According to Jim Sharpe, the new CEO of Aventri, event technology is now far easier to use. Whether it’s using a WhatsApp group to stay in contact with event planners, or automating reporting to capture meeting metrics, technology is not only impacting carbon footprint but also changing and upskilling teams. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Iceberg is now identifying and celebrating the greater mass of hard-to-see business events legacies that lie hidden beneath the surface in a new podcast “Below the Waterline”. In the fourth of a series featuring significant meetings industry players, Iceberg founder James Latham catches up with BestCities Global Alliance Director of International Associations Jane Cunningham…
Destinations’ medical expertise wins them association meetings. This global checkup includes oncology in Copenhagen and Lyon, ENT medicine in Brisbane, child cardiology in Washington DC, pain management in Dublin, medical physics in Adelaide, women’s mental health in Maastricht, oesophageal disease in Tokyo and obesity in Glasgow. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Many cities powering ahead in renewable energy have appropriate geographic or climatic conditions. But traditional oil and gas-rich destinations are also attracting meetings in the sector. Here’s how Abu Dhabi, Calgary and Singapore, plus Costa Rica, Norway, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand, are all meeting the shifts in power. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Germany’s second city, Hamburg, is “Port to the World”, and attracts maritime events as well as the renewable energies sector. Venue CCH (Congress Center Hamburg) reopens in 2020 to become the country’s largest conference facility. But the UK Institute of Acoustics drew on musical heritage for its own event. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Sheffield is the birthplace of stainless steel. Today the South Yorkshire UK city has a modern knowledge economy “making solutions to some of the worlds toughest problems”. World-class research centres and Marketing Sheffield’s ambassador programme are combining to attract targeted UK and international events. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
John H. Graham IV, President and CEO of the American Society of Association Executives, has died after a battle with cancer. Graham was both well known and highly respected across the association world. Legacies of his long tenure include more than doubling the Iceberg partner’s membership and starting the Diversity Executive Leadership Program. From MPI…
ICCA, the International Congress and Convention Association, has officially opened the doors of its Association Community. Now association executives can join the Iceberg partner’s membership of convention centres, destination marketing organisations (DMOs) and professional congress organisers (PCOs). From Association Meetings International…
The number of corporate travel buyers forecasting bigger budgets for 2020 is now at a five-year high, according to annual research from the Business Travel Show. 41 percent of buyers said they would have more money to spend on travel in 2020, a rise from 33 percent last year. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Industry mega-gathering Convening Leaders has just taken place in San Francisco’s Moscone Center. The organiser PCMA, the Professional Convention Management Association, gave details of its flagship event’s impact at a press conference, just after the signing of a partnership with the Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau. From PCMA…
Famous for its giant Buddha and historic temples, the ancient city of Nara will open a new venue this spring in a bid to become one of Japan’s leading event destinations. The Nara Prefectural Convention Center will allow the compact city to host conferences for up to 2,000 participants. From Association Meetings International…
As bushfires continue to cause devastation across all of Australia, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre has become a disaster relief centre. It is offering transition assistance to evacuees from Mallacoota in East Gippsland, including access to food and water, medical support and other services. From News.com.au…
The teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg may have grabbed more headlines, but meetings and events leaders also got to address some of the biggest sustainability challenges facing the industry during a panel debate at UN Climate Conference COP25 in Madrid. Article includes full video from the session. From Association Meetings International…
The US Congress has just voted to renew funding and thus rescue the nation’s destination marketer Brand USA as part of a $1.4 trillion budget package. The reauthorisation comes with a changed funding structure, and a rise in the cost of America’s online visa waiver programme ESTA from $14 to $21. From Skift…
A further raft of associations have signed up to hold flagship meetings at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, less than a year before the venue’s scheduled opening. Te Pae managers finished 2019 on a high with more than 50 events already confirmed, worth about NZ$30 million to the New Zealand city. From Association Meetings International…
Associations Congress UK 2019 saw the event’s highest-ever association attendance drawn to Birmingham’s ICC for two days of education, engagement and entertainment. This included sessions on strategy, events, membership and education, followed by an awards lunch. From Association Meetings International…
Edinburgh International Conference Centre is “on track” for “record sales and operating profits” in 2019 after hosting some of the world’s most high-profile conferences. EICC has also calculated that the economic impact the venue makes on the region lies at around £55 million. From Association Meetings International…
Seoul is gearing up for a busy new year of international meetings, with six notable large-scale gatherings set to bring 17,200 participants to the city’s conference venues in the first half of 2020. The three biggest account for 10,900 of the total and are enjoying the destination’s event support programme PLUS SEOUL. From Boardroom…
Congress organisers at ESTRO, the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology, are requiring host destinations bidding for their events to help them connect with local communities and create lasting legacies in cancer care. They are doing so through the running of so-called “engagement projects”. Ideas for such initiatives, typically with stakeholder involvement from cancer specialists,…
Would you accept a media blackout required by your keynote speaker? PCMA, the Professional Convention Management Association, has just done so for former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Media outlets registered for Convening Leaders were strictly forbidden from reporting her main keynote. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
Iceberg partner BestCities Global Alliance has just staged its annual Forum under the theme “Exploring the Congress of the Future / Fortifying Impact”. Copenhagen Convention Bureau and BestCities published four future scenarios for congresses (see Research), and the CVB also launched its Legacy Lab. From Boardroom…
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