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This is a story about inclusion in its truest sense: not simply being welcomed into the room, but having the authority to shape what happens within it. It is a story about the World Down Syndrome Congress, and what happens when the people a field exists for become the experts shaping it. By Ksenija Polla…
Vienna doesn’t just want to boast record-setting meetings growth, but is instead aiming for good growth. More than just a philosophy, Vienna’s new “Optimum Tourism” strategy encompasses a variety of concrete action plans. The goal is to transform the visitor economy into an engine for improved quality of life and city-wide sustainability. From Skift Meetings…
The International Coral Reef Symposium, a leading scientific conference on conservation, climate science and ocean sustainability, held its 16th edition at New Zealand International Convention Centre, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The location gave space for Pacific peoples’ own perspectives, reinforcing the case for combining Indigenous knowledge with scientific research on reefs worldwide. From Boardroom…
Winner of the 2026 Incredible Impacts Programme Seed Fund Grant, the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (IHPBA) World Congress 2026 will focus on the ‘IHPBA 2026 Legacy Project’, which addresses regional disparities in Hepatocellular carcinoma care across the Asia-Pacific region and low- and middle-income countries. This initiative aims to improve equity through frameworks, policy leadership, and regional…
Denmark’s life science sector accounts for approximately 20% of total national exports, backed by a national strategy through 2030 designed to enhance research capacity, improve framework conditions, and elevate global competitiveness. A major cornerstone of this strategy was the 2025 launch of Innovation District Copenhagen (IDC), a closely connected public–private hub bringing together 40,000 researchers,…
The International Association for Relationship Research Conference turned research into conversation through a community event at Social Bite. More than 660 delegates gathered in Glasgow for the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR) Conference 2026, but some of the conference’s most meaningful conversations took place away from the main programme.
Learn how Discover Saskatoon won the International Food and Agriculture Business Management Association (IFAMA) World Forum, using Destination Canada’s International Convention Attraction Fund. Invaluable lessons in how to incorporate “impact” and build partnerships at the earliest bidding stage. By Anna Look, Look Ahead Consulting…
Anthony Cassidy from Manchester Convention Bureau dissects the process of identifying targets, building ambassador capacity and bidding teams, and establishing trust with decision-makers in targeted organisations and events – a useful guide for destinations developing a bidding strategy linked to their economic development strategy, or looking to compare and benchmark their approach with others.
A year after global sexual health specialists gathered at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, the STI & HIV 2025 World Congress continues to bear fruit. A financial surplus of C$55,151.77 has been given to six Montréal community organisations working in sexual health, a wonderful example of the lasting legacy international conferences can leave.
Across Europe, more than 36 million people live with rare genetic diseases, many caused by single-gene mutations that have historically left patients with severe, life-limiting conditions and no effective treatments. While breakthrough CRISPR technology can now correct faulty DNA to treat genetic causes, there are barriers to these scientific advances reaching everyday clinical practice. Fragmented…
Beyond its status as Denmark’s leading gaming and esports festival, Copenhagen Gaming Week operates with a strategic long-term legacy model. Built to deliver tangible economic and societal outcomes, the event focuses on four core pillars: business and ecosystem development, cybercrime prevention, neuro-inclusion, and encouraging future careers in the cyber sector. To support these wider community…
In June 2026, Vienna hosted the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. The Festival of Robots, taking place ahead of the congress, and sustainability focus, formed a core pillar of the impact strategy by bridging science with the local community, while the Community Building Day highlighted DEI in science, encouraging inclusive environments in STEM.
Talley Management’s Ksenija Polla illustrates dimensions in delivering association event impact through the example of ISPCAN, describing intentional steps to put victims’ voices and experiences at the centre of ISPCAN’s Jamaica conference, and how a simple change of emphasis led to a profound communication impact via a presentation for ICCA’s Incredibile Impacts programme.
Singapore demonstrates how business events can deliver economic policy goals and strategic destination positioning. This event will attract high-level international participation, not only through its own agenda (including new policy announcements), but through synergy with events on related themes: Singapore International Energy Week, Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology, and the Asian Downstream Summit.
When the 76th International Astronautical Congress convened at ICC Sydney in 2025, Sydney became host of one of the world’s most strategically charged sectors. Space agencies, governments, scientists, engineers, commercial suppliers, students and the public gathered in Darling Harbour at a congress that reflected the ambition and complexity of the global space economy. From Boardroom…
This paper summarises the Legacy Event Advocacy Policy Summit 2025 and explains the significance of the Borneo Legacy Declaration as a strategic framework for advancing sustainable development, legacy creation, and policy integration through business events, highlighting how the Declaration aligns with sustainability and legacy theories, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and Sarawak’s long-term development agenda.
The value of a congress is increasingly assessed beyond attendance figures or immediate economic return – its significance lies in its capacity to reshape ecosystems, accelerate knowledge circulation, and anchor territories within global networks of influence. The SRS Annual Meeting 2025, hosted in Strasbourg, offers a particularly instructive example of this shift.
Held alongside the 2026 European Congress on Gynaecological Oncology, the ESGO Legacy event convened leading experts, policymakers, patient advocates and industry representatives in Copenhagen to advance sustainable improvements in women’s cancer care. “Imagine a Europe where your address no longer determines your survival,” outgoing ESGO Vice-President Associate Professor Maja Pakiz said as she opened the…
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 how the 11th International Conference on Isotopes (ICI) leveraged Saskatoon’s nuclear expertise to respond to instability in global isotope supply, vital to healthcare and food security worldwide. The…
The International Water Association World Water Congress & Exhibition brought together academics, utility leaders and water professionals from around the world to advance global scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange in water management. It is a strong example of how hosting an international event can elevate domestic participation and raise the profile of national stakeholders.
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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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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