Trade associations have a vital role to play in helping the industry and wider world to recover as pandemic lockdowns end. So there is real and pressing work now for them to do. The association champion Jennifer Jenkins is PCO Lead and Director at the British agency Worldspan. From Association Meetings International…
“The new normal” is an irritating phrase that has entered common parlance since lockdown measures began to contain further spread of COVID-19. While the transition to virtual events is a “new normal” we can take seriously, not much else of the “new normal” is “normal” at all. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
Adapt, survive, thrive. Not a choice, but a necessity in the future. So says Smyle Founder and Group Executive Director Rick Stainton, here offering a long-range view on assessing the current economic conditions, lower delegate appetite for business travel, and the role in the mix of virtual and hybrid. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
As the COVID-19 crisis has persisted, so has came the slow realisation that its impact will linger a very long time indeed. What does this mean for the exhibition sector in the future? Reed Exhibition’s former Chairman and CEO Mike Rusbridge, and former Commercial Director Nick Forster, offer thoughts. From UFI…
The COVID-19 crisis is a great time for associations to rethink the way they function and deliver value. In this third article in a series, Iceberg partner Boardroom’s Advisory Board, a mix of key association voices, talks about “standing stronger together” and offers ideas on partnership and collaboration. From Boardroom…
In 2017 Iceberg partner European Cities Marketing, in partnership with Toposophy, published eight bold statements in The Future of DMOs: The ECM Manifest that set out a vision for what DMOs (destination marketing organisations) could and should become. The final of these statements warned of ‘‘The New Normal’’, a world in which ‘‘crises of every kind have…
COVID-19 has disrupted many things, including our sense of time. While the period of quarantining might seem interminable, our current reality and attempts to plan for the future have never been more fluid. The business events landscape used to take months and months to change. With the pandemic, it changed overnight and continues to evolve,…
Working jointly with the Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP), PR agency Davies Tanner created a short survey of the UK events industry, designed to assist venues, destinations and other key sector suppliers in planning recovery activity after the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey is designed to provide a snapshot of sentiment across the UK business…
In the weeks since the coronavirus outbreak has ravaged the industry, event professionals right across the globe have been uniting in the fight against the pandemic. Competitors have grouped together to provide expertise where most needed, like Live for Life and Go LIVE Together in the US, and also Events4Covid19 in Portugal. From EventMB…
38 percent of the UK events industry believes enquiries and bookings will start to surge back in September. So says the recently published Business Events Sentiment survey, created by PR agency Davies Tanner with the Business Visits & Events Partnership. 556 sector professionals across the UK contributed. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
In a move sure to be replicated across all destination marketing, the Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB), partnering with the country’s State Tourism and Food Safety Agencies, has launched SAHMAN (Sanitation and Hygiene Methods and Norms). PwC is to audit the initiative, which will cover all aspects of tourism. From Meetings International…
Another round of coronavirus relief has been passed by the US Congress without the inclusion of professional and trade groups. But there are signs that legislators are now aware of the need to widen out eligibility to such non-profits. Iceberg partner ASAE and thousands of other associations have been pressing the case. From Associations Now…
Expo 2020 Dubai’s postponement will allow time to reflect on how to improve people’s lives after current COVID-19 challenges subside. So says Dimitri Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which has in principle agreed to postponing the event until 2021. An official vote will complete on May 29th. From Meetings International…
Australia’s economy is on course to lose AU$35.7 billion in direct spend over the next twelve months, while nearly all business events scheduled for 2020 are cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19. That’s according to latest figures from the Business Events Council of Australia. 92,000 industry job losses are expected. From CIM Business Events…
Meeting Professionals International has published the first results of an ongoing industry survey. 58 percent of respondents said that employees at their organisation have now been furloughed or made redundant. The suppliers have been hit the hardest, with 76 percent of staff furloughed (42 percent) or laid off (34 percent). From Association Meetings International…
Following the use of UK convention centres as hospitals, Twickenham and AMEX Stadiums have become coronavirus drive-through testing facilities for healthcare and essential workers. Both arenas are significant event venues. The UK government is rapidly scaling up testing capacity. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
AIM Group International has turned a face-to-face medical conference into an entirely online meeting. The AIOP (Italian Academy of Prosthetic Odontology) congress was booked at the Riccione Convention Centre (pictured). AIOP sees the switch as a chance to attract a wider audience. From Association Meetings International…
A key activity for over 35 percent of eventprofs now working from home is improving their education. Sector recovery may be quite quick, with a venue capacity shortage into 2021. So say a briefing from The Business of Events and a survey from Business Visits & Events Partnership. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The conscription of venues as field hospitals can be seen as one of the grimmer aspects of the COVID-19 crisis, but can also foster optimism and hope. Ana Carrazon, Congress Sales and Logistics Expert at IFEMA Feria de Madrid, has been working as a volunteer at the IFEMA Hospital. From Association Meetings International…
BIE (the Bureau International des Expositions) has just unanimously agreed to postponing Expo 2020 Dubai. The rescheduled event will become a global celebration that the COVID-19 crisis is over. There are precedents for postponement across the past history of world fairs, and Dubai’s own back catalogue has seen other milestone events. From Meetings International…
Tokyo-based Congress Corporation has sent Iceberg partner Boardroom a letter outlining the current status of the Japanese events industry. The COVID-19 crisis even saw the 2020 Summer Olympics being postponed. Having also had to weather SARS in 2003, Congress President Noriko Takeuchi has been among those lobbying for government relief. From Boardroom…
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