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Is Carbon Passporting Inevitable?

From The Conversation, by Ross Bennett-Cook: The summer of 2023 has been very significant for the travel industry. By the end of July, international tourist arrivals globally reached 84% of pre-pandemic levels. In some European countries, such as France, Denmark and Ireland, tourism demand even surpassed its pre-pandemic level. This may be great news economically,…

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What Comes When the Global Carbon Budget Is Gone?

From the International Society of Sustainability Professionals: At the present level of GHG emissions, it is clear that emission reductions alone will be insufficient to achieve the Paris Agreement aspirational target of restricting average global surface temperature increase to 1.5°C by the end of the century. As well, emission reductions alone will be insufficient to…

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Taking Your Association Global

By Matty Rubenstein: When ‘taking your association global’ you have to define one thing very clearly, what do you mean by ‘taking your association global?’ We all know that the world is a big place, and that by ‘going global’ you will give yourself access to more people, more customers, more money…

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Kai Hattendorf Shares Thoughts on Net Zero Carbon Events Progress

With more than 500 signatories and supporters all starting to report their footprint and taking steps to reduce their impact, the united efforts so far to drive down waste across the global exhibitions industry have been “pretty damn impressive” says Kai Hattendorf, CEO of UFI. From Exhibition World…

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For Tech’s Sake…

Why the sector needs to stop jumping on new technology fads and assuming that they will benefit events. By Simon Clayton, chief ideas officer, RefTech, from M&IT Magazine: We don’t manufacture anything, and the events we organise are generally transient – but we’ve been around as an industry for hundreds of years…

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Social Engineering: Forcing Attendees out of Their Comfort Zones

Most meeting organisers recognise the value of informal, chance interactions. However, they tend to leave these interactions to… well, chance, thinking that it is not possible to create serendipitous encounters in a more structured way. We disagree. By Eric de Groot and Mike van der Vijver, from Association Meetings International…

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What the Events Industry is Doing to Achieve Net Zero by 2050

Alexander Alles, Executive Director, Joint Meetings Industry Council, and Iceberg Ambassador, talks to Trade Show News Network, in the lead up to Earth Day 2023, about Net Zero Carbon Events (NZCE), an initiative to connect the events industry globally to the rapidly growing movement toward net zero by 2050. From Trade Show News Network…

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“What we do must matter more” – Senthil Gopinath

Senthil Gopinath, Iceberg Ambassador and CEO of ICCA, a Founding Partner of The Iceberg, tells Paul Colston, Managing Editor, Conference News & Conference & Meetings World, that innovation is key to making 2023 a dynamic and successful year. From Conference & Meetings World…

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It’s Time for Associations to Own Their Conference Footprint

Associations are, ultimately, responsible for the carbon emissions produced by their meetings. Yet, when it comes to doing something about them, too many focus almost entirely on the supply chain – relying on host cities, venues, caterers etc. to provide evidence of how they are reducing their emissions. By James Lancaster, from Association Meetings International…

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Tarsus & Informa Show the Road Ahead for Major Exhibition Groups

Exhibition News guest editor Phil Soar analyses the effects of Informa buying Tarsus on the wider industry and considers the road ahead for our major exhibition groups: “A couple of months ago that I suggested the trade show world was very likely to be back to normal by 2024 and, in many cases, well ahead…”

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Putting Menopause on the Agenda

Menopause will affect half the world’s population but it’s very rarely spoken about, even less so in professional settings. So how do we get it on the agenda and how do we create supportive, inclusive and encouraging working environments for menopausal women? From M&IT Magazine…

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BESydney’s Dr Marlene Kanga Explores Gender Equality in STEM

The need for more women in STEM, especially in AI and advanced technologies, was a focus of the UN Women #CSW67 Commission on the Status of Women meeting, also described in Dr Kanga’s blog for the International Science Council – When will we get there? The UN says 300 years! From the International Science Council…

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Thoughts on a Social License for Tourism, Engagement & Alignment

Around the world, there’s a new course to be plotted as destination organizations look inward at stakeholders and residents and begin to address the organizational changes needed to facilitate that shift: marketing must have a local voice, budgets need to address a wider scope of projects throughout the community with diverse partners… From Simpleview…

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Seven New Deals and the Effects on Big Ticket M&A

Steve Monnington of Mayfield Merger Strategies reports the most recent transactions and analyses the M&A news. As well as several deals announced, there have been two important pieces of news which could impact big ticket M&A. There were also seven transactions announced which brings the total for 2023 to 13… From Exhibition News…

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A Tale of Two Governors

International Advisor to Global Association Hubs Martin Sirk believes that people have a greater impact on outcomes than processes, regardless of the governance model. However, the potential harm caused by a single “bad governor” with significant influence over the association’s decision-making is often neglected in discussions of this topic… From Boardroom Global…

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Taking The Lead on Destinations’ Social and Economic Development

Events have the power to build inclusive communities and better places to live, highlighting the extent to which meetings and conferences can contribute to a destination’s societal impact. This was one theme explored in a webinar hosted by GDS-Index, a sustainability benchmarking and improvement programme for destinations around the world. From Meetings & Conventions Asia…

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