Case Studies

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A Summit Empowering Young Leaders for Global Impact

Destination Canada’s three-year Legacy & Impact Study highlights the long-term economic, social and environmental benefits of major events hosted in Canada. This case study examines the legacy of the One Young World (OYW) Summit, held in Montréal/Tiohtià:ke from September 18 to 21, 2024. Connecting emerging leaders from around the globe, the Summit catalyzed youth-led action…

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WEC 2024: Advancing Global Education in Endodontics & Championing Preventative Care

At ICCA Congress 2025, Conference Ambassador Professor William McLean presented the legacy story of the World Endodontic Congress (WEC) 2024, a finalist in the Incredible Impacts Programme 2025. Hosted by the International Federation of Endodontic Associations (IFEA) and British Endodontic Society (BES), WEC 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland, harnessed creative, engaging activities to boost oral health…

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Autism Europe Congress 2025: Championing Inclusive Event Design

The 14th Autism Europe Congress (AEC 2025) has been recognised for its societal impact, earning the 2025 Incredible Impacts Seed Grant Award from ICCA and BestCities. The Congress, held in Dublin in September, in partnership with AsIAm and Fáilte Ireland, focused on accessibility and meaningful inclusion for autistic people, with the programme and event design…

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Press Release Case Study: Joint ICOE and OEE Ocean Energy Conference comes to The Hague in 2026

This press release from The Hague & Partners is included under “Case Studies” because it is an excellent example of how to communicate the “below the waterline” impacts of international meetings (as opposed to focusing on direct delegate and organiser expenditure), and how these impacts align with a destination’s intellectual capital strengths and economic development…

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A German-British Messe Alliance

This unique business partnership case study from the world of exhibitions has a wide range of potential lessons for all sectors of the business events industry, not just for other trade show organisers. “What got us here will not get us there” has become an MBA cliche, but in this case Messe München and the…

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The Silent Summit That’s Redefining Power: Inside YPO’s Deal-First Gathering in Los Angeles

David Adler deconstructs the unique outcome-oriented elements that Young Presidents Organisation has incorporated in their Global Business Summit, with invaluable lessons for any organisers focused on how to maximise the deal-making and relationship-building elements of their own events. Read the GatheringPoint.News article here

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Incredible Impacts Programme Illustrates the Importance of Designing Intentional Outcomes

Hip replacements in Africa, domestic violence abatement in Mongolia, autism inclusivity, First People’s engagement, public health structural transformation – the wide-ranging case studies highlighted in this Boardroom article have one thing in common: a shift from “recognising” the impact of events, to partnerships between organisers and destinations that proactively plan for positive outcomes and long-term…

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IGC 2024 Dublin: Celebrating a World of Difference, Creating a Lasting Legacy

In August 2024, Dublin became the global capital of geography. The 35th International Geographical Congress (IGC 2024) brought 2,654 delegates from 74 countries and five continents to Dublin City University (DCU) for a week-long celebration of research, collaboration, and connection under the theme “Celebrating a World of Difference.” The conference was supported by Fáilte Ireland,…

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Age-Friendly Gothenburg Makes Winners Out of 8,000 Athletes Attending WMAC

Gothenburg used the city’s progressive social objectives and programmes, its membership of WHO’s Age Friendly Cities & Communities network, and the city’s 400th anniversary to successfully bid to host the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championship. The result: inspiration for local citizens to live healthier lives, lifelong friendships forged amongst the over 8,000 athletes in categories…

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Incredible Impacts Programme Helps International Papillomavirus Society Increase Its Societal Impact

IPVC won the Incredible Impacts Programme Seed Grant for its advocacy and engagement programmes at IPVC 2024 in Edinburgh, resulting in a nationwide HPV information hub reaching thousands of people across Scotland, involving over 1,200 students in educational workshops, and embedding HPV education into numerous academic and community programmes. Now this initiative will extend into…

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Koelnmesse Launches Tool Demonstrating Carbon-Efficiency of Trade Shows vs Individual Business Trips

In a world where sustainability and the climate crisis will be ever-higher on the agenda, business events organisers are certain to face growing calls to demonstrate why and how their activities help reduce overall carbon emissions, to justify the carbon-cost of their attendees’ travel. This is a great early example of taking an evidence-led approach…

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Global Conferences Vitalise Global Health Campaigns

The latest FIP (International Pharmaceutical Federation) Congress in Copenhagen launched a major campaign to address the global scourge of AMR (antimicrobial resistance), incorporating robust data collection, dissemination of best practice, and support for advocacy campaigns to influence policy worldwide.   During the plenary session ‘Acting together for One Health: Strengthening global collaboration to combat AMR’,…

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Building a Human-Centred Future for AI in Zurich

This article provides an outline of the key steps cities need to take to create their own international events that can meet priority economic development goals: identify unique intellectual assets; coordinate disparate stakeholders; articulate a clear vision and event philosophy; bring in citizen voices; think about wider societal impact; use fresh meeting design-thinking. From Boardroom:…

