VOK DAMS, one of Germany’s top (and globally-operating) corporate event organising companies, predicts the biggest trends for the coming year. Events will become even more strategically important in companies’ marketing and communication mixes, as the attention economy and community-building challenges become central concerns of companies both large and small.
ICCA will be present at IMEX in Frankfurt, the largest tradeshow in Europe for the meetings and event industry. With the Global Advocacy Alliance, ICCA aims to equip attendees with practical knowledge and tools to effectively advocate for the event sector’s interests, ultimately contributing to its growth and recognition.
At IMEX, the free professional education program includes 150+ in-depth seminars, hands-on workshops and specialist forums at each show, covering a wide range of industry insights, trends, and best practices. Spark your imagination at groundbreaking keynotes, soak up fresh ideas from experts and innovators, keep up with the latest event tech, polish your professional skills.
From Exhibition World: International consultancy for the for the exhibition and conference industry, Germany-based jwc GmbH, has announced a shake up in its management structure that sees former UFI CEO and MD Kai Hattendorf join as managing partner, and founder Jochen Witt transition to executive chairman. The leadership changes include Sebastian Witt also named as…
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…
This excellent overview of the conference discussions and presentations by Boardroom’s Vicky Koffa highlights key concerns and opportunities facing organisers of medical meetings, and points the way towards the sector’s future evolution, where patients may have just as much of a voice as researchers and practitioners, and impact and outcomes are the most important metrics.
This one-and-a-half-day event provides attendees with a unique opportunity to meet and network with European colleagues managing city cards schemes, to share knowledge and insights to stay ahead of the latest market trends & anticipate customers’ needs, helping participants to grow their business in a sustainable way as well as strengthening their professional expertise.
Participants gain insights into current issues, industry trends, and key customer perspectives, setting the stage for intense competition on the IMEX show floor. The Summit creates a global forum to assess key market challenges and develop innovative strategies, bringing together over 50 senior-level convention centre executives, client representatives, and marketing specialists.
From Meetings International: The German Convention Bureau (GCB) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO have announced the launch of their new Research Centre for Future Meeting Studies (RCFMS). The Research Centre builds on and continues the work of the “Future Meeting Space” innovation network, which was initiated by the two organisations back in…
IMEX Frankfurt is where the global meetings, events and incentive travel industry comes together annually for the largest trade show of its kind in Europe. Where 4,500-plus global meeting planners connect with 3,100 suppliers from across the world, building powerful working relationships—to create better events, meetings and experiences.
Participants gain insights into current issues, industry trends, and key customer perspectives, setting the stage for intense competition on the IMEX show floor. The Summit creates a global forum to assess key market challenges and develop innovative strategies, bringing together over 50 senior-level convention centre executives, client representatives, and marketing specialists.
Tourism faces constant challenges, but political instability has emerged as a critical disruptor. How do political shifts affect travellers and how can destinations stay resilient? TOPOSOPHY’s research, based on a 6-country survey and case studies, explores traveller perceptions and offers smart strategies for destinations to build trust and adapt, whether facing a crisis or preparing…
David Adler calls for the USA (and by implication, many other countries) to emulate the long-term strategic thinking behind Germany’s Messe-model success story. Trade show venues should be seen as intellectual infrastructure, creating and taking ownership of world-leading events that reflect the business and scientific strengths of the host city. From Gathering Point News…
Held during the 2025 IMEX Policy Forum in Frankfurt, this high-level interview with urbanist, author and global advisor Prof Greg Clark CBE FAcSS provides essential geopolitical and socioeconomic context for understanding the future potential direction of Business Events and what destinations that wish to strengthen their competitive positioning need to do. “A multiplication of opportunity…
From Boardroom: This past March, Stuttgart played host to the European Robotics Forum (ERF) 2025, marking the first time in its fifteen-year history that Europe’s premier robotics and AI gathering took place in Germany. More than 1,500 participants from research, industry, and government convened at the Kultur- & Kongresszentrum Liederhalle, cementing the region’s reputation as…
Ex-UFI CEO turned industry thought-leader Kai Hattendorf was ubiquitous at this year’s IMEX, challenging the industry to up its game in terms of global advocacy, arguing that this is even more critical than ever during a time of geopolitical flux and uncertainty, and then eloquently demonstrating in a series of interviews how to frame the…
Follow Geneviève Leclerc’s novel experiment through this series of LinkedIn posts, as she attempts to rigorously apply the “BE Impactful Framework” (designed to measure the overall business, intellectual and societal impact of an event) to her own PERSONAL impact and value gained from attending IMEX 2025 in Frankfurt.
The 2025 IMEX Gala was the setting for the sector’s leading associations to present awards recognising star individuals within their communities who are raising awareness of the enormous long-term economic and societal impact of business and scientific events, amongst both policymakers and citizens.
Germany reports attendance figures back up to pre-pandemic levels in 2024. This is a useful report for those interested in communicating the enormous scale of the meetings sector in individual countries. 377 million attendees participated in approximately 2 million events in a single year! From Skift Meetings…
By Matthias Schultze, Managing Director, German Convention Bureau: How Business Events Can Adapt to Megatrends and Unlock Future Business Potential Business events remain vital arenas for innovation and strategic dialogue. Yet, in a rapidly changing world shaped by technological, societal and environmental shifts, these platforms are undergoing transformation themselves. In its most recent research phase,…
Produced by the German Convention Bureau (GCB), with data collected from nearly 5,000 venues and 3,000 event organisers, the “Meeting & Event Barometer Germany 2024/2025” provides in-depth analysis of the German congress and event market: an excellent model for other countries wishing to produce annual “state of the market” reports.
Powered by 