Ambassadors help destinations secure international association meetings. So Edinburgh’s meetings industry has an anxious wait ahead of a council vote on budget cuts that could virtually wipe out the city’s marketing and lead to the closure of Convention Edinburgh and its ambassador scheme. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
While the Edinburgh Convention Bureau’s future funding lies under threat, so the city has also voiced the idea of a £2 per person nightly “room tax”. Some see this as a welcome source of new revenue, but will any get back to marketing, and what about competitiveness? From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Academics across Edinburgh have slammed proposed budget cuts that would see an 89 percent drop in the capital’s marketing over the next two years as well as the closure of its ambassador programme. Over 75 Edinburgh ambassadors contacted the City Council objecting to the proposal to slash Marketing Edinburgh’s budget by £790,000. From Association Meetings International…
The Defence Procurement, Research, Technology & Exportability arms fair has been moved from the NEC Birmingham to Farnborough International after a protest campaign against the event. The decision to hold it in Birmingham was only made in November, with DPRTE having originally been scheduled for Cardiff before similar objections from local people. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The branded plane that flew the foolhardy to the Fyre Festival in 2017 was just one footnote in the event disaster to end them all. After Fyre’s calamitous collapse, and the organiser’s imprisonment for fraud and $26 million fine, two new TV documentaries dissect every event planner’s worst nightmare. Photo: John Klos. From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Brexit effect is clear in this year’s British Meetings and Events Industry Survey, with the results reflecting the uncertainty being experienced by many markets. When asked whether Brexit would affect the volume or nature of their events, far fewer respondents said they would be unaffected than last year. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
More than 90 percent of US eaten seafood is imported, and about 40 percent of 25,000 attendees at Seafood Expo North America also attend from abroad. Since tariffs imposed on goods imported from China and other countries have taken effect, some regular exhibitors have cut back on space they’re purchasing for March 2019. From PCMA…
Events and meetings transform destinations for the better. The tireless Pádraic Gilligan, Chief Marketing Officer of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence, offers a thought-provoking report from the recent SITE Executive Summit in Rwanda. The country saw a horrific genocide in 1994, and yet today is “incentive-ready”. From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…
Now companies have to respond almost immediately to bad publicity, overreaction is the danger. When the positive benefits of an activity aren’t understood, the damage can be even greater. Our incentive specialist looks at headlines the sector has weathered and what they say about the real value of incentive travel. From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…
A Riyadh investment conference, dubbed the “Davos in the desert”, kicked off amid huge controversy surrounding the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Dozens of business leaders and politicians pulled out of the Future Investment Initiative following the mounting speculation over the Saudi Arabian government’s role in the journalist’s consulate murder. From Meetpie.com…
The convention bureau tasked with bringing international association meetings to Istanbul has signed a two-year partnership agreement to strengthen its hand. Istanbul’s CVB has therefore now become an Association Relations Partner of ICCA, the International Congress and Convention Association. The city’s standing as a destination has collapsed in recent years. From Association Meetings International…
Conservative Members of Parliament in the UK have had personal details revealed by the official mobile app of their party conference. Users found they were able to access MP’s information simply by entering email addresses with no password. Within minutes of the flaw’s discovery, app accounts were already being hacked. From Meetpie.com…
Where meetings and events choose to go, and how they approach their content, are affected by many factors, not least the influence of political disruptors like Brexit or the 2016 US presidential election. So says Rod Cameron, Executive Director of the Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg. From CIM News Magazine…
A no-deal Brexit could be disastrous for Europeans in the events and hospitality industry, according to the UK’s Immigration Advice Service. It says the sector faces a shortfall of up to 60,000 workers if Great Britain crashes out of Europe without a deal. But any weakness in sterling could counteract some of the uncertainties. From Meetypie.com…
In 2016 the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, together with the US Environmental Protection Agency and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, hosted the largest-ever meeting solely focused on stopping 40 percent of US food going to waste. A two-year legacy of action followed, leading up to a second event. From PCMA Convene…
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. When the US Supreme Court recently upheld Trump Travel Ban III, Vancouver quickly tweeted out a welcome mat. But here’s a tale of two cities, New York and San Francisco, that insist the US is still open for business. From PCMA Convene…
The past month has revealed the turmoil the United Kingdom is in over the manner of its departure from the European Union. But might the UK exhibition sector provide some palliative relief from Brexit uncertainties? The sector’s global association takes a look at VisitBritain, along with the recent Farnborough International Airshow, for answers. From UFI…
How not to punch your own event in the face #472. The comics community has hit back at New York Comic Con and its organiser ReedPOP after noted professionals found out that their pro badge applications had been rejected. The mess was caused by a simple Excel spreadsheet sorting glitch. From The Beat…
When an academic participates in a large conference, her or his likelihood of subsequently writing a paper with at least one participant at the conference increases by one-sixth (close to 18%). Moreover, it seems that conferences improve the quality of matching among co-authors, leading to papers that are published in higher-ranked journals. These findings are…
Although it may seem dramatic, the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has had little effect on meetings or incentives, the Big Island’s hotels and resorts being on the other side of the island. Meet Hawaii has said that there’s no need to change plans to visit the archipelago’s islands. Photo: Brocken Inaglory. From Successful Meetings…
The last minute cancellation of an academic conference in 2012 due to an approaching hurricane caused a sizeable decline in collaboration and research, a study from the University of Kent has shown. Two days before the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting was due to begin in New Orleans, Hurricane Isaac forced cancellation. From Meetpie.com…
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