According to Nikki Walker, who is Global Vice President Engagement, Associations and Communities at Iceberg partner MCI, associations are craving to get back to meeting face-to-face, yet prefer to hold a fully virtual substitute rather than hybrid. In this Deep Dive podcast, Walker examines how associations have evolved through COVID. From Associations Meetings International…
“Mini-Grants” for diversity, equity and inclusion are being used by the US Brewers Association to ferment legacy at craft beer sector events. One meeting funded was a 2021 hybrid conference at which local female music producers created beats inspired by different craft beers to attract new consumers. From Associations Now…
The recent BestCities Global Forum explored how legacy-building with every conference can quickly lead to dramatic change. A trio of videos from the Iceberg partner event examines the ESTRO Madrid Project which yielded a €700 million legacy for cancer patients, the new Madrid PLUS tool for creating legacy, and the personal legacy of BestCities’ Jane Cunningham….
Dubai is growing its knowledge-based, diversified economy almost as quickly as it grows its skyline. Aiding this ambition is Expo Dubai 2020, an “accelerator and amplifier” in attracting associations and their meetings. When organisers first won the bid, they created two masterplans, one for Expo itself and one for its legacy. From Association Meetings International…
This global census covers all exhibition venues with a minimum of 5,000 square metres of gross indoor exhibition space. Regionally, Europe is home to 39 percent of the world’s total venue capacity, followed by the Asia-Pacific region (32 percent) and North America (20 percent). In terms of size, the number of “mega venues” (those with…
Re-imagining the future of events during a global pandemic is one of the industry’s biggest challenges. During the 2020 ICCA Congress, Iceberg partner ICCA delivered the Kaohsiung Protocol as a strategic recovery framework to guide the global meetings and events industry forward. Now, thanks to the guidance and input of its global community, ICCA is…
COVID-19 has accelerated the delivery of events in a digital environment, thus impacting the way participants make the decision to attend and engage in events. Best practices are rapidly changing with few benchmarks to guide success for organisations delivering business events across various factors and formats. PCMA and the AC Forum embarked on a research…
This report does its best to lean on both empirical evidence and highly credible opinion, that give a glimpse into both the immediate and long-term futures the industry faces. It looks at the past to predict the future, but also finds “grass root” trends that may grow to dominate how the sector goes about its…
The Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe has published a white paper on The Future Role and Purpose of Convention Bureaux, providing a shared vision of the convention bureau of the future and a visionary roadmap for further developing the role of convention bureaux in the coming decade. Intended as a conversation…
Malaysia’s MyCEB, with help from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Economic Planning unit, will soon introduce a 3R (Reset, Restart and Responsible) recovery programme for business events. MyCEB will reduce travel costs to Malaysia for international delegates, and provide full COVID-19 insurance and PCR test costs. From TTGmice…
The CTA’s (Consumer Technology Association) CES 2022 has run as a live show of over 45,000 attendees in person, along with a virtual event. The show’s organisers deemed it a success, despite some well known participants, among them Amazon, Google and Microsoft, pulling out of the live show because of Omicron. From Associations Now…
London has won its bid to host the biennial Ecocity World Summit 2023, following support from the Mayor of London, London Councils, the UK Government and others. A legacy project will construct a brand new piece of green infrastructure for the capital, developed via a collaborative process. From Association Meetings International…
Three German cities are among the top ten destinations chosen for large international meetings, according to new figures in Northstar Meetings Group’s Convention Cities Index. Frankfurt tops the list, with Cologne fifth and Hanover eighth. The update is the third publication of the index, which was launched in 2020. From Association Meetings International…
Iceberg partner the IMEX Group has posted new dates for IMEX Frankfurt 2022. Organisers say they are now intending to run their trade show from May 31st to June 2nd and to give the global meetings, incentive travel and events industry a further five weeks to prepare after Omicron chaos. From Conference News…
The dawn of 2022 saw organisers of international association meetings grappling with more restrictions as governments tried to curb spread of the new Omicron variant. Across the world countries tightened their rules about who could travel and where people could meet as the highly infectious strain caused a massive surge in cases. From Association Meetings International…
The crucial role played by meetings in developing economies has been underscored with Business Events Sarawak’s revelation it had secured RM3 billion ($718 million) in business from conferences. Now marking its fifteenth anniversary, the convention bureau also intends deeper societal impact, with half of bid wins to be legacy-driven. From Association Meetings International…
The spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is causing havoc for meeting planners, with major events being cancelled or postponed right across Europe. The World Economic Forum has postponed its high profile meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The in person event, scheduled for mid January, has been pushed back to the Summer. From Association Meetings International…
The tourism trade fair ITB Berlin has announced it will not take place in March 2022 as was planned, due to increasing Omicron infection rates. A dedicated Digital Business Day will be held on March 17th, plus during 2022 ITB will be staging a European roadshow for buyers and suppliers. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, whose ceremonial launch has now taken place, already has fifty “multi-day conferences” on the books with further events also in the pipeline, from exhibitions to smaller meetings and seminars. The venue replaces the original Christchurch Convention Centre badly damaged during the 2011 earthquake. From Association Meetings International…
A new report into the economic impact of business events to the UK’s West Midlands has revealed that delegates spent £2.3 billion in the region in 2019. Around 105,000 meetings took place, contributing 14.5 million delegate days in the West Midlands. 65,000 full-time equivalent posts are supported by the region’s business tourism. Fom Conference News…
Organiser Reed Exhibitions has said that its 2021 edition of IBTM World in Barcelona, the first face-to-face event in the Iceberg partner IBTM portfolio in two years, drew 7,000 attendees together onto site with 30,000 pre-scheduled one-to-one business meetings taking place. The IBTM World Association Programme was also created. From Conference News…
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