Mobile World Congress, the huge smartphone conference, has been cancelled after significant exhibitors pulled out citing the coronavirus crisis. The association behind the event, GSMA, could have to foot the bill for the entire cost of cancellation unless Spain’s government declares the outbreak a health emergency. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, has postponed its Macau Asia-Pacific Conference and Digital Innovation Forum, set to take place early next month. Over 300 delegates were expected at the Iceberg partner’s event, which due to the coronavirus crisis in China will now take place “later in the year”. From Association Meetings International…
In China, major venues like the Wuhan International Convention and Exhibition Center have been repurposed as temporary hospitals during the novel coronavirus crisis. But British nationals evacuated from Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak, have been taken to Kents Hill Park hotel and conference centre to spend fourteen days in quarantine. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The potential long-term impact of novel coronavirus on international events was underlined after planners cancelled a massive art fair in Hong Kong. Art Basel, Asia’s largest event of the kind, had to be called off even though taking place in late March. Iceberg partner ICCA has made a statement on the outbreak. From Association Meetings International…
As coronavirus continues to disrupt global travel and trade, planners of events are delaying, cancelling, or soldiering on with their plans. The Singapore Airshow 2020 has gone ahead with temperature screening on site. But some exhibitors have pulled out and a related conference has been cancelled. Other events have been postponed. From PCMA…
The Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg, has put out a statement about coronavirus. President Kai Hattendorf said the crisis showed that freedom and will to travel to meetings can be easily affected. But events are also the best way to address such issues. Photo: CDC / Dr Fred Murphy. From Association Meetings International…
Travel restrictions are in force across the globe as the number of cases of novel coronavirus continues to grow worldwide and the death toll within China mounts. The outbreak is now disrupting meetings all across the region. A UN biodiversity meeting was relocated. IT&CM China and CTW China have been postponed. From Association Meetings International…
The Events Industry Council recently held a webinar “Industry Discussion on Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV): Identifying Reliable Sources and Factors for Informed Decision Making”. The conversation centred on how organisers should approach the choices about whether or not to postpone or cancel an event. Photo: Huangdan2060. From PCMA…
The Iceberg recently published German Convention Bureau MD Matthias Schultze’s views about the multisite BOCOM conference being held this April. As the coronavirus crisis devastates the whole global meetings industry, this borderless communication event’s approach could perhaps not be more timely. From Matthias Schultze via LinkedIn…
As coronavirus isolates China from outside countries, Ping Liu, CEO of destination management company and professional congress organiser China Star, offers cultural views on how her business is approaching cancellations and postponements. Links to Professional Convention Management Association resources on coronavirus. Photo: Painjet. From PCMA…
As global leaders form strategies to contain the spread of coronavirus, so also must event managers and owners. Four distinct requirements are critical to meet. That’s according to Sylvia André, the Vice President for Marketing and Communications at Iceberg partner MCI. The article links to Professional Convention Management Association resources on coronavirus. From PCMA…
With the WHO declaring coronavirus a public health emergency, and with airlines suspending their flights to China, conference managers are having to cancel, delay or relocate their meetings in the country. One professional congress organiser said his clients were exercising “extreme caution” because of the crisis. From Association Meetings International…
The Iceberg does like an ice event. The synergy between academia and meetings was recently on show with the University of Leeds hosting a group of experts on the Great Ice Age. The meeting, which explored the pressing issues around climate change, worked closely together with the college’s convention bureau MEETinLEEDS. From Association Meetings International…
The Mayor of Sioux Falls in South Dakota, Paul TenHaken, was inspired to tackle his city’s inefficient transit system after attending a three-day, immersive classroom experience summit that kicked off the 2018 running of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. This is a year-long professional development programme for over forty global mayors. From PCMA…
Conference Aston Head Samantha Brown explains how the industry can meet the needs of all delegates through a new approach to venue accessibility. Delegates with sight, hearing and some lesser-known impairments need just as much consideration as attendees with restricted mobility. The value of proper training should never be underestimated. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
As Sherrif Karamat, President and CEO of the Professional Convention Management Association explains, PCMA and the PCMA Foundation have set a goal of raising at least $250,000 to help those affected by the recent bushfires in Australia and earthquakes in Puerto Rico. The first $50,000 is already committed. From PCMA…
The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 has just taken place in Davos, Switzerland. You might think those invited to attend are all part of the global elite, but the World Economic Forum actually assigns its delegates a category according to their level of importance. Photo: World Economic Forum / Valeriano Di Domenico. From PCMA…
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,…
It’s not as easy to get to Kathmandu as it is to Brussels or Barcelona. But the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition accepted such logistical challenges with its 19th General Membership Meeting this March. The event drew 300 experts and over 60 speakers from around the world, also leaving a major local legacy. From Boardroom…
Florian Gerdes is Marketing Manager Conventions at HCB, the Hamburg Convention Bureau. He describes here HCB’s approach to subvention during low demand, the relationship Hamburg has with UK, what the city has to offer the planners organising within prioritised knowledge sectors, its competition with Berlin and its recent secured bid wins. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau is implementing four major economic corridor projects, co-hosting and supporting associated meetings as a platform to enhance trade and investment with neighbouring countries. So far four corridor conferences have been set up to gather local entrepreneurs and to promote business ties within the region. From Meetings International…
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