Iceberg partner GDS-Index (the Global Destination Sustainability Index) and EarthCheck have signed an alliance to develop then launch special certification and services for business tourism, event and meeting cities. The goal is to let destinations become sustainable and healthy places to visit, meet in and live in. From Boardroom…
Sydney will be hosting the world’s largest machine learning meeting in 2021. The annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems attracted 13,000 experts last week to Vancouver. The data science arm of Australia’s national science agency led the bid with BESydney, supported by the NSW Government. From CIM Business Events…
The Scottish Event Campus has won three significant European meetings for 2023. The European Conference on Optical Communication, the European Society for Radiotherapy Oncology, as well as the European Magnetic Resonance Meeting, will all be held at the SEC welcoming over 10,000 delegates. From Meetings International…
Business Events Sarawak at Sarawak Convention Bureau has announced that the Malaysian state has made history by securing its highest number of bid wins to date. The news was broken at the annual BESarawak Appreciation Dinner. Legacy Impact Assessment has counted 965 potential benefits from these 76 events for Sarawak. From Meetings International…
Iceberg partner BestCities Global Alliance has just announced the appointment of Lesley Williams as Managing Director. In January she takes over from Paul Vallee, who will continue as executive consultant with GainingEdge, also an Iceberg partner. GainingEdge has had its contract managing BestCities extended. From Meetings International…
The UK capital’s progress in tackling HIV will be showcased when ExCeL London hosts the 2021 European AIDS Conference. The city says 95 percent of patients are diagnosed, 98 percent are on therapy and 97 percent are virally suppressed. Many medical associations now choose London and ExCeL. Photo: Swadim. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Industry experts from right across the sector have participated in a roundtable about the legacies of business events. The QEII Centre discussion covered the international impact of meetings, the recognition they receive and ways true legacy can be measured. The event also followed an economic study of the venue from Grant Thornton. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The UK General Election has just given Prime Minister Boris Johnson a decisive mandate to “get Brexit done”. During the hustings, BVEP (the Business Visits and Events Partnership) also published its own campaign, “Events Deliver Growth, Jobs and Opportunities. A Manifesto for Britain’s Events Industry”. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Carina Bauer, the CEO of Iceberg partner the IMEX Group, has been looking at four very positive industry trends for 2020 and beyond with her team: the “circular” economy, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, health and wellbeing (with increased focus on mental health), and how artificial intelligence can improve travel. From IMEX…
Meeting venues are facing increasing event acquisition, property and staff costs and competition from new venues. Planners are having to reconcile rising venue and travel costs with their flat budgets. Both groups are embracing technology in solving these challenges. Carl Law is a Development Manager at Capita Travel and Events. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
In what way does the purpose of DMCs (Destination Management Companies) change in a market disrupted by the Internet? What happens when the core value proposition of “local knowledge, expertise and connections” is accessible, sometimes more efficiently and affordably, via other platforms? From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…
Mubarak Al Shamsi, Director of the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau, has been speaking about the emirate’s Economic Vision 2030, and the part played in it by business events. New infrastructure includes Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company’s The Hive, and its 80-seat auditorium The Collaboratorium. 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 third of a series featuring major meetings industry players, Iceberg founder James Latham catches up with Sissi Lygnou, CEO, Operations and Development, at AFEA Travel & Congress…
New Zealand has won its bid to host the 2023 10th World Avocado Congress. The five-day conference will bring the world’s leading avocado growers, researchers, marketers, tech innovators and investors to New Zealand. The bid was led by NZ Avocado, with a video message from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
The IBTM World Trends Watch Report by Rob Davidson and Ali Turner is an insightful compendium of data that crosses business, industries, economies and geographies within the global meetings and events industry. The IBTM World Trends Watch Report 2019 (IBTM World website) Virtual Experience Economy Set to Grow, Says IBTM Trends Watch Report (Meetings & Incentive Travel…
During 2018 MeetDenmark, with consultancy and Iceberg partner GainingEdge, began a major project on outreach. The purpose was to identify how Danish destinations can create significant added value for the international associations coming to Denmark. The objective is to help associations achieve greater impacts in fulfilling their own goals and missions while also strengthening the…
UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, has launched its first in-depth research study of the sector landscape in Latin America. The Exhibition Industry in Latin America provides neutral, up-to-date information, and will support the future activities of UFI members and the wider industry in the region. The first edition of the research was…
The European League Against Rheumatism is taking its huge congress to Frankfurt for the first time in almost two decades, after a city-wide effort to win the bid. More than 15,000 delegates are expected to attend the four-day meeting at Messe Frankfurt in June 2020, putting the city firmly on the medical-meetings map. From Association Meetings International…
Toronto’s Leaders Circle has just honoured thirteen local experts, from fields including atomic physics and human rights, for their role in bringing international meetings to the Canadian city. Together these experts helped to secure eight major events that will leave lasting legacies in Toronto and Ontario. From Boardroom…
Heike Mahmoud, Chief Operating Officer of CCH (Congress Center Hamburg), has won JMIC’s Profile and Power Award for being “an inspiring symbol of influential women” in the meetings industry. She accepted the honour at the Meetings Leadership Summit of Iceberg partner IBTM World. The Joint Meetings Industry Council presents The Iceberg. From Association Meetings International…
Meeting professionals are feeling less optimistic about the future. So says MPI’s quarterly Outlook Survey for November 2019, which shows positive sentiment at lowest levels since before the 2008 financial crisis. Other responses note that meetings are getting shorter, more frequent and more niche, but that audiences are getting bigger. From Association Meetings International…
Powered by 
