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Julia Swanson: Prevention is Better than Cure

From the BestCities Global Forum, hosted in January by Melbourne, its Convention Bureau Chief Executive, Julia Swanson, reflects on the values alignment now being demanded by future members of professional societies and associations. Cultural alignment, a sense of purpose, and creating long lasting community impacts are top of mind for the next generation, she says….

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THE POLLINATOR – Belinda Moore and Associations

From the BestCities Global Forum in Melbourne earlier this year, Strategic Membership Solutions’ owner, Belinda Moore, was perhaps the pick of the speakers on view. Covering 9 challenges that keep association executives awake at night, the editor of Associations Evolve shares her insights with The Iceberg.  Destinations that embrace the association challenges will succeed…

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Loren Christie on Melbourne Global Forum

From Travel Writers Radio: Loren Christie is Managing Director of the BestCities Global Alliance which started 25 years ago with a conversation over drinks by city leaders from Melbourne Houston and Vancouver. Now there are 13 major international cities in this group that specialises in hosting some of the largest business events and leaving a…

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Old Dog, New Bone: What now for Melbourne Chief?

Outgoing CEO at the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre (MCEC), Peter King, reflects on the needs of the business events sector to have a ‘North Star’ upon which to attract talent. In a parting message, the former AIPC president hints that he still has a significant contribution to make to the broader wellbeing of the sector’s…

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Gary Grimmer Talks GainingEdge, Sector Resilience and More

Gary Grimmer, the Executive Chairman of Iceberg partner GainingEdge, has been revisiting both his own career path through four convention bureaux, plus the journey of his consultancy from its early days through to navigating the COVID-19 crisis. In this interview he also talks through the GainingEdge report “Leveraging Intellectual Capitals”. From Conference & Meetings World…

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AACB’s Andrew Hiebl: Australia’s Return to Business Events

Australia’s recent reopening to the world, and the lifting of domestic border closures and restrictions, makes this an important moment in the county’s business events sector. Andrew Hiebl, the CEO of AACB (the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux), discusses the upcoming pipeline plus Tourism Australia’s Business Events Bid Fund. From Association Meetings International…

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Jane Cunningham: Remembering Twelve Years at BestCities

The Iceberg ambassador Jane Cunningham (pictured centre with Lesley Williams and Nigel Brown promoting “Incredible Impacts” as “The Incredibles”) is leaving Iceberg partner BestCities Global Alliance after twelve years. The Iceberg will pay its own tribute elsewhere, but Jane has also given this interview to her own BestCities colleagues. From BestCities Global Alliance…

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BestCities Reaches 21: Collaboration Key for Destination Alliance

BestCities Global Alliance has just celebrated twenty-one years since its founding. Managing Director Lesley Williams reflects upon the Iceberg partner’s past and future, and upon the role collaboration has played in the journey. She also pays tribute to the BestCities’ member destinations and to more recently formed alliances. From BestCities Global Alliance…

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From Field to Fork: The Venues Serious About Sustainability

Once the supply of event food was determined by the consumer. If a planner asked to have strawberries over winter or New Zealand lamb in Scotland, their whims were granted. Now more event venues around the world are implementing sustainable practices. Here’s a special report on those taking sustainability seriously. From Association Meetings International…

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Coronavirus: Webinar Examines Government Role in Asia Recovery

Iceberg partner UFI, the exhibition industry’s global association, staged an UFI Connects webinar on the role of government in exhibition industry recovery in Asia. It produced some great market insights, among them news of trade shows opening up in Shanghai this June, plus an update on the regional subsidies available. From Exhibition World…

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Coronavirus: 2020’s AIME Continues with Care and Confidence

Just in advance of Iceberg partner AIME, the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event, opening its doors in Melbourne, its Event Director Jay Martens discussed the way both the meeting itself and the wider industry sector have been coping with the twin crises of Australia’s bushfires and the subsequent coronavirus outbreak. From PCMA…

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AIME 2019: Voices from Knowledge Exchange and Elsewhere

The Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) 2019 has just been held in Melbourne. Here are some memorable statements heard during the Knowledge Exchange and elsewhere from sundry CEOs (of a convention bureau, an industry association, and a venue), as well as a strategist, an inventor, a politician, and a poet. From PCMA…

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Vienna: Can “Liveability” Attract Conferences?

Vienna is the world’s most “liveable” city. That’s according to the annual Economist Intelligence Unit Global Liveability Index. It’s also the first city in Europe to top the survey: Melbourne had lead for seven years previously. But what is the link between “liveability” and actually attracting conference delegates? From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…

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