CEO of ExCeL London Jeremy Rees has confirmed that the UK’s National Health Service is using the exhibition and conference venue free of rental fee. The Sunday Times had reported that the venue’s owners, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company, were charging the NHS £2-3 million per month. From Conference News…
Iceberg partner ASAE plus almost 3,000 associations have asked the US Congress to provide further aid for trade and professional groups during the COVID-19 crisis, and to make such not-for-profits eligible for small business interruption loans. The recent $2.2 trillion CARES Act does little to assist associations. From Associations Now…
Iceberg partner ICCA and CIMERT (Center of International Meetings Research and Training) have jointly monitored since February the status of meetings in the ICCA Association Database affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Based at Chengdu University, CIMERT has had fifteen students and three lecturers working virtually on the project. From the Event…
Last month Iceberg partner IMEX was forced to cancel its Frankfurt show. Group CEO Carina Bauer has spoken previously about the journey to cancellation, but now the Iceberg ambassador talks more about taking that difficult decision, and also about crisis management, team spirit and of course IMEX America. From EventMB…
In January, the Javits Center in New York was hosting a meet-and-greet for the American Kennel Club. Now the space is housing 2,600 hospital beds. Across the US the story is the same, inside venues like McCormick Place in Chicago and the Michigan Expo Center. But why choose them for this use? From Fast Company…
Once they relied on actors or even mannequins, but more and more medical associations now involve real patients in their congresses. Whether as speakers, panellists or co-designers, they add a different perspective. The result is meetings that are engaging, insightful and enlightening. From Association Meetings International…
Oscar Cerezales (pictured on right), Global Executive VP Corporate and COO Asia Pacific at Iceberg partner MCI, received the prestigious PCMA Chairman’s Award in January. Today he’s at working from his Singapore home, while pondering the flexible, diversified, and consolidated events industry that will emerge beyond coronavirus. From Event Crisis…
Everything has changed. Meeting and travel are banned. Venues are hospitals. Events are online. We are learning so much about ourselves, but also need the world outside to learn about us and our £70 billion sector. Together we have to keep banging the drum. From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
COVID-19 has struck a blow to many associations by halting their key source of revenue: the massive annual meeting. With the timescales of lockdown uncertain, associations should try out new ways to support and connect members. So says the CEO of Iceberg partner TMG (Talley Management Group), Gregg Talley. From Northstar Meetings Group…
As the World Health Organization designated COVID-19 a pandemic, and the US announced more flight restrictions, so PDPW (Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin) was one week away from welcoming over 1,200 attendees to its annual Business Conference in Madison. Converting the meeting to virtual was the only way forward. From PCMA…
The coronavirus crisis has led to unprecedented interest in virtual events. For many organisers, this meant seriously looking into their possibilities, in some cases for the first time. But directly transposing the aims of a live event can mean missing the potential benefits of producing relevant and bespoke video content. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Globalisation, the world’s closer integration, is under attack. After nativism, terrorism and of course climate change, now a microscopic pathogen is even stopping us from gathering to meet. If globalisation does have a positive legacy though, international association meetings may be the best of what closer integration gives society. From Association Meetings International…
Māori culture gives New Zealand its distinct identity, but is also moving centre stage at meetings hosted in the country. This was very evident during the 2019 International Union for Health Promotion and Education Conference, which drew to Rotorua 1,185 attendees from 73 countries. From Association Meetings International…
International travel is now all but shut down and meetings are either cancelled, postponed or online. It’s hard to think about rebuilding while still in the eye of the storm, but it’s nevertheless vital. Rod Cameron, Executive Director of the Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg, talks sector recovery. From JMIC…
Melbourne’s AIME (the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event), with its more than 2,500 visitors and 300 exhibitors on the showroom floor, was one of the last significant industry gatherings successfully delivered in February before the coronavirus pandemic shutdown large meetings across the globe. The Iceberg partner’s buyers and exhibitors connected to conduct business at more…
There is a rising tide in the use of, and engagement with, incentive programs, particularly among top performing companies. The IRF’s signature The 2020 Top Performer Study shows that the most successful companies have increased their support for incentive programs on numerous levels since the previous study was conducted approximately a year ago. While companies…
A joint initiative of Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals (FICP) Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), the Incentive Travel Industry Index (ITII) consolidates previous research undertaken by each association into a single pan-industry study. The study is at once an historical snapshot of where the industry has come from and…
Expo 2020 Dubai is almost certain to be postponed. Organisers said they wanted to show “solidarity” with the participating countries now fighting coronavirus. The event is likely to be put back a year, but a final decision should be made in June. Expo 2020 was hoping to attract eleven million visitors. From Association Meetings International…
COVID-19 has certainly decimated many meetings industry suppliers. But one Greater Seattle company has followed the lead of many big convention venues in repackaging its product to serve medical need. Alexander Party Rentals was hiring out large tents for conventions and special events. Now the business is in disaster response. From PCMA…
A major meeting of blood doctors will be held virtually because of the COVID-19 crisis. The 28th Congress of ISTH (the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis) was scheduled to take place in Milan this July. The USA-based association’s event typically draws over 3,000 delegates to the meeting. From Association Meetings International…
ExCeL London has become an emergency hospital, called NHS Nightingale, with the conference and exhibition centre being put into service to treat the expected surge in coronavirus patients. Other UK venues are also being prepared as ancillary hospitals: Birmingham’s NEC, Manchester Central and Glasgow’s SEC Centre. From Association Meetings International…
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