Opinions

  • Category

  • Sector

  • Host Destinations

Found 466 Opinions

Viewing all Opinions

DEI Put in the ICCA Spotlight for 2024 and Beyond

By Senthil Gopinath: At ICCA we talk continuously about Sustainability, DEI, Legacy, and Innovation. These pillars inspire our interaction with our members and form the basis of much of the discussions we have with our associations. They provide the bedrock of work undertaken with external agencies and cross-organisational bodies, including The GDS-Movement, the Net Zero…

Read More

Associations Creating Impact – Not a Trend, the New Normal

By Maraika Black, Advocacy, Policy, and Public Health Coordinator, European Association for the Study of the Liver: Health conferences have traditionally focused on actors directly involved in the field – specialists, medical experts, general practitioners, researchers, nurses, and allied health professionals. It has long since been a source of prestige and professional mobilisation for delegates…

Read More

Western Canada’s MICE Destinations Are Pillars of Success

By Jeff Heilman, from Meetings Today: Destination Canada’s Business Events team has a remarkable record of creating innovative initiatives, backed by in-depth market research and analysis, to promote, amplify and advance the Canadian meetings industry. This evolving program is geared principally to Canada’s priority economic sectors. These comprise life sciences, agribusiness, advanced manufacturing, finance and…

Read More

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…

Read More

Business Events Industry Advocacy with Tommy Goodwin

Tommy Goodwin, Vice President, Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance, and Iceberg Ambassador, talks about the challenge of getting Visas to enter the U.S. and the impact that has had on the industry, the Kentucky legislature (failed) attempt to tax space rental for exhibitors and sponsors, and more. From Trade Show News Network…

Read More

A Congress is a Kind of Affirmation

Zhanna Kovalchuk, Executive Director of the European Society for Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy, talks to AMI about the importance of knowing how, dealing with ‘confident’ men, and what the future holds for associations. Interview by James Lancaster, from Association Meetings International…

Read More

Kai Hattendorf: 2023’s Five International Trends to Watch

The CEO of Iceberg partner UFI, Kai Hattendorf (pictured right!) has been looking into his crystal ball yet again as the year ends. With the pandemic lingering in some territories, Russia’s war in Ukraine, inflation skyrocketing and the climate crisis, what are the key trends to see business events through 2023? From Exhibition News…

Read More

Copenhagen Legacy Lab: Leading Global Legacy Creation

Copenhagen Convention Bureau launched the Copenhagen Legacy Lab in 2019 to bridge international congresses held in Copenhagen with the local public, business and science communities. This Iceberg partner lets global associations both to achieve their objectives and solve societal challenges through events, and it aims to create the world’s leading hub for legacy. From Meetings International…

Read More

DI’s Jane Cunningham Talks Legacy and Net Zero Carbon Events

Jane Cunningham has worked for hotels, a convention centre, a DMO (destination marketing organisation) and a PCO (professional conference organiser). She has also worked for two Iceberg partners, BestCities Global Alliance and Destinations International. Here she offers her thinking on legacy and Net Zero Carbon Events. From Meetings International…

Read More

Destination Boycotts Over Abortion Bans: Different Approaches

Meeting planners reacted strongly to the US Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights. Over 40 percent said state abortion legislation would influence site-selection decisions. But Iceberg partner Destinations International has been on a mission to convince groups that travel boycotts simply do not work. From Northstar Meetings Group…

Read More

How an Association Put Sustainability in Its RfP With GDS-Index

How does a desire to minimise the environmental impact of events fit into a traditional RfP (Request for Proposal)? This was the question asked by Guidelines International Network when sourcing a place to hold its international conference in 2023. The starting point was with Global Destination Sustainability Index, an Iceberg partner. From Association Meetings International…

Read More

The Invisible Industry Gets 49-Foot Trailer Advocacy Roadshow

The “Invisible Industry” was a label put on the meetings and hospitality sectors back in 1996 by broadcaster Charles Osgood. Now this title has become an advocacy roadshow, thanks to a 49-foot trailer stocked with interactive media. It launched a year-long “Invisible Industry Tour” of US cities last June. From PCMA…

Read More

Book Extract: “Business Event Legacies” by Goodfellow

Last year Goodfellow Publishers released “Business Event Legacies: Global industry case studies”, from Carmel Foley, Deborah Edwards and Karin Weber. Previous work by Foley and Edwards includes the first JMIC Case Study published here on The Iceberg, and this book cites all of those studies. Here the volume’s content is outlined. From Meetings International…

Read More

Pandemic Heroes: One Year Later, How the Sector Survived

One year since exhibitions returned after the UK’s COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, EN guest editor Phil Soar explores who the true “heroes” of the pandemic have been. He looks in particular at the roles played by venues that became National Health Service “Nightingale” field hospitals, and finds some encouraging causes for hope. From Exhibition News…

Read More

Explaining Events to Policymakers: ECA’s Tommy Goodwin

The workday of Tommy Goodwin, Vice President of the Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance, is explaining the importance of business events to policymakers. But are they finally starting to get it? Goodwin explains the purpose of the business events advocacy association set up in early 2021. From Association Meetings International…

Read More