Medical and scientific meetings came to a sudden halt when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the world. Kenes Group kept cancellations to a minimum, postponing most events, but there was one event in particular that took a leap of faith to turn into virtual with less than three weeks’ lead time: the 2nd AAT-AD/PD™ Focus Meeting…
Business travel restrictions and the reduced demand for any in person meetings and events are the biggest concerns for planners in the UK and Europe, according to new Northstar Meetings Group figures. The survey found 90 percent very or somewhat concerned about policy updates restricting business travel. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
EICC, the Edinburgh International Convention Centre, has launched a “hybrid virtual model” in advance of the “phased return to smaller-scale events” anticipated later this year. “Make It Edinburgh Live” will allow planners to run events either entirely online or instead via a combination of both online and onsite. From Association Meetings International…
IFEMA, the consortium behind Spain’s largest exhibition complex Feria de Madrid, wants to reopen in September and host over 60 events in the last four months of the year. After use as an emergency hospital during the crisis peak, the fairground aims to host the events postponed as a result. From Association Meetings International…
South Korea’s largest exhibition and convention centre, KINTEX, has just hosted the 2020 MBC Architecture Expo. The venue’s safety protocols included stringent screening and biosecurity, including disinfection mats, thermal imaging cameras, as well as the compulsory wearing of masks, gloves and in some cases full face shields. From Exhibition World…
Associations have long advocated for their members’ interests before governments and other institutions around the world. Now COVID-19 has completely revolutionised this function. As policymakers react to the crisis in real time, the advocacy associations do on behalf of their members has never been more urgent. From Boardroom…
Prior to the UK outlining plans for lifting lockdown in the hospitality industry, Jennifer Houlihan, Events and Operations Specialist at Dotted Lines, took an in-depth look at how meetings could start to come back and spur post-COVID-19 recovery. She discusses pre-event, onsite and post-event planning issues. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Asia’s business events industry has the potential to rebound faster than that of other continents, but being able to conduct business safely is important. So said the panellists at a Global MICE Situation in the Time of the Pandemic webinar, among them regional managers from the Iceberg partners ICCA and UFI. From Meetings International…
In April the event agency Freeman joined up with eighty other industry leaders to form Go LIVE Together as a response to COVID-19’s impact on live events. One month on Freeman CEO Bob Priest-Heck discusses the importance of advocacy, the status of government funding, and hopes for the future of the industry. From BizBash…
Reykjavik’s Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre says it is ready for the post-COVID-19 era. 2020 had been on track to be a record events year for the venue. May 4th saw Iceland’s lockdown lifted. On May 7th Harpa became one of the first conference halls in Europe to reopen. From Meetings International…
Iceberg partner UFI, the exhibition industry’s global association, staged an UFI Connects webinar on the role of government in exhibition industry recovery in Asia. It produced some great market insights, among them news of trade shows opening up in Shanghai this June, plus an update on the regional subsidies available. From Exhibition World…
The best we can do during the COVID-19 crisis is to continue to learn from each other as we try to plan ahead in an uncertain and rapidly shifting world. Here are the results of the second PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) Convene biweekly check-in, conducted during the first week in May, to determine how…
Against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 outbreak, CIMERT (the Center of International Meetings Research and Training), supported by Iceberg partner ICCA (the International Congress and Convention Association) has released its first ever report The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the International Meetings Industry. The industry survey was initiated by Chengdu Municipal Bureau of…
In Iceberg partner ICCA’s annual rankings for international meetings, Paris has taken the top spot for the second year in a row, pulling even further ahead of other European destinations. The city’s dominance validates the work of both the local sector and the Conference Unit of the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau. From Meetings International…
Expo 2020 Dubai will now shape a post-pandemic world and create a better future from October 1st 2021 to March 31st 2022. While the vote technically remains open until May 29th, already two-thirds of all of the Bureau International des Expositions member states have opted to delay the event by a year. From the Event…
A new summit intended to improve global healthcare meetings has been unveiled by its co-creators. Iceberg partner ICCA along with AC Forum, a network of associations focused on both association leadership and congress management, have slated the first Future of Global Healthcare Meetings for Spring 2021. From Association Meetings International…
As New Zealand entered Alert Level 3 on April 28th, so construction has restarted on WCEC (the Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre). Already slightly ahead of schedule, the 18,000 square metre venue is the capital’s first premium space for conferences and exhibitions. WCEC has also announced a virtual layout planning tool. From Boardroom…
Many of COVID-19’s implications, not least restrictions on travel and social distancing, cut to the heart of what incentive travel is and pose the question: will the pandemic in fact end incentive travel? It will not, and for now here are five avenues for the market to pursue. From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…
The Iceberg is sorely missing a wide range of cancelled industry events. We’re also sorely missing the cheery Martin Sirk selfie posted from all of them. Fortunately, the International Advisor of our partner the Global Association Hubs Partnership has recorded a podcast. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
Event professionals will need to have a flexible mindset and to adapt and evolve business practice in a world after the pandemic. So said Patrick Smith, Senior Vice President and CMO of Cvent, during EduMonday on PlanetIMEX, Iceberg partner IMEX Group’s new virtual platform. From Meetings International…
What might face-to-face meetings with neither a coronavirus vaccine nor effective treatment look like? Perhaps signing a waiver releasing the organiser from liability, an initial COVID-19 test and then daily checks of temperature? Those are some of the requirements of Metrock’s Voice of Healthcare Summit 2020 set for Boston this August. From PCMA…
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