Hidden Patterns & Tunnel Vision

Working in the business and professional events sector encourages a pathological attention to detail: mission-critical deadlines proliferate; check-lists need ticking-off; star speakers require bespoke handling; the conveyor-belt of incoming meetings never ceases. It’s all-too easy to focus only on what’s right in front of our eyes: the RFP that needs turning around within 24 hours, exhibition build-up hold-ups, the line for registration that’s getting waaay too long or WiFi that’s too gl-glitchy, demanding delegate dietary requirements, the rising-cost-stresses of the annual budget cycle.

This latest compilation from The Iceberg’s advocacy and event impact repository has been selected to lift your eyes up from the meetings microscope so that you, your management team, your Board, your minister or mayor and wider stakeholders can enjoy our equivalent of the Hubble (or James Webb!) telescopic viewpoint, a window into the hidden patterns that can unravel the mysteries of the meetings universe.

Attention to detail isn’t a recipe for success. It’s “table stakes” – a necessary but insufficient operational capacity. Long-term surviving and thriving demands that we gain a more subtle and strategic understanding of what makes events so economically impactful and societally valuable, and how we can navigate geopolitical storms and technological mega-trends to build an even more successful industry.

We all need:

* Deep analysis & fresh perspectives on key issues

Under Features, “The Hidden Patterns behind Association Events” aims to make sense of the complexity of association decision-making, whilst David Adler’s take on Super-Forecaster Mary Meeker’s latest AI trends report challenges the industry to take a much more radical approach “before they’re swept away by external forces and new modes of competition”. Our current approach to sustainability receives a multifaceted critical wake-up call, with Features articles “Addressing the Guideline Overload” and stating that “The Score is not the Story”, whilst in our Opinions section, Guy Bigwood laments “The Rise of Social Sustainability – and Silence on the Environment”.

* Long-term impact evaluation & evidence

Our Case Studies section includes one of the most impressive multi-year policy-influencing event-led journeys we’ve ever come across: The World Organisation of Family Doctors, WONCA, would never have been able to issue the Limerick Declaration on Rural Healthcare and to transform health outcomes in rural locations worldwide without the skilful exploitation of a series of key international meetings. Additional impactful stories feature events held in Gothenburg, Copenhagen and Kigali in Rwanda. Meanwhile, under Reports & Research we showcase the Year 2 Report from Destination Canada on their multi-year, multi-event impact analysis, a best-practice template that other countries should be lining up to emulate!

* Data sources that provide invaluable context for strategic planning

Amongst our new Reports & Research, check out the extensive time-series and country-comparison economic and healthcare statistics from Our World in Data (“Research and Data to Make Progress Against the World’s Largest Problems”). Dive into the DestinationNEXT 2025 Futures Study, or update yourself on the state of the exhibition world (“The Global Exhibition Barometer” from UFI) and global travel patterns (“A New Era of Recalibration for European City Tourism” from CityDNA and Skift Research’s “State of Travel 2025”).

* Intelligent critiques & calls to action

The Iceberg’s Opinions section never shies away from controversy, with articles such as “The Pentagon Just Declared War on Convening” and “The $80 Million Mistake”, whilst James Lancaster argues that “visa apartheid” is silencing scientific & professional voices from huge swathes of the world, and Kai Hattendorf muses that “multipolar reality” has taken centre stage and will shift established meeting patterns. Meanwhile, IAPCO President Sissi Lignou and AIPC CEO Sven Bossu call for collaborative advocacy and the need for unified action, whilst academic Dr Steven G. Rogelberg laments the lack of Chief Meeting Officers in corporate C-suites and economist Noreena Hertz points out that we risk missing out on huge opportunities in a world where “Connection is the New Currency”… if we don’t get our act together.

*Regular, easy access to resources & information

Please don’t forget to regularly visit our News section, which always highlights the latest developments relating to event impact and advocacy, or that will have a bearing on events-related strategic planning. Our lead stories cover key developments in the US, China, and in UK-EU relations, the relaunch of EIC’s CMP meeting planning certification with global standards, and an international association’s principled use of its recent conference in Prague as a platform against dis- and misinformation. The Iceberg aims to select the stories that really matter, to help you make sense of our fast-moving world.

Only a collective effort can construct a comprehensive picture

The Hubble and James Webb telescopes, their mind-blowing outputs and fundamental discoveries are wonders of modern scientific and engineering collaboration and expertise, but they were facilitated, accelerated, and stress-tested, of course, during literally hundreds of international meetings over many decades!

The Iceberg requires a similarly collective effort from all leading players and organisations in the global events industry to build up the kind of comprehensive knowledge library that will enable us to effectively argue our case and reveal the true picture of an industry whose society-wide value isn’t so obvious from a close-up perspective. Together we can see so much further.

Please share:

• Case studies from events you’ve organised or hosted (especially if you have long-term impact data or insights)
• Research reports
• Recommended reading – both events industry and outside sources
• Strategic planning resources
• News on advocacy events you’re planning

 
The Curator
 

• Features
• News
• Case Studies
• Reports & Research
• Opinions
• Education
• Events
• Publications
• Newsletters
• Partners
• Ambassadors