan regeneration. Add in a pioneering new venue like the Kigali Convention Centre, and welcome to the capital of Rwanda, “land of a thousand hills”, in central East Africa. From Boardroom…
Organisers, venues and convention bureaux have celebrated the 2019 Global Meetings Industry Day to promote the economic and societal benefits of the sector. Hundreds of events took place to mark GMID, which was founded by the Meetings Mean Business alliance in the US four years ago to spotlight industry legacies. From Association Meetings International…
Delegates attending the Conference and Hospitality Show held at the First Direct Arena Leeds later this month can also attend a Business Visits and Events Focus North conference, bringing together experts to explore how the north of England can gain a larger share of the £43.3 billion UK meetings and events industry. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Funding has been approved for a $500 million expansion that will double the size of Calgary’s BMO Centre to almost a million square feet and transform it into Canada’s second-largest venue. The further funding will create new spaces for hosting conferences, meetings and exhibitions, to help attract larger conventions and events. From Meetings International…
The International Congress and Convention Association’s board of directors has selected Senthil Gopinath to serve as its new CEO. Gopinath’s career in the meetings travel industry spans more than twenty years, with eighteen of them spent working within ICCA member organisations. He joined the ICCA team in 2016. From Meetings International…
Lyon has become the latest city to join Iceberg partner the Global Destination Sustainability Index, a ranking of meetings destinations’ environmental credentials. Only Lyon, the city’s convention bureau, is the 48th destination to sign up to the index, which benchmarks them on how well they are meeting UN Sustainable Development Goals. From Association Meetings International…
The International Convention Centre Belfast is hosting the Microbiology Society Annual Conference. The largest annual gathering of sector professionals in the UK and Ireland, more than 1,600 delegates from all over the world will visit Belfast over four days attending more than 30 sessions during a comprehensive scientific programme. From Boardroom…
The Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre is increasing its number of meeting rooms. Two new spaces will open in September, the largest for up to 1,200 attendees. MITEC is the third largest venue in Southeast Asia and capable of hosting “mega-exhibitions” for over 100,000 and conventions of 20,000. From Association Meetings International…
Karen Bolinger, tireless CEO of the Melbourne Convention Bureau, has announced her departure after more than seven-and-a-half years at the helm. She steps down in what is expected to be another record year for the bureau in terms of economic contribution, adding around AU$500 million to the region’s coffers. From Association Meetings International…
The Seoul Convention Bureau has rolled out its 2019 PLUS SEOUL initiative to boost business events. As well as expanded core benefits of up to KRW 250,000,000 (previously KRW 150,000,000) for international conferences, PLUS SEOUL will cover developing event apps and VR, and the bureau has also designed new customised experiences for meetings. From Boardroom…
The looming threat of climate change poses huge questions for the international meetings industry, particularly for high profile global events under intense media scrutiny like COP24, the World Economic Forum and the UN Climate Change Conference. But does the sector itself have the answers, and how is it approaching the problem? From Association Meetings International…
Don Welsh, CEO of Destinations International, once headed up individual convention bureaux in Seattle, Indianapolis and Chicago. Now he’s the leader of the entire CVB community. Here he describes how the roles differ, and also how the function of a convention bureau has evolved in recent years. From PCMA…
Many healthcare and STEM meeting participants can justify attendance because an abstract of theirs has been accepted. But rather than holding conferences of speakers speaking to speakers, perhaps there is space for a “flipped” model, where the event environment is a place for peer review and improvement of works in progress. From PCMA…
The financial health of a medical association convention can depend on whether its exhibition floor is or isn’t sold out. Attending doctors though aren’t usually buying drugs directly but prescribing them. So measuring the return on investment of exhibiting at medical meetings has become a science in its own right. From PCMA…
The Iceberg is publishing a series of interviews about the globalisation of large associations. These are jointly produced by partners Boardroom and the Global Association Hubs Partnership. Matthew D’Uva, CEO of the Washington DC-headquartered International Association for the Study of Pain, describes reaching 100 chapters around the world. From Global Association Hubs Partnership…
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