In an effort to kickstart the market, associations and prominent leaders in the sector have joined together to create and support UKickstart Event 2020 in September. The multi-hub free-to-attend live and virtual event is the first big national face-to-face gathering of meeting professionals since lockdown. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Informa Markets has postponed CPhI South East Asia to May 2021. The event had been scheduled for November 2020 in Maung Thong Thani, Thailand. The meeting is set to return to the Impact Arena next year, and Informa will also create a CPhI South East Asia matchmaking platform online. From Exhibition World…
A campaign to restore confidence in UK events and experiences across all sectors has now raised £30,000 for PR. Further support is needed, and the organisers are calling on more businesses to get involved. The aim is to raise awareness in the general public and national media about the industry. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Events Industry Council just released the “Meeting and Event Design Accepted Practices Guide” (see Research). More guides are to come from the EIC powered APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force. A webcast offered insights and answered audience questions about the new document. From Northstar Meetings Group…
The complete global shutdown of in person meetings has meant many are now getting out of the habit. Non-Executive Director with BCD M&E and the Exclusive Collection David Taylor offers an account of his first face-to-face meeting since the imposition of lockdown, which he says (spoiler alert!) “felt good”. From Association Meetings International…
In July 2020 the Events Industry Council released the Meeting and Event Design Accepted Practices Guide. It is intended to serve as a resource and educational tool for industry professionals to utilise. This guidance also is intended to be global and universal in nature. The work will continue to evolve through regional workshops led by task…
A combined group of members from the Association of Event Organisers (AEO), the Association Event Venues (AEV) and the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA), led by the associations, has launched the All Secure Standard, a risk assessment based framework of COVID-19 secure industry best practice and guidance for business events and consumer shows which…
The results of the July COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard survey of 476 planners and 212 suppliers reveal a sharper divide between the two in several key areas. For instance, only one third of planners expect to see smaller local and regional events leading the recovery once the crisis is over (41 percent in the June survey),…
Funding of £10 million has been offered by Scotland’s Government to help the events sector recover from the pandemic, as a result of £97 million of funding being made available by the UK’s Government. Businesses which have not yet been able to access previous mechanisms of support will be prioritised. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
In a bid to relaunch international conferences and the events sector, Brussels is launching a fund of €2 million to entice planners to choose the Belgian capital as a destination. Grants for organisers are available until September 2020, with up to €50,000 per event with at least 200 particiating. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Singapore Tourism Board is piloting two hybrid events, which will allow 50 delegates to attend in person, to stress-test its new risk management framework before gradually scaling up to larger meetings. Both events will have up to 50 attendees on site and about 1,000 online. From Association Meetings International…
The UK meetings industry is now launching a campaign to boost confidence in the sector and to prove its worth to the country. Smyle’s Rick Stainton and BVEP Chair Simon Hughes are leading the drive to embed trust in the industry’s safety approach. They are calling for contributions. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
With a location near two World Heritage sites, Australia’s Cairns Convention Centre is starting to market its AU$176 million brand expansion and refurbishment. The first stage of the work, completing in February, will see a refurbishment of the existing Centre. Then expansion will create all-new spaces. From Conference & Meetings World…
Designers of Melbourne’s latest meeting space, CENTREPIECE at Melbourne Park, have been setting out their ideas. NH Architecture was selected as part of the final stage of AU$972 million redevelopment. The firm has worked on other projects in the city, including the expansion of MCEC. From Association Meetings International…
Martin Sirk is International Advisor for Iceberg partner GAH (Global Association Hubs). In a sharp reality check for the business events sector, he warns that successful reopening relies on a much wider containment of the pandemic than the industry on its own can ever achieve. The economy and health are not zero-sum trade-offs or parallel-track…
The largest business-to-business, face-to-face exhibition in the US, CES 2021, has moved to being an online, all-digital event. In 2019 CES had 170,000 visitors, 6,000 media, plus 4,000 exhibiting businesses from every corner of the world. The early pivot sent shock waves across an industry already devastated by the pandemic. From UFI…
Months now into the COVID-19 pandemic we are awash in sector pronouncements and assertions, even if the route to recovery in this challenging situation remains rather unpredictable. But the recent global manifesto from the Joint Meetings Industry Council is a little different. So says JMIC’s Executive Director Rod Cameron…
In planning a hybrid or digital event, content is key to success. Panelists said as much during the first hybrid webinar of The Hague Convention Bureau. Talking through the viability of such events were a corporate and two association planners, a meeting design expert and a hotel executive. Article includes webinar video. From PCMA…
In the UK many industry associations have produced their own COVID-19 safety guidelines. While a measure showing initiative and real thirst to restart, this has caused confusion among planners over which label to seek out. List compiled before the Government-approved All Secure Standard was launched. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
After months of lockdown, many countries are just now gradually reopening events. This is not just countries that have suppressed the pandemic, but also many where the situation remains uncertain during a second wave of cases. So how do events look in a COVID-19 world? From Rod Kamleshwaran of the Iceberg partner GainingEdge via LinkedIn…
Associations are perfectly placed to reshape the world emerging from lockdown. They are repositories of expertise and best practice. They are trusted curators of information. They connect people all around the world and provide lifelong learning beyond university. But is this an opportunity they will grasp? From Association Meetings International…
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