During the pandemic, uncertainty was a daily torment for association meeting planners. With the threat of lockdown ended in most countries, the market is approaching business pre-pandemic. But organisers are also caught between a labour and skills crisis plus rocketing inflation. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
After eleven years at the helm of MCEC (the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre), Peter King is leaving his CEO post later this year once a replacement has been hired. As he gets ready to depart, King has been looking back on highlights and challenges he faced during his time at the venue. From PCMA…
The Editorial Director Martin Fullard recently visited Scotland to find out how important business events are to the region. He talked to some of the country’s leading eventprofs, learning about VisitScotland’s new and improved “Policy Driven Model”, its “Journey to Change” project, and how universities are helping to bring in business events. From Conference News…
Sarawak’s Minister of Tourism, Creative Industries and Performing Arts, the Honourable Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, has been discussing the Malaysian state’s approach to recovery and its strategy of promoting business event legacy creation. Subjects covered include ventures with Iceberg partners GDS-Index and ICCA. From Boardroom…
Glasgow will stage seven neurology or neuroscience-related meetings during 2022, drawing up to 10,000 international delegates into the Scottish city. The meetings are testament to Glasgow’s extensive association with neurology, which includes several landmark moments in the field, as The Iceberg has had cause to cover previously. From Association Meetings Intenational…
There are signs the event tech goldrush is already over. How quickly organisers harness the potential of online meetings will determine the size of any returns in future. William Thomson, Founder of Gallus Events and Practically Perfect PA, examines how the sector is now facing something of a reckoning. From Association Meetings International…
Iceberg partner European Cities Marketing has just staged its International Conference and General Assembly in Hamburg, rebranding during the event as the City Destinations Alliance. Visit Flanders and #Meet4impact presented a legacy collaboration there, and the latter’s Geneviève Leclerc now explains how the SDGs make a great framework around which to anchor the legacy of association meetings….
Glasgow, home of the famous Glasgow Botanic Gardens, will welcome over 2,000 soil scientists this summer for the quadrennial World Congress of Soil Science. Over the past twelve months, the city’s convention bureau secured 71 new conferences, expected to bring about 36,000 delegates to Glasgow and add £53 million to its coffers. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
A major conference on how people with cognitive, linguistic and physical impairments interact will be held soon in Newcastle, UK. The Atypical Interaction Conference, to be staged at Newcastle University, runs every three years and is attended by experts on dementia, autism, aphasia, schizophrenia, visual and speech impairments among others. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Global convention sector consulting firm GainingEdge has launched its second annual report on leveraging the intellectual capital of convention destinations, based on an analysis of international association leadership. The research underpinning the Iceberg partner’s report identifies the relative strengths of 350 destinations via the presence of their local intellectual leaders in the governing bodies of international associations that…
The first IMEX in Frankfurt since 2019 was marked by an outrush of camaraderie, celebration, and most importantly, business. The Iceberg partner CEO Carina Bauer hailed a succcessful show and said that the future looks bright for the industry, while also acknowledging that the current business climate is rather challenging. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The seventh edition of GED (Global Exhibitions Day) on 1st June 2022 celebrated the manner exhibitions and face-to-face business events drive the global economy. GED this year focused on facilitating growth and recovery, and was marked by the Messe Frankfurt team during IMEX (pictured), amongst many others. From Exhibition World…
Over 175 congresses, trade shows and other events are taking place at Messe Frankfurt before the close of the year as venue chiefs hail a return to pre-pandemic numbers. Meeting restrictions were lifted at the start of April. In May alone, some 35 events hosting 110,000 people took place. From Association Meetings International…
Prague is better than any other city at engaging with its locally-based association leaders to secure big meetings and conventions, says a new report. The Czech Republic’s capital has a 95 percent “harnessing ratio”, according to the Leveraging Intellectual Capital second edition just compiled by Iceberg partner GainingEdge. From Association Meetings International…
Peter King, the Chief Executive of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, has announced he is to leave the role after eleven years. In 2018 King led the AU$205 million expansion of MCEC, and in recent years he helped the venue become a global leader in business event sustainability. From Meetings International…
Following a comprehensive remodelling and modernisation which began in 2017, the Congress Center Hamburg has fully reopened for business. Thee new CCH is now one of Europe’s largest convention centres with 36,000 square metres of available space, which includes fifty multifunctional halls spread across four levels for conventions and events. From Association Meetings International…
Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has announced that the city-state is to join Iceberg partner GDS-Index (Global Destination Sustainability Index). As a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council since 2021, the city supports sustainable practices in large venues such as Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands. From Boardroom…
New GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) research has collected industry and external stakeholder insights to benchmark perceptions, priorities and actionable opportunity for more sustainable business travel. Barriers to making business travel more sustainable include higher costs, limited data, and lack of access to information. From Meetings International…
Two-thirds of venues say they will recover to 2019 revenue levels in either 2022 or 2023. So reports international venue association IACC’s annual Meeting Room of the Future Barometer 2022. Predictions did differ by country, with Denmark projected to surpass 2019 by 2022 but the Americas by 2024. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The German capital has launched initiatives to help the recovery of business events, conferences and trade shows. The city’s Relaunch Programme will include marketing campaigns, a MICE Acquisition Task Force, international customer event BESTIVAL 2022 and the extension of the Berlin Congress Fund, as well as other plans over two years. From Association Meetings International…
Venue ICC Belfast has hosted the Microbiology Society Conference, an event anticipated to kickstart its target of generating a £125 million economic impact for the province. The conference is the first of three international events being held at ICC Belfast this year, estimated to together deliver £5 million impact. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
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