Legitimate research meetings are now under threat from “predatory” conferences. These unscholarly events are organised for profit and publish anything sent their way for a fee. One even passed a nuclear physics paper written using iOS autocomplete. Could tracking the meetings as well as the research be the answer? From Paul Killoran via Boardroom…
The Iceberg has always been dedicated to identifying and celebrating the greater mass of hard-to-see business events legacies lying hidden under the all-too-visible tip of travel and hospitality spending. So now it’s time to examine what lies beneath in a bracing new way. It’s time to take a deep breath and plunge “Below the Waterline”. In…
Cambridge is capitalising on its reputation in medical science and technology, winning international events that will bring in more than 3,000 delegates and £3.2 million of economic impact over the next two years. The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is also expanding into one of the world’s leading centres in the sector. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
London has been chosen to host the IEEE RAS (Robotics and Automation Society) flagship International Conference on Robotics and Automations in 2023. Over 4,000 experts in artificial intelligence and robotics will attend the four-day conference at ExCeL London, bringing £13 million into the city. The event will feature a robotics competition for schoolchildren. From Association Meetings International…
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has announced Brisbane will receive an economic boost of over AU$112 million from new business events taking place in the city over the coming years. The forecast is an annual record achieved by Brisbane Marketing with partners including BCEC (the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre). From Meetings International…
NewcastleGateshead will showcase its world-leading mitochondrial research at the Euromit conference in 2020. The largest event in its field will take place in June at the Sage Gateshead, and is expected to draw over 650 clinicians and scientists from across the world over four days. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
CTICC, the Cape Town International Convention Centre, has just passed its sixteenth birthday. To mark the occasion, CTICC shared sixteen of its achievements. Among them were job creation, economic contribution and training, growing the province’s knowledge economy, and CTICC’s response to Cape Town’s water crisis. From Meetings International…
Support from a who’s-who of top Australian scientific minds has just secured ICME15 for Sydney in 2024. The International Congress on Mathematical Education is the largest event in its field, and was won by advocates including Australia’s Chief Scientist, one leading mathematician, and a YouTube sensation maths teacher. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Glasgow Convention Bureau has reported best-ever year-end results with conference business generating more than £150 million for the city. Between 2018 and 2019, Glasgow hosted more than 530 conferences which brought in almost 160,000 delegates. Four significant medical meetings alone boosted the local economy by more than £17m. From Association Meetings International…
What will the meetings industry look like in 2029? New tech, spiralling travel costs, legislation about the environment and “flight guilt” will transform the sector. The industry will still thrive. The need to “meet” will not go away. But “meeting” will more often be through a screen. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
Festivalisation refers to a process of making existing meeting structures more engaging, more immersive, and more tailored to the individual. The word is everywhere and may sound like a gimmick, but there’s a serious side to it, which might determine whether your congress lives to see another ten years. From Association Meetings International…
Taiwan is now one of its region’s most dynamic economies, with industry specialties including IT, telecommunications and semiconductors. Government-driven and foreign investment assists Taiwanese firms venturing into areas like artificial intelligence, blockchain, fifth-generation telecoms, gaming, Internet of Things (IoT) and virtual reality. The sector is also attracting meetings. From Boardroom…
The UK’s first-ever tourism sector deal is set to deliver a focussed new government strategy to grow the country’s conferences and meetings. It has created plans for identifying business events it might support, with separate criteria for attracting events to the UK, growing existing meetings and creating new ones. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Food waste is a major concern for more than six of every ten meeting planners, according to the IACC annual Meeting Room of the Future report 2019. The survey also shows that 44 percent believe ethical operations and sustainable practice will be crucial for venues by 2024. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Dr Lance O’Sullivan certainly knows the power of conferences. Aged 17, the twice-expelled disruptive child from a deprived background was taken to a Māori medicine meeting by his aunt. A smart and charismatic doctor speaking there captured the teenager’s attention and started his career path as healthcare innovator. From Association Meetings International…
A year ago Amsterdam hosted the 22nd International Aids Conference. A visual “dressing” campaign made the meeting very hard to miss in and around the city. Holland may be a compact in size as a conference destination, but it packs a punch when it comes to its knowledge infrastructure and congress capabilities. From Boardroom…
During Meetings Africa 2019 held recently in Johannesburg, a noticeable change of tone was detected in the young doctors and scientists attending the Association Day presented by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). It was a clear message to established medical association leaders that “Madiba’s Children” have arrived with legacy in their hearts. One…
Africa’s Travel Indaba, hosted again at the Durban ICC, has attracted over 1,000 exhibitors and 1,500 buyers, as well as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (centre). The event was organised around greening principles in evidence throughout the three days, which included introducing Meetings Africa’s Green Stand Award for the most sustainable exhibitor. From the Event…
Professionals from right across the business events industry have been honoured in Frankfurt at the IMEX Gala Dinner. The 2019 JMIC Unity Award went to Joachim König, Director of Hannover Congress Centrum. Emile Coetzee from North-West University in South Africa won the MPI Foundation / Maritz Global Events Student Scholarship Award. From the Event…
Five Canadian convention bureaux recently attended London Tech Week’s AI Summit at ExCeL. Their aim was to attract tech-related business events across to their own destinations, along with the inward investment that follows. Among them was Virginie De Visscher, Director of Business Development for Economic Sectors, Business Events Canada (third left). From Association Meetings International…
Elliott L. Ferguson II, President and CEO of Washington DC’s official marketing organisation Destination DC, has been talking “connected capital”, inclusion and positive impact at IMEX in Frankfurt. His themes included which knowledge sectors the district is targeting, the legacies its meetings are leaving in their wake, and issues of diversity. From Boardroom…
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