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US Medical Meetings: Skift Take on Election

From Skift Meetings: Robert F. Kennedy is promising big changes to the healthcare industry if he is confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. When it comes to medical meetings, plenty is at stake. In 2023, $8 billion was spent on medical meetings, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). There…

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The Downsides of a Massive Global Climate Conference

From Undark: The COP conference is growing in size, but not in action on climate goals, critics say. Experts suggest major reforms. If speeches and slogans could save the climate, COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, would already be a success. But there are few signs the current round of climate talks will deliver on the only…

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Antwerp Facilitates Knowledge Exchange, Innovation and Progress

From Meetings International: The Belgian city of Antwerp has been a central trading hub for centuries and is home to Europe’s second-largest port. It is also the capital of the diamond trade and the world’s second-largest petrochemical cluster. The city is also known for its legacy of fine art, design, contemporary architecture, and fashion, and…

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MANY VOICES, ONE MESSAGE

Dear Business & Professional Event Sector (BE) Stakeholders, Industry leaders co-created The Iceberg in 2017 as the chosen metaphor for highlighting both the tourism benefits of events, but also the social, economic, and societal impacts aligned to the purpose of them. Thanks to funding support from the sector leadership, The Iceberg has used the intervening…

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Are Convention Centers Worth It?

From Skift Meetings: Despite skepticism from critics, proponents argue convention centers are vital economic drivers that support local businesses, tourism, and hospitality industries. Cities spend billions to build and renovate large convention centers – is it worth it? That’s the question raised by a recent New York Times article. According to Skift Meetings research, 22…

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Cvent Delivers Masterclass in Gathering European Meetings Industry

From Skift Meetings: Cvent has slowly but surely created a behemoth of an industry event, showing no signs of slowing down. The 2024 edition of Cvent CONNECT Europe wrapped up on Thursday at the Hilton London Metropole. Over three days, the event tech giant pulled off the impressive feat of orchestrating what is now by…

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Europe Needs to Wake Up and Look After Itself

From The Economist: Had Kamala Harris won on November 5th, Europe would have heaved a huge sigh of relief, turned over, and promptly gone back to sleep. Donald Trump’s first presidency, followed by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, had served as a pair of noisy wake-up calls, forcing Germany’s chancellor,…

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Is the Rise of Alternative Communities a Threat to Associations?

From Skift Meetings: With a Barefoot Business yacht cruise in Croatia and its own Slack channel, Club Ichi might just be the sexiest group to ever hit the meetings industry. But is it – and are other communities like it – a threat to industry associations? Liz Lathan, Nicole Osibodu and Kamryn Bryce started Club…

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How Advocacy can Unlock the Global Events Economy

From M&IT: The IBTM World Forum for Advocacy promises to be a crucial moment for the industry, according to Martin Fullard, director, The Business of Events. In an industry that contributes over US$1.6 trillion to the global economy, the true value of business events extends far beyond the staggering financial statistics. A preview of The…

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Collaboration and Creativity Transform Destination Sustainability

From GDS-Movement: In mid-October, the historic city of Bruges hosted the second edition of the GDS-Forum & CityDNA Autumn Conference, organised by the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS-Movement) and CityDNA (City Destinations Alliance) in collaboration with Visit Bruges. Held under the theme, “Let Pigs Fly,” the event took on the playful yet ambitious challenge to…

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Impact Day + GDS Forum 2024: Imagining the Unconventional!

From HQ Magazine: ‘Disruption’, ‘holistic approach’, ‘retargeting’, ‘added-value’, each industry has its own buzzwords in order to navigate discourses and guide collective thought processes. Words are essential to instigate organised reactions, to sew in letters a manifesto, but if they are stripped of their real meaning and chewed on incessantly, they end up falling into…

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Top 7 Takeaways from IMEX America 2024

From Northstar Meetings Group: IMEX America 2024, the events industry’s largest trade show, revealed a strong outlook for 2025 meetings and incentives, with a growing emphasis on inclusion, sustainability, technology, wellness and sports events. Held Oct. 8-10 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, IMEX America drew a record 15,500 visitors. The event,…

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ICCA and BestCities Announce Incredible Impacts Programme Finalists

BestCities Global Alliance and the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) are thrilled to announce the finalists of the 2024 Incredible Impacts Programme: International Hip Preservation Society (ISHA), European Academy of Childhood Disability (EACD), and World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). The Incredible Impacts Programme celebrates the value of international association meetings by rewarding innovative…

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The Old Playbook Will Not Work for Today’s Corporate Events

From Skift Meetings: Bring hundreds of people together for days of presentations at a corporate event and hope they get something out of it. That’s a tired playbook for meetings and events. It’s not going to cut it in 2024, according to Nicola Kastner, CEO of Event Leaders Exchange, and Rob Adams, president of Bishop-McCann….

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ADVOCACY: Beam Engages with UK MPs

From M&IT: SIC codes and the value of business events were the main discussion topics with MPs at beam’s State of the Nation event at Cliveden House. Senior representatives of the beam agency and venue members, as well as Windsor MP Jack Rankin and shadow business minister Mike Wood, were joined at the invitation-only event…

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Harnessing the Positive Impacts of Meetings and Events

Skift Meetings has launched a report, in partnership with IMEX, intended to be the ideal entry point for meeting professionals who want to play a crucial role in shaping the industry’s and broader society’s future. It provides an exploration of potential impacts of meetings, practical insights from industry leaders, implementation strategies, and relevant case studies…

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In Search of Data

By David Edwards, Freelance tourism market intelligence consultant: Once upon a time in a faraway land the Office for National Statistics published provisional monthly estimates for the volume and value of inbound and outbound tourism six weeks after that month had reached its end. Ten weeks after the end of each quarter more granular data…

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IMEX Policy Forum: Overcoming the Pitfalls of Democracy

The BE Sector’s foremost forum for political and policy engagement is the IMEX Policy Forum held annually in Frankfurt, hosted by IMEX Director for Impact & Industry Relations, Natasha Richards. In this video insight from the Forum, PĂĄdraic Gilligan – the CMO of the Society of Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) and latest recipient of the…

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BestCities: Pioneering Legacy in Global Conferences

From BestCities: In the dynamic world of international conferences and business events, few organizations have left as indelible a mark as BestCities Global Alliance. By leveraging its network of premier global destinations, BestCities has reshaped the conference industry and established a legacy of profound, lasting impact. From fostering groundbreaking research collaborations to inspiring transformative policy…

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ABEA: Know Your Message & Audience

The mission of the newly formed Australian Business Events Association (ABEA) is to promote the business events industry and drive member prosperity through industry development, networking, research, and advocacy. In this video report from IMEX 2024, Peter King, the organisation’s inaugural chair, is joined by leading industry faces who share the reaction of both industry…

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Where Talent Meets Tech and Connectivity

From AMI: With an expanding economy and a reputation as one of the world’s key financial hubs, Singapore is booming. Nearly half of all regional headquarters in Asia are now based in the city-state, partly fuelled by an exodus from Hong Kong but also prompted by the government’s support for the most future-focused industries and…

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