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Redefining Events in 2025

PCO consortium INCON has shared their latest webinar on meeting design strategies adopted by the ESCRS Congress — hosted in Milan (2022), Vienna (2023), and Barcelona (2024) — as a case study to showcase how these events have set new standards for incorporating circular economy principles in our industry. Presented in partnership with Global Destination…

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TRANSFORMING RURAL HEALTH: A Tale of 3 Meetings

Prof. Liam Glynn of Limerick University shares the remarkable journey to impactful change from his remote General Practice in Ireland’s Ballyvaughan, County Clare. Starting from the creation of a political movement – No Doctor No Village – reversing post-GFC rural healthcare policy in Ireland. Attracting one of the world’s leading rural healthcare conferences to Limerick…

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Sports Events Turbo-Charge Gothenburg’s Gender Equality Drive

As is also the case with its strategy to attract international business events, Gothenburg doesn’t host football tournaments and other sporting events simply to drive tourism expenditure and bed-night figures, but as a means of advancing societally-important policy goals. In this case, the objective was to get more girls involved in organised sports – from…

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13th IAS Conference on HIV Science, 13-17 July 2025, Kigali, Rwanda

The International AIDS Society has used it’s recent global conference on HIV science not only to present the latest scientific progress and research initiatives in combatting HIV, but to shine a spotlight on the impact of recent dramatic cuts to overseas aid programmes on rising HIV infections, the scale of stalled treatments, and the overall…

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ESPE & ESE 2025: Working with Policymakers to Improve Legislation on EDCs in the Environment

This innovative event brought together scientists, local, national and EU-level policymakers, and citizen activists, and ensured policy debates heard from all relevant voices, including those directly affected by this environmental problem. The European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) and the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) hosted the first ever joint Congress on 10th to 13th…

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Wind Europe 2025: Inspiring Younger Generations to Consider Careers in the Renewable Energy Sector

Three major legacy-related goals were achieved at this event: inspiring young people to consider careers in one of the growth industries of the future, encouraging informed multi-level discussion of the key issues from families to governments, and influencing policy at the European level. This Case Study forms part of Wonderful Copenhagen’s ‘Cases from Congresses’ series,…

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Copenhagen Legacy Lab – Toolbox

From Wonderful Copenhagen: Comprehensive guidelines on how to design a strategic legacy programme, and how to apply the principles and practices to individual events, from identification of challenges and desired impact, designing the process, measuring the impact, with the active involvement of local policymakers. View / download Copenhagen Legacy Lab’s publications and find inspirational tools…

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JMIC Features

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The JMIC Global Manifesto: Speaking with One Voice

The Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg, has released a manifesto that sets out arguments as to why business events can and should be utilised to drive economic recovery and renewal in the post-COVID-19 era. The document was assembled with the advice and input of a broad range of industry leaders. This was…

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Business Events: Counting More Than Coffee Cups

A multi-year, international study of business events has found a mismatch between how governments value the sector and its broader long-term outcomes, with researchers recommending ways the industry can better document these legacies. The report is a compendium of the Joint Meetings Industry Council Case Studies hosted right here on The Iceberg. From Meetings International…

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JMIC Iceberg Launches Global Ambassador Call

The Iceberg, presented by the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), is the established industry metaphor for the extended value capture of business and professional events. The Iceberg Global Ambassador Program, announced at IBTM World, will commence in January 2019. The JMIC Iceberg initiative encourages industry stakeholders to secure a role in delivering – and contributing to…

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Business Events: Change Agents or Travel Agents?

As politicians and policymakers gather at the IMEX Policy Forum in Frankfurt, key partners of The Iceberg are providing a timely reminder of the transformational contribution of business and professional events and their ‘beyond tourism’ benefits. GainingEdge CEO Gary Grimmer and Gregg Talley, President and CEO of the Talley Management Group, discuss what meetings actually…

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China-LAC 2017 at the Punta del Este C & EC

The China-LAC Summit is an annual event organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). It is a key entrepreneurial event for companies from China and the Latin American and Caribbean countries. The Punta del Este Convention and Exhibition Center was honored to host the 11th edition of…

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JMIC / The Iceberg Legacy Storytelling Call

The Iceberg has always tried to shine a light on the benefits of business and professional events that lie hidden beneath the surface and get ignored alongside the visible tip of travel and hospitality spend. Now the Joint Meetings Industry Council is renewing its call for quality storytelling of the legacies the sector delivers.

