Opinions

  • Category

  • Sector

  • Host Destinations

Found 972 Opinions

Viewing all Opinions

How to Build an Effective Grasstops Advocacy Program

Grasstops advocacy is necessary for associations to have success on Capitol Hill moving forward. For organizations newer to the concept, here’s a success-driven roadmap to follow. At the height of the pandemic, organizations were mobilizing advocates to connect with lawmakers to push for a variety of legislative concerns, such as financial assistance… From ASAE…

Read More

The Societal Impact of Business Events

Anthropologist-turned-event-pro, Geneviève Leclerc co-founded #MEET4IMPACT to revolutionize event planning and measure their impact. Driven by her passion to create meaningful experiences, she challenges traditional destination selection and strives for greater potential in every event. Listen to the Skift Meetings Podcast…

Read More

The Honest Broker: China Unlocks Investor Confidence in BE Sector

The Iceberg meets Mayfield Merger Strategies (MMS) owner, Steve Monnington, to understand the surge of private equity investments in the sector revealed this month including Blackstone’s $4.6bn takeover of Cvent, Providence Equity Partners’ acquisition of Hyve, and Informa’s trade acquisition of Tarsus.  Monnington: ‘There’s a lot of money looking for a home…’   Further…

Read More

Why Isn’t Sustainability as Important in the U.S. as in Europe?

Meetings Today interviewed James Rees, executive director, conference and events, ExCel London and former president of the International Congress and Convention Association, about the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative and other major sustainability efforts underway in Europe and North America. Listen to the Meetings Today Podcast…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…”

Read More

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…

Read More

Skift Take: Google Xi Days

The people in the room create the DNA of an event, and like-minded people usually generate one-dimensional thinking. So imagine the magic that happens when an eclectic group of thinkers from varied backgrounds, professions, and demographics gather together — exactly what happened during the Google Experience Institute (Xi) Days. From Skift Meetings…

Read More

Events Sector Finally Getting Recognition – What’s Next?

It took a pandemic for governments to realise the value of business events. Now the sector has to keep up its advocacy and collaboration efforts. At the recent UFI Asia-Pacific Conference 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, leaders in the Asia’s events and exhibitions space shared about their effective advocacy strategies and learnings… From Meetings & Conventions…

Read More

AMI Podcast | Kai Hattendorf on Net Zero Carbon Events

‘The Net Zero Carbon Events initiative is the collective effort of the global events industry, to make sure that our sector can do its part in that important journey to net zero to combat climate change. It is by now the most global, most inclusive initiative our industry has ever seen…’ From Association Meetings International…

Read More

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…

Read More

Jack Johnson: The Power of One Single Question

This is a stressful time in our society and just as importantly, within our destination organization family. And I cannot think of a better first step than to reach out to our families, friends, neighbors, and our peers within the destination organization community and ask that simple question, “How are you doing?” From Destinations International…

Read More

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…

Read More

‘We Can’t Ignore the Science’

Earlier this year, PCMA announced a collaboration with the American Geophysical Union to further its action on climate change at events. Shawna McKinley, AMI expert contributor, asks Lauren Parr, Senior Vice President of Meetings and Learning at AGU how the union approaches this intention at its own events. From Association Meetings International…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More