VP of the Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA), Tommy Goodwin, emphasises the importance of effective advocacy in supporting industry recognition, regulation, capacity building, and fiscal support from government. But Goodwin believes that success is best delivered in partnership and collaboration between industry organisations and individuals across the industry and illustrated by ECA’s success securing the…
Kai Hattendorf draws together strands from multiple sources in an attempt to isolate the seven most important issues facing our sector in the coming year. In an era of accelerating change and unpredictable complexity, this is a call for observation of what’s happening, serious debate and contemplation of multiple perspectives, and for flexible, mission-focused leadership.
Tommy Goodwin from Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance, fresh from helping secure $10 billion towards industry training and education in the USA, argues that advocacy needs to be a 24/7/365 activity in all parts of the world, and at all levels from the UN and EU to local city halls, recruiting policymakers to become advocates for…
Loren Christie, MD, BestCities Global Alliance will join City Nation Place for this webinar to explore why legacy planning is so vital to event hosting, how you can effectively measure impact, and what it takes to get stakeholders on side – and to keep them there. Plus, you’ll also learn about BestCities Incredible Impacts Programme…
From Skift Meetings: ICE-related shootings and protests in Minnesota have triggered hotel closures, event cancellations, and attendance declines, forcing planners to weigh safety, attendee sentiment, and economic impact when deciding whether to proceed. The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on January 24 has intensified unrest in Minneapolis…
Informa plc and Dubai World Trade Centre are merging their Live B2B Events businesses into a Joint Venture, called “inD”. The new company will be in charge of Informa’s wholly owned B2B Live Events business in the United Arab Emirates and wider IMEA region (excluding Saudi Arabia), as well as DWTC’s B2B Live Events business.
Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) have signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation in the exhibition industry, including facilitation, promotion and MICE exchanges. CCPIT will encourage Chinese exhibition bodies to organise new international economic and trade exhibitions in Singapore; STB will help organisers establish and scale events.
AIPC has signed an MOU with UFI and ICCA to jointly co-fund and support the work of ISO Technical Committee 354, responsible for developing international standards covering meetings, conventions, exhibitions, and related event services. This strategic collaboration reflects a shared commitment by the three global associations to advance consistency, quality, and professionalism across global markets.
From M&C/Asia: In an era where medical conferences are indispensable platforms for collaboration, peer learning and the cross-pollination of ideas, the choice of host city has become a strategic decision rather than a logistical one. Recent landmark gatherings are demonstrating that Macao is no longer a peripheral option but a serious contender for medical congresses.
Prof Greg Clark summarises the key points from his keynote presentation to the 2025 ICCA Congress. We are living through a “century of cities”, as we head towards peak projected global population in the year 2080, with over 1600 cities currently having a population of over 1 million, a six-fold increase in 50 years. In…
Where some destinations see only a glamorous sporting event, Singapore leveraged the most recent edition of its Formula 1 race to host and in some cases to originate and organise 25 strategic international business events. Carrie Kwik, Executive Director, Conventions, Meetings & Incentive Travel, Singapore Exhibition & Convention BureauTM (SECB), explains how Singapore’s advantages as…
IAPCO and PCMA have formalised a strategic collaboration through the signing of an MOU at PCMA Convening Leaders 2026, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The agreement strengthens cooperation across thought leadership, professional education, research, and emerging leader engagement within the global business events industry, establishing a structured framework for collaboration between the two global organisations.
This summary report of highlights from the recent PCMA Convening Leaders event in Philadelphia, the city where PCMA was first founded in 1956, 70 years ago: Convening Leaders 2026 delivered a powerful celebration of leadership, legacy, and the future of business events—bringing together the global community at a moment of reflection and renewal.
From M&C ASIA: Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) has entered into an agreement to transfer ownership and operational control of the International Journal of Business, Events and Legacies (IJBEL) to Curtin University Malaysia, a move aimed at deepening academic involvement in the business events sector in Sarawak.
For the fourth year in a row, ESAE (European Society of Association Executives) curated and organised IBTM World’s Association Leadership Forum in Barcelona last November. International and European association leaders explored ways to design their meetings strategy in a less transactional way, and instead to use these events to drive forward the Mission and Vision…
When attention is scarce and expectations are high, it’s design that helps organisations, brands and events stand out, argues Carina Bauer. The World Economic Forum predicts that creative thinking and curiosity will be among the most in-demand skills by 2030. IMEX invites the events industry to embrace design as our business superpower.
This white paper is a timely contribution to the business events ecosystem. The insight gained from three ebx.lab editions is clear: the challenges facing stakeholders across the business events ecosystem are far more similar than expected, and the most effective solutions emerge where knowledge, data, perspectives, and resources are brought together through genuine collaboration.
Event matchmaking platform Conferli has produced this guide for associations to help them maximise the financial and in-kind support they can obtain from host destinations, with advice built on the results of a collaborative research project with #Meet4Impact and the GDS-Movement into the worldwide subvention environment.
The Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA), the unified public policy voice of the U.S. business and professional events industry, today announced its 2026 Elected Officers and Board of Directors. The following Elected Officers were selected by the ECA Board of Directors to serve a one-year term ending on December 31, 2026: Fernando Fischer (Chair), President,…
Supported by collaboration across government, industry, academia, communities, and global partners, the Tribe Legacy Sarawak Campaign has transformed how Sarawak delivers business events, shifting the focus from short-term tourism to long-term economic, social, and environmental impact, leading BESarawak to its strongest performance to date in 2025, as the organisation approaches its 20th anniversary.
The 11th edition of Global Exhibitions Day (GED) will be celebrated on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, under the theme “Exhibitions drive opportunities”. UFI encourages all businesses and professionals across the industry to celebrate GED by showcasing how exhibitions create opportunities for people, planet, and performance. Download resources and tools, and find inspiration here…
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