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The hybrid multi-site event BOCOM saw players from across Germany’s meetings industry demonstrating readiness for future event formats. Several hundred participants met on-site at the central conference venue in Berlin and at the hubs in Amsterdam, Essen and Vienna, as well as virtually from all continents. From GCB…
As the industry continues to press pause on larger in person events, venues and suppliers have moved resources to serve those in need. The San Diego Convention Center has since April delivered 500,000 meals to those in need through its scheme Operation Shelter to Home, 3,500 meals a day at peak. From PCMA…
During COVID-19 the meetings industry has pivoted to serve the community. Venues have become field hospitals, logistics networks have shipped personal protective equipment, and surplus food has also been donated. A new social contract is being written, explains Geneviève Leclerc, CEO of Iceberg partner #MEET4IMPACT. From European Cities Marketing…
Iain Bitran, Executive Director of the International Society for Professional Innovation Management, shares the challenge of transforming a physical conference into a digital meeting. In just eleven weeks and with around 400 contributions, the XXXI ISPIM Innovation Conference succeeded in “Innovating in Times of Crisis”. From Boardroom…
The many contributions on video for The Iceberg webinar about the JMIC Manifesto for Economic Recovery Using Business Events included one from Martin Lewis, former Managing Editor of Iceberg partner CAT Media, and Iceberg ambassador. The photo is of Martin in lighter mood at the 32nd M&IT awards last year. But in this longer extract from his…
Governments have differing ideas about how meetings should return safely during the pandemic. Industry bodies advocate different plans. But what of the science? Dr. Brian Labus, epidemiologist and health sciences expert at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, prepares organisers for the months ahead. From Event MB…
Asia’s business events industry has the potential to rebound faster than that of other continents, but being able to conduct business safely is important. So said the panellists at a Global MICE Situation in the Time of the Pandemic webinar, among them regional managers from the Iceberg partners ICCA and UFI. From Meetings International…
In April the event agency Freeman joined up with eighty other industry leaders to form Go LIVE Together as a response to COVID-19’s impact on live events. One month on Freeman CEO Bob Priest-Heck discusses the importance of advocacy, the status of government funding, and hopes for the future of the industry. From BizBash…
Reykjavik’s Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre says it is ready for the post-COVID-19 era. 2020 had been on track to be a record events year for the venue. May 4th saw Iceland’s lockdown lifted. On May 7th Harpa became one of the first conference halls in Europe to reopen. From Meetings International…
The shape of the “new normal” has become clearer after the first large Asia Pacific trade shows to return: the 2020 Hunan Auto Show run at the Hunan International Convention and Exhibition Center in Changsha, and the MBC Architecture Show at the Korea International Exhibition and Convention Center in Goyang. From PCMA…
The conscription of venues as field hospitals can be seen as one of the grimmer aspects of the COVID-19 crisis, but can also foster optimism and hope. Ana Carrazon, Congress Sales and Logistics Expert at IFEMA Feria de Madrid, has been working as a volunteer at the IFEMA Hospital. From Association Meetings International…
BIE (the Bureau International des Expositions) has just unanimously agreed to postponing Expo 2020 Dubai. The rescheduled event will become a global celebration that the COVID-19 crisis is over. There are precedents for postponement across the past history of world fairs, and Dubai’s own back catalogue has seen other milestone events. From Meetings International…
In January, the Javits Center in New York was hosting a meet-and-greet for the American Kennel Club. Now the space is housing 2,600 hospital beds. Across the US the story is the same, inside venues like McCormick Place in Chicago and the Michigan Expo Center. But why choose them for this use? From Fast Company…
New York’s Javits Center has been put to use in crises before. It was a command and control base for the Federal Emergency Management Agency after 9/11, and in 2012 also had minor government operations running after Hurricane Sandy. But the venue has never been used as a hospital until now. From PCMA…
GESS Dubai is a global exhibition showcasing educational products, plus a CPD accredited conference. Held at the end of February, the 13th edition of the show was to feature a Chinese pavilion with 30 companies confirmed as exhibiting. Ten, plus one more international exhibitor, cancelled participation because of the COVID-19 crisis. From UFI…
Organisers of the 2020 American Physical Society March Meeting opted to cancel their event due to concerns about bringing COVID-19 into Denver. With more than 10,000 attending, some from risk countries, the “gut-wrenching” call was taken “out of an abundance of caution”. But the decision was made less than two days before opening. From PCMA…
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