The decision to cancel a conference in Denver over COVID-19 fears has left some of its more than 10,000 delegates perplexed and angry. The 55,000-member American Physical Society, a professional association for physicists, cancelled its largest meeting of the year less than 48 hours before it was due to open. From Association Meetings International…
The 13th International Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes has just been held in Madrid, Spain. Despite massive event cancellations due to the COVID-19 crisis, the meeting brought together more than 3,800 healthcare professionals from 81 countries, start-ups and investors, reaching a new delegate record. From Boardroom…
What’s the number one challenge facing business events? When this question was posed in November 2019 by Convene as part of its 29th Annual Meetings Market Survey, just a few answers talked about dealing with the unknown. One respondent alone cited the management of risk, and specifically of epidemic risk, as a challenge. From PCMA…
The meetings industry, very used to things “going viral”, is now dealing with a real virus crisis. One of this site’s favourite bloggers has distilled down five suggestions for survival. Stick with the facts. Postpone, don’t cancel. Make use of this “period of reflection”. Be kind. Remember, this too shall pass. From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…
While some organisers are taking the nuclear option and cancelling their events altogether, others postpone or try pivoting to online solutions to make sure delegates don’t miss out completely. William Thomas, CEO of Gallus Events, recalls the first online event he ran and the lessons learned from it. From Association Meetings International…
GESS Dubai is a global exhibition showcasing educational products, plus a CPD accredited conference. Held at the end of February, the 13th edition of the show was to feature a Chinese pavilion with 30 companies confirmed as exhibiting. Ten, plus one more international exhibitor, cancelled participation because of the COVID-19 crisis. From UFI…
Action to fight climate change is a growing part of CSR. But companies are starting to align activities around all the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Meetings contribute to quality education, or SDG 4. The industry’s engagement on SDGs has now been surveyed by Fiona Pelham, CEO of Iceberg partner Positive Impact. From PCMA…
Associations sit right at the heart of the legacy debate in business events. During the recent Dubai Association Conference, sessions focused on both the societal legacies they can leave and the strategies necessary to leave them. The emirate itself is a major hub for the sector, having set up the Dubai Association Centre in 2014….
Wellington in New Zealand punches above its weight in meetings. Last year the Business Events team at WellingtonNZ won 34 conference bids across a range of industries like computational engineering, medical science, environmental studies and public law. A new convention centre is due to open by the end of 2022. From Association Meetings International…
The ambassador programme Club Liverpool has marked five years with an event held at Liverpool Town Hall attended by some of the members who have helped attract £70 million of meetings to the city. The network of influential figures from academia, medicine and business now boasts 230 ambassadors. From Association Meetings International…
A recent Twitter #Expochat devoted an entire session to the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on US and global exhibitions. Industry leaders including Kai Hattendorf, MD and CEO of Iceberg partner UFI, talked through the shows being cancelled or seeing major absences from their Chinese delegations. Far more are going ahead than not. From UFI…
Often legacies we leave behind are not as much under our control as we might like. Stylianos Filopoulos, Board Member of the European Society of Association Executives, argues that association leaders are not the sole drivers of association legacy, but caretakers who protect the vision that inspires and unites members and stakeholders. From Boardroom…
Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the world’s largest exhibition for AV and systems integration, has just taken place at the RAI in Amsterdam. With growing concern over coronavirus, and after the cancellation of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ISE’s MD Mike Blackman explains which steps the meeting chose to take. From UFI…
Cancel, delay or go ahead? Planners of industry events are facing tough choices as significant gatherings of thousands or tens of thousands pose a major risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus. The cancellation of Mobile World Congress due to have been held in Barcelona shows how organisers are now under intense pressure. From Tech Xplore…
Just in advance of Iceberg partner AIME, the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event, opening its doors in Melbourne, its Event Director Jay Martens discussed the way both the meeting itself and the wider industry sector have been coping with the twin crises of Australia’s bushfires and the subsequent coronavirus outbreak. From PCMA…
For events whose attendance might now be impacted by the coronavirus crisis, pivoting to a digital or hybrid approach can be a solution. In 2018, as Hurricane Florence closed in on both Carolinas, the Water Quality Association turned its face-to-face Mid-Year Leadership Conference, planned for South Carolina, into a virtual event. From PCMA…
The Iceberg is now identifying and celebrating the greater mass of hard-to-see business events legacies that lie hidden beneath the surface in a new podcast “Below the Waterline”. In the fifth of a series featuring significant meetings industry players, Iceberg founder James Latham catches up with Talley Management Group President and CEO Gregg Talley. Gregg…
Laboratory medicine in the Middle East is now experiencing healthy growth. The trend helped Medlab Middle East 2019, the region’s largest sector exhibition and congress, to generate over $152 million of business, with $329 million more in deals twelve months after the show. The 2020 edition has just wrapped up. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Who helps an association to decide which destination should host its next conference? Who better to provide the personal element than the city’s own thought leaders? Prague’s Ambassador Program started back in 2008, shortly after the establishment of the Prague Convention Bureau. A collection of academics was assembled with immediate results. From Boardroom…
Japan is hosting a “smart farming” conference this year as its manufacturers use technology to improve yield efficiencies in the sector. The International Conference on Agricultural Internet of Things and Smart Farming is being held this April in Tokyo. It comes as the Osaka-based Kubota Corporation has unveiled a fully autonomous tractor. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
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…
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