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The San Diego Convention Center and the 100 Mile Harvest

The San Diego Convention Center, in collaboration with food and beverage supplier Centerplate, is playing a major role in boosting its local agricultural economy by sourcing key products and services from across the community. Also part of this supply chain is Moceri Food & Beverage, a local business and now primary produce vendor for the…

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JMIC Case Studies: Gaining Momentum

As The Iceberg reaches its half birthday – having launched in January 2017 – perhaps it is time to restate the principle behind the unusual metaphor we appropriated. If you prefer, perhaps it is time to gaze again at the blue sky above The Iceberg. This platform is presented by the Joint Meetings Industry Council and emerged not only as a vehicle for industry advocacy in general…

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A Room with a Zoo Pays Off for Both Sides

For more than fifty years the Antwerp Zoo Society has used the proceeds of its event spaces to support a very unique CSR undertaking… the operation of one of the oldest and most important zoological facilities in the world. Now, with the opening of the new Flanders Meeting and Convention Center Antwerp (FMCCA), this commitment will be…

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BCCK Training Creates New Transferable Skills

In an emerging economy, sometimes the most valuable role a convention centre can play is one that, while essential to its own success, is also a generator of transferrable skills that will support development in many adjacent areas of the local economy. Such is the case with the Borneo Convention Centre in Kuching, Sarawak, where…

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JMIC Opinions

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JMIC’s Kai Hattendorf: Industry Advocacy and Lessons Learnt

The Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg, has supported industry advocacy through COVID-19 with resources like the JMIC Global Manifesto and JMIC Advocacy Guide. President Kai Hattendorf now looks at the state of advocacy in the sector, examining also some of the lessons that have been learnt. The past year has generated a…

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JMIC’s Rod Cameron: Vaccine v. Variant, so Where to from Here?

With the competing forces of the vaccine rollout and the emergence of variants waging a battle across most of the world, there are few simple scenarios for the future of the events sector. Rod Cameron, Executive Director of the Joint Meetings Industry Council (which presents The Iceberg), asks “where to from here?”. From UFI…

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Not Another Industry Statement: The JMIC Global Manifesto

Months now into the COVID-19 pandemic we are awash in sector pronouncements and assertions, even if the route to recovery in this challenging situation remains rather unpredictable. But the recent global manifesto from the Joint Meetings Industry Council is a little different. So says JMIC’s Executive Director Rod Cameron…

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Fiona Pelham: JMIC’s Manifesto and Making Events Sustainable

The webinar that The Iceberg just produced on JMIC’s Manifesto for Economic Recovery Using Business Events contained a section on the document promoting the use of business events as a means of addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Fiona Pelham, the CEO of Iceberg partner Positive Impact Events, picks up that baton. COVID-19 has changed the…

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Review of the JMIC Manifesto Webinar: Historic or Déjà Vu?

The Iceberg has just hosted a webinar built around the JMIC Manifesto for Economic Recovery Using Business Events. This review says the packaging may have been “inflated”, but that the content was “laser-focused”, and that the main speaker Prof. Greg Clark (left) was “supernaturally articulate”. How unified is the sector? From Association Meetings International…

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Coronavirus: JMIC’s Rod Cameron Discusses Preparing for Recovery

International travel is now all but shut down and meetings are either cancelled, postponed or online. It’s hard to think about rebuilding while still in the eye of the storm, but it’s nevertheless vital. Rod Cameron, Executive Director of the Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg, talks sector recovery. From JMIC…

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JMIC’s Legacy Report: Sharing Stories Gives Advocacy Weight

“Business Events Legacies”, the Joint Meetings Industry Council’s recent report, reveals “significant” failings in the way governments measure the true value delivered by conferences, congresses and trade shows. But further sharing of sector impact stories could give the report weight in the battle to convince the world of the industry’s worth. From UFI…

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Kai Hattendorf: UN SDGs, UFI, JMIC and the Global Alliance

After enduring record temperatures at sector meetings, the CEO of UFI, global association of the exhibition industry, muses on its recent report about supporting UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Joint Meetings Industry Council is doing similar work, plus Iceberg partners UFI, ICCA and AIPC have launched a Global Alliance. From Kai Hattendorf via LinkedIn…

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Meetings and Events Across a World of Political Disruption

Where meetings and events choose to go, and how they approach their content, are affected by many factors, not least the influence of political disruptors like Brexit or the 2016 US presidential election. So says Rod Cameron, Executive Director of the Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg. From CIM News Magazine…

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The JMIC Summit: Giving Business Events a Global Voice

The Iceberg revels in the complex cross-networking of its industry association partners. Recently the Chief Marketing Officer of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence attended his first Joint Meetings Industry Council summit in Hannover, Germany. Here he is with the confessions and impressions of a JMIC virgin. From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…

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Not All Visitors are the Same

As destinations face pressure and even community backlash over visitor numbers, Rod Cameron, Executive Director of the International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC) and the Joint Meetings and Industry Council, examines the effect visitors have on destinations, and how targeting business events can reap real dividends for destination communities. From CIM News Magazine…

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Education: Any Organisation’s First Priority

In a fast-changing and uncertain world, education is probably the most important thing any business does. Its importance is growing, driven by specialisation of professional skills, by speedier deployment of products and services, and by its own evolving visibility and delivery. By Rod Cameron, Executive Director, AIPC and the Joint Meetings Industry Council. From Boardroom…

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