It’s awards time again, and the marketing category of any major ceremony is always hotly contested, as for example at the recent ICCA Congress in Prague (News: “FMCCA Wins Best Marketing Award”). One Iceberg partner, SoolNua, boasts not only the Chairman of Judges of that ceremony, but also a nomination in another. From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…
UFI’s World Map of Exhibition Venues (November 2017) reveals that the total venue space available for exhibitions has grown 7.4 percent in the last six years, from 32,500,000 to 34,900,000 square metres (gross indoor exhibition space, venues over 5,000 square metres). The fastest growth is in venues offering more than 100,000 square metres, a rise of…
The Flanders Meeting & Convention Center Antwerp has won the prestigious Best Marketing Award at the 56th ICCA Congress in Prague. The FMCCA team won with their “a room with a ZOO” destination campaign. A record number of applications were received by ICCA this year for the award, which was promoted on video. From Meetpie.com…
UFI’s World Map of Exhibition Venues 2017 reveals that the total venue space available for exhibitions has grown 7.4 percent in the last six years. The fastest growth is in venues offering more than 100,000 square metres. Asia now boasts more space than North America, and Europe has the most globally. From CIM News Magazine…
This report gives an overview of the experience and intentions of exhibitors at trade shows across the world. It aims to give event organisers a deeper understanding of the patterns and trends that drive positive and negative exhibitor experiences and the objectives and behaviours that underlie them. This report has been created in two stages….
Belfast Waterfront is hosting nine major international conferences in 2018, generating around 29,000 delegate nights and more than £10 million for the city. The convention centre’s management says £1 billion of investment has just revitalised Belfast’s tourism offering. The city is also attracting visitors as a Game of Thrones location. Photo: William Murphy. From Meetpie.com…
The Puerto Rico Convention Center will resume its event schedule in the New Year, according to the island’s convention bureau. The US territory’s hotels, port and airport are now fully operational after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in September. The conference centre has been relief effort command centre since the storm. Photo: Mtmelendez. From Meetpie.com…
An addition to PACIFICO Yokohama will be opening in the spring of 2020: a new multi-function conference centre. With the ability to host 6,000, its column-free 6,300 square metre hall has eight sections which can be configured in different ways. PACIFICO Yokohama itself can be used together with the new centre for larger events. From Boardroom…
A new convention centre is to be built in Hong Kong to bring in more international meetings to the city. The new venue will be near the existing Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. The site currently houses government buildings which will be demolished to create the new facility. From Association Meetings International…
Over $80 million of public benefits, including affordable housing, cycling, pedestrian and road projects, have been agreed by the Washington State Convention Center as part of its planned $1.6 billion expansion in downtown Seattle. The agreement with a group called the Community Package Coalition will include $29 million of funding for affordable housing. From The Seattle Times…
Marriott has recently taken flak for hosting a convention of ACT America, which calls itself a ‘grassroots national security organisation’ but which has also been dubbed America’s ‘largest anti-Muslim hate group’. Marriott lists diversity and inclusion among its core values. ACT America has its own anti-violence, anti-discrimination policy. From the editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
Today’s attendees want healthier food that improves mental focus and concentration. That’s according to an IACC report “Trends in Nutrition & Delegate Wellbeing”. “Brain foods” are on the rise, with over a third of survey venues offering them. 75 percent either currently offer basic nutritional information in their menus or plan to. From CIM News Magazine…
UK venues have tightened up on security over the last six months, and agencies booking hotels and venues are increasingly asking questions about it. An HBAA survey found that over 63 percent of venues had reviewed or changed arrangements in the past half year and 42 percent had carried out simulation exercises. From Meetpie.com…
Adjacent to Disneyland resort in California, the Anaheim Convention Center has just unveiled its expansion wing AAC North. The $190 million build creates an additional 200,000 square feet of exhibition and meeting space, enlarging what was already the biggest convention venue on the West Coast to more than one million square feet. From Meetings & Conventions…
Paying a contribution to participate and using virtual reality may be the future of hosted buyer and familiarisation trips, according to an #EventPlannersTalk breakfast held in London. 85 per cent of the audience attending thought the existing model needed to change. Researching attendees as well as participation fees was the way to deter freeloaders. From Meetpie.com…
After the contentious issue of blacklisting freeloaders – and the idea of requiring a charitable donation to attend – it seems there’s a re-evaluation underway of what the familiarisation trip should be. According to a comment from the Site GB Incentives Summit, perhaps it’s time to ban the phrase and coin a new name. From Meetpie.com…
Following the anonymous email blacklist of 31 people alleged to be serially freeloading at business events – one of those named has now said he will no longer be doing so – familiarisation trips and the vetting of attendee lists will be debated at the next #EventPlannersTalk breakfast on 26 September in London. From Meetpie.com…
Manchester Central is now celebrating ten years since becoming an exhibition and conference centre. The venue’s new CEO Shaun Hinds has clear views on its next decade, in terms of industry disruption, the evolution of meetings and events, extending the conference experience beyond the event itself, and in the use of technology. From the editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…
The Cairns Convention Centre – which has twice been named “World’s Best Congress Centre” at the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) APEX Awards – is to receive AU$176m to fund an expansion that will make it a “state-of-the-art international venue”, according to Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt. He called the government money a “catalytic investment”. From CIM News Magazine…
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